The Taft Commission arrived at Manila on June 3, 1900, loaded to the guards with kindly belief in the stale falsehood wherewith General Otis, ably assisted by his press censor, had been systematically soothing Mr. McKinley's and the general American conscience during the whole twenty months he had commanded the Eighth Army Corps, [315] viz., that the insurrection was due solely to "the sinister ambitions of a few selfish leaders," and did not represent the wishes of the whole people. It is true that the insurrection originally started under Admiral Dewey's auspices and under the initial protection of his puissant guns was headed by a group of men most of whom, including Aguinaldo, were Tagalos. But all Filipinos look alike, the whole seven or eight millions of them. They differ from one another not one whit more than one Japanese differs from another. And they all feel alike on most things, [316] because they all have the same customs, tastes, and habits of thought. Said Governor Taft to the Senate Committee in 1902: While it is true that there are a number of Christian "tribes," so-called,--I do not know the number, possibly eight or ten, or twelve,--that speak different languages, there is a homogeneity in the people in appearance, in habits, and in many avenues of thought. To begin with, they are Catholics." [317] Certainly this should forever crucify the stale slander, still ignorantly repeated in the United States at intervals, which seeks to make the American people think the great body of the Filipino people are still in a tribal state, ethnologically. [318] A Tagalo leader is about as much a "tribal" leader as is a Tammany "brave" of Irish antecedents. In fact there is much in common between the two. Both are clannish. Both have a genius for organization that is simply superb. Both are irrepressible about Home Rule. Countless generations ago the Filipinos were lifted by the Spanish priests out of the tribal state, and the educated people all speak Spanish. But the original tribal dialects, which the Spanish priests patiently mastered and finally reduced for them to a written language, still survive in the several localities of their origin. So that every Filipino of a well-to-do family is brought up speaking two languages, Spanish, and the local dialect of his native place, which is the only language known to the poorer natives of the same neighborhood. Surely even the valor of ignorance can see that we are presumptuously seeking to reverse the order of God and nature in assuming that an alien race can lead a people out of the wilderness better than could a government by the leading men of their own race to whom the less favored look with an ardent pride that would be a guarantee of loyal and inspiring co-operation. You can beat a balking horse to death but you cannot make him wag his tail, or otherwise indicate contentment or a disposition to cordial co-operation which will make for progress. Mr.