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Title: The Philippines Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)
Author: Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant), 1866-1924
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Philippines Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)" ***
THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
By
DEAN C. WORCESTER
Secretary of the Interior of the Philippine Islands 1901-1913;
Member of the Philippine Commission, 1900-1913
Author of "The Philippine Islands and Their People"
In Two Volumes -- With 128 Plates
Volume II
New York
The Macmillan Company
1914
CONTENTS
VOL. II
CHAPTER PAGE
XIX. Education 501
XX. The Exploration of Non-Christian Territory 532
XXI. The Government of Non-Christian Tribes 559
XXII. The Government of Non-Christian Tribes (Continued) 591
XXIII. Corrigenda 637
XXIV. Non-Christian Tribe Problems 660
XXV. Slavery and Peonage 676
XXVI. Murder as a Governmental Agency 730
XXVII. The Philippine Legislature 768
XXVIII. The Picturesque Philippines 792
XXIX. Rod, Shotgun and Rifle 806
XXX. Philippine Lands 829
XXXI. Philippine Forests 846
XXXII. Improved Means of Communication 861
XXXIII. Commercial Possibilities of the Philippines 884
XXXIV. Peace and Prosperity 911
XXXV. Some Results of American Rule 921
XXXVI. Is Philippine Independence now Possible? 933
XXXVII. What Then? 961
APPENDIX
Instructions to the First Philippine Commission 975
Proclamation of the First Philippine Commission 977
Instructions to the Second Philippine Commission 980
Past and Present Organization of the Courts of the Philippine
Islands 988
Present accepted Estimate of the Non-Christian Population of
the Philippines 999
INDEX 1005
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOL. II
The Metamorphosis of a Bontoc Igorot Frontispiece
Facing Page
Head-hunters' Weapons 508
The Three Leading Men in the Funeral Procession of an Ifugao
who has lost his Head to the Enemy 516
The Sacred Tree of the Ifugaos 524
Entrance to the Quiangan Schoolhouse 534
An Ifugao School 540
The Sub-provincial Building at Quiangan 546
Ifugao Constabulary Soldiers 554
Bontoc Igorot Head-hunters 562
Bontoc Igorot Women in Banana-leaf Costume 570
A Bontoc Igorot Tug-of-war 578
Bontoc Igorot Boys learning to make Furniture 586
A Conference with Ifugao Chiefs 594
Finished Trail built by Ifugaos 602
Difficult Bit of Rock Work on the Mountain Trail in Benguet 610
A Flying Ferry in Operation 618
A Wild Tingian of Apayao 626
Tingian Girls threshing Rice 634
Typical Manobos 640
An Old Bukidnon Chief 650
Typical Street in a Filipino Town 656
A Typical Bukidnon Village Street 656
A Typical Improved Bukidnon House 664
A Typical Neglected Filipino House 664
Making Friends with the Mandayas 670
A Mandayan Boy 678
A Group of Bagobos 686
Moro Boats coming out to meet the Philippine Commission at
Jolo 692
Among the Moros 700
A Moro Chief with his Wives and Daughter 706
Lieutenant-Governor Manuel Fortich of Bukidnon 708
Governor Frederick Johnson of Agusan 714
A Typical Peon 722
The Penalty for Loyalty to the United States 728
The Philippine Assembly in Session 738
Señor Sergio Osmeña, Speaker of the Philippine Assembly 742
The Manila Hotel 750
Mayon Volcano 756
The Crater of Taal Volcano 764
A Bit of the Pagsanjan Gorge 772
A Giant Tree Fern 780
Scene on a Bird Island 788
A Day's Catch 796
After the Hunt 804
Typical Scene at the Edge of a Hardwood Forest 812
A Typical Forest Scene 820
Old-style Road across Lowlands 826
New-style Road across Lowlands 826
Typical Old-style Country Road 836
Typical New-style Country Road 836
A Canga, or Carabao Sledge 844
A New-style Cart, with Broad-tired Wheels, which does not
injure the Roads 844
Road Destroyers at Work 852
An Old-style Culvert 858
The Old Way of Crossing a River 868
The New Way of Crossing a River 868
A Typical Old-style Bridge 878
A Typical Reënforced Concrete Bridge 878
A Collapsible Bridge 886
Map: Manila, the Future Distributing Centre for the Far East 888
Preparing Rice Land for Planting 892
Planting Rice 892
A Three-year-old Coffee Bush 902
A Ceara Rubber Tree 906
A Typical Cocoanut Grove 918
A Typical Filipino Town 922
A Typical Group of Filipinos 930
A Typical Spanish Mestiza 938
A Strange Couple 946
A Member of the Cabaruan Trinity 946
A Typical Old-style Provincial Government Building 962
A Modern Provincial Government Building 962
A Refuge from the Moros 968
A Possible Office-holder 972
THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
CHAPTER XIX
EDUCATION
No work accomplished since the American occupation is of more
fundamental and far-reaching importance than that of the Bureau of
Education. In order to appreciate it one must gain some familiarity
with the conditions which prevailed in Spanish times.
The first evidence of the Spanish governmental attitude toward
education in the Philippines is found in a royal edict of March 21,
1634, [1] in which Felipe IV orders all archbishops and bishops to
take steps for the education of the Filipinos in the Spanish language
and in Christian doctrine.
That this decree was more honoured in the breach than in the
observance is evident from another royal decree of June 20, 1686,
[2] in which the king reminds civil and religious authorities that
the non-observance of the decree of 1634 will be charged against them.
Neither of these documents provided for financing the scheme of
education ordained, but a decree of December 22, 1792, [3] did make
financial provision for the establishment of Spanish schools for
natives. The salaries of teachers were to be paid from the royal
treasury, and deficits were to be made up from the communal properties
and treasuries.
Although this was the first practical attempt to introduce general
native education, there are evidences that individual opportunities
were offered to, and embraced by, Filipinos. It is probable, too,
that in certain localities the most generous of the Spaniards opened
private schools.
The College of San José was founded in 1601, the University of Santo
Tomás in 1619. Neither made provision for educating natives. They were
established for the children of Spaniards only, although both later
admitted Filipinos. But in the rules for the short-lived college of San
Felipe (1641-1645), [4] Corcuera lays down the following: "The college
servants shall be of influential Pampango families, and they shall be
taught to read and write in the Spanish language, and shall be given
clerkships if they show aptitude therefor." We learn that when the
charity school of San Juan de Letran passed under the control of the
Dominicans in 1640, native boys were admitted, on payment of fees,
to share the advantages offered charitably to Spanish orphans. [5]
Primary education for Filipinos secured no real foothold until
1863. [6] In that year, by royal decree, a school system originally
planned for Cuba was extended to the Philippines. It made provision
for the beginnings of primary instruction in all municipalities of the
islands. A summary [7] called forth by a circular of March 1, 1866,
gives information with regard to the progress actually made. This
summary fixes the number of towns at nine hundred, the number of
children attending school at one hundred thirty-five thousand boys
and twelve thousand two hundred sixty girls, and the number of schools
at sixteen hundred seventy-four, but it gives the number of buildings
actually in use for schools as only six hundred forty-one. Instruction
in Spanish was not always, or even generally, given.
In 1863 provision was also made for the establishment of a normal
school at Manila. In 1893, [8] forty years later, the actual
appropriation for the Normal School was $5525. Fourteen years after
the American occupation, the appropriation for the Normal School
was $56,476.42, in addition to $224,500 spent for new buildings and
furniture. [9]
In 1892 there were two thousand one hundred seventy-three schools. The
attendance of these schools was small and irregular. In 1896, at the
outbreak of the insurrection, the Spanish had in operation a public
school system which could call upon the Normal School for teachers
and also upon such graduates of private schools as cared to undertake
the work. Naturally the latter were few. Between 1863 and 1893,
the Normal School had enrolled two thousand and one students.
