Rare Periodicals

Panorama

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Part of Panorama

Title

Panorama

Issue Date

Volume XIII (Issue No. 8) August 1961

Year

1961

Language

English

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extracted text

AUGUST 1961 75 Centavos Zell your friends about the Panorama, the Philippines’ most versatile, most significant magazine today. (five them a year’s subscription — NOW! they will appreciate it. Subscription Form .................... 1 year for P8.50 .................. 2 years for P16.00 .................. Foreign subscription: one year $6.00 U.S. Name ........................................................................................................ Street ........................................................................................................ City or Town .................................. Province ................................. Enclosed is a check/money order for the amount specified above. Please address all checks or money orders in favor of: COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INC. Inverness St., Sts. Ana, Manila, Philippines CONTENTS Manuel Luis Quezon (Capsule Biography) ......... 2 Morality in our Public Affairs Emilio Abello ........................................... 3 Balintawak or Pugadlawin? Teodoro A. Agoncillo ............................. 10 Science Notes.........:................................................. 20 Lincoln and the King of Siam Daniel Behrman....................................... 21 The Philippines and Japan, Ambassador J. Tsuchiya ....................... 23 Science in the Philippines Dr. Mateo H. Tupas ........................ 26 Exercise for Mental Fatigue ................................ 36 I Send Men to Their Deaths Maj. Antonio Ocampo & Ma. Corazon Sibal ..................... 37 Malaya’s Man of the Moment Crane Chantry ......................................... 39 Short History of the Philippines Press Armando J. Malay .................................. Newspapers in Tagalog Paraluman S. Aspillera ......................... 53 Freedom of the Press Gerardo Sicat .............................. 58 How to Detect Propaganda Clyde R. Miller ....................................... 67 Christ and the Church.(Book Review) Alfonso Pj pantos .................................. 73 Sharpening Your Memory ..................................... 77 Raising Mushrooms Editha O. Moreno .................................... 81 The Lost Atlantis ................................................... 84 He Trains Dogs Adolfo V. Amor ...................................... 85 Fresh Water from the Sea Robert Stevens ........................................ 87 Facts About Typewriters ..................................... 89 Coins of Plastic ...................................................... 91 PANORAMA is published monthly by the Community Publishers, Inc., Inverness St., Sta. Ana, Manila, Philippines Editor'. Armando J. Malay Art Director-. Ramon Esperas, Jr. Business Manager: MRS. C. A. Maramag Subscription rates: In the Philippines, one year 1 * 8.50; two years P16.00. Foreign subscription: one year $6.00 U.S.; two years $11.00 U.S. Single copy 75 centavos. MANUEL LUIS QUEZON A CAPSULE BIOGRAPHY Born in Baler, Tayabas, Philippines, August 19, 1878, son of Lucio and Maria (Molina) Quezon. Edu­ cation: College of San Juan de Letran, University of Santo Tomas (majored in law); Honorary LL.D, Uni­ versity of the Philippines, 1929; University of Santo Tomas, 1936; Georgetown University, U.S.A., 1937; Married Aurora Aragon in Hongkong, China, Decem­ ber 14, 1918; Children: Maria Aurora, Maria Zeneida and Manuel, Jr. Joined staff of General Aguinaldo of the Philippine Revolutionary Army as lieutenant of infantry, 1898; Major, 1899, later Assistant Chief of Staff, Commanding Department of Central Luzon; Admitted to the Philippine bar, 1903, Prosecuting At­ torney (under American Government), Province of Mindoro, 1903, transfered to the Province of Tayabas 1906-1907, resigned; Delegate to the First Philippine Assembly and floor leader of Nationalist Party 19071908; Resident Commissioner to the United States 1909-1916 during which period he succeeded in ob­ taining three vitally important concessions for the Philippines; a Filipino majority leader on Philippine Commission 1913; elected to Philippine Senate from fifth district, 1916, elected President of the first Phil­ ippine Senate, 1916-1935; elected first President of the Philippine Commonwealth, 1935, (after working for passage by U.S. Congress of Tydings-McDuffie Law, ■ granting Philippine independence after ten years, and I acceptance of same by the Philippine legislature). Following the outbreak of the war, after several months at Corregidor planning with General Douglas MacArthur the defense of the Philippines, he was ad­ vised against his will to leave for Washington to set up his government in exile. He died at Saranac, New York, August 1, 1944. Panorama AUGUST 19 6 1 Entered aa second class mail matter at the Manila Post Office on Dec. 7, 1955 Vol. XIII MANILA, PHILIPPINES No. 8 MORALITY IN OUR PUBLIC AFFAIRS Emilio Abello TThe subject of morality ■ seems terribly old-fa­ shioned these days. To men­ tion it in the same breath as government and public office seems almost like mentioning the carretela in the same breath as the sputnik. And yet ethics and government, morality and public office be­ long together as much as a powerful engine and its steer­ ing mechanism. One without the other is a travesty and a dangerous monster. Government is an essential to a peaceful and prosperous community. The functions of government are familiar to us — the maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life and property, national de­ fense, arbitration over civil disputes, legislation, the sti­ mulation, planning and direc­ tion of economic develop­ ment. We take them for gran­ ted as we take the air we breathe for granted, until something goes wrong — an invasion that leaves a city without a government — for a few days and exposes its ci­ tizenry to all manner of out­ rage, looting, theft, murder, rape. Then we appreciate the existence of a government and its functions. In performing its functions, a government must have two things: it must have power and authority; it must have resources of men, materials, facilities, and money. If it would be useful, therefore, a government must be both po­ werful and wealthy. And here is the source of all our headache. Because the power and wealth that a govern­ ment commands are intended to be expended for carrying out its functions in the inte­ rests of the community it has been established to serve. In performing its functions a government must necessarily depend on the men who are placed in public office. In their hands lies the disposi­ tion of the wealth and power' of the government. Through-, out the history of mankind, nothing has proven more po­ tent in corrupting men than power and wealth. It is sad because a man who allows himself to be so corrupted, in the end destroys nothing so much as himself. Shakespeare has said: “Then everything includes it­ self in power, Power into will, will into appetite; And appetite, a universal wolf, So doubly seconded with will and power, Must make perforce a univer­ sal puly, And last eat up himself.” And yet, people are human, and men are only men. The temptations of power are great. The urge to enrich one’s self even by just a little, to use one’s power to benefit a friend who has come bearing gifts, or the friend of a friend; to provide more bountifully for one’s family, to help a re­ lative get a start—these may seem like small things, but even one instance is a begin­ ning, and a man must be strong indeed to turn his back and do his duty. In our society, particular­ ly, and with our traditions, life is difficult for a man in power. How can he refuse a sister, an uncle, a compadre, a ninong? We have, as a nation, reached the highest stage of material progress in our his­ tory. The power that a man in public office wields today is greater than it ever was Panorama before. Government is bigger and wealthier, and provides more opportunities for perso­ nal aggrandizement. There are more government bureaus and agencies, more govern­ ment projects, more govern­ ment revenue. There are more spoils with which to re­ ward loyalty, more jobs to distribute as patronage. If a clerk in a government office has learned how to increase his income according to the speed with which he can pro­ cess papers, think of the op­ portunities that are cpen to his superiors. Our appetites as a people have also sharpened and in­ creased — for cars, for luxu­ rious homes, for appliances, for entertainment — for the “good things” of modern liv­ ing that western technology and production have made more available to the world. To acquire these material goods that we desire so much, we need money. And the de­ sire to get money, to accumu­ late money has become the focal point of our existence. With many, it comes to a point where any way will do, any way — as long as the result is money. Moral senses be­ come blunted and you find people killing for money, stealing to get money, and government officials betray­ ing the public trust to ac­ quire money. We find ourselves, there­ fore, in a society in which the old fashioned moral principles are undergoing rapid deterio­ ration. What is worse, per­ haps, we find that the pub­ lic has come to accept their own betrayal with indiffer­ ence. Our moral senses, it ap­ pears, have become so num­ bed by the regularity of im­ moral behavior, that we have come to a point where oppor­ tunism in public office, dis­ honesty, the violation of pub­ lic trust is the expected mode of conduct. Immorality has become the normal thing, ho­ nesty the unexpected, the ex­ ceptional, the abnormal stan­ dard. We are fast losing, as a people, the capacity for be­ ing aroused into anger by the abuse of public power and the raids on the public treasury. We are fast approaching that most dangerous of national si­ tuations — a state of public cynicism, callousness and in­ difference. Some people explain the shocking situation as an in­ evitable symptom of econo­ mic progress. They explain it, they rationalize it somewhat this way. They say that in order for a country like the Philippines to progress, the commercial spirit must spread among our August 1961 5 people. The term commercial spirit combines many things: dissatisfaction with our pre­ sent livelihood, desire for bet­ ter life, a love for gain, a ha­ bit of measuring values in terms of money, a pride of accomplishment, a desire for success and eminence in so­ ciety. This combination of dissatisfaction and ambition, it appears, becomes a driving motivation for founding new enterprises and expanding bu­ siness, for seeking promotion for hard work and industry, all of which when combined define economic progress. They say that the commu­ nity that does not manifest these qualities is a stagnant community. Progressive farms and factories, insurance companies and other financial institutions do not grow out of a society where people are content with a simple, rural, subsistence living, they say. The acquisitive instinct, which is the essence of the commercial spirit, is a pre­ requisite of economic prog­ ress. Then, they pose these ques­ tions : is not what we call cor­ ruption, graft, anomalies, dis­ honesty in public office real­ ly the manifestation of the “commercial spirit” which has spread like a mist into every nook and corner of our government? If there are processing clerks in the government who will not act promptly on your permit or license application except with a “little some­ thing” to expedite the proces­ sing, are they not merely eva­ luating your need in money and driving a hard bargain to get quid for quo? If grease must be applied along the line to make the wheels of civil service turn more smoothly, is it not becausealong the line, the officials are dissatisfied with their present livelihood, desire a better life and insist on get­ ting a modest share of the gains of other people’s enter­ prise? Then, they cynically con­ clude that, in fact, the dis­ honest official who takes ad­ vantage of his office is mere­ ly an apostle of progress, an exponent of the profit motive, a representative of the com­ mercialized class in which lies the hope of our country. From their viewpoint, those of us who are still fortunate enough to be shocked by un­ seemly conduct are perhaps asking too much in demand­ ing that the public service be preserved from the pecuniary motivation which is prevail­ ing everything else. It is the foregoing attitude towards graft and corruption, that frame of mind, which Panorama makes it really impossible to eradicate the vicious evil of graft and corruption from our government. When people ra­ tionalize immorality, they, in effect, condone and excuse it: and the most tragic part of the whole sorry mess is that such rationalization comes from respectable quarters, from people who should be leading the crusade against it with every arm and argu­ ment in the arsenal of honest men. True, the money-motive is a fuel of economic development. In government, however, it is a corroding agent. Money is far from being the only motivation in private business. But even if it were, the motivq itself carries its own defenses. Private busi­ ness makes its money from the needs and continued goodwill of the public. Inefficiency, dishonesty and incompetence carry their own punishments. Bankruptcy shows no favor­ itism. Its judgment is not stayed by any superior au­ thority. It is as merciless as death. Government service is not subject to the same objective and impartial constraint. The public has no choice but to pay customs duties and in­ come taxes. Importers and producers have no choice but to get permits and licenses. Legislation is the sole prero­ gative of Congress, but gov­ ernment services are some­ thing the community is com­ pelled to use. And, therefore, the civil servant is in a posi­ tion to become a most deman­ ding master. When personal ambition, greed and desire for wealth become enthroned in the ranks of public servants, then the terms which define the spirit of government — “civil service”, “public trust”, — become a mockery. The public cry with Jose Rizal: “My warped spirit is the result of having constant­ ly before me the moral ideal perishing under a potent rea­ lity of abuses, arbitrariness, hypocrisy, farces, violence, perfidy and other vile pas­ sions.” In the last chapter of El Filibusterismo, Simoun is dy­ ing in the house of Padre Florentino. If you will remem­ ber, Simoun was Crisostomo Ibarra in the Noli Me Tangere, the young, idealistic vi­ sionary, who believed that the salvation of the Philippines lay in the education of its people. Ibarra became the victim of Spanish persecution and fled to Cuba. He returns as Simoun in El Filibusteris­ mo, a different man, who seeks to destroy the Spanish rule by corrupting its officials and inducing the population August 1961 7 to revolt. He fails, and he poi­ sons himself; and as he lies dying, Padre Florentino points out wherein his failure lay. “The glory of saving a country”, said Padre Floren­ tino, “is not for him who has contributed to its ruin......... No, if our country has ever to be free, it will not be through vice and crime, it will not be so by corrupting its sons, de­ ceiving some and bribing others, no!....True it is that the vices of the government are fatal to it, they cause its death, but they kill also the society in whose bosom they are developed. An immoral government presupposes a de­ moralized people, a consc i e n c eless administration, greedy and servile citizens in the settled parts, outlaws and brigands in the mountains. Like master, like slave! like government, like country!” It is at the end of the dis­ course, and just before Si­ moun dies that Padre Floren­ tino soliloquizes and murmurs those famous words: “Where are the youth who will consecrate their enthusiasm to the welfare of their native land? Where are the youth who will ge­ nerously pour out their blood to wash away so much shame, so much crime, so much abomination?........... Where are you, youth, who will embody in yourselves the vigor of life that has left our veins, the purity of enthusiasm that has been quenched in our hearts?” I was in the public service for many years and I have seen something of the gradual erosion of our moral values. The process has been cumu­ lative — which leads me to believe that perhaps the youth who embody the vigor of life and the purity of en­ thusiasm are not going into public service. Or among these who do, that vigor and that pure enthusiasm quickly leave their veins. I have, however, not lost hope that the youth will ral­ ly to the cause of morality in government; that they will man the ramparts that will do battle against the forces of evil which are destroying the foundations of good govern­ ment and undermining the faith of the people in it. I have often wondered whe­ ther in building up a civil ser­ vice which shall be pure, we should not after all go back to Ibarra and his vision of education. The English have, perhaps, the best civil service in the world. I think this is largely because of their insti­ tution of the Public School— those really private institu­ tions in which the best fami­ lies of England put their sons Panorama while they are still very young (about eight or nine years old) and where they are educated in the ideals and obligations of the intellectual and moral elite of a country. Here, apart from the flow of daily life and polluting trends of society, these boys are trained to become the lea­ ders of society, members of the class which man the desks and seats of government. I think Jose Rizal would have liked the idea.... What is the role of the wo­ men in the crusade for good government through morality in public affairs? As part of our citizenry, of our politic, your duty is obvious. You can­ not just stay on the sidelines and watch the parade of evil go by. This i£ your country, and public affairs are as much your concern as they are ours. The youth, to which Father Florentino referred, includes you. The letter of Ri­ zal to the Women of Malolos was not intended only for * * them but for all of you as well. As mothers, as wives, nr as sweethearts, you can ins­ pire and motivate your sons, your husbands or friends. You would be unworthy in­ deed of our heritage of Rizal if by your indifference or your apathy in the crusade for good government, you failed to stem the tide of crass materialism that seems to have invaded the ranks of the service; or, if by your, de­ mands upon your men for pa­ latial mansions, ostentatious living, expensive clothes, and costly jewelry, you forced them to live beyond their means and become crooks, grafters and thieves. I am certain that the women of this country wield such spiri­ tual power and influence over the national life that however dark the present may be, the future is not yet hopelessly lost to us. The youth and the women, tpgether, can yet restore sanity in our thinking and, with it, morality in public affairs. * ACTORS The tragedian had just signed a contract to tour South Africa. He told a friend of it at the club. The friend shook his head dismally. “The ostrich,” he explained in a pitying tone, “lays an egg weighing anywhere from two to four pounds.” August 1961 9 Controversial 'Cry' BALINTAWAK or Teodoro A. Agoncillo One of the most thorny problems that Filipino historians and teachers of his­ tory have discussed but not solved is the exact place and date of what has been called the “Cry of Balintawak.” To­ day, the problem assumes more significance in view of the approaching centenary of Bonifacio in 1963. This little study is designed to clarify certain matters and to ad­ vance a theory upon which the officials concerned can base their conclusion regard­ ing the “Cry” of 1896. In a recent article. Profes­ sor Nicolas Zafra tried to bring into focus this histori­ cal problem and succeeded quite well in bringing confu­ sion into it. In my study of the problem, Professor Zafra disagreed with me in my choice of authority on the “Cry” of 1896. My stand has been that Dr. Pio Valenzue­ la, who was present during the “Cry” and who later on wrote his memoirs about the event, was the best authority on the subject. Regarding this choice of authority, Professor Zafra said: In connection with the first, attention is called to the fact that Professor Agoncillo was not quite con­ sistent in appraisal of the reliability of Valenzuela’s testimony. In one part of the book he gave the rea­ ders to understand that Va­ lenzuela “lied” with respect to many things concerning io Panorama PUGADLAWIN? the doings of the Katipunan. And yet, on the ques­ tion of the “Cry”, he gave utmost confidence to Valen­ zuela’s testimony. If Valen­ zuela “lied” with respect to certain matters dealt with in his testimony, what as­ surance do we have that with respect to the “Cry” his testimony is worthy of credence? Professor Zafra’s criticism of my choice of authority does not, I am afraid, hold water. In the first place, he delibe­ rately suppressed my expla­ nation for taking Valenzuela’s testimony seriously. In my answer1 to Professor Zafra’s “A Critique of: The'- Revolt of the Masses,” I pointed out that Valenzuela lied in his testimony before the Spanish inquisitors, soon after his sur­ render early in September 1 “Four -Girls and a Man: A Study in Confusion,’* Manila Times, October 22, 1956. See also The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan (Quezon City, University of the Philip­ pines, 1956), p. 337, Note 1. 