A book of comment and criticism

Introduction At the request of friends, mostly members of the local newspaper fraternity, I have complied in book form a small number of my writings and speeches which have appeared from time to time in the periodicals of Manila. They include part of a series of articles on the Philippine problem, now being published in the Manila Daily Bulletin and reproduced in some papers in the United States. These productions are not by any means in the Hall of Fame. They are offered as a partial contribution to the history of Filipino contemporary politics during this formative period of our nationality. Every book is the expression of a temperament. And this little volume, like others of its kind, is also the expression of the author’s temperament. Inconsistencies may be encountered by the reader in the course of a perusal of its pages, for the author frequently assumes the role of a critic of himself and his ideas, even to the extent of openly contradicting attitudes of his more mature thoughts. He has always been the advocate of the open mind in any controversy. The temperament of a writer is principally determined by his experiences, associations, surroundings, reading, successes and disillusionments. Book knowledge alone does not make one a writer. He must know life in all its aspects, from the sublime.