Some agitation is observable in America over a resolution said to have been introduced by Mr. Sentos in the Philippine Senate for the purchase of large quantities of trousers for the better clothing of the islanders, According to the reports the introducer of this measure dislikes the fact that what he describes as "half-naked pagans' should form part of the population; the circumstance has been used to demonstrate the incapacity of the Filipinos for self-government; and he would have all who refuse to be breeched sent to gaol for five years. We take these interesting facts from our thoroughly serious contemporary the "New York Times," which in debating the subject of trousers as a mark of governmental capacity, instances the case of the Scots. "They still wear the kilt on occasion, but nobody doubts their capacity for self-government." We grant the assumption freely, but a point we fancy that the "New York Times' has missed is whether, "when the Scots regularly wore kilts, this capacity was particularly noticeable. They certainly succeeded in governing themselves after a good old fashion—by frequent recourse to the claymore and skean dhu, probably after outflanking their opponents by a liberal use of haggis and Athole brose—and were as troublesome neighbours as any with which the League of Nations has to deal at the present day. Further let it be observed that the Sedts of the present day do not wear the kilt when going about the business of government. Mr. Bal-ae
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.