2 Professor Zafra has not been fair to me and to himself: he deliberately sup­ pressed the fact that I explained the existence of two Valenzuelas: that of 1896 and that of the 1920’s. 1896, because he wanted to “save Rizal” who, at the time of the “interview” with the Spanish authorities, was on his way to Cuba via Spain.2 the-hands of the Spanish auIn other words, Rizal was in the hands of the Spanish au­ thorities at the time of the Valenzuela “interview”, and Valenzuela thought that he would be doing Rizal a favor if he lied about what the lat­ ter told him in Dapitan in June 1896. What Professor Zafra did not consider or failed to consider was the motive behind Valenzuela’s lying. Was there any bad in­ tention in Valenzuela’s lying? I do not find any. On the contrary, his was a noble lie. I do not think it a sound prin­ ciple to consider a man un­ trustworthy simply because he lied once. Breathes there a man who has not lied? If we consider a man untrustwor­ August 1961 11 thy because he lied once, then who is trustworthy? I de not mean to say that a man who lied once should be consider­ ed trustworthy in all his la­ ter actuations. To be fair, we must consider the circumstan­ ces and the motive for lying. In the present case, Valenzue­ la was obviously giving the Spanish authorities the “run around” in order to “save Ri­ zal”. Should this case of ly­ ing, therefore, be taken as a point against Valenzuela? Professor Zafra thought so; I did not, and still do not. In the second place, Valen­ zuela’s Memoirs, though writ­ ten in the early 1920’s, was based on notes scribbled in 1897. Professor Zafra, in the “critique” already referred to, mentioned the historical prin­ ciple that the farther a man is from the event the less re­ liable he is. He took this prin­ ciple as if it were a law that admits of no exception. The principle, it must be noted, is only a general guiding princi­ ple and does not partake of a law. There are exceptions to this principle and these excep­ tions are based upon three factors: (1) the retentivity of a person’s memory, (2) the degree of his involvement in the event, and (3) his narra­ tive ability. By “involvement” I mean not only personal par­ ticipation in an event, but al­ so the importance of that event to a person. A man may not be personally involved in an event, but if it has a great effect on him he would, ge­ nerally speaking, remember the event with vividness. The fact that Valenzuela wrote his Memoirs many years after the event (the “Cry” of 1896) does not necessarily mean that he was wrong in all or many of his facts. I found, as others who had interviewed him, that Valenzuela had a good memory and could recite, even in his old age, events complete with details. As to degree of involvement, Valen­ zuela was deeply involved in the event, having been an eye­ witness and a man very close to Bonifacio. As to narrative ability, Valenzuela is definite­ ly superior to Santiago Alva­ rez, Professor Zafra’s author­ ity on the “Cry”, who wrote his memoirs long after the event in question. In this con­ nection, Valenzuela, unlike many revolutionists who wrote on the Revolution, did not include in his Memoirs events he never witnessed; all he wrote about were those in which he played an active role. This explains why his Memoirs is short. The historical principle that “the farther a man is from the event the less reliable he is” can only be viewed, as I have 12 Panorama said, as a general principle, not as a law. Let me cite an example. In Dr. Gregorio F. Zaide’s Philippine Political and Cultural History (Manila, 1949), Volume 1, page 386, he says that President Manuel A. Roxas died in 1947. In 1955, I said that Roxas died in 1948.3 Applying the historical principle already mentioned, which Professor Zafra consi­ ders a law, it appears that Dr. Zaide is, in so far as Roxas’ death is concerned, more au­ thoritative than I am. How valid is this conclusion? The records say that Roxas died in 1948. So here is an exam­ ple of how the principle can be partly disproved. All this does not mean, of course, that the opposite is true. What has been demonstrated is that the validity of the principle de­ pends upon several factors and that, therefore, it should not be interpreted or applied strictly as if it were a for­ mula. 3 The Philippinea: A Handbook of In­ formation. Manila, Philippine Information Agency, 1955, p. 25. 4 As shown in the preceding discussion and in the one following, there is abso­ lutely no inconsistency in my stand. In the third place, Profes­ sor Zafra, in criticizing my choice of authority on the “Cry” as “quite inconsistent,” did not take into consideration the two levels of Valenzuela’s testimony.4 One is his testi­ mony before the Spanish in­ quisitors which was given un­ der pressure, and the othe^the testimony in his Merrtoirs which was given freely and,therefore, without duress. Professor Zafra expressed the belief that “if Valenzuela ‘lied’ with respect to certain matters dealt with in his testimony (before the Spanish inquisitors), what assurance do we have that with respect to the ‘Cry’ his testimony (in the Memoirs) is worthy of credence?” In my answer to his “critique”, I pointed out that the circumstances sur­ rounding the testimonies dif­ fer greatly from each other, and that this should be taken into account in determining their validity. The first testi­ mony (before the Spanish in­ quisitors) was taken under duress, while the second (in the Memoirs) was not. One does not have to be a sapient critic to see that the first has little or no value. In the se­ cond, that is, in the Memoirs, Valenzuela, it is obvious, had no ulterior motive in writing down in his Memoirs of the Katipunan activities in which he had taken an active part. I made this conclusion before and I still cling to it. Let me take leave of Valen­ zuela and pay my respects to Santiago Alvarez, Professor Z a f r a’s authority on the “Cry.” Professor Zafra conten­ AUGUST 1961 13 ded that though Alvarez did not * Witness the “Cry”, “there is one * thing about his account that entitles it to utmost con­ sideration and respect.” He said: 5 Professor Zafra doubted whether Orcullo was present during the "Cry”, but General Aguinaldp told me he was. In the first place, it (the account of Alvarez) was prepared, as Alvarez him­ self stated, from notes which he kept of events of the Katipunan of which he had personal knowledge and experience. What he knew of men and events of his time was derived, not from memory, but from notes written contempora­ neously with the events. As between Valenzuela’s facts, recorded from memory years later, and those of Al­ varez derived from contem­ porary notes, it is unwise, to say the least, to accept the first without question and simply dismiss the others without much ado. Professor Zafra is here la­ boring under the mistaken be­ lief that Valenzuela wrote his Memoirs from memory. This is so because he had had no chance to interview Valen­ zuela. In several interviews I had with him, with a friend of mine, Mr. Epifanio G. Matute, as witness, Valenzuela said, quite casually and with­ out even being asked, that his notes were written in 1897 or a year after the “Cry.” These notes, together with the ori­ ginal draft of the Memoirs and several copies of the is­ sue of the Kalayaan, were lost in the fire that gutted his first house in Polo, Bulacan. Even if there is a time lapse of one year between the “Cry” and the writing of his notes, still I believe that Valenzue­ la is more authoritative than Alvarez whose notes about ^the “Cry” could not have been written contempora­ neously with the event sinde no Caviteno, with the proba­ ble exception of Domingo Orcullo, Aguinaldo’s representa­ tive to the Katipunan assem­ bly, was present at the scene of the “Cry.”5 6 I, therefore, prefer Valenzuela to Alvarez, whose knowledge of men and events, at least in so far as the “Cry” is concerned, is secon­ dary. How do we know that the men who told Alvarez about the “Cry” were actual­ ly present? Is there not any possibility that the men who relayed the news, to him re­ ceived it from other sources who may or may not have been present during the enact­ ment of the drama now known as the “Cry”? Did it occur to Professor Zafra to ask him­ self how and where Alvarez got his sources on the “Cry”? 14 Panorama And again: Did Alvarez men­ tion the names of his infor­ mants? Alvarez is silent on these points. And yet, Profes­ sor Zafra preferred him to Valenzuela, who witnessed the “Cry.” I now raise a ques­ tion similar to that raised by Professor Zafra regarding the reliability of Valenzuela: What assurance do we have that Alvarez was not using his imagination too much in writing about events he ne­ ver witnessed? Had Alvarez been a careful chronicler, he would have mentioned the names of those who gave him the information about the events he did not witness. It is not enough for a chronicler to say that he wrote his notes from “contemporary sources” without indicating what these sources are. It is for this rea­ son that I did not use him as an “authoritv” on the “Cry” of 1896. PROFESSOR Zafra again sta­ ted: Moreover it should be no­ ted that while Santiago Al­ varez was not present at the scene of the “Cry”, he could have had good oppor­ tunities for securing infor­ mation about the event from reliable sources. It can well be presumed that he had among his sources one of unquestioned relia­ bility, namely Andres Bo­ nifacio himself. For, as is well known, Bonifacio went to Cavite and, while there, he was in close contact with Mariano and Santiago Alvarez, prominent mem­ bers of the Magdiwan g Council of the Katipunan and closely related by blood to his wife. It is reasonable to presume, therefore, that Santiago Alvarez obtained from Bonifacio himself much of the information about the “Cry” which he wrote down in his notes. If such an assumption is cor­ rect, his version is of utmost importance as a source of information and, therefore, can not very well be ig­ nored. I am really afraid of these “assumptions” and “presump­ tions.” Is there any intima­ tion in Alvarez’s memoirs that Bonifacio told him this and that about the “Cry”? I don’t find any. Considering that Al­ varez wrote his memoirs at the time when Bonifacio was already famous as a national hero, would Alvarez, assum­ ing that Bonifacio really did tell him about the “Cry,” pass up the opportunity to tell his readers that Bonifacio really did tell him about the “Cry”? It would have been to the ad­ vantage of Alvarez to tell his readers that he was that close to'Honifacio. But note that Al­ AUGUST 1961 15 varez is silent on this point. Under the circumstances and disagreeing with Professor Zafra, I did not and still do not consider Alvarez’s account of the “Cry” of any impor­ tance. One more point. Professor Zafra assumed that Bonifacio could have told Alvarez the circumstances, place, and date of the “Cry”, he (Bonifacio) being the most important cha­ racter in the drama and rela­ ted by consanguinity to Alva­ rez. Again, to be critical, what proof is there that Bonifacio had a better memory than Va­ lenzuela, assuming, of course, that Bonifacio did tell Alva­ rez all about the “Cry”? The mere fact that Bonifacio was the founder of the Katipunan and the leader of the rebels that enacted the “Cry” is no proof that he had a^good memory and, therefore, in the best position to tell the exact place and date of the event. Without in the least denigra­ ting Bonifacio, I can state here that he had a poor memory. And here is the proof. After the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897, Banifacio ac­ cused the Magdalo men, par­ ticularly Aguinaldo, of hav­ ing rigged the election in such a way as to favor the latter. Note that this accusa­ tion was made one day after the convention and election. Yet Bonifacio committed the mistake of accusing Aguinal­ do of having personally led the Magdalo men in commit­ ting the alleged electoral fraud. The fact is that Agui­ naldo was not present in the Tejeros Convention and was. at the time, in the barrio of Salitran, Dasmarinas, direct­ * * * DAMAGES The child came to his mother in tears. “Oh mama,” he confessed, “I broke a tile in the hearth” “Never mind, dear,” the mother consoled. “But how ever did you come to do it?” “I was pounding it with father’s watch.” 16 Panorama ing the rebel forces against the Spanish enemy. If Boni­ facio could not remember cor­ rectly what actually occurred and who among the prominent men were present in the Con­ vention the previous day, how could he be expected to re­ member the details of the “Cry” which occurred seven months before? It is for this reason that I consider Profes­ sor Zafra’s “presumptions” and “assumptions” unwarran­ ted. They are, I believe, too daring to be accepted. ON THE speculative side, let us examine the alleged place and date of the <4Cry”, name­ ly, Balintawak, August 26, 1896. From the testimony of Valenzuela, who left Manila for Balintawak on August 20, 1896, as well as that of the late Marina Dizon, the Secre­ tary of the Women’s Chapter of the Katipunan whom I in­ terviewed many times in 1947 and in subsequent years be­ fore her death, Kalookan had been literally bristling with guardias civiles under Spanish officers since the night of August 19, when Fr. Mariano Gil discovered the existence of the Katipunan. Consider the distance . between Kalookan proper and Balintawak. which is approximately five kilome­ ters. It is alleged that the “Cry” took place at the exact spot where the old Bonifacio monument stands. I am fami­ liar with Kalookan and the old Bonifacio monument, and in my study of the geography of the place I surmised that it would have been foolhardy on Bonifacio’s part and that of his men — numbering more than 1,000 — to meet, much more shout, without inviting the at­ tention and suspicions of ,the Spanish authorities of Kaloo­ kan. Would Bonifacio or any­ one in his position, endowed with a keen intelligence, be so rash as to hold a mammoth meeting and to shout at a place so conspicuous and so near Kalookan where the Spa­ nish authorities were waiting for the opportune moment to pounce upon the rebels? Ac­ cording to Valenzuela, in one of my interviews with him, the area between the old Bo­ nifacio monument, the alleg­ ed place of the “Cry,” and Ka­ lookan proper was ^sparsely populated and that it was pos­ sible for a person at a certain place in the town to see the surrounding areas. With this proper background in mind, was Bonifacio stupid enough to hold a “subversive” meeting at a place that could easily be discovered by the authorities? I think not, for Bonifacio, as shown in many instances, was not only observant, but also shrewd. In the circumstances, August 1961 17 the first impulse of any man of intelligence is to hold a meeting at a place far from the authorities. I contend that Balintawak is not far enough from the town proper to make it a safe place of refuge. The fact is, as Valenzuela stated in his Memoirs, it did not take long for Bonifacio and his men to negotiate the distance from Kalookan to Ba­ lintawak. One question that cannot be answered with cer­ tainty is: Why did Bonifacio, assuming Valenzuela’s testi­ mony to be correct, change the place and date of the Ka­ tipunan general assembly from August 24 to August 26, assuming, further, that this latter date is correct? Valen­ zuela could not answer this question when I propounded it to him. Here anybody’s guess is as good as another’s. Personally, I believe the change of place and date was made owing to the propinqui­ ty of Balintawak to Kalookan and Bonifacio, realizing the danger of meeting at such a place, must have changed his mind. Hence the change of place from Balintawak tq Kankong, and from here to Pugadlawin. Bonifacio and his men could not have stayed long in Balintawak, from Aug­ ust 20 to 26, without doing anything, assuming that the “Cry” occurred on the 26th. To stay long in Balintawak would be to invite the suspi­ cions of the Spanish authori­ ties who, according to Valen­ zuela, were “close upon the heels” of the rebels. On the other hand, consi­ der the geography of Pugad­ lawin. This hamlet was, 'and still is, far from the town pro­ per and therefore afforded the rebels a good place of re­ fuge, at least temporarily. The big distance separating Balintawak from Pugadlawin explains why it took the re­ bels two days — from the af­ ternoon of August 21 when they left Balintawak to Aug­ ust 23 when they arrived in Pugadlawin6 — to negotiate the distance between the two points. Since both Valenzue­ la and Francisco Carreon, one of those at the scene of the “Cry”, agree in their separate memoirs that the civil guard closed in on them immediate­ ly after the “Cry,” it is reaso­ nable to suppose that the “Cry” occurred at a place ve­ ry much farther from Kaloo­ kan — and this, assuredly, cannot be Balintawak. This is so because Carreon noted that the rebels, surprised at the unexpected arrival of the enemy, walked pell-mell through the night to Pasong 0 This length of time includes, of course, the stay of more than a day at the yard of Apolonio Samson in Kangkongv 18 August 1961 Tamo. Is this hamlet next to Balintawak, assuming that the “Cry” took place here? Defi­ nitely not. What precedes Pasong Tamo is Pugadlawin. The probability, then, is that the “Cry” occurred in this hamlet, as Valenzuela stated in his Memoirs. All this of course, is specu­ lative. In the absence, how­ ever, of a more reliable source than Valenzuela, I consider his testimony on the date and place of the “Cry” the most reliable because he witnessed the event and because I did not find any ulterior motive in recounting the event. BUT WHY Balintawak’ How did it come about that the “Cry” has always been refer­ red to as that of Balintawak and the date August 26? Va­ lenzuela, in one of my inter­ views with him, said that af­ ter the first skirmish on Aug­ ust 25, the rebels retreated to Balara. The following day, August 26, the Spanish mili­ tary authorities, acting upon the intelligence report of a Spanish officer that there were many rebels at a place known as Balintawak, sent a contingent of infantrymen to the alleged place of rebel con­ centration and finished off two yokels who were on their way\ home. Not finding any rebel, the Spanish contingent returned to Manila. Their Spa­ nish officer, with singular bravado, boasted that a severe battle had taken place bet­ ween the “cowardly” rebels and his contingent and that they succeeded in driving the former to the hinterland. The killing of the two innocent farmhands occurred in Pasong Tamo, but because of ig­ norance of the place the Spa­ nish officer reported that the “battle” took place in Balin­ tawak. Hence the myth of the “Cry of Balintawak” on Aug­ ust 26, 1896. * * * EPITAPH In an Irish cemetery stands a handsome mo­ nument with an inscription which runs thus: “This monument is erected to the memory of James O’Flinn, who was accidentally shot by his brother as a mark of affection.” August 1961 19 SCIENCE NOTES NEW CHEMICAL TREATMENT MAY IMPROVE FABRICS Cotton fabrics that are not only wrinkle-resistant but re­ sist the tendency to “yellow” during laundering may come from a new chemical treatment recently disclosed in the Uni­ ted States. The treatment, said to be superior to commercial cotton finishes, is based on an agent called diglycidyl ether which is “extremely durable to washing,” according to E.W. Jones, senior chemist of the Research and Development Division of Cone Mills Corporation of Greensboro, North Carolina. In certain different formulations it increases tear strength of the cotton. Most commercial finishes use nitrogen compounds which have poor washfastness and “exhibit the undesirable prop­ erty of retaining chlorine, which upon the application of heat, produces tendering and yellowing of the fabric,” the chemist explained. To avoid these disadvantages the finishes of cellu­ losic fabrics must use compounds that contain no nitrogen ca­ pable of chlorine retention. Such a compound is diglycidyl ether, under proper conditions of application and cure, ac­ cording to Mr. Jones. The chemical finish is not yet commer­ cially available. JET INJECTIONS FOR EPIDEMICS The new technique of administering vaccines by so-called jet injections, instead of with hypodermic syringes with sharppointed hollow needles, may provide a breakthrough in the elimination of epidemics that have plagued many areas of the world for centuries, according to Richard L. Towle, a sanitary adviser with the U.S. International Cooperation Ad­ ministration In the jet injection method, vaccine is forced under high pressure through a tiny opening in the injection device. This produces a “jet stream” of vaccine that painlessly penetrates the surface of the skin. The injection of a dose of vaccine re­ quires only a few seconds. In mass immunization campaigns against cholera and ty­ phoid in one country, two technicians treated nearly 7,000 men, women and children in one day. 20 Panorama Mobile library JLlftcok tU fyuj Siam Daniel Behrman Abraham Lincoln, the pres­ ident of the United States who once received an offer of technical assistance from the king of Siam, is the most popular American figure among the readers of a mobile library which travels by po­ ny-cart throught the villages in Thailand. This was reported at Unesco House in Paris by Miss Mary Anglemyer, an Ameri­ can librarian from Washing­ ton, D.C., who completed a one-year technical assistance mission of her own in Thai­ land for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. During her stay at Ubol in northern Thailand, Miss Ang­ lemyer set up a library for the staff and students of the Thailand-Unesco Fundamen­ tal Education Centre and also a travelling library for read­ ers in the villages where stu­ dents put their lessons into practice by using education to raise living standards. Books on Thai folk tales, local history, religion and mo­ rals are the most popular among readers of the mobile library, she said. But they al­ so have a taste for biography and among the most soughtafter of foreign books are translations of biographies of Lincoln. Lincoln, explained Miss Anglemyer, is known in Thai history because of his corres­ pondence with King Mongkut, who took a keen interest in the Western world. The king had read of the lumber indus­ try in the United States and he Iwrote to President Lin­ coln offering three elephants to help in handling logs. Effective though the ele­ phants may be as flesh-andblood bulldozers in the teak forests of Thailand, Lincoln had to decline the offer po­ litely because, as he explain­ ed in a letter, he did not think they would flourish in the clim a t e of America’s north woods. August 1961 21 It was Lincoln’s role as the great emancipator which also accounts for his popularity among Thai village readers, Miss Anglemyer pointed out. Among American books trans­ lated into Thai, biographies of Lincoln run second only to the works of Jack London in popularity. .Dale Carnegie is another well-liked American author, both for his “five-minute bio­ graphies” and his “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Commenting on this last choice, Miss Anglemyer remarked: “I don’t know why ...the Thais certainly don’t need it. They are all charm­ ing.” Thai readers also like Char­ les A. Lindbergh’s story of his flight, “The Spirit of St. Louis”, and those two classics by Louisa May Alcott, “Lit­ tle Men” and “Little Women”. The pony-cart library was sent on its regular monthly circuit of villages surround­ ing Ubol by Miss Anglemyer who found that the ponies were the only really reliable source of motive power on lo­ cal cart tracks. The body-work for the tra­ velling library was designed by Richard Nance, an Eng­ lishman working on village industries at Ubol for the In­ ternational Labour Organiza­ tion. . It can carry up to 1,000 books, but, usually, it goes out with 300 to 400, still a heavy load for one pony. To cope with this, Mr. Nance has designed a two-pony har­ ness for the cart...an idea which is now being taken up by local freight-haulers for their own carts. The cart stops in each of the villages where students from the fundamental educa­ tion centre are working. One man in the village then acts as librarian, issuing books to new readers until the pony­ cart returns a month later with a new load. Miss Anglemyer, who was with the Library of Congress in Washington before taking her Unesco assignment, is an old hand in Thailand. Prev­ iously, she spent five years there organizing and direct­ ing a library system for the United States Information Service. (UNESCO) * * * 22 Panorama Mutual benefits ines an an Jan Tsuchiya Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines I would like to discuss brief­ ly the relations between the Philippines and Japan since 1946, mainly in the political and the economic phases. From the international po­ litical standpoint, the Philip­ pines is a new state, comme­ morating her 15th anniversa­ ry of independence this year. Observed by an outsider, the political structure is democ­ racy where freedom in all phases of life is guaranteed and exercised, and whose aim is the maintenance of peace at home as well as in inter­ national relations. It seems to me that the key nole of the diplomacy of the Thilippines is based on three cardinal principles. The first is full and hearty participa­ tion in the activities of the United Nations in the firm be­ lief that through the untiring efforts and undaunted coope­ ration of the member nations, the United Nations can and must develop into a truly po­ werful world organ for the maintenance of peace and or­ der among the world nations based on liberty and justice The second is close coope­ ration with the free nations, especially with the United States. And the third is to in­ crease friendly relations with other nations in Asia and Af­ rica who are relatively young and aspiring to quick deve­ lopment. If my observation of the diplomacy of the Philippines is correct, I am happy to state that the key note of the Phil­ ippines diplomacy and the key note of Japanese diplo­ macy is exactly the same. My country is, in a sense, a new country also. This year we are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the conclusion of the Peace Treaty. We adopted and have come to love our democratic structure. Our freedom is guaranteed; maintenance of peace and or­ der both at home and abroad is our goal. August 1961 23 The key note of our diplo­ macy is also hearty partici­ pation in the activities of the United Nations, close coope­ ration with the free nations, especially with the United States, and to increase friend­ ly relations with other states in Asia and Africa as mem­ ber states in the same geo­ graphical area. The Philippines and Japan have fundamental political principles in common, and the Peace Treaty and the Re­ parations Agreement have cemented our two democratic, peace aspiring nations toge­ ther. From the economic stand­ point, close relations between our two countries are cons­ picuous. Trade between our two countries has expanded year by year, each contribu­ ting toward economic deve­ lopment of the other. The volume of trade between the Philippines and Japan has ex­ panded by almost ten times in the last 10 years. In fact, Japan is next only to the Uni­ ted States in exports to and imports from the Philippines. Under a policy of dismantling trade and foreign exchange control in Japan, greater va­ rieties of goods will be impor­ ted from the Philippines. For. instance, a prominent busi­ nessman from Manila repor­ ted that Japanese merchants and consumers have great in­ terest in Filipino handicrafts produced here by home indus­ try. About a month ago while I was in Tokyo, I was also asked by so many friends of mine to bring back a kind of Philippine wooden sculpture as gifts when I return to Tok­ yo next time. This particular * * * UNIVERSE MAY BE OLDER THAN SUPPOSED The universe may be a million billion (1,000,000,000,000,000) years old, rather than about 12 billion (12,000,000,000) years old, as many scientists have believed, a United States astronomer has reported. Dr. Fritz Zwicky of the Mount Wilson and Palomar Ob­ servatories in California says that a million billion y^ars is the smallest length of time required for the formation of ga­ laxies. These are the vast stellar systems of which the Milky Way seen from the earth is only one of billions. 