The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

408 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

remedy lies in supplying our public schools with consecrated,
cultured Christian teachers. Let us demand of local boards of
education that dancing be eliminated from our public schools.
If parents wish their children to dance in spite of all warnings
that are given, they can send them to private dancing masters
and allow them to dance in their homes or elsewhere. But
there are thousands of parents who do not wish their children
to learn to dance. In fact their children are virtually forced
to dance or suffer social ostracism in school life.... Already
in our schools there are Christian teachers whose influence is
strongly felt in the lives of the pupils. In the Cagayan High
School we have one who has completely reformed the habit
of dancing in our schools." 8
PROSTITUTION
Prior to the year I9I7 Manila had a segregated district
(called Gardenia) for prostitution. The Protestant Church
regarded this institution with horror. When Dr. Justo Lukban
was appointed Mayor, its opportunity came, for Mayor Lukban
was a Methodist. One night all the prostitutes in Gardenia
were collected in automobiles, carried to a waiting boat, and
transported to the town of Davao, in Mindanao. The mayor
had previously been assured that there were men in Davao
who were willing to marry these women. One may question
the ethics of the proceeding, from Davao's point of view, but
one cannot doubt the courage of the Mayor. He had taken
the law into his own hands, because he could find no other way
of getting the Red Light district off his conscience. The best
people of the city of Manila were heartily glad to be rid of
Gardenia, and nobody had the hardihood to bring the Mayor
to court about it. Gardenia is closed forever. Occasionally
politicians argue for its return in order to secure votes, but no
Council will ever dare to reopen another market of vice.
Unfortunately many of the girls who went to Davao have
returned to Manila, and others have entered from abroad.
They seem to come in largest numbers during the Carnival
' Miss Bartolomea Adduro "Moral Training in the Philippines." 1923.