This may be contrasted with the number of schools which, under the
present régime, prepare the pupils for teaching, as well as for other
occupations. Including the students of the Philippine Normal School,
the Philippine School of Arts and Trades, the Provincial High and
Intermediate Schools, nearly thirty-seven thousand pupils are now
following studies which fit them more or less to undertake the work
of giving instruction to others.
In addition to the Normal School, the Spanish established a
Nautical School in 1820, a School of Commercial Accounting and of
the French and English Languages in 1839, and an Academy of Drawing
and Painting. Their final system of public instruction was not badly
planned, but it was never actually put into full operation.
From the beginning of the insurrection against Spain in 1896 until
the beginning of the insurrection against the United States in 1899,
most of the public schools were closed. The schoolhouses were used
for barracks, prisons, or hospitals. No attempt was made to keep them
in repair, and what scanty equipment they had once possessed was for
the most part destroyed or stolen.
Between 1899 and 1901, many of these buildings were repaired in towns
which were occupied by American soldiers, and the beginnings of a
public school system were made by our victorious army. Wherever our
flag was raised a public school was soon established, soldiers often
serving as teachers, and the moral effect of this upon the Filipinos
was very great.
The city of Manila was naturally the first place to receive
attention. Three weeks after our army entered it on August 13,
1898, seven schools were opened under the supervision of Father
W. D. McKinnon, chaplain of the first California Regiment. In June,
1899, Lieutenant George P. Anderson was detailed as city superintendent
of schools for Manila, and during the following school year he
had an average of forty-five hundred pupils enrolled in the primary
schools. Captain Albert Todd was detailed to act as superintendent of
schools for the islands, but on May 5, 1900, in anticipation of the
transfer of the islands from military to civil government, he gave
way to Dr. Fred W. Atkinson, who had been chosen by the Philippine
Commission as superintendent of public instruction. This title was
changed later to that of director of education.
On January 21, 1901, the commission passed Act 74, the basis of
the present school law. It provided for the appointment of one
thousand American teachers to begin the work of establishing a school
system carried on in English. Appointments were made as rapidly as
possible. By the end of the year, seven hundred sixty-five American
teachers were at work.
When provision was made for the appointment of this large number of
Americans, it was with the idea that they should act as teachers of
English in schools over which there should be Filipino principals,
but there was, at that time, no body of Filipino teachers properly
prepared to carry on school work, and by force of circumstances,
this plan was soon altered.
Ten school divisions were established, covering the archipelago. Each
was presided over by a division superintendent of schools. The teachers
were theoretically subject to his control, but the divisions were
so large that it was impossible for him to exercise control very
effectively. It is perhaps well that many of the teachers were left
free to employ their own ingenuity in meeting local conditions.
The school system finally established represents a composite of the
recommendations of hundreds of teachers scattered throughout the
archipelago, and these recommendations were based on hard-earned
experience.
One of the first duties of teachers was to begin the training of
Filipino assistants. This took form in the organization of so-called
aspirante classes, into which the best of the Filipino youth who were
old enough to teach, and who had already received some education, were
gathered. These aspirante classes were often held side by side with
classes in the primary schools first established by American teachers,
and by the beginning of the year 1902 some of the brightest pupils were
able to assist in primary school work. These classes made possible
the establishment of organized primary schools under the control of
American teachers with Filipino teachers in the lower grades. Their
graduates formed the nuclei of the first secondary schools, which
were established in 1903.
The difficulties which teachers had to overcome at the outset were
numerous. In some of the older and richer towns there were stone or
brick schoolhouses more or less fit for occupation. In such cases a
small number of old wooden benches and a few square feet of blackboard
were usually available. Sometimes there were books provided by the
army: Baldwin's readers in English or in rudely translated vernacular;
Frye's geographies translated into Spanish; and possibly Spanish
editions of the history of the United States. This stock was greatly
improved during the latter half of 1902, and teachers were furnished
books and supplies as rapidly as transportation facilities permitted.
In 1901 the number of school divisions was increased to eighteen, and
in 1902 to thirty-six, making the school divisions identical with the
thirty-six then existing political subdivisions of the islands. The
organization of the public school system gradually crystallized and
assumed something of the form which it has to-day. Barrio [10] schools
were opened, and the work of American teachers who were detailed to
supervise them was thus greatly increased.
The school system took permanent shape in 1903 and 1904. As it
now stands it is controlled by the director of education, who
is responsible for its conduct. Serving with him, and subject
to his control, are an assistant director and a second assistant
director. The directors have immediate charge of the general office,
which has the following divisions: records, accounting, buildings,
property, academic, industrial and publications. Each has a chief
who is directly responsible for its work.
The islands are now divided into thirty-four school divisions,
corresponding, except in two cases, to provinces. Each has its
superintendent of schools.
The divisions are subdivided into districts, over each of which
there is a supervising teacher who is responsible for the conduct of
its work. Certain of the intermediate schools are under supervising
teachers, while others are directly under division superintendents.
The school system to-day extends to the remotest barrios. It is
organized and equipped for effective work, and ready to carry out
promptly and effectively the policies determined upon by the central
office.
In each province there is a central provincial school offering
intermediate and secondary courses. Only twelve of them now give a
full four-year course. Others offer three years, two years or one
year of secondary work. There is also a manual training department
attached to the provincial school, or a trade school. So much for
the provincial school system.
At Manila we have the Philippine Normal School, with an attendance of
six hundred sixty-nine, and the Philippine School of Arts and Trades,
with an attendance of six hundred forty-one. Also, there are the School
of Commerce and the School for the Deaf and Blind, both supported
directly from insular funds. The School of Household Industries
has recently been established for the training of adult women in
embroidery, lace-making and similar arts, so that they may return
to their provinces to establish little centres for the production of
articles of this nature. This is most important work. The Filipinos
are endowed with great patience, and with extraordinary delicacy of
touch and manual dexterity. If productive household industries based
on these valuable characteristics are generalized, the prosperity of
the common people will be very greatly increased.
Of the school system in general it can be said that Filipino teachers
have been gradually employed for the lower grades, and Americans have
thus been freed to take charge of the higher instruction. Primary
instruction is now in the hands of Filipinos, and intermediate
instruction is rapidly being turned over to them. In July, 1913, there
were about eighty-five hundred Filipino teachers, with an estimated
total enrolment of five hundred thirty thousand pupils. The total
enrolment in primary schools was approximately four hundred ninety
thousand, in intermediate schools thirty thousand nine hundred, and in
secondary schools six thousand. When we compare these figures with the
hundred and seventy-seven thousand reported by the Spanish government
in 1897, and when we consider the fact that attendance at that time
was extremely irregular, it is evident that noteworthy progress
has been made. Mere figures, however, come far short of telling the
whole story. There has been very great improvement in the quality of
the instruction given. In the old days children "studied out loud,"
and the resulting uproar was audible at quite a distance.