24 Panorama SPUN GLASS FUEL TANKS FOR ROCKETS Spun glass threads one-tenth the diameter of a human hair are being used on an experimental basis in the United States to make rocket engine fuel tanks. The principal ad­ vantages are light weight and lower cost. The process used is to spin together 180 individual glass fibers, and then wind the resulting thread around a pattern, bonding the threads together with a plastic resin. When the resin has dried, the pattern is removed. The tanks, which are being made by the Boeing Company’s Aero-Space Division, are 21 feet long (6.3 meters long) and hold 3,100 gallons (11,780 liters) of fuel. * wooden sculpture of a beau­ tifully carved native Filipino woman was in big demand not only for its dexterous artis­ tic work but also for its prac­ tical use for cracking nuts bet­ ween well-developed legs. The future of Philippine ex­ ports to Japan is definitely bright. As for Philippine imports from Japan, those goods which are now imported from Japan but which will be produced in the Philippines in the years to come, will natu­ rally cease to be imported as her industrialization will de­ velop. The Philippines, then, will need more capital goods for her industrialization and our capital goods will satisfy the Philippine demand for their good quality and rea­ sonable prices. Thus the trade between our two countries will surely con­ tinue to expand as it did for the past ten years, because of the geographical propinquity and the complementary na­ ture of native products. However, the essential fac­ tor in promoting trade is mu­ tual trust and cooperation. In­ ternational trade must be for the mutual benefit; a country can not expect to obtain all the profit at the expense of the other. Through the conclusion of the Philippine and Japanese Commercial Treaty, mutual trust and cooperation between our two nations will expand more than ever on a solid foundation and will enable the two countries to deeply intensify their economic coo­ peration and to greatly in­ crease the exchange of their goods for mutual benefit. August 1961 25 Let's be practical NEW DIRECTION FOR Dr. Mateo Tupas This contribution to the symposium on “The Culture of the Philippines” has to do with science. First, in line with the theme of “Mutual Appreciation of Eastern and Western Cultural Values,” it acknowledges that science not only originated and deve­ loped largely in the West but also is already inherent in western culture. As such, science is, in the context of the theme, a western cultural value. Science in the culture of the Philippines as related to the given theme may be discussed from different points of view. Properly, I should describe science in the Philippines — the natural and social sciences, and what have been done here in the study and application thereof—and conclude with a review of what could (or should) have been done and what should be done to make science a characteristic feature of Phil­ ippine culture. However, even a brief dis­ cussion following the above is beyond my competence - I am a natural scientist, a geologist to be more specific, whose training in the natural sciences is as a whole more diffuse than concentrated and whose knowledge of the so­ cial sciences is rather perfunc­ tory. Also, I thought that even at the cost of departing some­ what from the subject, I should raise some questions and by them provoke a con­ troversy. First I raise the is­ sue of the purpose of science in this country, then look broadly into how we may ac­ complish that purpose; final­ ly I reiterate a few evils con­ sequent upon such accom­ plishment. I propose that Science in the Philippines should be con­ cerned primarily with the ad­ vancement of our economic well-being rather than with the advancement of know­ ledge; corollary to this is that 26 Panorama SCIENCE IN THE ORIENT we should leave the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake to the West. The propo­ sal is rendered simply and ra­ ther exaggeratedly for the sake of emphasis, and stated in terms of purpose as the effective result of the scien­ tist’s work is more clearly forecast by his underlying motive than by what he act­ ually does. Equating science with research, the proposal means that we should forego basic or fundamental research in favor of applied and dev­ elopmental research. In the sense of the proposal, applied and developmental research merges with technology and engineering. Before proceeding any far­ ther, perhaps it is best to cla­ rify the terms “basic” (or “fundamental”) science and “applied” (including “devel­ opmental”) science. For the purpose of the following, the distinction lies in the persis­ tent motive of the scientist as he carries out his work—the applied scientist wants to do something about a practical need, whereas the basic scien­ tist wants to know something about a phenomenon. The ap­ plied scientist, in following up his problem, may find himself investigating a phe­ nomenon, but he eventually returns to his original prob­ lem and in a sense terminates his work at its solution. On the other hand, the basic scien­ tist is not led to doing applied science—he deliberately goes into it; had he stayed in ba­ sic science, he could work in­ terminably as one problem leads into another. The reason for the applica­ tion of science primarily to the economic sphere should be obvious — the Philippines is a poor nation, and the ba­ sic reason for this is our low productivity and the low qua­ lity of our products. There is no need for me to expand the idea that much of our ills in almost any field of activity can be traced to ignorance and to our general poverty. There is also no need for me to point out the revolutionary successes of science in increa­ sing wealth. At this point we should in­ AUGUST 1961 27 quire into the state of science in the Philippines and what science here is doing towards the elimination of ignorance and poverty. But first it is recalled that science with something like its present form and methods arose about 300 years back, and that it did not begin to be“ generally utilized as a source of econo­ mic technique until about 150 years ago. Since then scientific and technological activity has been expanding with ever increasing magni­ tude, until in the last 20 years the expansion can only be described, figuratively and li­ terally, as explosive. In the Philippines, however, science and technology did not ar­ rive until about 60 years ago, transplanted by the Ameri­ cans. I would say that it did not take root until the 1930’s, and that its fruits began to be generally available only in the last decade. It appears to me that science here is ef­ fectively eliminating ignor­ ance as a deterrent to econo­ mic progress. Against poverty, however, our science and technology has been inade­ quate. What we know has not been disseminated enough; moreover, we insist on know­ ing some things that, to me. we can afford to dispense with. The situation just mention­ ed is, I think, due largely to the absence of an overall gui­ ding purpose to our scientific activity and the lack of under­ standing of the organization­ al framework within which scientists and technologists can work effectively. This is the consequence of the youth­ fulness of science and techno­ logy in this country, but the situation need not necessari­ ly be so. It seems to me that in the infinite possible direc­ tions that science could take, we have been drifting hapha­ zardly; and in the pursuit by each individual of his parti­ cular inclination, we are not husbanding our scientific and technological manpower, limi­ ted as it is, to the best ad­ vantage. Thus, our science and technology need careful direc­ tion and organization. It has been proposed that our overall guiding purpose be economic productivity, and the argument for this propo­ sal has been briefly discuss­ ed. Now I shall argue that science that does not produce anything is not for us, not be­ cause it is non-productive but because it is directly expen­ sive beyond our means. Right here it can be interposed that without basic science applied science cannot get anywhere, and that one passes into and promotes the other. I think. 28 Panorama however, that for some time to come, the basic science, indeed even the applied science and inventions, neces­ sary to increase our economic productivity, are already available. Too, the pool of immediately applicable know­ ledge and techniques is gro­ wing larger by the day. If we recall that even in the in­ dustrially advanced nations like the United States and Great Britain, technology, even as late as World War I, was based largely on empi­ rical procedures, then we can rest assured that there is all the basic science that we want. As far as the intimate relation of basic and applied science is concerned, I think that the applied scientist has all too often excused his aim­ less ramblings and final inu­ tility by falling back on this truism. I think that for the purposes to which our applied scientists shall address them­ selves, the distinction bet­ ween basic and applied science can be maintained. Now to return to “non-pro­ ductive” science. I am refer­ ring to such things are phy­ sics, chemistry, the earth and space sciences, certain bran­ ches of biology as these are being investigated in the la­ test laboratories. First the cost of the equipment alone is staggering, not to mention the quick obsolescence of such equipment. Second is the cost of training competent in­ vestigators. It is said that fundamental research units to be economical should be com­ posed of at least 100; the days of the solitary researcher, es­ pecially in the fundamental sciences, are over. As a re­ sult, discoveries in science are made only at costs that are astronomical compared to our resources. No wonder Nobel Prize winners have come al­ most exclusively from the West. Finally there is no end to the pursuit of such sciences. And they are advancing so rapidly that the probability is that we shall never catch up. If by some unimaginable ef­ fort we do catch up, our suc­ cess would most likely be on­ ly a duplication of the West’s. Admirable, but at what cost! The inanity of pursuing science simply to be first or to command the admiration of others cannot be overempha­ sized. It is true that these mo­ tives drive scientists to ac­ complishments, but to them the primary motive is to know. Unfortunately, these motives have been raised to the national level, where ac­ complishments are spurred more by pride than sense. On the national level, we only have to recognize that science, like any other cultural value, August 1961 29 is the patrimony of all huma­ nity. As we have received much of our cultural values from the West, let us receive and make use of her science and technology. We do not have to remind the West that it is more blessed to give than to receive. As receivers and users of science and technology, we plainly cannot be counted on in the advancement of funda­ mental knowledge. However we have done something to­ wards transmitting k n o wledge in this part of the world Moreover we have made some unique contributions in the applied sciences. In applying knowledge to conditions here and in conveying the results to our neighbors, I think that we shall have fairly acquit­ ted ourselves of our responsi­ bility in the advancement of science. Somewhere above it was stated that our science and technology need careful di­ rection and organization, the former to define the areas of scientific activity that we shall investigate and the lat­ ter to utilize our resources — money and manpower — in the most efficient manner. The need for both arises from our limited means and the stringency of our purpose. As regards organization, we need a top-level body that shall declare our scientific policies and lay out a system of pro­ motion and coordination of scientific activity and look into the translation of the re­ sults of this activity into eco­ nomic benefits. Having such a broad function, this body should coordinate its work with that of economists and politicians, industrialists, gov­ ernment agencies engaged in science, scientific and research societies, and educators. One of this body’s specific­ functions would be to declare that certain problems need in­ vestigation, with such and such priority and financial support for each, then see to it that the problems are in­ vestigated and under the best circumstances. A d m i ttedly there is danger here of the bo­ dy exercising its authority down to the operational level, say by specifying lines of at­ tack, but such a body would soon doom itself through fai­ lure to secure the support of the heads of institutes and their staffs. On the other hand, the institutes, being as­ signed definite and fairly cir­ cumscribed problems and gua­ ranteed full support, are quite likely to come up with con­ crete solutions. This arrange­ ment is usual in industrial re­ search and should work as well in government institutes. 30 Panorama CONSCIENCE The child had been greatly impressed by her first experience in Sunday school. She pressed her hands to her breast, and said solemnly to her sister, two years older: “When you hear something wite here, it is conscience whispering to you” “It’s no such thing,” the sister jeered. “That’s just wind on your tummie.” ♦ * * Finally, I believe that much scientific work here, although economically useful, has been lost in the files or forgotten in the publications. The scien­ tists’ interest seem to be bounded by the laboratory and the library. Plainly the outlook of our scientists and scientific organizations needs reorientation, and ways and means of encouraging, or even enforcing, the application of science to industry must be worked out. Looking at the matter of organization from another viewpoint, I think that we should examine the adminis­ tration and structure of our scientific agencies individual­ ly and as a whole. Our scien­ tific agencies may be likened to the different plants of an industrial combine, each plant under independent financing and management and opera­ ting under different local po­ licies, yet guided by an un­ seen anonymous interlocking board of directors. The arti­ culation of such a complex enterprise certainly must be designed. But even before this is the problem of financing— e.g., for what and how much shall the private sector share? Then comes the arrangement of priority and allotment of resources. These are but sam­ ples of problems on the na­ tional level, many of which arise because science exists in and as a part of the total complex of society’s activity. Some of these problems, like priority, repeat themselves down the line, until on the working level they are super­ seded by technical ones. On the working level, however, problems regarding personnel deserve just as much atten­ tion — perhaps there is no other field of human activity as science wherein the person is such a decisive factor. To begin with he has to be edu­ August 1961 31 cated and trained, starting from youth. Then he must be given incentives, not only to perform at his tasks but also to develop his abilities to the maximum. Finally he must be provided security. Even in the West, with their genius for organization, the administration and struc­ ture of scientific activity has been the subject of intensive study. Having had but short experience with science, we could .learn from them in this respect. Right here I would like to mention that in my opinion science and research cannot flourish in the usual govern­ ment bureau here. The bu­ reaus. as implementing and service agencies of our gov­ ernment, have evolved orga­ nizational and operational schemes and policies that do not suit the demands of scientific work. This has led to the establishment of insti­ tutes, but even these suffer from traditional outlook and practices. I also believe that except in a few departments of our universities very little research of the kind that I propose can be carried out, and that basic or fundamental research of any consequence will eventually disappear. Again, I think that although our universities have dec­ lared that advancement of knowledge is one of their main objectives, they have not provided the organization­ al machinery to accomplish that objective. I believe that such machinery, in the form of institutes, should be sepa­ rate units, with staffs, equip­ ment, and financing of their own. They would profit from location in campus, and the graduate schools may utilize some of their facilities, but they need not be part of theuniversity at all. Finally, our industrial establishments are not of the kind and/or size that they can or should un­ dertake research. Most of them operate under estab­ lished methods, utilizing stan­ dard raw materials, to pro­ duce well known products. These circumstances, especial­ ly as regards raw materials, are bound to change, thus re­ quiring research all along the line. However, except for a few long-established indus­ tries, research departments or institutes will be un-economical to maintain. The answer to this is integration or com­ bination of industries, some­ thing to hope for but difficult to realize. In the meantime, we can and must look to over­ seas for the science and tech­ nology that we need. In line with the proposal that science here should be directed along certain lines, 32 Panorama I would like to mention some fields of investigation that immediately come to mind. For direct economic benefits in the food and agricultural sciences — the proper use of our various kinds of lands, pedology, crop production and protection, animal production and health, oceanography and fisheries, forestry and forest products; in the earth scien­ ces — exploration for valua­ ble minerals and fossil fuels, studies on how best to uti­ lize them, especially oui coals; in engineering — hy drology and hydroelectric po­ wer, the use of local materials in road building. For indirect economic benefits: in the me dical sciences — nutrition, public health, and infectious diseases in our population. In cooperation with internation­ al programs or because of unique materials and condi­ tions: in the earth sciences— gravitational and magnetic fields, seismology, volcanolo­ gy, tectonics, oceanography, meteorology; in the medical sciences — control of conta­ gious diseases, epidemiology of cancer and degenerative diseases, changing pattern of diseases, especially those due to viruses. It may be noted that except for the earth sciences in the last category, science here is evolving in the proposed directions. However, the fields mentioned are quite broad, and acceleration along more specific areas or sectors is desirable. In the above list, again except for the earth sciences in the third category, sciences far removed from everyday life are absent; this underlines the converse of my proposal. Such studies as atomic and nuclear physics, the structure of chemical substances, cell biology, aeronomies, neuro­ chemistry, nuclear energy, high polymers, and the like are not for us; leave them to the West! These sciences are very much in the limelight today, in fact they are sy­ nonymous with “modern” science, not only in the lay mind but also with the bud­ ding scientists. Being gla­ morous and inherently fasci­ nating, they exercise an at­ traction that is ineffable but for most of our scientists fa­ tal. How many Ph.D.’s in les­ ser esoteric sciences do we have that are now languish­ ing and hopelessly frustrated in teaching and in miserably equipped laboratories? How many more shall come back only to waste their knowledge and talents and degenerate into a title? Again, leave knowledge for knowledge’s sake to the West. We can imagine a time in the future when the benefits August 1961 33 accruing from the application of science and technology to our economy shall be wide­ spread, permanent, and self­ propagating. By then, unless we proceed more wisely than the West, the so-called evils of science, and technology may be upon us. It appears that technological societies are automatically subject to certain ills, and although the West has evolved, and is con­ tinuing to evolve, cures for them, much damage was done even before the ills were recognized. I think that the danger from these ills is doubly great for us — science and technology may be said to be a graft or a foreign bo­ dy in our society. As in an