nt food.

Since the American occupation a large amount of time has been
successfully devoted to the working out of a good all-around diet made
up of local products the cost of which comes within the means of the
poor. The next thing will be to get them to adopt it, and there comes
the rub. Incalculable good would result, if we could only persuade the
people of these islands to sleep with their windows open. Thousands
upon thousands of infant lives would be saved annually, if mothers
could be persuaded not to give solid food to their little ones during
the early months of their existence.

In the educational campaign which we have thus far conducted with some
considerable degree of success, two agencies have proved invaluable,
namely the Catholic Church and the public schools. Again and again I
have begged Apostolic Delegate Monsignor Agius and Archbishop Harty to
bring to bear the influence of the Church in favour of simple sanitary
regulations, the general adoption of which was imperatively necessary
in combating some epidemic of disease. They have invariably given me
invaluable assistance.

Through the public schools we reach more than half a million children,
and they take the information which we convey to them home to
their parents. Simple rules for the prevention of cholera have been
universally taught in the schools. When the use of English has become
generalized the difficulty now encountered in reaching the common
people will largely disappear. The truth is that they are singularly
tractable and docile when their reason can be effectively appealed
to. The readiness with which they have submitted to the rigorous
measures necessary for the elimination of leprosy is a lasting honour
to them.

Would the sanitary campaign so vitally important to the people of
the Philippines be effectively continued if American authority were
withdrawn at this time? With regret I must answer this question
emphatically in the negative. We have succeeded in training a few
good physicians and surgeons. We have thus far failed to train
really efficient sanitary officers. What is lacking is not so much
knowledge as to what should be done as initiative and courage to do
it. Until this condition changes radically for the better, Filipinos
cannot safely be intrusted with the sanitary regeneration of their
country. Under American control the population of the islands is
steadily and rapidly increasing. It is my firm conviction that if