On their arrival in these islands, Americans found that the educated
Filipinos as a rule held honest manual labor in contempt, while many
of those who had managed to secure professional educations did not
practise their professions, but preferred to live a life of ease. There
were doctors who made no pretence of treating the sick, and lawyers
who had studied simply for the standing which the title would give
them. The Bureau of Education has brought about a profound change in
public sentiment; a change of basic importance to the country. It
was apparent at the outset that any educational system adhering
closely to academic studies would simply serve to perpetuate this
condition of affairs. Fortunately, those in charge of the situation
were untrammelled by tradition, and were free to build up a system
that would meet actual existing needs. The objection to manual labor
offered much difficulty, but it has been largely overcome. There was,
furthermore, a feeling against industrial work on the part of the
people in many regions, based on the idea that teachers meant to
supplement their salaries by the sale of the industrial products
of the schools. This prejudice, which seemed formidable at first,
disappeared when the bureau took up in earnest the introduction of
industrial education and vocational training.
Just as the academic organization grew out of local conditions, so did
industrial education accommodate itself to existing circumstances. In
the Spanish colegios, girls had been taught to do exquisite embroidery
and to make pillow lace. In various parts of the islands, hat weaving
was carried on by families or groups of families. The making of
petates, [11] of rough but durable market baskets and of sugar bags
constituted widespread local industries. American teachers were quick
to see how these vagrant arts could be organized and commercialized. An
intense rivalry sprang up between supervising teachers, and as a
result the arts of pillow lace-making, embroidery, Irish crochet,
hat weaving, basketry and macramé work have been introduced and
standardized throughout the primary and intermediate schools. The
excellence of the output is truly astonishing.
Courses in housekeeping and household arts also received early
attention. The social and economic conditions in the Philippines are
such that the so-called "domestic science" course of American schools
is quite inadequate to meet the needs of Filipina girls. Specialized
instruction in hygiene, in the care of the sick, in household
sanitation and in the feeding and care of infants is included in this
course of housekeeping and household arts, which was taken by fifteen
thousand two hundred twenty-seven girls during 1912-1913.
School gardening was introduced at an early date. This course now
includes the school garden, in which each pupil has his own individual
three and a fourth by thirteen foot plot, and home gardens which
are not less than four times the size of the school plot. By this
arrangement eighty per cent of the garden work is carried on at the
homes of the pupils or on vacant lots under the direct supervision
of teachers.
In the beginning much of the school agricultural work was not very
practical. Teachers who themselves knew nothing about agriculture
were wedded to the small "individual plot" idea, which I regret
to say still continues to prevail in some of the schools. On a bit
of ground about three feet by six the pupil might plant one tomato
plant, one camote vine, one grain of rice, two or three eggplants and
a flowering plant or two. This gave him helpful open-air exercise,
but taught him nothing about agriculture. Weeks after the school year
had opened I once visited a number of school gardens in Mindoro and
found that several of them consisted of rectangular plots marked off
on solid sod with shells picked up on the beach! On my return I told
the director of education that three active hens would have done far
more toward preparing soil for cultivating than had all the children
in these towns.
These conditions have changed rapidly since the adoption, three
years ago, of a definite policy of agricultural education consisting
of standard school and home gardens and farm schools for Filipinos;
and large communal tracts of land cultivated at the Settlement Farm
Schools for non-Christians.
Lieutenant-Governor Frederick Lewis of Bukidnon was as deeply disgusted
with the former play agriculture as was I. Exercising, I fear, rather
arbitrary authority over the local Filipino teachers, but with my
connivance, he persuaded them to turn their active, strong schoolboys
loose on large tracts of the beautiful prairie land found near almost
every school in the sub-province, and raise crops. As a result of this
experiment, first carried out at Tankulan, each boy took home a bushel
or two of unhulled rice. Parents were enthusiastic, and so were the
boys. From this small beginning came the so-called farm-settlement
schools, of which there are thirty-eight among the non-Christian
tribes. On large, well-fenced, carefully cultivated tracts of ground
the schoolboys grow camotes, upland rice, corn, bananas, cowpeas,
beans, pineapples, eggplants, arrowroot, and in some cases, cacao
and coffee. Instead of learning what individual plants will do when
grown quite by themselves under abnormal conditions, they learn to
produce real crops. They become interested in the introduction of
American sweet potatoes in place of the less nutritious camotes,
in the selection of seed corn, in the generalization of the better
varieties of bananas, and in other practical matters. Incidentally
they largely furnish the school food supply.
It is of course true that in many of the Filipino towns sufficiently
extensive tracts of land cannot be had near the schools to make such
a system possible, but, wherever it can be done, school children
should be taught how to raise crops on a commercial scale, instead
of spending their time on small individual plots of ground. Even the
latter procedure has good results. It teaches them not to be ashamed
to work. It also makes possible the introduction of home gardens,
and through this means brings the practical production of vegetables
into the home life of the people, with the result that unused yards
and vacant lots are put under cultivation.
The system of establishing home gardens is one which meets with my
unqualified approval. In 1911-1912 there were no less than twenty-two
thousand nine hundred fifty-eight of these. It is said to be true
that a large percentage of them soon pass into family care, and thus
not only help to educate parents, but become a permanent additional
source of food supply.
The schools have proved a useful medium through which to bring
about the introduction of new and valuable plants. There are many
school nurseries in which grow thousands of seedlings, and these are
distributed at opportune times.
Woodworking is one of the industrial branches which received first
attention. As previously stated, every one of the thirty-eight
provinces has either a trade school with first-class equipment, or a
manual training department attached to the provincial school. Eighteen
schools have already been established as regularly equipped trade
schools. The Philippine Normal School and the Philippine School of
Commerce offer special advantages to those studying for the profession
of teaching, or for a business career.
Previous to 1909, industrial instruction was only partially
organized. Experience had shown, by that time, that it was expedient
to introduce a degree of specialization into the courses of study
at an early stage of the child's development. Special intermediate
courses were therefore organized to meet this need. After finishing
the four-year primary course, the child may choose between a course in
teaching, a course in farming, a trade course, a course in housekeeping
and household arts and a general intermediate course. Relatively few
children are at present able to take up secondary courses, and it is
therefore necessary to provide in the lower grades for instruction
which will prepare them for some vocation. So important has become
this line of instruction that it has been found necessary to maintain,
in the general office, an industrial information department, under
a division chief, which employs a botanist, a designer, four native
craftsmen and a force of travelling supervisors who inspect trade
schools, machinery, school gardens, building sites and the general
industrial work done throughout the public school system. This
system of industrial instruction receives the fullest support from
the Filipino people.
The following quotation from the twelfth annual report of the director
of education serves to give some idea of the extent to which industrial
instruction has been developed in the Philippines:--
"As is at once evident, with requirements so definitely fixed for
industrial work in the schools, the great majority of the pupils
who are enrolled must be engaged in some branch of this work. An
examination of the figures included among the statistical tables
of this report will show that of the total enrolment of 235,740
boys and 138,842 girls during the month of February, 1912 (an
average month), 216,290 boys and 125,203 girls--91 per cent of
the entire monthly enrolment--were doing some form of industrial
work. More specifically, it will be found that 21,420 boys were
taking manual training and trade work; 96,167 boys were engaged
in school gardening and farming; 15,463 girls were also engaged in
garden work; and 68,194 girls were taking up various lines which go
under the general caption of minor industries.... Further in this
connection it will be found that in the subject of lace-making
alone 16,439 girls were receiving instruction; in embroidery,
12,339; and in cooking 4768. There were 22,965 boys and 7709 girls
making hats in the industrial classes, 40,264 pupils making mats,
and 104,424 studying the art of basketry.