in­ tegral organism, such things require critical adjustments. Of course, what happened in the West is already before us and we can guide ourselves accordingly. However It appears to me that we are already repeat­ ing some of the West’s mis­ takes, and, because of pecu­ liar conditions here, aggrava­ ting them. There is no doubt that the application of science through the machine was di­ rectly responsible for the sud­ den and enormous increase of wealth during and follow­ ing the Industrial Revolution; we have been undergoing an industrial revolution in the last decade and the process is gaining momentum. In the West, wealth and power soon became concentrated in the hands of a relative few; the same has happened and is happening here. Thank God we are being spared the hor­ rors of child labor and the misery of slavery. It took the West about a hundred and fif­ ty years, through the growth of democracy, to reasonably alleviate the situation. Here, we should be doing some­ thing about the matter now, but with our authoritarian tradition and peculiar brand of democracy the situation could be perpetuated. The fact is that although science and technology could provide the means for democracy in all walks of life, they could just as well be used to the contrary as exemplified in the past by Nazi Germany and currently by communist Russia. Finally, take the off-qunted dehumanization of man, his becoming but a robot in a vastly complex society that worships the machine and its disgorgements. Under the im­ pact of science and technolo­ gy much of traditional socie­ ty and the values that have sustained it have crumbled and metamorphosed into no­ vel arrangements and radical beliefs. This metamorphosis 34 Panorama is still in process, but society appears to be already aban­ doning or modifying the phi­ losophies that were born of science and technology. Prin­ cipal of these are the mecha­ nistic and pragmatic points of view. These views are dis­ solving into the depth and breadth of the West’s cultu­ ral heritage. In the more li­ mited body of our cultural ex­ perience, however, these views and allied practices could become monstrous tu­ mors. In the rabid and heed­ less pursuit of the material, we could mistake the means for the ends, the gasp of ef­ fort for the breath of life. In conclusion, we may be reminded of the crowning dis­ covery of science — that science is not the universal panacea. It cannot minister to the spirit, it even augments its burden. The East, with its traditional concern for the spirit, may yet repay the West for its science by evol­ ving a universal scheme in which ethics and science live in one another. ♦ * ♦ COURTESY The witness was obviously a rustic and quite new to the ways of a court-room. So, the judge directed him: “Speak to the jury, sir—the man sitting be­ hind you on the benches” The witness turned, bowed clumsily and said : “Good-morning, gentlemen.” * * * CONCEIT “I suppose I must admit that I do have my faults,” the husband remarked in a tone that was far from humble. “Yes,” the wife snapped, “and in your opin­ ion your faults are better than other folks’ vir­ tues.” ♦ August 1961 35 EXERCISE AS A “CURE” FOR MENTAL FATIGUE What is more strenuous for children at school: a biology lesson or a gymnastics lesson? Is it fair to demand a mathe­ matics test of them after an hour at the wall bars and the ropes, or has the exercise made them too “worn out” to think sharply? Questions such as these have just been inves­ tigated by two psychologists at the University of Marburg. With the most up-to-date methods available they tested the ability to concentrate and the fatigue symptoms of school children in various si­ tuations. Dr. Lienert and Dr. Paterkiewicz tested 300 children, of whom 200 were nine years old, and the others about twelve. The testing procedure always began either with a gymnastics lesson or a biolo­ gy lesson, the latter subject having been chosen in the as­ sumption that the majority of children are interested in it Each lessen was followed by a break of ten minutes. After a gymnastics lesson the break was used for getting dressed; after a biology lesson, for playing outdoors. Then each child was asked to take a written test, designed for as­ certaining not intelligence as such but the ability to con­ centrate. For instance, in a row of letters, a certain num­ ber of them, previously men­ tioned, had to be marked. The gymnastics lessons were carefully planned. Eight minutes of general looseningup exercises were followed by thirty minutes on the vaulting-horse or a similar apparatus, and then by seven minutes of a competitive ball game. The teacher saw to it that most of the children were in motion during the whole period. In the biology classes, the teacher chose a particu­ larly appealing topic (the squirrel) and kept instruction going at a lively pace. Dur­ ing the play break, no stan­ ding around was permitted. The written tests had to be handed in after about 30 minutes. The results pointed very much in one direction: The children’s average power of concentration was about 8 percent higher after the gym­ nastics lesson than after the (continued on page 43) 36 Panorama First-person story I SEND MEN TO THEIR DEATHS Major Antonio Ocampo (As told to Ma. Corazon Sibal) GUILTY or not guilty? This is the problem with which I am beset whenever I have to discharge my du­ ties as the superintendent of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinglupa. This was the same question that haunted my mind on the morning of March 7, 1961. I felt that by reading a death sentence the next day, I would once again be responsible for sending another man to his eternity. But in this instance, however. Providence was generous. It eased my troubled conscience through the instrumentality of a message from the Pres­ ident of the Philippines, com­ muting the death penalty to life imprisonment. Finally relieved from the tension, I slid into my chair to relax; and mechanically the last death sentence I read flashed back to my memory. It was May 21, 1959. Alejan­ dro Santos and Jose Vicente were scheduled for electro­ cution at three o’clock that af­ ternoon. They were found guilty of using a ten-inch ice pick and a sharpened meat­ axe handle with lethal results on one of the trustees of the Bulacan jail where they were confined for multiple robbe­ ry charges. After I read the sentence at seven that fatal morning, I watched these shaven men proceed calmly to the ante­ chamber, the room adjoining the execution chamber, to re­ main there until the appoin­ ted time. They manifested on their faces the same attitude as the other condemned men who preceded them—that of meek resignation to their fate and a resurgent hope for a commutation of their senten­ ces. August 1961 37 Once in the antechamber, these prisoners are granted the privilege of religious as­ sistance. A priest or a minis­ ter is allowed to remain with them in order to perform the necessary spiritual services and to comfort them in their misery. In the case of Catho­ lics, the priest hears their confessions, says the Mass and gives Holy Communion in the antechamber any time before the appointed hour. Another privilege afforded to these men is the granting of any request deemed rea­ sonable. Some enterprising victims, educated in the art of the Epicureans, see to it that their last meal is the most sumptuous ever. A care­ fully ordered meal may con­ sist of steak, fried chicken, adobo, lengua, sinigang na baboy, pitchon kalapati, ice cream sundae, custard pie, bottles of beer and packs of Chesterfield cigarettes. On the other hand, there are those who perform a final humanitarian act, by donating their eyes to the eyebank. At the execution chamber, as soon as the condemned man is seated on the chair, surrounded by eight guards, three male physicians, a male nurse, a chaplain, members of the press, and representatives of the Department of Justice and of the Office of the Pres­ ident, all in their proper pla­ ces, I once again read the death sentence. The minute the condemned victim con­ tracts his lungs, the chief phy­ sician gives the final signal to the executioners in the ad­ joining room, by pressing a button on the floor right next to the hot seat. In the adjoining room or the controlling room are two men, usually ranking officers, stationed at their individual levers controlling the swit­ ches. At the signal, both lo­ wer the levers simultaneously, but neither one knows for certain whether or not it was his switch that charged the hot seat. This precaution is resorted to for the psycholo­ gical stability and peace of mind of the officers assigned. The chief physician pro­ nounces the positive results of the process. The corpse, however, is left in the cham­ ber for twelve hours before the relatives may claim his body. After every execution I wit­ ness, I find myself saying: “It’s all over. I have done my duty. I can now add another star to my chart of accom­ plishment. But, is that where it ends? Am I a better man? Or am I left in a confused state of mind? After all, is it not said that ‘Man cannot be the judge of another man’?” Panorama Asian personality MALAYA’S MAN OF THE MOMENT Crane Chantry Tungku Abdul Rahman is a prince of one of the small Asian kingdoms where manoeuvering between larger neighbours and the propitia­ tion of suzerains was, for cen­ turies the secret of survival. He is the son of a Sultan of Kedah, a Northern Malay State which has known many foreign overlords including Sumatrans, Siamese and Bri­ tish. Abdul Rahman inherits the astuteness, diplomatic skill, and ability to compro­ mise, cultivated in Asian buf­ fer-states. But he adds toughmindedness, and a warmth of nature which transcends clan or race. This modest man — in so many ways an impro­ bable modern nationalist lea­ der — has been effective in the pattern of 20th century Asian nationalist emergence. Abdul Rahman’s artful judgment jockeyed a half- de­ cided Britain into conceding Malayan independence in 1957; his unobtrusive tolerance and amiability are today -the pi­ vot of a delicate multi-racial creation, the Federation of Malaya. Abdul Rahman has a real liking and sympathy for people, which gives him generous feelings irrespective of race. Because of an en­ counter with a leper, he and his third wife adopted a child of Chinese leper parents. Yet, identification with his own race, the Malays, has been unswerving. He remains a Malay traditionalist. On the eve of independence he was much photographed trying on the various uniforms design­ ed for the diplomatic and po­ litical hierarchy in sovereign .Malaya! August 1961 39 YOUNG DISTRICT OFFICER Tungku Abdul Rahman has been unambitious, and a ‘late maturer’. No clue to his eventual future appeared in boyhood years at a Penang English - run multi - racial school. He went at 17 to Eng­ land to be ‘crammed’ for Cambridge. In his recprd as an undergraduate — who fail­ ed in Law — one can see lit­ tle but the familiar figure of the wealthy Asian aristocrat­ playboy who loved dancing, soccer, horse-racing and his Riley sports-car. But he had a capacity to form ties of per­ sonal regard; thirty years la­ ter he revisited the widow of his old ‘crammer’. Abdul Rah­ man’s anger when he was refused rooms at St. Cathe­ rine’s, Cambridge, by a Dean who said “This college was built for Englishmen”, show­ ed a sensitivity to racial slights, which though never portentously paraded, is an important part of the man’s nature. In the 1930’s, for a Malay prince to work as a District Officer was no remarkable thing. But young Abdul Rah­ man seems to have become as interested in bridge-building, padi-planting and village hy­ giene as any youthful “D.O.” conscious of “the white man’s burden”. It was, however, ve­ ry paternalistic, and “from on high” — this princely calling­ in on Malay villagers in their palm-leaved shacks. But it was educative, and because Abdul Rahman en­ joyed it, ordinary peasants found him likeable * . Neverthe­ less none of this activity marked him out as destined to become even a Mentri Besar (Sultan’s First Minister). On the contrary, Abdul Rah­ man as D.O. clashed with British advisers and police officials, which gave him the reputation of a “naughty boy”. It must have been fair­ ly easy for a government of­ ficial of royal lineage to get away with this sort of thing. But not many aristocratic Malays stuck their necks out so far. The classic example of his intransigence towards British officialdom was an episode in 1941, when the Japanese'were advancing into Kedah. Abdul Rahman sabotaged a British order that his father, the Sul­ tan, should be evacuated to Penang. Using his status and uniform as Director of Air Raid Precautions he station­ ed himself at a cross-roads, stopped the Sultan’s car, and — pretending to deliver fresh British instructions — diver­ ted the party to another town. When his brother, the Regent Badlishah, who had not dared to oppose the British decision, 40 Panorama taxed him with this, he an­ swered : “I considered it shameful that my fathei should leave his people.” Foreign military occupation tests character and tempera­ ment. Under the Japanese, Abdul Rahman was no ‘resis­ tance’ leader (very few Ma­ lays were); nor was he later tempted, like a few of his fel­ low Malays, to use Japanese arms-dumps to assert Mala­ yan nationalism against the returning British. He retain­ ed office when Kedah was handed back to Siam by the Japanese. His interest was in the mundane welfare of his own people, not in ‘great cau­ ses’, such as liberation or in­ dependence. He was accus­ tomed to making the best of foreign rule; and he even went on a sponsored voyage to Japan. COURAGEOUS AND RESPONSIBLE But the evidence is that Abdul Rahman used his posi­ tion and his diplomatic flair courageously to help friends and colleagues. On one occa­ sion he took responsibility for the presence of forbidden arms, and so saved a group of his fellow-Malays from exe­ cution. On another he stood up for the peasants of his na­ tive Kedah when they were ordered by the Japanese to re­ settle, and grow cotton, far away from their homes and families. After the war Ab­ dul Rahman was denounced by political enemies as a “col­ laborator”. But the testimony of common people, whom he had helped, was conclusive in his favour. In 1946 the curious, limited ambition that has animated Abdul Rahman sent him to England again, to seek the law degree he had failed to gain 23 years before. His ‘coach’ in Roman law found him more studious than he had been when a young man; and noticed his serious inter­ est in politics. Those were late-formative years. No Ma­ layan, living in the late 1940’s in London, where leaders from India, Burma, Ceylon and Indonesia gathered and conspired, could remain inat­ tentive to the throb of Asian nationalism. This was the pe­ riod when Abdul Rahman first sensed that one day the destiny of his native Kedah would be as part of a sove­ reign Malayan nation. He got a convivial name among his much younger fellow Malay students as the “Black Uncle” who was easy to touch for a loan. He passed his final law examination, and was called to the Bar in 1949. On return­ ing to Malaya Abdul Rahman August 1961 41 was appointed Deputy Public Prosecutor in Kedah. The Malaya in which he now worked looked like suc­ cumbing to the insurrection of 7,000 Communist guerillas, who were overwhelmingly Chinese. Continued British rule enabled the Communists to identify their cause with the struggle against colonial domination as well as with the grievances of the rural Chinese of Malaya. Dato Onn, an elder statesman of Johore State, who had earlier ral­ lied the Malays against the full enfranchisement of the Chinese, now saw the only hope for Malaya in consolida­ ting the races in a bid for independence—in playing the card of Nationalism against Communism. But it was not Dato Onn who pulled off this political gamble but Abdul Rahman who, before 1951, had been merely one of Onn’s numerous followers. For Onn tried to draw the Malay race too fast along the road of cooperation with the Chinese. The Malays, unrea­ dy to jettison their United Malays National Organization (UMNO) for Onn’s all-races Independence Party (IMP), turned to Abdul Rahman and made him UMNO chairman. At that point few people would have wagered much on UMNO’s survival. But Ab­ dul Rahman had extraordina­ ry luck. Almost without will­ ing it he had national leader­ ship thrust upon him. Some local Malay UMNO leaders in Selangor State formed an al­ liance with the local Mala­ yan Chinese Association to fight municipal elections. The arrangement worked, and they deieated Dato Onn’s IMP handsomely. The Al­ liance idea caught on. By 1955 it was organised on a nation­ wide scale. It was the right inter-racial formula. It repre­ sented the highest common denominator of Malay-Chi­ nese political cooperation. And Abdul Rahman, cautious but tolerant, was the right central figure for an Alliance. He continued to grow in po­ litical stature. He learned how to play the Nationalist game — albeit mildly — against the British. In 1954 he even led a political boycott to oppose part of Mr. Oliver Lyttleton’s plan for Malaya’s first elec­ ted assembly. But he retained much of his feudal-paternalis­ tic philosophy. In 1953 he led his followers in a symbolic burning of certain Malay newspapers which were criti­ cising him. REAL PROBLEM IS SINGAPORE In 1957 independence came smoothly and easily to Mala­ 42 Panorama ya. Abdul Rahman was well suited to usher in an arrange­ ment which was a genuine in­ ter-racial compromise, but which left Malaya very much under Britain’s umbrella “in case of accidents”. During the succeeding four years Abdul Rahman’s luck has held. The price of rubber has remained high, ensuring economic pros­ perity. But the conservative Sino-Malay Alliance under Abdul Rahman may not inde­ finitely hold the allegiance of the country unless it can solve the problem of Malay econo­ mic subordination and of Chi­ nese aspirations to political equality. Some of the Tungku’s most recent initiatives — for example his bid for an As­ sociation of South East Asian States, and his demonstrative clash with South Africa in 1960 — have looked a little like ‘stunts’, while the real problem, on his doorstep, that of assimilating Singapore, has remained unsolved. To solve it he will have to lead his Ma­ lays in a great multi-racial venture, fraught with risks. And this is something Abdul Raman did not have to do in 1951-54 when the Alliance idea virtually took shape around, but not because of. him. EXERCISE AS ... (continued from page 36) biology lesson. This outcome was even more decisive when the same test was made with a mathematics lesson instead of a biology lesson. The abi­ lity to concentrate (and the lesser degree of fatigue) was better by 12 percent after a gymnastics lesson than after a mathematics lesson—not to speak of the children’s state after a mathematics test, when the difference was al­ most 23 percent. The children of the older age group were tested in the afternoon, since the experience of teachers is that fatigue symptoms are more easily recognisable then, gummarising their findings, the two Marburg psycholo­ gists have stated that nothing is more suited for improving the powers of concentration than physical exercise, provi­ dedit is well-balanced rec­ reation, and _ not solely com­ petitive sports. Exercise, they say, is the best * way of coun­ ter-acting the natural fatigue produced-By mental effort. August 1961 43 150 years old A SHORT HISTORY OF Armando J. Malay T wenty-three dailies and ■ about 500 weeklies, fort­ nightlies and monthlies keep more than six and a half mil­ lion Filipinos well informed of current events today, not to speak of the contribution to the same end of movies, television, and radio. These figures are a far cry from conditions which pre­ vailed exactly 150 years ago. When the first Philippine newspaper appeared on the cobbled streets of the walled city of Intramuros on August 8, 1811, probably not more than 100 copies were printed of the initial issue. Some were posted on the walls of the stone buildings in the tight, little city founded by Legaspi; others were given away and passed from hand to hand. There was not much to read in Del Superior Gobierno (From the High Gov­ ernment), consisting as it did of several pages the size of a school notebook today. But whatever it contained upda­ ted the Peninsulars in Mani­ la on the events in the home­ land. \Del Superior Gobierno was a weekly newspaper issued by the office of the governor of the Islands. At that time Spain was locked in a war with Napoleon’s France and all sorts of rumors about Spain’s reverses were reachPanorama THE PHILIPPINE PRESS ing the ears of the Peninsu­ lars. Most of the hearsay ac­ counts were bad; morale in the far-flung empire of Spain was low. The governor, how­ ever, got hold of some Eng­ lish gazettes and contrary to what the Peninsulars in the Philippines had heard, the war was not going against Spain but against France. (Spain and England were al­ lies then.) Unable to contain himself, the governor rushed to a printing press (probably operated by the Dominican order) and started putting out a weekly newspaper for infor­ mation. But the gazette did not last long. The Spanish Cortes had passed a law prohibiting the reprinting of accounts from foreign gazettes unless these had been previously approved by the home government. Be­ cause the governor was af­ raid to run afoul of this law and there was no other source of news except the English gazettes, -Del Suprior Gobierno ceased publication on Feb. 7, 1812. The last issue carried a brave promise to resume publication as soon as the dif­ ficulties had been ironed out, but the government paper ne­ ver came out again. The ground having been prepared by the pioneer of Philippine journalism, others followed the trail thus blazed. Colonial journalism was marked by censorship by the state and the church (one and the same thing during the Spanish regime), lack of a sense of news values on the part of the practitioners of the craft, and lack of stabili­ ty in almost all papers of the period. Strict laws laid down in Spain, regulating the output of the press, crippled the Philippine press from the ve­ ry start. No paper could be printed “without authority.” A board of censors, composed of four men appointed by the governor and four ecclessiastics apoointed by the archbis­ hop, were the watchdogs, and woe to any newspaperman who printed anything that displeased a government of­ AUGUST 1961 45 ficial or church authority! Rigid censorship contribu­ ted greatly to the stunting of journalism and to this is at­ tributed the lack of any out­ standing journalist of the Spa­ nish period. Moreover, in view of the instability of the profession, the best talents were attracted to other pro­ fessions. Newspaper work was more of an avocation than a vocation. While the journalists of the period might have possessed a graceful style, their sense of news values was faulty. Opin­ ion was injected into news ac­ counts and some big news events were completely ig­ nored . Thus, newspapers of the period were more literary exercises than chronicles of the important happenings in the country. The first daily in the Phil-, ippines was put out on Dec. 1, 1846 by Felipe Lacorte, an en­ gineer turned historian, and Evaristo Calderon. The paper was called La Esperanza. It was colorless and dull, and was filled with long discus­ sions on historical, scientific, and religious