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

72 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES
he can find it at San Ramon, the Moro penitentiary. This is
not a prison, but a beautiful farm by the sea. To the Moros
it is like sending a man to heaven for being wicked, for it is
by all odds the most lovely and lovable spot they ever lived in,
or, at least in this generation, will ever live in. San Ramon
has but one objective: to cure the patient. The Moro who steals
or murders is all too obviously the victim of a past bad environment, and needs to acquire a new set of ideas. He would never
get them behind prison walls; he does get them on San Ramon
Farm.
Here the prisoners work, but not too hard. They have
plenty of good food and grow strong and happy. When their
term has expired and they must return to the outside world,
many of them weep and beg to be allowed to remain in San
Ramon. One might suppose that they would commit other
crimes in order to return, but they realize that the reputation
of San Ramon and the very principle of the new penology
are at stake. San Ramon boasts of a finer record of cured
inmates than any other prison in the world.
MORO PASSION FOR EDUCATION
The most wonderful aspect of the transformation in Moroland is the new passion for education. For the first time in
all the history of that fanatical religion, a Mohammedan nation
is going to school-and the teachers are nearly all Christians!
In Lanao, for example, 6ooo Moro children were enrolled in
I922, or 35 per cent of the school population. The superintendent reports that the children are rushing to school despite
the suspicion of their parents. But there is something still
more marvelous-they are sending girls to school, though
women among Mohammedans are slaves. It is contrary to
Moslem custom for them to be educated. As an Indian Moslem
visiting the Moros explained, "The place of woman is to be
subservient to man, but if she becomes a little educated, she
talks back and you cannot keep her in her place." But the
Moros are educating their girls, regardless of Moslem custom.
All who know the Moros, their wonderful progress in the past