rant of the highlander. Let us repeat that, this people form
one-tenth of the population of Luzon: save as we arc helping him,
he can not as yet assert himself beyond the reach of his spear. Shall
we be the ones to mark this as the limit beyond which he shall never
go? Let us not deceive ourselves: a grant of independence means the
abandonment of hundreds of thousands of people to perpetual barbarism.

What would happen if the Islands fell into alien hands of course no
one can tell. But there is strong ground for believing that Japan
would enter a mighty bid for the sovereignty of the Archipelago, if
we ever contemplate parting with it. Now, Japan in Formosa has for
years been struggling, and without success, to control or subdue
the aborigines of the mountains, a people of the same blood as
the Igorots, of the same habits and traits, savage head-hunters,
the terror of all the plainsmen of no matter what origin. It is
interesting to read [51] that "among other measures taken by the
Japanese authorities to 'control' the aborigines was the erection of
barbed wire entanglements charged with electricity," the idea being,
after surrounding a savage position by these entanglements, to have
the troops drive the savages upon them. Many people have refused to
believe that this electrical process has ever been put into effect, but
the Kobe newspaper goes on to quote the correspondent of the _Times_
in confirmation. And a correspondent from Shanghai, writing [52] to
give the truth about the state of affairs in Formosa and to defend the
Japanese against the charge of ill-treating the savages, nevertheless
admits having been shown the entanglements, which, he says, are
"as harmless as any ordinary fence wire during the day, except in
cases of serious uprising on the part of the savages. At night it
is charged, but all the savages know this grave fact." According
to the _Times_ correspondent, some three hundred miles have already
been set up, and the work will be pushed until the aborigines "are
wholly caged." Lastly, the _Chronicle_ reports the Governor-General
of Formosa as fixing a term of three years for the suppression of
the bravest and fiercest tribe of all, numbering 50,000, at a cost of
17,000,000 yen. Now, we have no interest here or elsewhere in what is,
after all, a municipal affair of Japan's. She must and will settle her
own problems as seems best to her, and, if she is driven to "suppress"
her Formosan aborigines, it i