subjects. It las­ ted three years. Insipid though La Esperan­ za was, it served the purpose of blazing the trail for the dailies, for soon newspapers were being published once a day instead of once a week or once a month. Best edited daily of the Spa­ nish period was the Diario de Manila, which started in 1848. It stopped publication in 1852 to give way to an official bul­ letin but was soon revived and lived until 1899 when condi­ tions became so turbulent that the prudent editor deci­ ded to close shop. The staff of the Diario were competent men, headed by Don Felipe del Pan, dub­ bed the “ablest journalist of his day.” By 1895 the Diario had its own correspondents in Spain. Once it spent P3,000 in one month for promotion work. It had a worthy rival in El Comercio. Other papers of the period included El Porvenir Filipino, El Catolico Filipino, Revista Mercantil, Diario de Avisos, Correo de Manila, La Oceania Espanola, and Diario de Filipinas. On April, 1887 there was started a paper which marked the beginning of political journalism in the Philippines. La Opinion it was called and it was founded by Julian 4e Poso and Jesus Polanco. It was the first paper to defy the friars and to campaign for the deportation of the re­ ligious, including the Arch­ bishop. On its staff was a tren­ chant Spanish writer, Pablo 46 Panorama Feced, whose later articles, written under the pen-name of “Quiaoquiap,” irked Rizal and other Filipino intellect­ uals and caused them to write articles in reply. Thp -Eirst Filipino to go into j ournalismin a big way was Pascual Poblete, who, with Baldomero Hazanas. an old Spaniard, founded El Resumon nn JutVT, 1890. The pa­ per became very popular as its IbrmilLij ullemptod to nos. At about the same time that dailies were being estab­ lished. literary men were ex­ perimenting with satirical weeklies. These made fun of the prominent men in the community in verses or in car­ toons. Among the most pro­ minent of these weeklies werq La Semana Elegante, Manila Alegre. Manililla, El Caneco, and El Domingo. There were other papers de­ voted to science, commerce, and the professions, and house organs. Political conditions in the Philippines became worse as time went on, and with the education and travel of ma­ ny Filipinos in Spain and other European cities, resent­ ment against Spanish rule found expression in papers put out by Filipino patriots. Most famous of these was La Solidaridad, organ of the Filipino community in Spain. It was first edited by Graciano Lopez Jaena, later by Mar­ celo H. del Pilar, a brilliant Bulacan lawyer-writer who had fled from the Philippines to escape the wrath of the S p a n i ards. Supported by funds from the home coun­ try, La Solidaridad featured long articles by Rizal, Del Pi­ lar, Jaena, Mariano Ponce and other members of the Propaganda. But La Solidaridad, written in Spanish, was for the intel­ lectuals. There was need for a paper to be published in the native tongue. Bonifacio and his little band of Katipurieros decided to put out Kalayaan. There was only one issue of Kalayaan, whose editor was Emilio Jacinto (he found­ ed it with Bonifacio and Dr. Pio Valenzuela). But it was one issue which struck fire in the hearts of men everywhere. A second issue was planned but the Katipunan was disco­ vered and it was given up. The fire of revolt spread fast and small papers were printed to fan the flames. Republica Filipina, issued by Pedro A. Paterno; La Revolu­ tion, issued in Jaro Iloilo; and El Heratdo de la Revolu­ tion were/Only a few of these August 1961 47 papers that sought to stir the nationalism of the Filipinos. Most outstanding of these successors to Kalayaan was La Independencia, edited by^ Antonio Luna. It became the| mouthpiece of the Filipino in­ surgents in the wars against Spain and the U.S. La Independencia burned with fiery nationalism. Its writers were young but bril­ liant, among them Rafael and Jose Palma, Leon and Fer­ nando Ma. Guerrero, Epifanio de los Santos, and Cecilio Apostol. The story of this paper could be told in one long article and is as thrill­ ing as any chapter in the his­ tory of te Philippine revolu­ tion. But independence from Spain was not to be enjoy­ ed for long by the Filipinos. The U S.-Spanish war brought Admiral Dewey to Manila. Rupture of the hitherto friendly relations between the Philippines and America became inevitable. Many of the papers which castigated the Spaniards now turned their spleen on the newcomers and some were suppressed by the U.S. mili­ tary authorities. One of the papers which did not allow the fire of na­ tionalism to die in Filipino hearts was El Renacimiento. It finally folded up, after a costly libel suit brought by the then commissioner of the interior in the Philippines, Dean C. Worcester. Published by Martin Ocampo, it was be­ ing edited by Teodoro M. Kalaw at the time of the famous libel suit arising out of an editorial titled “Birds of Prey.” The ill feeling between Americans and Filipinos on­ ly died down when the U.S. Republicans were defeated by the Democrats in 1914 and the latter started an era of friendship here by sending Francis B u r t on Harrison. Gradually the Filipino diehards decided to face the si­ tuation realistically and to work for their country’s wel­ fare in order to gain the in­ dependence which American promised “as soon as a stable government shall have been established.” With the conquest of the Philippines, American journa­ lists, some of whom came over as volunteers in the U.S. army, saw a chance to estab­ lish papers in the Islands. Among those which were founded at about the same time that American sovereign­ ty was being established were the Manila Times, the Manila Daily Bulletin, the Ameri­ can, and the Cable—News. First daily in English was the Manila Times, founded by 48 Panorama an Englishman, Thomas Co­ wan, on October 11, 1898. It passed hands many times un­ til it was purchased in the ‘30’s by Alejandro Roces Sr. and later discontinued by him. One time owner of the Ma­ nila Times was. Senator George W. Fairchild, promi­ nent sugarman of Hawaii. At the time Fairchild owned the paper, it was edited by Wal­ ter Wilgus, who came to the Philippines to teach journa­ lism in the U.P. It was sold to Jacob.Rosenthal in 1927. The 'paper was later pur­ chased by Lorpnzo H. Thibautt, general manager of the TVT^Publications, and ferred by him to the TJpf < Publications before his depar­ ture from the Philippines in 1931. Publication was suspen­ ded shortly after. Starting in 1900 as a ship­ ping supplement the Manila Daily Bulletin became a fullfledged paper in 1912. Pub­ lication was uninterrupted until the Japanese occupation when the paper was suspend­ ed by the Japanese military authorities and the Ameri­ cans on the staff were in­ terned. It was revived on Feb­ ruary 25, 1946. Because the early Ameri­ can newspapers in Manila were not sympathetic to the Filipinos’ aspiration for independence, Manuel L. Quezon, then emerging as the leader of the Filipino group, decided to put out a Filipino paper. For this purpose he assembled a group of wealthy Filipinos to capitalize the project. Among these were Juan B. Alegre, Manuel and Tomas Earnshaw, Ramon J. Fernandez, Maria Carmen Ayala Roxas, Anton­ io R. Roxas, Vicente Madri­ gal, Mauro Prieto, and Teodoro R. Yangco. The first issue of the Phil­ ippines Herald came out Au­ gust 8, 1920. Its first editor was Conrado Benitez. Almost from the very start, ,the Herald ran into financial squalls. Because it was with­ out paper supply, Quezon purchased the Cable-News to get its newsprint supply. When Arsenio . N. Luz .be­ came editor, his assistant was Carlos P. Romulo. Later Romulo became the Herald edi~ tor, after editing the Tribune. Alejandro Roces, Sr. wan­ ted to add an English paper to his chain of La Vanguardia, a Spanish paper, and Taliba, in Tagalog. Both these papers had been purchased by Roces from Martin Ocampo, who published La Vanguardia as a successor to El Renacimiento after the latter fold­ ed up due to the Worcester libel suit. AUGUST 1961 49 Roces published the Tri­ bune. The first issue was on April 1, 1925, and its popula­ rity was meteoric. The first editor was Romulo, who had left the Herald, bringing with him to the Tribune the en­ tire staff of the Herald. Later Romulo returned to the Herald during the contro­ versy over the Hare-HawesCutting bill and Fernando M. Maramag became the Tribune editor. The Tribune was taken over by the Japanese milita­ ry authorities together with its sister papers La Vanguardia and Taliba, and the three papers continued being issued as vehicles of Japanese pro­ paganda until the Americans liberated Manila in 1945. Other papers started in the early ’20’s were The Citizen, El Ideal, Consolidation Natio­ nal, La Nation, La Opinion. Papers were springing not only in Manila but also in the provinces. At long last, the value of the printed page seemed to have been realized by the population. War broke out late in 1941. Manila had the following pa­ pers then: the TV * chain, (Taliba, La Vanquardia, Tri­ bune). the DMHM chain (El Debate. Mabuhay, Herald, Monday Mail), the Bulletin, and a number of papers in the provinces. The Japanese sealed the Bulletin. The DMHM plant had been blown to smithereens in an airraid on Intramuros in December, 1941. Following an order from Tokyo military headquarters providing for the consolida­ tion of all newspapers in Greater East‘Asia, manage­ ment of the Tl&jpapers was placed in the hanas of a new corporation, the Manila Sinbunsya, which in turn was supervised by the Osaka Mainichi Company. Journalism sank to very low depths during the occu­ pation. News items were cen­ sored, first by the military, assisted by Japanese newspa­ permen who came over from Japan. Liberation in 1945 saw a plethora of miniscule papers put out by newspapermen who lost their jobs with the bigger papers. Any group of newsmen who could get a hand press and a ream of newsprint could put out a pa­ per and make a neat pro­ fit. This was due to the ab­ sence of big papers and the hunger of the people for news about the war. Most of these post-libera­ tion papers are dead. Although hastily put out, they kept the people informed of the la­ test world news at a time 50 Panorama when the big papers were in­ capacitated. Among these papers were The Victory News, The Mani­ la Post, Guerrilla, Manila Chronicle, Liberty News, etc. However, only a few of them survive, like the Chronicle, Star Reporter, Bagong Buhay, (now Taliba), and La Voz de Manila. One by one, as equipment was purchased, the big pre­ war papers re-established themselves and recovered lost ground. The Manila Times was established to take the place of the Tribune. La Vanguardia was never re-estab­ lished. In its place the Roces family put out an afternoon paper, The Daily Mirror. The Bulletin was also re­ established, as were Mabuhay and El Debate. Philippine independence having been attained in 1946, mainly due to the Filipinos’ gallant defense of democracy, the Philippine press need not campaign for independence anymore. In the Spanish rule, the aim of the press was to en­ hance the prestige of Spain and spread the Catholic reli­ gion; during the revolutiona­ ry period, its aim was to unite the Filipinos against Spain, and, later, against America. After the war the American section of the press quite na­ turally emphasized the then American viewpoint, reflect­ ing the viewpoint of Ameri­ cans who were settling here. This was a conmingling of the Beveridge “manifest des­ tiny” dogma, of direct perso­ nal interest, tempered with the official American policy as expounded in the McKin­ ley instructions. The Filipino section, on the other hand, continued to drive home the principle of ultimate indepen­ dence, as conceived by the people and promised by Pre4sident McKinley, and con­ firmed by succeeding Ameri­ can administrations. During the Japanese oc­ cupation, the press was uti­ lized by the enemy to break down the resistance of the people, although as a whole he failed. With the liberation came independence and the Philippine press no longer has to fight for that ideal. While, in general, the press in the Philippine has kept up with the progress of journal­ ism in other parts of the wory, one aspect leaves much to be desired. This is the pro­ vincial press, the small town newspapers which give local readers the homey touch in the news columns and the points of view on local issues. There are about a hundred provincial papers, most of August 1961 51 which are published once a week. But they have remain­ ed small, for they do not re­ ceive the support that local presses, like those in the Uni­ ted States, for example, re­ ceive. Their readership is in­ significant and advertisers ig­ nore them. As a consequence, the printing facilities have remained poor and their edi­ torial staffs regard their work more as an avocation than as a vocation. The Philippine press has a different mission today. With another ideology threatening to engulf our liberties, the Philippine press has the dif­ ferent mission of preserving hard-won freedom. By edu­ cating the people in the ways of democracy and liberty the press has as urgent a mission today as in the days when it was fighting against paganism or alien rules. BAPTISTS The old . colored man left the Methodist Church and joined the Baptist. Soon afterward, he encountered his former pastor, who inquired the reason for his change of sect. The old man explained fully. “Fust off, I was ’Piscopal, but I hain’t learn­ ed, and they done say the service so fast, I nebber could keep up, an’ when I come out behiri dey all look, an’ I’se ’shamed. So I jined the Me­ thodis’. Very fine church, yes, suh. But dey done has ’Quiry meetin's. An’, suh, us cullud folkses can’t bear too much ’quirin’ into. An’ a man says to me. ‘Why don’t you jine de Baptis’? De Baptis’, it’s jest dip an’ be done wid it! ’An’ so I jined.” 52 Panorama Uphill battle Newspapers in Tagalog Paraluman S. Aspillera T'o the thousands of Fili­ pinos who do not receive the blessings of education from schools, the newspaper can be a college or university in itself. More than anything else, a Tagalog newspaperjfn the Philippines reaches fie common masses and through its editorials and column^'ac­ quaints them with the current news and helps them deve­ lop a sound public opinion. Since 1862, when thaPhiliopines war under the Span­ ish sovereignty, bold attempts have been made to publish newspapers in Tagalog, one of the more than fifty dia­ lects in the Islands. The first Tagalog newspaper was the El Pasig (named after the big­ gest river in Manila, the cap­ ital city). This was followed by the Diariong Tagalog in 1882, which introduced a new era in the relationship be­ tween the, Spaniards and the Filipinos/The newspaper pub­ lished news items purporting to show the friendship that existed between the people of both countries, so much so that Gen. Primo de Rivera, the Spanish minister then, ig­ nored and refused to believe all complaints against filibus­ tering in the Islands that reachdM his ears. This paper lasted x>nly five months. Patnubay ng Catolico (Guide of Catholics) appeared in 1890. As its name implied, it was an organ of the Catholic re­ ligion. Much of the success of the spread of the Revolu­ tion against the tyranny of the Spaniards in the Philip­ pines was due to the Tagalog newspapers that gave birth to a nationalism unparalleled in the history of the Islands. First of these was the Pliegong Pilipino whicn fought the All-for-Spain practices of the “conquistadores.” Other Tagalog newspapers followed: Dimasalang in 1900; KatubuAUGUST 1961 53 san in 1905; Muling Pagsilang (The Revival) in 1903; Ang Mithi in 1910 and many others which became the mouthpiece of patriotic Filipinos who ins­ tilled in the hearts of their countrymen a deep love for their country’s ideals by at­ tacking severely colonialism in all its forms. All these newspapers, except the Mu­ ling Pagsilang (1903-1916), existed for a comparatively short time due to the limited number of readers caused by the excessive governmental pressure on the freedom of speech and the press. The quality, too, of news reports caused by lack of facilities of telegraph or transportation did not insure a long life for these newspapers. The men who pioneered in the printing of Tagalog news­ papers during those turbulent years were the Spaniards Don Francisco Calvo y Mu­ noz and Don Francisco Bueno, Pascual Poblete, who edited the Revista Popular; Emilio Jacinto, one of the foremost Filipinos heroes, who edited the Ang Kalayaan (The Inde­ pendence) in 1896 that prop­ agated the teachings of the fatipunan; Lope K. Santos who introduced masonry in his edited paper Ang Kaliwanagan in 1900 and who was subsequently editor of Mu­ ling Pagsilang and many other newspapers and magazines; Celestino Chavez and Inigo Regalado Sr. who jointly edi­ ted Ang Mithi, and a few others. After introducing the tea­ ching of the Filipiilo language in all schools in the Philip­ pines twenty-one years ago (1940), Tagalog (which is the basis of the Filipino language) is now spoken and understood by a good 75% of the popula­ tion of the Islands. Circula­ tion of Tagalog periodicals and magazines has reached an unprecedented high not only in regions where Tagalog is the native language but also in the non-Tagalog provinces. The young people who receive the help of the schools in learning this language are the most enthusiastic and avid readers of Tagalog magazines and newspapers, either for educational purposes or for pleasure. With the current trend to­ ward nationalistic movements and thinking among the Fili­ pinos the importance of Ta­ galog newspapers cannot be minimized. Those, who for one reason or another, drop out of schools either from the elementary or high school, re­ ly so much on vernacular reading materials for informa­ tion. The thirst for news among the non-English speak­ ing Filipinos is just as great 54 Panorama as the English-speaking popu­ lation. Where reading matter in English is voluminously supplied by different media of information, the non-English readers have to content themselves with newspapers alone. The apparent need to satisfy this hunger for more reading materials in Tagalog has started a move to trans­ late more and more into this language all English infor­ mative materials that in many ways help to change for the better the condition of the common people. For the same reason too, top English col­ umnists, like Teodoro Valen­ cia (Over a Cup of Coffee, Manila Times), see the im­ portance of reaching the masses through his daily col­ umn in a Tagalog newspaper. To a Filipino farm worker who admits to himself his little education and ineffi­ ciency to discuss intelligently with his friends the current problems of his country, the editorial and columns of a Tagalog newspaper are sour­ ces of information which are very valuable to his existence; so that, the editor’s opinion becomes his opinion; what the columnists think are what he thinks; their beliefs become his beliefs; and their criti­ cisms, his criticisms. Here is where the challenge to Ta­ galog newspapers is greatest. These readers must be fed with the best that a journa­ list can offer. It is for this noble mission of feeding the minds of these people with the true facts and unbiased opinion that Tagalog news­ papers should exist. They must not deceive, for the common masses are easily de­ ceived; they must not be par­ tisan for they are very plia­ ble to partisanship; they must give clear-cut appraisal of events, for these people are inadequately prep ared to evade confusion in their thin­ king. In short, each and eve­ ry Tagalog writer must help create an opinion among its readers which can be compa­ rable in soundness to that of their more fortunate brothers —the products of our highest institutions of learning. It is for this reason that there should be more non­ partisan vernacular newspa­ pers in the Philippines. Or­ gans of political parties, reli­ gious groups, and business en­ terprises have no plausible part in the important role a newspaper has in educating the masses. Editors, column­ ists, contributors, must all be agents of truth, for it is only on the basis of truthfulness and honesty that a sound pub­ lic opinion can be created. Gi­ ving common men twisted facts and narrow-minded August 1961 55 ideas is depriving them of their only chance to think in­ telligently, for wholesome ideas, develop a taste for the good, and lastly, improve their moral and social attitude to­ wards life. Don Alejandro Roces star­ ted a new era in Philippine journalism. From 1915 to 1943 the Tagalog newspaper Taliba became the standard bearer of vernacular papers. It started a different type of newswriting and a wholesome feeiing of material security for the writer. The second World War ended the magni­ ficent role this paper took in bringing a most liberal thin­ king to its readers. After the war, Bagong Buhay (New Life, 1946) was born. This was published by the PSP Press owned by Manuel Ma­ nahan and edited by a vete­ ran newspaperman, Dionisio San Agustin. When Manahan launched his candidacy in the 1957 presidential ele c t i o n (against Carlos P. Garcia, who won), he turned over the ownership of the paper to the Manila Times Publications, now the biggest newspaper syndicate in the Philippines. Now named Taliba, it has an average circulation of 20,000. It has a complete staff of edi­ torial writers and reporters. With the only other news­ paper, Mabuhay, Taliba va­ liantly fights the very stiff competition that. English newspapers offer. As long as English is the med­ ium of instruction in our schools, Tagalog newspapers cannot break through. Aside from suffering the serious shortage of newsprint that confronts all newspaper offi­ ces in the Philippines, its big­ gest problem is the insuffi­ cient advertisements that are the lifeline of everyday news­ papers. Classified ads always go to the biggest circulated papers and the Tagalog news­ papers get a very poor share indeed. Another difficulty encoun­ tered in a Tagalog newspaper office is the lack of proficient translators from English to Tagalog. It is not enough that a Tagalog writer be good in his language alone. He must be good in English too, as al­ most all the press releases re­ ceived in the editorial office are written iri English. Trans­ lation then, becomes the pri­ mary need in any Tagalog news office. The problem ari­ ses from the fact that our foremost writers in Tagalog do not know English well enough to translate vividly and freely, and the young people, products of journalism classes in universities, know their English well but are 56 Panorama generally inadequate in their Tagalog. However, the future of Ta­ galog newspapers is made brighter by the government plan, at present being studied and talked about, of gradual­ ly using the Filipino Lang­ uage as the medium of ins­ truction from the lower grades up. And with versa­ tile newspapermen and wri­ ters like Inigo Ed. Regalado, Mabini Centeno, Catalino Flo­ res, Amado V. Hernandez, Manuel Car. Santiago, Domin­ go Karasig, Teofilo Sauco, Eduardo Gregorio and many others, Tagalog newspapers can never fail in their mis­ sion. * * * CARDS A Tennessee farmer went to town and a gallon jug of whiskey. He left it in the gro­ cery store, and tagged it with a five of hearts from the deck in his pocket, on which he wrote his name. 