"... 1309 pupils were enrolled in the regular trade school
classes; 924 in regular trade courses in other schools; and 7360
in the shops operated in connection with provincial and other
intermediate schools. In 401 school shops having an enrolment of
19,949 boys, articles to the value of P142,189.74 were fabricated
and from this product, sales to the amount of P131,418.13 were
made during the school year 1911-12. In addition to the above,
10,356 pupils were doing work in 236 primary woodworking shops
conducted in connection with municipal primary schools in all
parts of the Islands. The figures for trade and manual training
are taken from the March report."
This most important result is due in very large measure to the
determination of the Honourable Newton W. Gilbert, while secretary
of public instruction, to give a practical turn to the activities
of the Bureau of Education. I must confess that at first I was
profoundly dissatisfied with the work which this bureau was doing,
for the reason that, in my opinion, it tended to produce a horde of
graduates fitted to be clerks, in which event they would naturally
desire to feed at the public crib, or be likely to become abogadillos,
[12] who would be constantly stirring up trouble in their own towns,
in order to make business for themselves.
Much of the industrial work originally provided for was at the outset
carried out in a haphazard and half-hearted way. Under Mr. Gilbert's
administration it has been hammered into shape, and we now see in
prospect, and in actual realization, practical results of vital
importance to the country.
Personally, I feel especially indebted to Mr. Gilbert for his attitude
relative to school work among the non-Christian tribes. The children
of the hill people are naturally hard-working. In some places they
were being actually taught idleness in the schools, and in most
the education given them was of little practical value. I found
Igorot children in Lepanto studying geography. I asked a boy what
the world was, and was told that it was a little yellow thing about
the size of his hand! This was a fairly accurate description of
a map, the significance of which had utterly failed to penetrate
his understanding. Filipino teachers who were not considered fit
for appointments in the lowlands were being foisted off on to the
unfortunate hill people, as they were willing to accept very small
salaries in lieu of none at all. Prior to Mr. Gilbert's assumption of
office, my frequent complaints had produced no practical result. He
was kind enough to say to me at the outset that he would give very
serious consideration to my opinions in the matter of educational
work among the people of the non-Christian tribes. To-day industrial
work has taken its proper place in schools established for them, and
considerable numbers of them are being fitted for lives of usefulness,
although it is still true that school facilities among them are,
as a rule, grossly inadequate. In Ifugao, for instance, with at
least a hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, there are but
two schools. In Kalinga, with some seventy-six thousand inhabitants,
the first school has just been opened. However, this condition will
doubtless be remedied in time.
The former tendency of Filipinos to prepare themselves for trades or
professions and then not follow them has been largely overcome. Most
of the students graduating from the Philippine Normal School take
up the profession of teaching, and practically all of the graduates
of the Philippine School of Arts and Trades are following the lines
of work which they have studied. And now I come to what I deem to be
one of the most important accomplishments of the Bureau of Education.
Before the American occupation of the Philippines the Filipinos
had not learned to play. There were no athletics worthy of the
name. Athletic sports had their beginnings in the games played
between soldiers. Gradually Filipinos became interested enough
to attend contests of this nature. Later, through the influence
of American teachers, they began to take part in them. As soon as
athletic sports reached a point where competition between towns and
provinces was possible, they aroused the greatest enthusiasm among
the people. To-day, the athletic policy of the Bureau of Education is
heartily approved by all classes. At first, highly specialized sports
were introduced, but the necessity for developing some form of group
athletics in which a large percentage of the pupils would take part
was soon made manifest. For the past few years this programme has
been pushed. Eighty per cent of the pupils now participate in some
form of athletics, and the number steadily increases.
The results are justifying the hope of the original promoters of this
athletic programme. The physical development of the participants
has been wonderful. The spirit of fair play and sportsmanship,
hitherto lacking, has sprung into being in every section of the
islands. Baseball not only strengthens the muscles of the players, it
sharpens their wits. Furthermore it empties the cock-pits to such an
extent that their beneficiaries have attempted to secure legislation
restricting the time during which it may be played. It has done more
toward abolishing cockfighting than have the laws of the commission and
the efforts of the Moral Progress League [13] combined. It is indeed
a startling sight to see two opposing teams of youthful savages in
Bukidnon or Bontoc "playing the game" with obvious full knowledge of
its refinements, while their ordinarily silent and reserved parents
"root" with unbridled enthusiasm!
Annual meets between athletic teams from various groups of provinces,
and a general interscholastic meet held each year at the Philippine
Carnival, offer advantages of travel to boys who have seldom if ever
left their homes, and promote a general understanding between the
various Filipino peoples. In the "Far Eastern Olympiad" held at Manila
in 1913, in which China, Japan and the Philippines participated, the
victorious teams representing the Philippines were largely composed
of schoolboys.
When the American school system was organized, it was found that
adequate accommodations for school children were almost entirely
lacking. In some of the towns there were long, low stone or brick
buildings, small and poorly lighted. They were usually located in the
larger centres of population, and had no grounds that could be used
for play or garden purposes. In most of the barrios, there were no
schoolhouses at all.
The American teachers at once set to work to put the old buildings
into decent condition. Some private houses were rented, and
others were donated, for school purposes. In a number of cases the
teachers attempted, as best they could, to construct buildings for
the thousands of pupils who wished to avail themselves of school
privileges. At that time the whole burden of such construction fell
upon the municipalities. The insular government had given them no
aid. Many mistakes were made during these early days, and many of the
buildings then erected have long since fallen into ruin. The experience
gained has demonstrated the folly of spending large sums of money on
anything but strong, permanent construction. It will be necessary,
for a long time, to depend to some extent upon temporary buildings;
and when these can be erected at low cost they are good provisional
expedients, but destructive storms and the ravages of wood-eating
insects quickly reduce them to ruins.
The demand upon local funds for the maintenance of schools was so
pressing, and these funds were so limited, that it was found impossible
to erect modern buildings without insular aid. When the necessity
for help was brought to the attention of the insular authorities, the
commission responded by enacting a bill which appropriated $175,000
from the congressional relief fund for the construction of school
buildings. Two years later $150,000 were appropriated and, in August,
1907, an additional $175,000 were voted for this purpose. A total
of $500,000 was thus made available by the Commission before the
Philippine assembly came into existence. This amount was augmented
by provincial and municipal funds and voluntary contributions, and
the erection of twenty-two buildings for provincial high schools,
twenty-six for trade and manual training schools, and fifty-seven
for intermediate schools other than provincial was thus made possible.
The first act of the Philippine Assembly was to vote for an
appropriation of $500,000, available in four equal annual instalments,
to aid municipalities in constructing school buildings. The bill was
duly approved by the commission and became a law. Under its terms,
municipalities received $2 for every dollar furnished locally, the
maximum insular allotment for one project being $2500. This bill was
later supplemented by an act which appropriated an additional $500,000
under similar conditions. Three subsequent acts have been passed,
each appropriating the sum of $175,000 for the aid of municipalities in
constructing school buildings under such conditions as the secretary of
public instruction may see fit to prescribe. The funds made available
by the three appropriations last mentioned are being used chiefly for
the erection of large central school buildings at provincial capitals.
The sums appropriated by the Philippine Legislature since the assembly
was established have made possible the construction of five hundred
twenty-nine school buildings, of which two hundred seventy-three are
finished and three hundred nineteen are being built.
There have been additional appropriations for the construction of a
Philippine Normal School already completed at a cost of $225,000, a
girls' dormitory now building to cost $147,000 and a building for the
Philippine School of Arts and Trades to cost approximately $250,000.
