archipelago,' so called,
'reigned over' by the sultan of comic opera fame) originally
presented, as they will always present, a distinct and separate
problem, and never did have anything more to do with the Philippine
insurrection against us than their cousins and co-religionists over
in near-by Borneo, the task which confronted Mr. Root in the fall of
1899, to wit, the suppression of the Philippine insurrection, meant
practically the subjugation of one big island, Luzon, containing half
the population and one third of the total area of the archipelago,
and six neighbouring small ones, the Visayan Islands." [331]

Now as a matter of fact Mindanao is by no means Mohammedan. The
Mohammedan Malays, called Moros, are found here and there along the
western coast of the Zamboanga peninsula and along the southern coast
of the island as far as Davao. They also extend far up the Cotabato
River and occupy the Lake Lanao region, but that is all. The interior
of the island is for the most part occupied by the members of a
number of non-Christian, non-Mohammedan tribes, while its northern
and eastern coasts are inhabited by Visayan Filipinos, of whom there
are many in Zamboanga itself.

While, as Blount says, the Moros took no part in the insurrection
against the United States, the Visayans of Mindanao did, and we had
some lively tussles with them in Misamis and in Surigao.

It is indeed unthinkable that we should turn Mindanao over to the
Moros. Abandonment of it by us would in the end result in this,
as they would take possession of the entire island in the course of
time. Neither the other wild tribes nor the Filipinos could stand
against them. I heartily agree with the conclusion that we must retain
this island for many years before we can settle the problems which it
presents. It is further true that we might retain it and still grant
independence to the remainder of the Philippine Archipelago, but if
we are to eliminate Mindanao from consideration because the Filipinos
have no right to control the Moros, of whom there are in reality
only about a hundred and fifty-four thousand [332] on the island,
and could not if they would, what about Luzon, where there are in
reality no less than four hundred and sixty thousand non-Christians,
[333] many of whom, like the Ifugaos, Bontoc Igorots, Kalingas and
wild Tingians, are fierce fighters and practically all of whom are
bitterly opposed to the thought of possible ultimate domination