'When he returned two hours later, the jug was gone. He demanded an explanation from the grocer. “Simple enough,” was the reply, “Jim Slocum come along with a six of hearts, an’ gist nacherly took thet thar jug o’ yourn.” * * BATTLE Teacher: “In which of his battles was King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden slain?” Pupil: “I’m pretty sure it was the last one.” August 1961 57 The Fourth Estate FREEDOM OF Gerardo Sicat One of the most effective safeguards to democratic ins­ titutions is the freedom of the press. In our country, it is embodied in the bill of rights of our Constitution. This free­ dom, just like our other funda­ mental freedoms, is the result of the long sacrifice of human sufferings and struggles, of wars and revolutions in his­ tory which culminated only when the bastions of the abso­ lute monarchies in the West were battered. But it did/hot come to a stop where ir ac­ hieved its end, for the free­ dom of the press is/as dyna­ mic as the society of man. It must keep on evolving where society is evolving. It must keep on struggling where so­ ciety is threatened. The highest aim of man as a social being has always been the development of his possi­ bilities in intellect and em­ ploy these possibilities so that he can see, comprehend, en­ rich, and control them in or­ der to achieve a pattern of life most beneficial to him and society. This can only be done if he is given sufficient freedom to work out his pos­ sibilities. The freedom of the press, as a tool for man’s search for his potentialities, can only work effectively when it is used judiciously. Aided by the many technolo­ gical changes that came out as a result of man’s ingenui­ ty and by a growing’ literacy through more and more mass education, the press as ah ins58 Panorama THE PRESS titution has become indeed a powerful tool in molding and swaying public opinion. Bear­ ing in mind this power that has accrued to the press, it is well to examine how that po­ wer, reenforced by the free­ dom it is given, is being jeo­ pardized. Just as the press can be uti­ lized for the highest aspira­ tions of mankind, it can also achieve a reverse effect when improperly used. For the free­ dom of the press today has grown into a glittering gene­ rality among those who would use it as a tool for the preser­ vation of vested and personal interests and among those who are ignorant of the true essence of press freedom. Just as it can be serviceable, it is also as fragile a right that it can be abused. The character­ istic fragility of press free­ dom calls a need for responsi­ ble men who can help use it to the best means of safe­ guarding our democratic ins­ titutions. It is the only way to make democracy worth liv­ ing in, it is the only way where real freedom can be maintained. What we need are men with scruples, with principles. The press as a tool for democracy should promote courage and understanding by pursuing a policy of construc­ tive criticism in all aspects of national life in the ultimate aim of betterment for all. It should never nurture hatred and prejudice, instill fear and consternation and nourish vice if it is not to transform democracy into totalitarianism or anarchy. Yet, although we may think of press freedom as a sacred abstraction of a fundamental right, we are often misled by those who can abuse it. To think of it as an uncondition­ al paradigm, as an absolute model of righteous inquisi­ tions of the right and the wrong, of the true and the false, to think of it as an in­ August 1961 59 violate weapon regardless of the means it is employed is to lead us into a tragic coma that can ultimately destroy the other rights which we as individuals are entitled to. We have seen how this wea­ pon, guised as an inviolate freedom, can halter and ma­ lign people of respectable scruples. We fail at times to look into the heart of the mat­ ter — that sometimes behind a newspaper’s bludgeoning campaigns for or against cer­ tain individuals, groups, or projects, its vested self-inte­ rests are involved even though its position may prove ill to public welfare or to an individual’s personal integri­ ty and honor. The press then can mutilate, graven, or superficialize issues and circum­ stances by culling only events that will ingeniously promote its cause, be it worthy or un­ worthy, and the public which after all has the right to be informed, is given only half­ truths and prejudices. For the press, used judiciously or in­ judiciously, can inform or misinform the public, create a healthy or inadequately no­ tified public opinion, just as a demagogue can turn a mil­ ling crowd into a tumultuous mob or riot. It is not surprising there­ fore to find the press as the hermitage of some newspaper­ man who for need of rice and fish or for desire to at­ tain personal ends and pre­ serve some vested interests over and against public in­ terest, if necessary, utilize it as a means for gaining selfish ends. The cloak of protection that the freedom of the press gives them has the effect of almost complete inoculation from inquisitions of the veri­ ty of their stories. The sad plight of our press freedom i£~ that it can easily be abused than properly used just as it is easier to shy away from, than shoulder responsibility. It can be a serious threat to, rather than serve as a real champion of, our fundamental rights — things that we so often speak about. How then can we prove that there is a substantial need for a group of responsible men who can employ the press that it may serve individual and society to the utmost? We- have often heard of sen­ sationalism in news today. It is said that it takes a lot of courage to be sensational, that the true champions of press freedom are those who can make sensational exposes of graft, corruption, and vice. Yet we are sometimes de­ ceived because this sensation­ alism is. and just what it is, s e ns at i onalism. What is known as news today is just 60 Panorama a superficial part of the real facts, that like an iceberg, as one newsman admits it, its substance and reality are ninetenths hidden below the sur­ face. If we define sensation­ alism as the use or effect of subject matter treatment in order to achieve excited inte­ rest and emotional response, we can easily see why a fact can be superficialized or exa­ ggerated. Then may we be aware that those who pretend to be sensational are those who wili seek, expose, or charge habitually vice and corruption, real or alleged, on the part of public men, pri­ vate individuals of conse­ quence, and certain institu­ tions. This muckraking can be serviceable, but how can we be assured of the true intents of the journalist and the newspaper? It may just be an inveterate case of narcissism and vaingloryl on their part with a public purpose so shal­ low if not totally absent. This should /bning into our minds the tyud essence of press freedom: ///that it is a t^istoeshiph|ld ' oy a group of men wHc) will utilize it with justice to everyone and by the public which has a right of access to facts, to the unbiased account of happen­ ings and which should be/protected from the danger\5f be­ ing filtered information which is dangerous to the Other rights it is entitled to. This is what the American consti­ tution in its ninth amend­ ment, absent but implied in our bill of rights, makes ex­ plicit: That the enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. To assume such, and it is the only fairly logical as­ sumption that men of free­ dom can make, is of prime importance. And yet we find nowadays in our midst a dan­ ger lurking in the very free­ dom upon which we have based our assumption. There is a species of newspaper pub­ lications growing in our coun­ try which are placing the freedom of the press — that glittering freedom which every one often quotes — as a Damoclean sword hanging above our heads. Their special talent is to capitalize on a hu­ man weakness to keep their circulation going, and going ....... thus to make rice and fish out of a commodity vic­ timizing too many of our weaker fellows. Our side walks are decorated with bla­ ringf/ot news throughout the weeks with sex and sex scan­ dals, cheesecake and sex ma­ niacs,, The front pages are bold, but their boldness is merely attributable to the in­ August 1961 61 fectious cheesecake which show bumpy buttocks and shapely legs and all the maxi­ mum that stripteasers can ex­ pose and to the alarm-ring­ ing political and sex head­ lines. The front pages are fun­ ny as they are vexing, face­ tious as they are ridiculous. Once we witnessed a pro­ longed battle of phony busts between two movie act­ resses, in another time a con­ catenation of pictures taken in brothels by brothel pat­ rons. We have been informed of the activities of sex ma­ niacs, Yankees or otherwise, of coeds indulging in petting and necking and vice, and even of a live atomic bomb in our waters! It is said that when Judge Woolsey upheld the right of James Joyce’s Ulysses to be admitted into the United States because “whilst in ma­ ny places the effect of ‘Uly­ sses’ on the reader is some­ what emetic, nowhere does it tend to be an aphrodisiac,” the artist won his freedom. Since then the decision’s ef­ fect, consciously or uncons­ ciously, had branched out in­ to the different aspects of our complicated modern life. It has seeped and taken hold of our bold and sensational jour­ nalists. But whereas the case of a literary artist is to deal with life with factual or fic­ titious materials, the analogy to a certain species of journa­ lists and publishers seems in­ applicable and ridiculous. The prime aim of those who are behind the press should be to preserve and maintain public safety and not to endanger our morals and scruples, which are construed to be a part of public safety. And yet, it seems that in our midst are a group of psuedo-Lincoln Steffenses crusading for pan^ ceas for social diseases in actuality we find them em­ ploying the press freedom as a gadget for commercializing and popularizing a facet of pandemic weakness: se^, If their aim is to rival Dr. Kin­ sey and his associates, they will not only be as useless as hobbled carabaos for field work, but they may prove harmful to society as a whole and pejorative to the indivi­ dual whose morals are lax. Is this sad situation in our press freedom a result of the dynamism of our society, that customs and habits are, like the years in the calen­ dars, always changing? Then p e r h a ps, considering this trend in our press, we have brought ourselves into a state that, in spite of the fact that materially our world is sur­ ging into the path to utopia, where the bull in the econo62 Panorama mic market is still optimistic and our living standards are improving, our morals are downright decaying. No sen­ sible and upright individual, however can and will ever swallow such a contention. He will certainly fight to achieve a levelled standard for his ethics. But to find our press a working tool for ta­ king a position of advantage, just because of a basic human weakness by commercia­ lizing sex, cheesecake, and sensational coverages, be they of social or political insigni­ ficance, with neglect to the more important aspects of na­ tional life is quite discoura­ ging. We have heard of jour­ nalistic ethics and of hero journalists who would main­ tain the high standards of their profession, but it seems that we have not heard of the villains in journalism who are the quislings of our press freedom. Even the unworthy of them seem to have catapul­ ted themselves to a position of godly heroism. Perhaps the main defect comes from the heritage that Anglo-Saxon tradition has ag­ glutinated in our press. Per­ haps, too, that, like the spec­ ter of communism, this defect is taking the form of a uni­ versal phenomenon in every country where there is free­ dom of the press. In the Uni­ ted States, this condition in the press has preceded ours (and we who always like things Americans have fol­ lowed the American tradi­ tion!) so much so that even the crime-busters of comic strips like the ubiquitous Si­ mon Templar, or the Saint, had to battle with corrupt journalists and publishers. In Britain, the spectacle is amu­ sing. Recently, a tabloid daily (so reported Time Magazine) _ passed the one-million mark in its circulation. A photog­ raph of the front page of that daily in the Time report car­ ried a sensational headline (MOTHER QUITS IRON LUNGS TO HAVE A BABY) plus of course a catching cheesecake posed by Sheree North which occupied two whole columns of the six-co­ lumn lay-out. . The sarcastic part of the story is that at this very year, the Britishers are celebrating the centennial anniversary of their press freedom! To us who have al­ ways thought of the British as the ideal concept of the gentleman, to the professor of political science who has al­ ways thought of the British as the most well-informed and politically conscious of all po­ litical beings who read the pertinent news of the day, this must be shocking. For after all, the per capita buying of August 1961 63 newspapers in England is the highest in the world (615 pa­ pers sold daily for every 1,000 population—Time). So, we are not alone. What may still be soothing to us. perhaps, is that in the two countries where the freedom of the press has attained its highest traditions, the United States and the United King­ dom, this phenomenon, this specter of commercialized sex and scandals is deteriorating the very foundation of that great freedom. This is a great. tragedy in the freedom of the press. This is the tragedy in our the freedom of the press. This is a tragedy in our de­ mocratic way of life. What can we do to repair this tragedy? To suppress certain publi­ cations will surely bring an outcry of the violation of the freedom of the press. To do this would be called dictator­ ial and totalitarian, this would be “a throw-back to our freedom of the press,” to aptly quote an exaggerated statement of J. V. Cruz, “which would bring us back to the Dark Ages.” Even now when no case of suppression of the press is involved, we hear of violent protestations from men of the press and the .legislature. Recently the sen­ tence of five newsmen for a month’s jail-term has caused an uproar. Their failure to re­ veal the source of their story about an extortion attempt on Oscar Castelo which Judge Rilloraza believed to have im­ paired his integrity as a judge in the administration of jus­ tice has moved politicians and newsmen alike to cry that it is an outright violation of our press freedom. They assert that the very essence of the freedom of the press Smd journalistic ethics has been damaged and’ that the only way to repair it is to amend our Press Freedom Law by making a newsman liable to court punishment by refusing to reveal the source of his sto­ ry only when the security of * the state and not the interest of the state is involved. The “shock”—or call it what you may like — has driven our press freedom champions in the legislature to express their views. Our honorable Speaker of the House immediately gave his position that the free­ dom of the press is better abused than denied, better misused than clipped. If our Press Freedom Law then is revised, as it probably will be, the journalist will be made an inviolable person, except when the security of the state demands otherwise who can use his freedom either with 64 Panorama extreme judiciousness or as a tool for canards and more canards for absurd, superficialized, and prejudiced sto­ ries which can easily delude an unknowing public. To establish a strict board of press censors to eliminate stories that may be deemed impairing to public interest is but tantamount to suppres­ sion. Here is where perhaps the totalitarian state has an advantage over us in regard to the press institution, for what is good for the state is good for the individual and >the few who control the machinery of the state can alone determine what is beneficial or what is right for the individual. In such states, the very sad abuse of the press which has been mentioned above is absent, but a greater and graver abuse is moored, because the totalitarian concept of the press as a tool for the state is in opposite poles with our concept of free expression and thought, with the very core of our democratic way of life, the glorification and exal­ tation of the individual in or­ der that he may develop his greatest possibilities without restraint. To urge the public to em­ ploy passive resistance seems just to be the most becoming measure. The beauty of de­ mocracy lies in the fact that the individual is exalted and is allowed to follow the course which he deems proper for himself. But we too well know from experience that what the individual may think proper for himself may be hurtful to society. There seems to be no contradiction between the democratic con­ cept of the glorified indivi­ dual and the welfare of so­ ciety. The very reason for the existence of leadership even in democratic institutions is the need for men who can di­ rect the actuations and poli­ cies of the state which indi­ viduals, however exalted and well-intentioned they may be, cannot purportly shoulder. Besides, we have found in our midst persons who knowing­ ly or unknowingly, violate the very laws for which our so­ ciety is made to exist so that we find it imperative at times to give a limit to the acts that the individual may do. But our real need is respon­ sibility among those who can use the power of the press. We would still want to believe that our press freedom be up­ held because, used rightly, it can serve as the tool of our freedoms. We would still want to believe that although be­ ing human we rcan commit mistakes, we have attributes that can help us make up for our misgivings. We would. August 1961 65 still want to believe that the tragedy in our press freedom is just a mistake and that it can be healed by recouping all the loss made possible by that tragedy. We should therefore uphold the freedom of the press be­ cause we believe that those who will use that freedom are responsible men. We cannot accept the tragedy that has lurked that freedom because we believe that the journal­ ists upon which we have bes­ towed the trusteeship of the power of the press can be men of responsibility. Democ­ racy does not mean accepting all the good and all the bad in our institutions; it means attaining the goal where hu­ man possibilities, used in the proper way, will lead the in­ dividual and society to hap­ piness and health. Where the press is inhibited, there is ty­ ranny; where it is abused, there is tyranny; but where it is used for the common good, where it is employed to give unbiased, uhprejudiced, and untrammelled informa­ tion to enlighten the public, where it is used not to hector, halter, malign, or traduce an individual or a group, where it is used as a mfeans of giv­ ing access to ^acts and not to half-truths, there is democra­ cy. The press should there­ fore serve as an agent for es­ tablishing, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes had once called it, “the equality of po­ sition between the parties where liberty.. .begins.” This is the basis upon which our freedom of the press must be founded in or­ der that a tragedy may be recouped and further catas­ trophes averted. ATHLETICS The sister spoke admiringly to the collegian who was calling on her after field day, at which she had been present. “And how they did applaud when you broke that record!” Her little brother, who overhead, sniffed in­ dignantly. “Pa didn't applaud me for the one I broke,” he complained. “He licked me.” 66 Panorama * ' * Tyranny of words How to Detect PROPAGANDA Clyde R. Miller Why are we fooled by pro­ paganda devices? Because they appeal to our emotions rather than to our reason. They make us believe and do something we would not be­ lieve or do if we thought about it calmly, dispassion­ ately. In examining these de­ vices, note that they work most effectively at those times when we are too lazy to think for ourselves; also, they tie into emotions which sway us to be “for” or “against” na­ tions, races, religions, ideals, economic and political policies and practices, and so on through automobiles, cigar­ ettes. radios, toothpastes, pre­ sidents, and wars. With our emotions stirred, it may be fun to be fooled by these pro­ paganda devices, but it is more fun and infinitely more to our own interests to know how they work. Lincoln must have had in mind citizens who could ba­ lance their emotions with in­ telligence when he made his remark: “...but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Name Calling “Name calling” is a device to make us form a judgment without examining the evi­ dence on which it should be based. Here the propagandist appeals to our hate and fear. He does this by giving “bad names” to those individuals, groups, nations, races, policies, practices, beliefs, and ideals which he would have us condemn and reject. For cen­ turies the name “heretic” was bad. Thousands were oppress­ ed. tortured, or put to death as heretics. Anybody who dis­ sented from popular or group belief or practice was in dan­ August 1961 67 ger of being called a heretic. In the light of today’s know­ ledge, some heresies were bad and some were good. Many of the pioneers of modern science were called heretics; witness the case of Coperni­ cus, Galileo, Bruno. Today’s bad names include: Fascist, demagogue, dictator, Red, fi­ nancial oligarchy, Communist, muck-raker, alien, outside agi­ tator, economic royalist, Uto­ pian, rabble-rouser, trouble­ maker, Tory, Constitution wrecker. Al Smith called Roosevelt a Communist by implication when he said in his Liberty League speech, “There can be only one capital, Washington or Moscow.” When Smith was running for the presidency many called him a tool of the Pope, saying in effect, “We must choose between Wash­ ington and Rome.” That im­ plied that Mr. Smith, if elec­ ted President, would take his orders from the Pope. Recent­ ly, Mr. Justice Hugo Black has been associated with a bad name, Ku Klux Khan. In these cases some propagan­ dists have tried to make us form judgments without exa­ mining essential evidence and implications. “Al Smith is a Catholic. He must never be President.” “Roosevelt is a Red. Defeat his program” “Hugo Black is or was a Klansman. Take him out of the Supreme Court.” Use of “bad names” without presentation of their essential meaning, without all their pertinent implications, com­ prises perhaps the most com­ mon of all propaganda devi­ ces. Those who want to main­ tain the status quo apply bad names to those who would change it. For example, the Daily Worker and the Ameri­ can Guardian apply bad names to conservative Repub­ licans and Democrats. Glittering Generalities “Glittering Generalities” is a device by which the propa­ gandist identifies his program with virtue by use of “virtue words.” Here he appeals to our emotions of love, gene­ rosity, and brotherhod. He uses words like truth, free­ dom, honor, liberty, social jus­ tice, public service, the right to work, loyalty, progress, de­ mocracy, the American way, Constitution defender. These words suggest shining ideals. All persons of good will be­ lieve in these ideals. Hence the propagandist, by identify­ ing his individual group, na­ tion, race, policy, practice, or belief with such ideals, seeks to win us to his case As Name Calling is a devise to make us form a judgment to reject and condemn, without exam­ 68 Panorama ining the evidence, Glittering Generalities is a device to make us accept and approve, without examining the evi­ dence. For example, use of the phrases “the right to work” and “social justice” may be a device to make us accept programs for meeting the la­ bor-capital problem which, if we examined them critically, we would not accept at all. In the Name Calling and Glittering Generalities devi­ ces, words are used to stir up our emotions and to befog our thinking. In one device “bad words” are used to make us mad; in the other “good words” are used - to make us glad. The propagandist is most effective in use of these de­ vices when his words make us create devils to fight or gods to adore. By his use of the “bad words,” we personify as a “devil” some nation, race, group, individual, policy, prac­ tice, or ideal; we are made fighting mad to destroy it. By use of “good words,” we per­ sonify as a god-like idol some nation, race, group, etc. Words which are “bad” to some are “good” to others, or may be made so. Thus, to some the New Deal is “a prophecy of social salvation” while to others it is “an omen of social disaster.” From consideration o f names, “bad” and “good,” we pass to institutions and sym­ bols, also “bad” and “good.” Transfer “Transfer” is a device by which the propagandist car­ ries over the authority, sanc­ tion, and prestige of some­ thing we respect and revere to something he would have us accept. For example, most of us respect and revere our church and our nation. If the propagandist succeeds in get­ ting church or nation to ap­ prove a campaign in behalf of some program, he there­ by transfers its authority, sanction, and prestige to that program. Thus we may ac­ cept something which other­ wise we might reject. In the Transfer device sym­ bols are constantly used. The cross represents the Christian Church. The flag represents the nation. Cartoons like Un­ cle Sam represent a consen­ sus of public opinion. Those symbols stir emotions. At their very sight, with the speed of light, is aroused the whole complex of feelings we have with respect to church or nations. A cartoonist by having Uncle Sam disapprove a budget for unemployment relief would have us feel that the whole United State disap­ proves relief costs. By draw­ August 1961 69 ing an Uncle Sam who ap­ proves the same budget, the cartoonist would have us feel that the American people ap­ prove it. Thus, the Transfer device is used both for and against causes and ideas. Testimonial The “Testimonial” is a de­ vice to make us accept any­ thing from a patent medicine or a cigarette to a program of national policy. In this de\i:e the propagandist makes use of testimonials. “When I feel tired, I smoke a Camel and get the grandest ‘lift.’ ” “We believe the John Lewis plan of labor organization is splendid;1fcJ.O. should be sup­ ported.” This device works in reverse also; counter-tes­ timonials may be employed. Seldom are these used against commercial products like pa­ tent medicines and cigarettes, but they are constantly em­ ployed in social, economic, and political issues. “We be­ lieve that the John Lewis plan of labor organization is bad; C.I.O. should not be sup­ ported.” Plain Folks “Plain Folks” is a device used by politicians, labor lea­ ders. business men, and even by ministers and educators to win our confidence by ap­ pearing to be people like our­ selves — “just plain folks among the neighbors.” In election years especially do candidates show their devo­ tion to little children and the common, homey things of life. They have front porch campaigns. For the newspa­ per men they raid the kitchen cupboard, finding there some of the good wife’s apple pie. They go to country picnics; they attend service at the old frame church; they pitch hay and go fishing; they show their belief in home and mo­ ther. In short, they would win our votes by showing that they’re just as common as the rest of us—“just plain folks,” — and, therefore, wise and good. Business men often are “plain folks” with the factory hands. Even distillers use the device. “It’s our family’s whiskey, neighbor; and neigh­ bor, it’s your price.” Card Stacking “Card Stacking” is a device in which the propagandist employs all the arts of de­ ception to win our support for himself, his group, nation, race, policy, practice, belief or ideal. He stacks the cards against the truth. He uses under-empnasis and over-em­ phasis to dodge issues and evade facts. He resorts to lies, censorship, and distortion. He omits facts. He offers false 70 Panorama testimony. He c r ea t e s a smokescreen of clamor by rai­ sing a new issue when he wants an embarrassing mat­ ter forgotten. He draws a red herring across the trail to confuse and divert those in quest of facts he does not want revealed. He makes the unreal appear and the real ap­ pear unreal. He lets half­ truth masquerade as truth. By the Card Stacking device, a mediocre candidate, through the “build-up,” is made to appear an intellect­ ual titan; an ordinary prize fighter a probable world champion; a worthless patent medicine a beneficent cure. By means of this device proDagandists would convince us that a ruthless war of agres­ sion is a crusade for righteous­ ness. Some member nations of the Non-Intervention Commit­ tee send their troops to inter­ vene in Spain. Card Stack­ ing employs, sham, hypocrisy, effrontery. The Band Wagon The “Band Wagon^ is a de­ vice to make us .follow the crowd, to accept the propa­ gandist’s program en masse. Here his theme is: “Every­ body’s doing it.” His techni­ ques range from those of me­ dicine show to dramatic spec­ tacle. He hires a hall, fills a great stadium, marches a mil­ lion men in parade. He em­ ploys symbols, colors, music, movement, all the dramatic arts. He appeals to the desire, common to most of us, to “fol­ low the crowd.” Because he wants us to “follow the crowd” in masses, he directs his ap­ peal to groups held together by common ties or nationali­ ty, religion, race, environ­ ment, sex, vocation. Thus pro­ pagandists campaigning for or against a program will ap­ peal to us as Catholics, Pro­ testants, or Jews; as members of the Nordic race or as Neg­ roes; as farmers or as school teachers; as housewives or as miners. All the artifices of flattery are used to harness the fears and hatreds, preju­ dices, and biases, convictions and ideals common to the group; thus emotion is made to push and put the group on to the Band Wagon. In news­ paper articles and in the spo­ ken word this device is also found. “Don’t throw your vote away. Vote for our candidate. He’s sure to win.” Nearly eve­ ry candidate wins in every election—before the votes are in. Propaganda and Emotion Observe that in all these devices our emotion is the stuff with which propagan­ dists work. Without it they are helpless; with it, harnesAUGUST 1961 71 CARELESSNESS The housemaid, tidying the stairs the morn­ ing after a reception, found tying there one of the solid silver teaspoons. “My goodness gracious!” she exclaimed, as she retrieved the piece of silver. “Someone of the company had a hole in his pocket” * * * CHARITY “Oh, mamma,” questioned the child, “who’s that?” He pointed to a nun who was passing. “A Sister of Charity,” was the answer. “Which one,” the boy persisted, “Faith or Hope?” * * * sing it to their purposes, they can make us glow with pride or burn with hatred, they can make us zealots in behalf of the program they espouse... Propaganda as generally un­ derstood is expression of opin­ ion or action by individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends. Without the appeal to our emotion— to our fears and to our cou­ rage, to our selfishness and unselfishness, to our love.s and to our hates—propagan­ dists would influence few opinions and few actions. To say this is not to con­ demn emotion, an essential part of life, or to assert that all predetermined ends of pro­ pagandists are “bad.” What we mean is that the intelli­ gent citizen does not want propagandists to utilize his emotions, even to the attain­ ment of “good” ends, without knowing what is going on. He does not want to be “used” in the assignment of ends he may later consider “bad.” He does not want to be gullible. He does not want to be fool­ ed. He does not want to be duped, even in a “good” cause. He wants to know the facts and among these is included the fact of the utilization of his emotions. 72 Panorama Book Review CHRIST and the CHURCH Alfonso P. Santos The “Psychology of Wor­ ship” by Dr. Isidro Panlasigui is a well documented study of religious worship compri­ sing six chapters. In the intro­ ductory pages, Dr. Panlasigui says that since this is a scien­ tific study, “theology has been avoided as much as possible.” Instead historical data and psychological principles have been cited and emphasized. The development of wor­ ship is traced from the Paleo­ lithic man through the Neoli­ thic period to Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Ancient Greece, An­ cient Rome, Ancient and Mo­ dern Hinduism, Shintoism, Ancient and Modern Judaism, Islam, and finally Christiani­ ty as we have it today. The act of worship is correlated with mythological stories, and uncommon rituals are des­ cribed in the countries and periods of history mentioned. Worship has two parts, the necessary elements and the accessories. The necessary elements are the object of worship, the worshipper, the sacrifice, and the place of worship. The accessories are the building, the furnishing of the altar, the vestment of the priest, the image, curtain, music, drama, pageant, and other symbols. Dr. Panlasigui says that the structure of worship has un­ dergone several changes in form due to the changes in man’s civilization and culture, but the meaning and purpose of worship have remained es­ sentially the same. These meaning and purpose are clarified in the following statements: 1. Worship is a man’s at­ tempt to come to God with thanksgiving and August 1961 7S gratitude for what God has done for him. 2. Worship is an expression of self-commitment to God, of putting oneself entirely and completely under God’s guidance and control. 3. Worship is a personal communion between man, the inferior, and God, the superior, who, humanly speaking, must be approached like a mas­ ter, a ruler, or a king. 4. Worship is an adoration to God, to pay him a re­ verential homage. 5. Worship is a form of pra­ yer to God — a petition for forgiveness of sins, for strength ' to resist temptations, to overcome difficulties, and to faith­ fully obey God’s com­ mandments. 6. Worship is an expression of a sincere confession of sins and a desire to be a truly repentant sinner. In order that worship would be meaningful and ef­ fective, it must be accompa­ nied by gifts, a sort of sacri­ fice to God, spiritual or ma­ terial. This is to substantiate the act, like the gifts of the three kings from the East who went to Jerusalem to worship the child Jesus. St. Matthew describes their act of worship thus: And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presen­ ted unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and my­ rrh. (Matt. 2:11\ The purpose of worship with gifts, according to Dr. Panlasigui, is objective, sub­ jective, and psychological. Objectively, the act is sup­ posed “to persuade God to accept the gifts given to Him in homage and adoration, in the same manner that the wise men offered their gifts with homage and adoration to the newly born Jesus.” But the author is not sure whether the infinite and al­ mighty God would want to be flattered with gifts and rituals, ceremonies that would flatter a human being. This doubt is supported by many passages in the Bible; one of them is the following: God that made the world and all the things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is he worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and 74 Panorama breath, and all things. (Acts 17:24, 25). Subjectively, the purpose of worship is to intensify the emotion in the devotional life of the worshipper. This is aid­ ed by symbols of God and re­ ligious mysteries. They are the object symbols, the word symbols, and the action sym­ bols. The object symbols are the churches, temple, shrines, ca­ thedrals, images, paintings, altars, candles, candle-holders, curtains, incense, oil, fire, palm leaves, relics, the dif­ ferent colors, bread, wine, the priest, and the minister. The word symbols are word formulas spoken during the ritual. For example, the word symbol for baptism is “I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” The word symbols for consecratiQn are “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” Other word symbols are ‘“Amen,” “God be with you,” “Glory be to the Father,” and the doxology. The action symbols are the closing of the eyes, clasping and waving of hands, bowing of the head, looking upward, genuflexing, kneeling, pros­ trating, jumping, dancing, and shouting. Other action sym­ bols are the mass, sacramen­ tal ritual, procession, pageant, and drama. Psychologically, these sym­ bols clarify the structure, the meaning, and the purpose of worship, and intensiiy the emotion and imagination of the worshipper. These clarifi­ cation and intensification make it easier for the wor­ shipper to understand and in­ terpret the object of his de­ votion. The last part of the book is an evaluation of Christian worship today. Dr. Panlasigui asks: “What are the Christ­ ian churches doing to remove the dangerous cancer of vio­ lative acts from the whole bo­ dy of the so-called Christian social order?” The answer to this question is his own observation: “Ma­ ny church people say that the Church can do nothing be­ cause of the separation of the church and the state. I do not know much about constitu­ tions, but I would like to say that the constitution does not provide for the separation of the religious life from the pri­ vate, social, and the govern­ ment life of any one. It only provides that one’s church be­ lief and conviction should not interfere nor determine the policy of the state or govern­ ment. One can live his reli­ gious life and make his reli­ gion the normative factor of all his motives and actuations in all the areas of his life actAUGUST 1961 75 CHRISTMAS A political boss wished to show his apprecia­ tion of the services of a colored man who pos­ sessed considerable influence. He suggested to the darky for a Christmas present the choice bet­ ween a ton of coal and a jug of the best whis­ key. The colored man spoke to the point: “Ah burns wood.’' * * ♦ ivities. In other words, the President of the Republic can­ not impose his church belief and conviction upon the poli­ cies of the government, but he can make his religion the normative factor of his offi­ cial and private life activi­ ties.” He further says that the passiveness of the Church to­ wards the social cancer be­ cause of the constitutional provision “is only a rational­ ization for its own religious smugness and spiritual com­ placency. .. .The constitution does not prevent the Church from influencing its members to become good Christian ci­ tizens. On the contrary, the state would be happy to see the Church cooperate with it to free itself from all kinds of venalities.” According to Dr. Panlasi­ gui, the Church today is run­ ning away from its main so­ cial responsibility. He says“Jesus’s concept of Christian life is not to run away from evil society, but to stay in it and make all efforts to save it from its evil life. It is for this reason that Jesus came down from heaven, the City of God, to earth, the City of Destruction, in order to save the people from eternal per­ dition. The Church has de­ serted Jesus.” He cites the saying of Je­ sus: “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Then he concludes that, according to Jesus, “the admission ticket to eternal life in heaven is not the knowledge of theolo­ gy nor the participation in rituals and ceremonies, much less the identification of one­ self with symbols, but the act­ ual acts of ameliorating the suffering and miseries of the poor.” 76 Panorama Do you remember? Sharpening your Memory (^)ur aging citizens often complain about poor me­ mory. One elderly man put the problem this way, “As I grow older my memory gets worse in three ways. I tend to forget names, I forget faces ... and let me see now—what is that third thing?” Most of us feel that we star­ ted out with bad memories. Names, faces, dates — all slip back into a morass of unre­ membered and unrelated facts. But psychologists say it isn’t so; they say we started with the ability to remember, but it was just easier not to take the trouble. Memory aid authority Dr. Bruno Furst says “memory is like a mus­ cle; the more you exercise it, the better it works.” There’s no denying the brain has to work to store up specific memories. Man has always tried to devise ways of making that brainwork easier. Probably the first cave woman tied a plait of grass around her husband’s finger to remind him of something. Memory aids dating from early times include objects to keep a loved one in mind. It could be anything from a scarf to a bit of curly lock. The Romans were more spe­ cific. Officers off to war would present wife or sweet­ heart with a ring or pendant carved with the Latin word for “remember.” Modern reminder services are the latest device to jog failing memories. They can help you — for a fee— to re­ member anniversaries, birth­ days, or things like due dates for income tax payments. And, in television, a ‘whole new industry has grown up in the prompting field, where a machine controlled by an off-camera operator reels off the script for many leading performers. But these mechanical devi­ ces are often too bulky * to car­ ry around or too expensive to employ every time you need to remember something. A string around your finger isn’t bulky, but it’s just pos­ August 1961 77 sible you might forget why it’s there. Memory experts say: use that string if you must, but tie it in with a mental image of some sort. Suppose you tie it around your finger to re­ mind yourself to buy a dozen eggs. Here’s where the artifi­ cial memory aid — stored in the brain itself — can help. You are advised to think of the string as hanging over your head holding the half open carton of eggs. If you pull the string, an egg will drop on you. It’s a pretty good bet you’ll think of eggs the next time you see a piece of string. Farfetched? Of course, but that’s one of the first rules in trying to re­ member. Make your mental images unique.. .the more ex­ travagant, the easier to re­ member. One of the commonest mnemonics to help recall a series of names is to combine the first letter of each word so that together they create a new word. Students faced with learning reams of infor­ mation often employ this de­ vice. This is how it works: if, for example, you want to me­ morize the names of the ca­ binet posts in the United States Government, bear in mind the fictitious saint — St. Jadchip. Each letter reprerents one of the cabinets — State, Treasury, Justice Ag­ riculture, Defense, Commerce, Health, Interior and Post. If Mnemosyne had trouble call­ ing her daughters by name, she could have taken a les­ son from classic scholars who commit the Muses’ names to memory by forming the word Tec-Pum-Tec (which sounds like the title of an Aztec dei­ ty.) See if you cite the nine names from this mnemonic. The more strikingly exotic the invented word, the great­ er are your chances of not forgetting it. If you ask some memory ex­ perts to repeat a list, they’ll make a mental picture of the objects mentioned. Each pic­ ture will be associated with a key symbol from his system, so that he can remember any item, in or out of order, back­ wards and forwards. Here are some hints for re­ membering. Again the trick is mainly taking the trouble to remember. When introduced to someone, an effort has to be made to hear the name, or have it repeated. Our experts advise that this request will flatter rather than offend. Spell the name out. If the name’s odd, mention it. It it’s like someone else’s name, make a note of that fact. Re­ peat the name during conver­ sation. then use it in saying good-bye—and the chances of 78 Panorama remembering it are much bet­ ter. Shoppers generally have to remember 1 ong lists. That’s where mnemonics come in. Mnemonics, or mnemotechny or artificial system of memo­ ry, have been in use at least since the early Greek civili­ zation—centuries ago. In fact, the word “mnemonic” is deri­ ved from Mnemosyne, god­ dess of memory who probab­ ly had to have a pretty good memory to remember the names of her nine famous daughters — Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhmnia, Terpsichore, Tha­ lia and Urania. The first recorded memory aid seems to have been a sys­ tem set up by a Greek poet of the late sixth century B.C. named Simonides. The user of this system always remem­ bers, in a certain order, the parts of a room entirely fami­ liar to him. The left side of the entrance door might be number one, the top of the door number two, the right side number three, and so on. To apply this to a list the user makes a mental picture of the room in order. For instance, five pounds of sugar will be placed to the left of the en­ trance door or in number one position, etc. In this way, he can recall them anytime by a quick mental look at where they are placed. Memory was the subject of one of the earliest books prin­ ted on movable type. Jacobus Publicius, a Florentine, pub­ lished “Ars Memorativa” in 1470. It contained rude wood cuts that illustrated Simoni­ des’ system. It went a step further and offered symbols for the alphabet, so forming another way of remembering. Twenty years later in Padua, Professor Pietro Ravenna published a system which used “the most beautiful maidens his mind could con­ ceive” as keys for the items on his list. He figured such examples of beauty could not fail to excite the memory of scholars in those days before coeds. In 1523, Laurenz Fries gave advice in a work titled “How Memory can be Wonderfully Strengthened”; “Partake of roast fowls, small birds or young hares for dinner, then apples or nuts for dessert. You may enjoy good red wine, otherwise be sober and moderate.” In 1661 a tract by one John Willis suggested drowning “all unnecessary thoughts in oblivion.” And in 1697, Marius D’ Assigny wrote in “The Art of Memory”: “They say that Shavings of Ivory corroborate Brain and Memory; as likewise a Grain August 1961 79 of White Frankincense taken in a Draught of Liquor when we go to Bed dries up the of­ fensive Humours of the Brain. And it has been observed that the Application of Gold to the Area which divides the Seat of Memory from other Clos.ets of the Brain strengthens the Weakness of the Head, drives away all Pain, and hath a wonderful effect upon the Fa­ culty of Memory.” As for faces—most of the experts agree that the name of a person should in some way be tied to some facial characteristic. Here’s were in­ genuity comes in again; the more ridiculous the associa­ tion, the easier it will be to remember. (Does the Mr. Bro­ wer you have just met have prominent eyebrows? Can you picture Mr. Cook cooking a meal? Does the Mr. Young who has been introduced to you have a young face? Ima­ gine Mr. Chase on a fox hunt; Mr. Knight in a suit of armor; Mr. King, enthroned). Every­ one in the world has some dis­ tinguishing marks such as an odd hairline or the lack of one; perhaps the shape of a head or the walking gait is outstanding for som.e reason. And, say the better memo­ ry people, if you slip once in a while, don’t be discouraged. One of the top-money-makers in television quiz-games, a woman who kept the isolation booths busy in more than one return engagement, was ask­ ed to appear on another tele­ vision show to explain how she did it. She said she’d be glad to — and full arrange­ ments were made. On the date set, her agent showed up early at the television stu­ dio, with assurances she’d be there at any moment. As prog­ ram time approached, the as­ surances became less frequent —and finally he rushed to the phone. He came back crestfallen. The lady with the wonderful memory—who had won thou­ sands of dollars by remember­ ing fact after fact—had for­ gotten all about her scheduled appearance. 