The bureau has required that school sites for central schools shall
have a minimum of one hectare [14] of land, and the barrio schools
a minimum of one-half hectare, for playgrounds and gardens. There
have been secured to date three hundred eighty-nine school sites of
ten thousand or more square metres, and six hundred forty-three sites
of at least five thousand square metres. These represent the results
obtained during the past three years.
The Bureau has formulated a very definite construction policy. Its
programme may be outlined briefly as follows:--
1. The preparation of a set of standard plans for permanent
buildings which provide for a unit system of construction
whereby additions may be made without injury to the original
structure, and which shall be within the limited means
available.
2. The selection of suitable school sites.
3. A decent and creditable standard in temporary buildings.
4. The proper care and maintenance of schoolhouses and grounds.
5. The equipment of every school with the necessary furniture
and appliances of simple but substantial character.
From the beginning, other branches of the government have clearly
seen that no agency is so effective as the Bureau of Education in
the dissemination of knowledge among the people. It has therefore
been called upon frequently to spread information, either through
classroom instruction or through the system of civico-educational
lectures established by an act of the Philippine Legislature. The
Bureau of Health has frequently requested it to instruct the people
in the means to be used for the prevention of diseases, particularly
cholera, smallpox and dysentery, and has always met with a ready
response. Great good has doubtless been accomplished in this way,
but with regret I must call attention to the fact that in connection
with a matter of fundamental importance the Bureau of Education has
signally failed to practice what it preached, or at all events what
it was requested to preach. The Philippines are constantly menaced
by epidemic diseases, such as cholera and bacillary dysentery, while
amoebic dysentery occurs in every municipality in the islands and is
a very serious factor in the annual death-rate, hook-worm disease is
common, and typhoid fever is gradually increasing in frequency. The
question of the proper disposition of human feces is therefore one
of fundamental importance. It seems incredible, but is nevertheless
true, that in connection with a large majority of the modern school
buildings which have been erected there are no sanitary facilities
of any sort whatsoever. The condition of the ground in the rear of
many of these buildings can better be imagined than described. This
state of affairs not only sets an evil example to the children, but
exposes them to actual danger of infection with the above-mentioned
diseases. In many of the special provincial government towns where
a great effort has been made to have the people clean up, I have
found school grounds and the private premises of school teachers,
including, I regret to say, those of American school teachers, to be
in a more unsanitary state than were any others in town; and finally,
in despair of securing improvement in any other way, I have fallen
back on the courts and caused teachers responsible for such conditions
to be brought before justices of the peace and fined.
The Teachers' Camp at Baguio was long maintained in a shockingly
unsanitary condition; and as a result many persons who went there
seeking health and recreation became infected with intestinal
diseases, and were incapacitated for work during more or less prolonged
periods. In dealing with this situation I finally resorted to radical
measures, but got results.
Such a state of affairs is wholly incomprehensible to
me. School-teachers should be the first to set the people practical
examples in sane living, which means sanitary living, and should
improve the great practical opportunity afforded by the public schools
to bring home to their pupils certain homely but much-needed lessons
in ordinary decency.
In another important particular the Bureau of Education has, in
my opinion, fallen short of performing its manifest duty. Not only
does beri-beri kill some five thousand Filipinos outright, annually,
and cripple ten times as many, but it is believed to be a determining
factor in the deaths of large numbers of infants through its untoward
influence upon their mothers. As previously stated, the fact that
it is due to a diet made up too largely of polished rice has been
demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt. Persons who eat unpolished
rice do not contract it. Tiqui-tiqui, the substance removed from rice
in the process of polishing, has proved to be a very effective remedy
for it. The use of polished rice should therefore be discouraged,
yet at the Philippine Normal School, where the brightest and best
youths of the land receive their final education before going out to
teach their fellows, polished rice is furnished the students; and
the director of health, and I myself, have sought in vain to have
the unpolished article substituted for it.
The secretary of public instruction has stated, with obvious truth,
that it is only when polished rice forms a very large element in the
diet that there is actual danger of its causing beri-beri, and so far
as I am aware no case of beri-beri has occurred at this school; but the
practical result of the present practice will be that the graduates,
while instructing their pupils in the dangers of the use of polished
rice, will themselves continue to use it. There exists at the present
time a foolish prejudice against unpolished rice, which, although far
more nutritious and actually more palatable than the polished article,
does not look so attractive and is commonly considered "poor man's
food." So long as the instructors in the public schools continue to
teach by precept that its use is dangerous, and by example that it is
safe, the undiscriminating and ignorant Filipino public, which does
not draw fine distinctions, will be encouraged to continue to eat it,
will eat it in excess, and will pay the penalty.
The Bureau of Education has coöperated with the Bureau of Lands
in instructing the people as to the right to acquire homesteads
and free patents. It has also given the Bureau of Public Works
assistance in promoting the campaign for good roads. Its system of
civico-educational lectures has met with fair results. Thousands of
people have secured information relative to the rights and duties
of citizens, the prevention of human and animal diseases, and the
growing of corn, coconuts and other useful crops. A corn-raising
contest in 1912 was participated in by more than thirty thousand boys,
and thousands of people attended the demonstrations which formed a
part of the campaign. This is a most important matter. Corn is a far
better food than rice.
At first the only books available for use in the schools were those
prepared for American children. These were soon found to be unsuited
to the needs of Filipino children, and teachers were set to work to
prepare more suitable text-books. Book companies in the United States
quickly interested themselves, and as a result there is now in general
use a comprehensive series of text-books particularly adapted to the
needs of Filipinos.
In the secondary grades American text-books are quite generally used,
although a few special texts dealing with literature, rhetoric,
economic conditions and colonial history have been prepared in the
islands.
In order to keep the teacher in the field well informed, the Bureau
of Education has issued a large number of bulletins and circulars on
matters of current interest. These bulletins have covered instruction
in domestic science, drawing, manners and right conduct, school
buildings and grounds, embroidery and athletics, and have conveyed
information as to the general and special courses of study followed in
such schools as the School of Arts and Trades, the School of Commerce
and the Normal School. They have received much commendation from
educators in the United States and the Orient.
When public schools were first opened children crowded into them by
thousands. With them came many adults who believed that they could
learn English in a period of a few weeks, or in a few months at the
most. No doubt they entered the schools in many cases with the idea
of thus conciliating the victorious American nation. It was not long
until they realized that there was no royal road to learning. Then came
a slump in attendance. Largely through the influence of the American
teacher and his Filipino assistants, the attendance was again built
up. This time the people clearly understood that education is not a
matter of a few months or weeks. It is greatly to their credit that
they have now settled down to a realization of what public education
is, and are giving the public school system most loyal support.
The industrial programme has been accepted with enthusiasm, and
without doubt there are in the islands to-day thousands of people
who believe that it is a Filipino product.
There is an interest in athletic sports that can hardly be equalled in
any other country. The crowds of enthusiastic spectators that attend
every meet of importance testify to the hold that such sports have
taken upon the people, whose attitude toward all forms of education
is such that it needs only adequate revenue to develop an effective
school system along the broadest lines.
Manhood suffrage does not exist in the Philippines. The qualifications
for an elector are as follows: he must be a male citizen at least
twenty-three years of age, with a legal residence of six months
previous to election in the municipality where his vote is cast,
and must belong to at least one of the three following classes:--
1. Those who, previous to August 13, 1898, held the office of
municipal captain, gobernadorcillo, alcalde, lieutenant,
cabeza de barangay, or member of any ayuntamiento.
2. Those who hold real property to the value of $250 or annually
pay $15 or more of established taxes.
