At Balintawac outside Manila assembled last week 2,000 excited Filipino peasants to hear fiery speeches in Tagalog flaying Nicholas Roosevelt, appointed last month, Vice Governor-General of the Philippines. Ever since his appointment Philippine politicos have raised a great hubbub against him because, in 1926 while working for the New York Times, he wrote a book called The Philippines, A Treasure and a Problem in which they thought he defamed their public integrity and private morals. The Balintawac meeting at which 20,000 were expected was the feeble culmination of vigorous political agitation. A copy of the Roosevelt book was violently hammered on an anvil, doused in kerosene, burned on a bamboo pyre before the statue of Andres Bonifacio, one of the native leaders of the vain 1896 revolution against Spain. When a peasant in the crowd shouted Matay si Roosevelt (“Death to Roosevelt”), leaders quickly hushed him.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- The New Face of Doctor Who
- Putin’s Enemies Are Struggling to Unite
- Women Say They Were Pressured Into Long-Term Birth Control
- Scientists Are Finding Out Just How Toxic Your Stuff Is
- Boredom Makes Us Human
- John Mulaney Has What Late Night Needs
- The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Contact us at letters@time.com