80 Panorama * * * ACQUAINTANCE The Scotchman who ran a livery was asked by a tourist how many the carryall would hold. “Fower generally,” was the answer. “Likely sax, if they're weel acquaint.” It's easy! Raising Mushrooms Editha O. Moreno Mushroom raising is today one of the fastest growing in­ dustries in the Philippines. This may be attributed to the fact that mushrooms are ea­ sy to grow. “I am making money from practically nothing,” confess­ ed Carmelito Lazatin of An­ geles, Pampanga in an inter­ view. Mr. Lazatin quit school to devote his time to mush­ room raising. In the course of the interview, Mr. Lazatin gave pointers on how to raise mushrooms. In the absence of the plant­ ing material known as pure culture spawn which is pre­ pared in the laboratory, the so-called “virgin spawn” or natural spawn is used. The “virgin” or natural spawn is obtained from rice straw or banana stalk piles, with mush­ rooms or “cabuteng saging” growing on them. Mushrooms grow on banana trunks, rice straw, or abaca bagasse, since these contain mycelia — thread-like growth and spores which produce the mush­ rooms. Materials for Mushroom Beds The materials commonly used for mushroom beds are rice straw, banana trunks, abaca and sugar cane bagas­ se, cotton wastes and old jute sacks. These materials can be used singly or in combination. Preparation of the Beds Select a shaded and very moist place for the location of the beds. In abaca and ba­ nana plantations, mushroom beds may be made in the plantation itself, for mush­ room cultivation is an ideal combination with the bana­ na or abaca plantation be­ cause of the abundant supply of mushroom bed materials, besides being a source of na­ tural virgin spawn. The site of the beds should be free from strong winds or draft, direct sunshine or rain. Where this conditions are not found, simple nipa or co­ gon thatch roofs or sheds should be built over the beds. Beds are prepared as in or­ dinary garden plots, raising August 1961 81 the beds about 15 centime­ ters from the surface by using ordinary garden soil. The size of the bed depends upon the available space or as desired. When straw materials are used as mushroom beds, they must be soaked in water for 1 to 2 days before using them. The next step would be to spread them on the plots, ma­ king a layer of 5 centimeters thick. Watering of the prepared beds is necessary. Plant the spawn materials by spreading them in a layer of 6 centimeters thick or more on each plot. A thicker layer of spawning materials gives a good musroom crop. Add ano­ ther layer of wet rice straw or mushroom bed materials 15 centimeters thick on the top of this layer of spawn­ ing materials. At this height make a second planting by laying another layer of spaw­ ning materials 6 centimeters thick or more on top. Then, finally on the top, add more rice straw until the bed has the total height of 80 centime­ ters. Press the rice straw to make the bed firm and finish the top cover in concave shape to allow water and moisture to drip down the bed’s surface. In the case of the other mushroom bed ma­ terials such as banana trunks, abaca, ramie, or sugar cane bagasse and jute sacks, the process of planting the spawn­ materials and the preparation of the beds remain practical­ ly the same. Only less of these materials is used and the beds are lower than those prepared with rice straw. During rainy days, the beds should be protected. Too much water and rain is ve­ ry destructive to mushroom growth. The best condition for the growth of this part is a very moist condition of the surroundings. During the dry season, it is better to dig a canal about 30 centimeters wide and 20 centimeters deep around the beds, leaving a bank of 30 to 40 centimeters away from the base of the beds to the canal. This canal will keep the soil moist, and may be used as a source of water for sprinkling the tops of the beds. Once you succeed in raising good crops in one or more mushroom beds, you may start new beds, Mr. Lazatin said. Diseases and Pests Mushrooms are subject to numerous diseases and pests. Such pests like mites, millip e d s, grubs, earthworms, mice and lizards are the greatest enemies of mush­ rooms. Use of tobacco dust, soil sterilization and fencing the mushroom fields with 82 Panorama wire mesh will minimize and check the damage caused by these enemies. Harvesting Mushrooms start develop­ ing as tiny spherical growths of mycelia. At this stage one can not easily notice them. From the mycelia to tiny round bodies or button stage to the popular umbrella shape, the growth constitutes a chain development. Banana or rice straw mushrooms may be harvested as soon as they emerge from the egg-shaped sack or before they assume the fully open umbrella shape. In any case, the har­ vesting should be done with great care, otherwise the growth in the beds will be adversely affected. Do not harvest by pulling the mush­ rooms. This method destroys the growth of the young mushrooms at the base of the plant and the mycelial growth is disturbed. Use a sharp knife to cut the base of the stem of the mushrooms. Stumps should not be left because they rot and they become breeding places for diseases. Mushroom beds will produce crops as long as the food ma­ terials in them can support good growth of the mush­ room. At present local mushrooms are sold at P3 to P4 a kilo. A plot one meter wide and one meter high can produce 25 to 30 kilos of mushrooms in two months. From his 18 plots Mr. La­ zatin sells around P1300 worth of mushrooms every harvest time, that is, if the harvest is good. This must be the rea­ son why he quit school. ♦ * * DEAD MEN’S SHOES When a certain officer of the governor’s staff died, there were many applicants for the post, and some were indecently impatient. While the dead colonel was awaiting burial, one aspirant buttonholed the governor, asking: “Would you object to my taking the place of the colonel?" “Not at all," the governor replied tartly. “See the undertaker.” August 1961 83 New theory THE LOST ATLANTIS Prof. Angelos Galonopoulos, pro­ fessor of Seismology at Athens Uni­ versity, who recently attended the International Geophysical Congress at Helsinki, made a communication on the subject of "Atlantis", the socalled 'Submerged Continent' of an­ cient myth. Previous writers have located the lost continent at the bottom of the Atlantic or beneath the Sahara. Prof. Galonopoulos, basting him­ self on the very detailed account of Atlantis 50 years ago in the neigh­ bourhood of the Aegean island of Santorin, the ancient Thera, con­ cludes that Atlantis, which according to Plato, was a State composed of 10 islands, including Crete, covered the whole area between Santorin and Crete. According to Plato's description, which was based on information given by the Egyptian priests of Sais to the Athenian lawgiver Solon in the 7th century B.C., the capital of At­ lantis was situated on a lofty emi­ nence which was connected with the sea by moats and a deep-sea canal. Part of this eminence still projects above the sea between Santorin and Therasia in the form of an island called Nea Kaymeni. Prof. Galonopoulos says that the above description tallies with the soundings taken between the islands of Santorin and Theasia by the Bri­ tish Admiralty and which served for the construction of the geophysical map of Santorin by Prof. Trikalinos in 1916. The distances mentioned by Plato corresponded to the measurements of the British Admiralty. Further, Plato says that the inhabitants of Atlantis knew the use of bronze, which would place Atlantis in the Bronze Age (2.100-1.200 B. C.). It is known that tremendous up­ heaval took place in the Aegean area about the year 1.500 B. C. According to Prof. Galsnopoulos, this must have been the earthquake which destroyed Atlantis and engulfed it in the sea. 84 Panorama * * * DIET The young lady, who was something of a food faddist, was on a visit to a coast fishing village. She questioned her host as to the general diet of the natives, and was told that they subsisted almost entirely on fish. The girl protested: “But fish is a brain food, and these folks are really the most unintelligent-looking that I ever saw.” “Mebbe so,” the host agreed. “And just think what they’d look like if they didn’t eat fish!” Unique occupation HE TRAINS DOGS Adolfo V. Amor The title “Best Dog-Trainer in the Philippines” can right­ ly be given to a man who. in spite of a physical handicap, has succeeded in making a name for himself among dog­ owners and other aficionados by his ingenious ability in training dogs. He is Leocadio Razon, a one-legged man who makes his living by teaching tricks to dogs. Razon has been using crutches since 1946 but, in spite of this handicap, he pursues his work with the * avid dedication and zeal of a man who loves his work. “Native dogs are as intelli­ gent as foreign breeds,” says Razon. “I have trained dogs of many different breeds — mongrels, German boxers, Po­ lice dogs, Dobermanns, Bull­ dogs, Terriers, Dachshunds— and I have found out that when it comes to teaching tricks to a dog one breed is as easy to train as the other.” The amazing abilities of Cheetah, a mongrel once own­ ed and trained by Razon, proves his observation that native dogs are as good as any other dog, if not better. At a dog-show held in 1954 under the sponsorship of the Philippine International Ken­ nel Association, Cheetah sur­ prised the crowd gathered at the show by exhibiting unbe­ lievable skill in arithmetic. Ten posters numbered from one to ten were placed side by side on the stage. When­ ever Razon asked her prob­ lems in addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, Cheetah would go and pick the poster with the right ans­ wer. Although Cheetah could not solve problems that re­ quire an answer beyond ten, her feat was enough to cause a sensation at the show. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the amazing dog further astoun­ ded the crowd by performing another incredible act—stan­ ding on her hindlegs, she ba­ lanced on a tightrope! “From that day on I re­ ceived numerous calls and of­ fers from people who wanted August 1961 85 me to train their dogs,” re­ calls Razon. “I dropped my job as laboratory technician in my brother’s photography studio and became a full-time dog-trainer. I now have a job that I love to do and an in­ come that approaches P350 a week.” Aside from training dogs, Razon sometimes appears on stage, exhibiting his dog­ shows held in many parts of the country. He has also appeared on TV programs and recently, a local movie com­ pany hired a two-year-old po­ lice dog owned by him to act as the fighting canine in the movie “Luis Latigo”. “Rex” as the dog is called, is praised highly by people .who have seen him perform and his ad­ mirers say that he could well be compared to the famous TV dogs Lassie and Rin Tin Tin. “Anybody can teach tricks to a dog,” says Razon, “as long as he is patient and has a gen­ uine love for animals. An ap­ preciation of the dog’s inhe­ rent intelligence is important too,” he adds. The first step in training a dog, according to Razon, is to teach him the meaning of two important words, “no” and “good”. The word “no” is a command which the trainer must give whenever the dog does something wrong. The trainer must say “no” in an angry or reproaching tone and sometimes, when the dog is rebellious, a light cuff on the ears is necessary. Whenever the dog does something which pleases the trainer, he must say “good” and pat the dog on the head. After these words are understood by the dog, the trainer can start teach­ ing him to follow the simple commands like “stay,” “sit,” “stand,” and “heel”. A fixed training schedule should be followed. Razon re­ commends 30 minutes a day for dogs below one year of age and from 30 minutes to 1 hour for older dogs. The trainer should work in a quiet atmosphere and, when teach­ ing a new trick, should show the dog what he wants him to do. At all times the trainer must be on the alert, noting the dog’s reactions and moods, to avoid making the dog an­ gry, tired, or frightened. Razon is 44 years old and has 13 children. Two of his oldest daughters are already married and have families of their own. His children seem to have inherited his talents for two of his older boys, Leo and Roger, have became good dog-trainers, too. “Even my wife, Corazon, loves to train dogs,” says Razon, “but, of course, she has to manage the household.” 86 Panorama Science to our rescue FRESH WATER FROM THE SEA Robert Stevens The new, experimental salt water conversion plant dedi­ cated in Freeport, Texas is a product of research and de­ velopment that goes back to early historical times. Civilized man .has always looked to sea water as one of the earth's most abundant and vital resources. But, for the most part, the sea has re­ mained untapped, for its wa­ ters are salty, undrinkable, and useless for agriculture and industry. The Freeport Demonstra­ tion Plant is the latest of a recent world-wide series of large salt water conversion units, which have gone a long way toward reducing the cost of freshened water. Although it is nearly twice as efficient as any other plant, its water is far more expensive than that from adequate natural fresh water areas. Fresh water sources are li­ mited and inequitably distri­ buted among nations. Because of nature’s capriciousness, some countries have been forced to devote much of their energies to meet the drinking needs of their peo­ ple. Progress has been slow and difficult. Development of agriculture and industry, with their enor­ mous thirsts for fresh water, has been almost out of the question in these “dry” coun­ tries of the world. Abundant supplies of na­ tural fresh water have made possible highly developed technology, agriculture, and living standards in the Uni­ ted States and other nations. With ever-increasing popula­ tions, food requirements, and industrialization, however, the water-rich states are beAugust 1961 87 ARGUMENT “Yes, ma’am,” the old salt confided to the in­ quisitive lady, “I fell over the side of the ship, and a shark he came along and grabbed me by the leg." “Merciful providence!" his hearer gasped. “And what did you do?" “Let ’im'have the leg, o * course, ma'am. I never argues with sharks." ♦ * ♦ coming less and less amply endowed. Conservationists and scien­ tists have become sharply aware of impending water shortages in the U.S. Some estimate that the future prob­ lem will become severe with­ in ten years. Thus, during the past two or three years, a growing research and deve­ lopment effort has been un­ derway toward economical conversion of salt water to fresh. The first concrete success to come of this recent effort — which is to a considerable extent sponsored by the U.S. Office of Saline Water — is the new demonstration Free­ port plant. A peculiar-look­ ing maze of plumbing, the plant draws its supply from the salty Gulf of Mexico and produces clear, sparkling wa­ ter for the people of the small city. It turns out more than a million gallons (3,800,000 liters) a day at a cost of about one dollar per 1,000 gallons (27 cents per 1,000 liters). This is slightly more than half the water cost from the world’s next most efficient major plant. World-wide research step­ ped up enormously in the past few years led to the de­ velopment of the Freeport Plant, which, in fact, is based on a well known “long-tubevertical, multiple-effect dis­ tillation process” employed in the chemical industry. The same holds for four addition­ al demonstration plants soon to be constructed for the Of­ fice of Saline Water and for the 17 or so major conversion plants now in operation around the world. 88 Panorama. Suit yourself Facts About Typewriters Idle chatter, and not so idle thoughts, are very easy to express on a type­ writer, or did you know? Once upon a good old time it was considered not quite so “comme il faut” — pick that out on your portable — to type rather than scrawl elegantly on expen­ sive note paper of the right size and color. Now the age of electronics, as some peo­ ple say—or in the atomic era, as others put it — it’s getting to be quite accept­ able to type a note and sign it even with a ball pen. Typewriters are not so old, as inventions go. And some of the early ones are still around in the museums and in certain offices. In out of the way places it is not unusual to run into mo­ dels that long ago disap­ peared from more frequen­ ted haunts. Did you ever see one of those old things that bat from one side to another and have the keys on a couple of humps stick­ ing right out on top? Any­ way, let’s rejoice that there are so many new types and kinds available, especially portables. And in color, too. Things about typewri­ ters that may be news to you: portables come in sizes from brief-case thin­ ness and a few pounds in weight to very silent fair­ sized machines. .Pope Pius XII has a very neat, light portable that he uses for his personal items, in ivo­ ry and gold, the papal co­ lors ... Foreign correspond­ ent friend of ours dislikes the very light machines and won’t carry them. Fact is, won’t carry any. He gets a number one boy to do August 1961 that .‘..You can choose the usual types, elite or pica, which are practically stan­ dard except for size... but you can also do your huntand-peck on a keyboard with distinctive characters, such as tiny square e’s... Or you may order big let­ ters, without small charac­ ters; NOTHING BUT THIS SORT OF THING.... or even something that imi­ tates handwriting and flows along smoothly.. .Or a lar­ gish type with pretty nor­ mal letters but quite dif­ ferent C’s... they sweep out at the bottom. If you have a friend over­ seas, you may order a key­ board to suit his language ... with those c’s that have a tadpole tail for the French and the Portuguese ... and N’s with a mustache on top, for Spanish... that gadget is called a tilde, by the way...and the arch, pointed eyebrow of the French and Portuguese no­ ted above is called a cir­ cumflex accent... and if you wish to say O with crinkled eyes get one with umlauts or dots on top of the o’s.. .They are used in German and Spanish.. .and if you like to run a skew­ er through your vowels... get a Danish or Swedish character.. .really. And ne­ ver mind the Chinese. EXPERIENCE The baby pulled brother's hair until he yell­ ed from the pain of it. The mother soothed the weeping boy: “Of course, she doesn’t know how badly it hurts.” Then she left the room. She hurried back presently on hearing fran­ tic squalling from baby. “What in the world is the matter with her?” she questioned anxiously. “Nothin’ ’tall,” brother replied contentedly. “Only now she knows.” * 90 Panorama Things to come COINS OF PLASTIC Britain’s Royal Mint favors making money of plastic, an untried ingredient in the world’s tried-and-true coin recipes. Government mints have had to improvise now and then, like an economy-mind­ ed chef, but the basic coin­ age materials have been gold, silver, and copper, the Na­ tional Geographic Society says. This has been true ever since a legendary king of Ly­ dia, probably Gyges, called in the royal treasurers near the end of the 7th century B.C. and said, in effect: “I’ve got a grand idea. There’s a lot of electrum lying around Lydia, so let’s mint some money.” For better or worse, the world was thus introduced to hard cash—made in Lydia by Lydians from electrum, a na­ tural alloy of gold and silver. Nothing less than pure gold coinage suited Croesus, a la­ ter Lydian king who lost his throne and bulging coffers to the Persians in 546 B.C. The Persians were charmed with the idea of making money out of gold, and the art gradualTy spread westward to the Mediterranean. Though Lydians are credi­ ted with striking the first true coins, the Greeks produced the first metal money of standard shape, size, content, and value. Having many sil­ ver mines, they went in hea­ vily for silver. The Greek city of Sparta, not surprisingly, shunned the glitter of gold and silver for solid iron money. As bulky iron was hardly suitable for jangling in one’s wrap-around robe, the war-obsessed people were discouraged from be­ coming spendthrifts. There wasn’t much to buy in Spar­ ta anyway. Copper, the basic alloying agent from early times, was the standard of monetary va­ lue in ancient Egypt and the young Roman Empire. August 1961 91 In time, silver took first place as the preferred ingre­ dient of coins throughout the Old World. One of the most famous ever struck was the Roman denarius, a silver piece worth about 17 cents in modern money. The Roman Emperor Aug­ ustus. who died in A.D. 14, put the Empire back on the gold standard. For nearly a thousand years gold domina­ ted the coinages of Europe. It was not until the pros­ perous 19th century that world powers possessed suf­ ficient gold, silver, and cop­ per to produce coins in varie­ ty and vast quantity. Hard-pressed nations have continued to experiment, how­ ever, with materials ranging from antimony to zinc. Al­ ter World War I, Germany issued coins of porcelain and papier-mache. Spanish Loyal­ ists printed cardboard coins during the civil war. Mus­ solini withdraw coins of pre­ cious content, substituting steel lire. EASY LIVING The Southerner in the North, while somewhat mellow, discoursed eloquently of conditions in his home state. He concluded in a burst of feel­ ing: “In that smiling land, such, no gentleman is compelled to soil his hands with vulgar work. The preparing of the soil for the crops is done by our niggers, suh, and the sowing of the crops, and the reaping of the crops—all done by the niggers... .And the selling is done by the she­ riff.” 92 Panorama Attention: All organization heads and members! Help pour club raise funds painlessly... Join the Panorama “Fund-Raising by Subscriptions” plan today! The Panorama Fund-Raising by Subscriptions plan will get you, your friends, and vour relatives a year’s sub­ scription to Panorama. The Panorama is easy to sell. It practically sells itself, which means more money for your organization. The terms of the Panorama Fund-Raising by Sub­ scriptions plan are as follows: Cl) Any accredited organization in the Philippines can take advantage of the Plan. (2) The organization will use its facilities to sell sub­ scriptions to Panorama. (3) For every subscription sold the organization will get Pl.00. The more subscriptions the organization sells, the more money it gets. (Known in the UJS. as Miehle 17 Lithoprint) * The most modern Offset pre-i its size (14 x 20 inches) * The easiest to operate centralized control panel and button operation. * No dampening rollors to bu with its patented Rotafount, Ing mechanically controlled ds Ing. * Hairline register—ideal for n| color fobs on any type cf p at low cost and groat speed. Actual Demonstration now going You are invited to see COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INI PRINTERS * LITHOGRAPHERS * PUBLISHERS Inverness St., Sta. Ana Tel. 5-41-S