3. Those who speak, read or write English or Spanish.
With a population of approximately eight million people, there were,
in 1912, two hundred forty-eight thousand qualified voters. Of these
a large number had obtained the franchise because they belonged to
class 1 or class 2. Death yearly claims its quota from both these
classes, but the public schools more than make up the decrease by
their yearly contribution. Any boy who finishes the primary course
possesses the literary qualifications of an elector, and will become
one on attaining legal age.
In 1912 there were graduated from the primary schools 11,200 pupils,
of whom approximately 7466 were males; from the intermediate schools
3062 pupils, of whom 2295 were males; and from the secondary schools
221 pupils, of whom 175 were males. In that year alone the schools
therefore contributed 9936 to the contingent of persons qualified
by literary attainments to vote. Of these 175 are perhaps capable
of intelligently holding municipal and provincial offices, and to
this number may probably be added half of the 2295 intermediate male
graduates, making an increase of 1362 in the possible leaders of
the people.
The public schools, however, do not limit their contributions to
that part of the electoral body having literary qualifications
only. Vocational training, it is true, is limited in the primary
grades to cottage industries; but no pupil is graduated from the
primary schools with only literary qualifications. In some form or
other, he has had a vocational start. His own energy must determine
the use he makes of it.
The intermediate schools add vocational training to increased academic
training. All their graduates have done three years' work in the
general course, leading to a literary course in the high schools,
the course in farming, the course in teaching, the business course,
the course in housekeeping and household arts or the trade course.
Of the graduates of secondary schools a small part have highly
specialized vocational training; but the great majority have followed
the literary course and have undoubtedly done this with the idea of
entering political life. Rome was not built in a day, and in spite of
herculean American efforts, it will be a long time before Filipinos
cease to regard a certain kind of literary culture as the proper
basis for statesmanship. It has been said of them that they have
"the fatal gift of oratory"! The future leaders of the Filipino
people, dependent or independent, must be the output of the public
schools. The danger is that the number of would-be leaders will be
disproportionately great in comparison with that of the useful but
relatively inconspicuous rank and file.
There are in the Philippine Islands fully twelve hundred thousand
children of school age. The present available resources are sufficient
to educate less than one-half of that number.
The claim has been made that a due proportion of the very limited
revenues of the insular government has not been expended for
educational purposes. It is not justified by the facts. It is certainly
important to keep the Filipinos alive, and if this is not done, they
can hardly be educated. The expenditure to date [15] from insular
funds for health work, including cost of necessary new buildings,
has been approximately $9,630,000; that for educational purposes,
also including buildings, approximately $21,376,000.
As a simple matter of fact, the Bureau of Education has been
treated not only with liberality but in one regard with very great
leniency. Taking advantage of the friendly attitude of the legislative
body and of the people toward education, one of its earlier directors
incurred expense with utter disregard for appropriations. He repeatedly
made deficits of $150,000 to $250,000 and then in effect calmly
asked us what we were going to do about it. After stating that I,
for one, would never vote to make good another deficit incurred by
him while he was allowed to remain in the service, and at a time
when I was threatening to hold the director of forestry personally
responsible for a deficit of $5000 resulting in his bureau from
unforeseen expenditures by forest officers in remote places, and
therefore more or less excusable, I learned that the usual shortage
in the Bureau of Education had again occurred and was being covered
by the quiet transfer of a sum approximating $200,000.
The present director of education believes that the total number
of children who would enter the public schools without compulsion,
if adequate facilities were provided, is approximately eight hundred
thousand. Until revenues materially increase not many more than five
hundred thousand of these can be educated, if due regard is had for
other imperative necessities of the government and the people. If the
people of the United States, or any political body composed of them,
really desire to help the Filipinos toward the practical realization
of their ideal of an independent, self-sustaining government, let them
stop talking about the advisability of now conferring upon the present
generation of adults additional rights and privileges, and provide the
hard cash necessary to make intelligent, well-trained citizens out of
the three hundred thousand children who are now annually left without
educational advantages which they earnestly desire, and greatly need.
Under the Spanish régime private education as distinguished from that
provided for by the government attained considerable importance. At the
time of the American occupation, Santo Tomás, the oldest university
under the American flag, had colleges of medicine and surgery,
theology, law, engineering and philosophy. There were also numerous
private so-called "colleges" for boys and girls and very numerous
smaller private institutions. At first the establishment of public
schools had no apparent effect on those conducted privately other than
to induce them to introduce the study of English, but as years went
by, the organization, modern methods and industrial development of the
public schools forced the private institutions into activity. The law
provides that the secretary of public instruction may give approval
and recognition to such private schools as meet certain requirements,
and in 1910 a division superintendent of schools was detailed to
assist him in carrying out this provision. His report for the period
ending September 1, 1912, is a very interesting document. It compares
the Philippine private schools with those of South America, very much
to the disadvantage of the former. It notes particularly the lack of
manual training in boys' schools and the lack of standardization in
the manual training of girls' schools; and speaks of the allegiance
of the Filipino institution to the classical programme of mediæval
institutions of learning. It is a notable fact, however, that English
is gaining. Thirty-four private schools are giving their entire primary
and intermediate courses in that language; nine are giving primary,
intermediate and high school courses in it, and two are so giving
all courses, including the college course.
These private institutions are employing public and normal school
graduates as teachers to a constantly increasing extent. They are
bringing their courses of study into conformity and competition with
those of the public schools; are introducing athletics; using standard
patterns and materials in their industrial work, and rapidly improving
their buildings and equipment. During the year 1911-1912 improvements
to the value of $100,000 were made in four of the Manila private
schools: the Jesuits are planning a new college to cost $1,000,000;
the Dominicans an expenditure of $500,000 on a new university, and
the Liceo de Manila looks forward to becoming the most modern and
best equipped school in the islands.
Twenty-five private schools have already received government
recognition and approval.
No account of education would be complete without mention of the
University of the Philippines. Higher education is the great conscious
goal of Filipino desire; and to meet the growing need for it, an
act passed June 18, 1908, established this institution. Subsequent
amendments authorized, when practicable, colleges of liberal arts,
law, social and political science, medicine and surgery, pharmacy,
dentistry, veterinary science, engineering, mines, agriculture and
fine arts. At present there are in actual operation the colleges of
liberal arts, veterinary science, engineering, medicine and surgery,
law, agriculture and the school of fine arts. Instruction in pharmacy
is given in the College of Liberal Arts, and instruction in forestry is
given in the College of Agriculture. By special acts of the Philippine
legislature, several scholarships have been provided, but for the most
part the university is open only to those who can afford to live in
Manila during their period of attendance.
The opening of some of these colleges has served sharply to call
attention to one of the present weaknesses of the Filipino people. It
is but a few years since agriculture was well-nigh prostrated as a
result of the decimation of cattle and horses throughout the islands
by contagious diseases. The need for well-trained veterinarians
was, and is, imperative. Filipinos properly qualified to undertake
veterinary work would be certain of profitable employment. A good
veterinary course was offered in 1909. At the same time the School
of Fine Arts was opened. No one took the veterinary course the
first year. Admissions to the School of Fine Arts were closed when
they reached seven hundred fourteen. At the end of the school year
1912-1913 the students in the Veterinary College numbered twenty-seven
as compared with six hundred ninety-four in the School of Fine
Arts. The grand total enrolment of this latter institution since
its organization is thirty-two hundred twenty-nine, while that of
the Veterinary College during the same period is forty-seven. It is
necessary to restrict attendance at the School of Fine Arts. Until
there is a livelier and more general interest in saving carabaos
than in painting them, the country will not attain to a high degree
of material prosperity through the efforts of its own people.
