CONCERNING THE PHILIPPINES.
According to the latest government report, while the density of population on the mainland of the United States is 26 to the square mile, the density in the Philippines is 67. The 342 islands of the archipelago have a total of 7,635,426 inhabitants. As the wild tribes constitute only 9 per cent. of the population, 7,000,000 of the people are classified as civilized. Practically all of the civilized peoples belong to the Roman Catholic Church, and of the 647,740 who are classed as non-Christian, some have no religion, while two-fifths, belonging to the Moro tribe, are Mohammedans. The only incorporated city in the Philippines is Manila, with 219,928 inhabitants, but there are four towns in the archipelago with over 10,000 inhabitants each, thirty-five with over 5,000, and 13,400 barrios or villages, with an average population of 500. Only about 44 per cent. of the people of school age can read a little, usually in their own dialects, and only about 25 per cent. of those of school age can both read and write, while but 10 per cent. can read Spanish or English. Thanks to the United States, 37 per cent. of all the children of school age are going to school. Of the Filipinos 43.5 per cent. of all the civilized people are engaged in gainful occupations, against 36 per cent. in the United States. The surprisingly-large Filipino percentage is due to the fact that women and girls, who weave beautiful fabrics at home, are generally engaged in some small industry. The average size of the Filipino farm is only about eight acres, and the farmer usually owns his land. Pauperism is unknown, because very little effort produces the necessaries of life. The average age of the natives is nearly 24 years, which is above the average age of negroes in the United States, and nearly two and a half years less than that of the white American. The young Filipinos are exceedingly eager to learn to read and write, and very quick to learn. The workers in the field of education predict that within a few years practically all the youth in the archipelago will have a fairly good elementary education; and then the next problem for their American tutors is to make them all as dissatisfied as possible with their present elementary state of bliss, so that they will go out and work, that they may be able to buy cotton cloth, dollar watches, and other products of American mills.—Christian Work