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

442 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

like the rough and tumble of puppies at play. Many a Filipino
has thought an American angry when he was only facetious,
and may, as a matter of fact, have been in unusually good
humor. Many a frown caused by the strain of a blinding sun
in grey eyes, has been misinterpreted as a scowl of displeasure.
Then Americans have unconsciously fallen into the role of
schoolmasters; partly because so many came to the Philippines
to teach, partly because a big man nearly always assumes a
paternal attitude toward a smaller; and more than for any
other reason because Americans have fallen into the habit of
speaking the English language slowly and deliberately to
Filipinos to be sure that they will be understood. Every day
that passes, the American, even though his heart is humble
and full of real affection, catches himself using that patronizing school-master tone of voice which he would resent if it
were addressed to himself. And so, as Dean Bocobo has
frankly said, Filipinos feel that they are underestimated by
Americans. As a matter of fact, Filipinos are not underestimated. The better educated an American is, the more
profound and genuine is his admiration for the Filipinos, for
he understands what wonderful progress they have already
made, and has boundless faith in what they are capable of
becoming.
Unhappily there are a few loud-mouthed and very ignorant
Americans in the Islands who create a good deal of mischief.
What they lack in breeding and education they try to make up
in boastfulness. They think they can deceive the Filipinos if
they only assume a sufficiently imperious demeanor. A considerable number of such men drifted to these shores with the
army. Let one incident suffice. Dr. Tavera is the leading
scholar and one of the most pro-American Filipinos in Manila.
He once declared that "the best thing that could happen to
the Philippines would be for America to send us five thousand
school teachers." While Dr. Tavera was seated one evening
on the Luneta, the orchestra started, some distance away, playing "The Star-Spangled Banner." An American private was
passing at that moment, and he hotly commanded the old Doctor to rise in honor of the American national anthem, adding