I take genuine pleasure and pride in briefly describing the work of
the Philippine Training School for Nurses. I have always believed
that young Filipina women would make excellent trained nurses, and
I earnestly endeavoured to have a certain number of them included
among the first government students sent to the United States for
education soon after the establishment of civil government. In this
effort I rather ignominiously failed. The prejudices of the Filipino
people were then radically opposed to such a course, and my colleagues
of the commission were not convinced that it would lead to useful
practical results.
To the Bureau of Education must be given credit for inaugurating
the movement which has resulted in the firm establishment of the
profession of nursing in the Philippine Islands as an honourable
avocation for women. At an early date it employed an American trained
nurse to give instruction, and inaugurated a preparatory course at its
Normal School dormitory. The work at the outset could not be made of a
very practical nature, but after a number of bright and well-trained
young women had become interested in it arrangements were perfected
for giving them actual training at the government institution then
known as the Civil Hospital. Here strong racial prejudices of the
Filipinos were gradually overcome, and the student nurses soon showed
themselves to be unexpectedly practical, faithful and efficient.
Later when the great Philippine General Hospital was established it
became possible for the Bureau of Health to open a school under the
immediate control of the chief nurse, and to take over all the work of
training nurses. Students at this school are supported at government
expense while in training. Its opportunities and advantages are open
to young men, as well as to young women, and may be extended to a
number not exceeding one hundred six of each sex at a given time.
The training of young women began sooner, and thus far has resulted
more satisfactorily, than has that of young men, although many of
the latter are now making good progress.
The work is popular, and as there are more candidates than places only
the more promising are admitted. They have shown that they possessed
common-sense by avoiding the traps set for them by Filipino politicians
and newspaper reporters. Their tact and self-respect have brought them
safely through many embarrassing, and a few cruelly trying, situations
forced upon them by the unkindness or brutality of those whom they
have sought to serve. Their gentleness and kindness have endeared
them to their patients, and it is now a common thing for Americans
to request the services of Filipina nurses. Their faithfulness
and efficiency have won the confidence of patients and physicians
alike. Their courage has enabled them to triumph over the prejudices
of their own people, and to perform many hard, disagreeable tasks,
and meet some very real dangers, without faltering. The gratefulness
which they have shown for the opportunity to help their people, no
less than for the interest taken in them by Americans, has won them
many friends. The training of Filipina nurses has passed far beyond
the experimental stage; it is a great success.
Instruction in the Philippine Nurses' Training School is now largely
given by members of the university faculty and the graduates of this
school must certainly be numbered among the most highly educated
women of the Philippines. More of them are sadly needed, not only in
government institutions, but in private hospitals, and especially
in the provincial towns, where a few of them are already engaging
in district nursing with unqualified success. The country might well
get on for the present with fewer lawyers, and fewer artists, if the
number of nurses could be increased.
Equally praiseworthy is the work of the students and graduates of
the College of Medicine and Surgery, which is housed in a commodious
and adequate building. Their theoretical instruction is of a very
high character, and they have almost unrivalled facilities for
practical clinical work in the Philippine General Hospital. Entrance
requirements are high and the course of study is severe. A number of
the best students do post-graduate work in the hospital, where they
are employed as internes and assistants. As a result, the college is
turning out graduates admirably qualified for the great work which
awaits them among their own people.
The other colleges of the university are, for the most part, doing
their work efficiently and well, and as a rule their students are
showing appreciation of the opportunities afforded them, and are
utilizing them to good advantage.
Important educational work is being carried on by various bureaus
of the government. The Bureau of Lands has an excellent school for
surveyors. The Bureau of Printing is in itself a great industrial
school, and ninety-five per cent of its work is now done by Filipinos
trained within its walls, while many others who have had practical
instruction there have found profitable private employment.
An excellent school is conducted in Bilibid Prison with convicts as
teachers. A very large proportion of the prisoners receive practical
instruction in manual training and are fitted to earn honest livings
when their sentences expire. Furthermore, they readily secure
employment, as the men discharged from this institution have in many
cases earned well-deserved reputations for honesty and industry.
All the women confined at Bilibid are taught to make pillow lace.
At the Bontoc Prison, the non-Christian tribe convicts of the islands
are taught useful industries, and so satisfactory are the results that
I have formed the habit of calling the institution my "university."
At the Iwahig agricultural penal colony convicts are taught modern
agricultural methods under a system such that they gradually become
owners of houses, land and agricultural implements and may in the
end have their families with them so that they are well settled
for life when their sentences expire, if they take advantage of the
opportunities given them.
The educational policy which the United States has adopted in
dealing with the Filipinos is without a parallel in history. I am
glad to have assisted in its inauguration, and I am proud of its
results, which will make themselves felt more and more as the years
go by. Even now English is far more widely spoken in the Philippine
Islands than Spanish ever was, and this is a boon the magnitude of
which cannot be appreciated by those who have not had brought home
to them by experience the disadvantages incident to the existence of
very numerous dialects among the inhabitants of one country.
When it is remembered that in the present instance each of these
dialects is very poor in literature, and that its use is limited to
a million or two of human beings at the most, the enormous value of
instruction in English will be realized, to some extent at least.
CHAPTER XX
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY
At the time of their discovery the Philippine Islands were inhabited
by a very large number of distinct tribes the civilization of which
was directly comparable with that of the Negritos, the Igorots and
the Moros as they exist to-day. Do not understand me to imply that
the Negritos, the Igorots and the Moros have attained to the same
stage of civilization.
The Negritos belong to a distinct race. They are woolly-headed, nearly
black, and of almost dwarfish stature. They seem to be incapable of
any considerable progress and cannot be civilized. Intellectually
they stand close to the bottom of the human series, being about on
a par with the South African bushmen and the Australian blacks.
The Igorots are of Malayan origin. They are undoubtedly the descendants
of the earlier, if not the earliest, of the Malay invaders of the
Philippines, and up to the time of the American occupation had retained
their primitive characteristics.
The Moros, or Mohammedan Malays of the southern Philippines,
exemplify what may be considered the highest stage of civilization
to which Malays have ever attained unaided. They are the descendants
of the latest Malay invaders and were, at the time of the discovery
of the islands, rapidly prosecuting an effective campaign for their
mohammedanization.
At the outset the Spaniards made extraordinary progress in subduing,
with comparatively little bloodshed, many of these different peoples,
but the Moros at first successfully resisted them, were not brought
under anything approaching control until the day of steam gun-boats
and modern firearms, and were still causing serious trouble when
Spanish sovereignty ended.
As time elapsed the political and military establishments of Spain in
the Philippines seem to have lost much of their virility. At all events
the campaign for the control and advancement of even the non-Mohammedan
wild peoples was never pushed to a successful termination, and there
to-day remains a very extensive territory, amounting to about one-half
of the total land area, which is populated by non-Christian peoples
so far as it is populated at all. Such peoples make up approximately
an eighth of the entire population.
When civil government was established I was put in general
executive control of matters pertaining to the non-Christian
tribes. Incidentally, a word about that rather unsatisfactory term
"non-Christian." It has been found excessively difficult to find
a single word which would satisfactorily designate the peoples,
other than the civilized and Christianized peoples commonly known
as Filipinos, which inhabit the Philippines. They cannot be called
pagan because some of them are Mohammedan, while others seem to have
no form of religious worship. They cannot be called wild, for some
of them are quite as gentle, and as highly civilized, as are their
Christian neighbours. The one characteristic which they have in common
is their refusal to accept the Christian faith, and their adherence to
their ancient religious beliefs, or their lack of such beliefs as the
case may be. I am therefore forced to employ the term "non-Christian"
in designating them, although I fully recognize its awkwardness.
While serving with the First Philippine Commission I was charged
with the duty of writing up the non-Christian tribes for its report,
and tried to exhaust all available sources of information. The result
of my investigations was most unsatisfactory to me. I could neither
find out how many wild tribes there were, nor could I learn with any
degree of accuracy the territory which the known tribes occupied,
much less obtain accurate information relative to their physical
characteristics, their customs or their beliefs.
The most satisfactory source of information was the work of
Blumentritt, an Austrian ethnological writer; but Blumentritt had never
set foot in the Philippines, and I suspected at the outset what later
proved to be the case, that his statements were very inaccurate. He
recognized more than eighty tribes of which thirty-six were said by
him to be found in northern Luzón.
As it was obviously impossible to draft adequate legislation for
the control and civilization of numerous savage or barbarous peoples
without reliable data on which to base it, and as such data were not
available, I had to get them for myself, and undertook a series of
explorations, carried out during the dry seasons so far as possible,
in order to gather my information on the ground.
I first visited Benguet in July and August, 1900.
On my second northern trip I traversed the province of Benguet from
south to north, arrived at Cervantes in Lepanto, and was about to
leave for the territory of the Bontoc head-hunters when I received
a telegraphic summons to return to Manila for the inauguration of
Governor Taft on July 4, 1901.
The following year such time as could be spared from my duties at
Manila was necessarily devoted to the search for a suitable island
for the site of a proposed leper colony; but in 1903 I was able to
make a somewhat extended exploring trip, traversing the country of
the Tingians in Abra, passing through the mountains which separate
that province from Lepanto, visiting the numerous settlements of the
Lepanto Igorots and continuing my journey to Cayan, Bagnin, Sagada
and Bontoc; and thence through various settlements of the Bontoc
Igorots to Banaue in the territory of the Ifugaos.
The latter portion of the trip was not unattended with excitement. A
few weeks before a fairly strong constabulary detachment, armed with
carbines, had been driven to the top of a conical hill in the Ifugao
country and besieged there until a runner made his way out at night
and brought assistance. We felt that there was some uncertainty as
to the reception which would be accorded us. The Bontoc Igorots who
accompanied us did not feel that there was any uncertainty whatever as
to what awaited them, but were more than anxious to go along with us,
as they were spoiling for a fight with their ancient enemies.
We had to use them for carriers to transport our baggage, and each
carrier insisted on having an armed companion to lug his lance and
shield. As a precautionary measure we took with us twenty-five Bontoc
Igorot constabulary soldiers armed with carbines, while each of the
five American members of the party carried a heavy six-shooter. We
also had with us a dog which was supposed to be especially clever at
seasonably discovering ambushes and giving warning.
We were able to use horses more or less as far as the top of the
Polis range, but the trail down its eastern slopes was impracticable
for horses and dangerous for pedestrians.
We shivered for a night on a chilly mountain crest, and the next day
continued our journey to Banaue. When still several miles from the
town, we were met by an old Ifugao chief with two companions. They
marched boldly up to us and inquired whether we were planning to visit
Banaue. On receiving an affirmative reply, the chief asked if our visit
was friendly or hostile. I assured him that we were friends who had
come to get acquainted with the Ifugaos. He said he was glad to hear
this, but that after all it did not really matter. If we wished to be
friends, they were willing to be friendly; but if we wanted to fight,
they would be glad to give us a chance. As he and his companions were
facing a column of eighty-seven armed men I rather admired his courage.
He next presented me with what I now know to be an Ifugao gift of
friendship, to wit, a white rooster and six eggs, after which he
took from one of his companions a bottle filled with bubud, [16]
and having first taken a drink to show me that it was not poisoned,
handed it to me. I did my duty, and we were friends.
We then proceeded on our way to Banaue, being obliged to plunge down
through the rice terraces to the bottom of a deep cañon and then climb
two almost perpendicular earthen walls before reaching the house of
the chief.
I was completely exhausted when I began this climb, and did not feel
comfortable clinging like a tree frog to the face of a clay bank
with nothing to support me except rather shallow holes which could be
better negotiated by Ifugaos, possessed of prehensile toes, than by
men wearing shoes. Seeing my predicament, an Ifugao climbed down from
above, pulled my coat-tails up over my head and hung on to them, while
another came up behind me, put his hands on my heels and carefully
placed my toes in the holes prepared for their reception. Thus aided,
I finally reached the top.
The Ifugaos did not invite us to enter their houses, but allowed us
to camp under them. I was assigned quarters under the house of the
chief. It was tastefully ornamented, at the height of the floor, with
a very striking frieze of alternating human skulls and carabao skulls.
One of my reasons for coming to Banaue at this time was that I had
heard that the people of seven other towns had recently formed a
confederation and attacked it, losing about a hundred and fifty heads
before they were driven off. I therefore thought that there might
be a favourable opportunity to learn something of head-hunting, and
to secure some photographs illustrating customs which I hoped would
become rare in the near future, as indeed they did.
Trouble promptly arose between our Bontoc friends and the Ifugaos. The
Bontocs wanted to purchase food. Some baskets of camotes were brought
and thrown down before them and they were told that they were welcome
to camotes, which were suitable food for Bontoc Igorots and pigs, but
that if they wanted rice they would have to come out and get it. As
twenty-five of them were armed with carbines and all the rest had
lances, shields and head-axes, they were more than anxious to go, but
this we could hardly permit! So we put them in a stockade under guard,
and subsisted them ourselves, a thing which necessarily rendered our
stay brief, as provisions soon ran low.
The Ifugaos of Banaue showed themselves most friendly, but warned
us that a large hostile party was waiting to attack us at Kababuyan,
a short distance down the trail. My mission to the Ifugao country was
to establish kindly relations with the people rather than kill them,
so I did my best to get on good terms with the inhabitants of the
more friendly settlements.
The day before we left, people came in haste from a neighbouring
village to advise us that one of their men had lost his head to
the Ifugaos of Cambúlo, and begged us to join them in a punitive
expedition, assuring us that there were numerous pigs and chickens
at Cambúlo and that our combined forces would have no difficulty
in whipping the people of that place, after which we could have a
most enjoyable time plundering the town, while they would secure
a goodly toll of heads which might be advantageously employed in
further ornamenting their Banaue homes. They were greatly disgusted
when we declined to join them, and said they would do the job anyhow,
as no doubt they did.
First, however, they insisted that we come with them to see that the
story they had told us was true. We soon overtook a procession carrying
a very much beheaded man who was being borne out for burial on his
shield, and were readily granted permission to attend his funeral. It
was an interesting and weird affair. After it was over we hastened
back to Banaue, in constant fear of breaking our necks by falling
down the high, nearly perpendicular, walls of the rice terraces,
on the tops of which we had to walk. Most of us discarded our shoes,
in order to minimize the danger of a fall. One member of the party,
who insisted on wearing his, glissaded down a steep wall and had to
be pulled out of the mud and water at the bottom. Fortunately he was
not injured.
Having succeeded beyond our expectations in establishing friendly
relations with the Ifugaos of Banaue we took our departure, requesting
them to tell their neighbours about us and promising to visit them
again. I returned to Bontoc and made my way to Baguio in Benguet
through the Agno River valley, stopping at numerous settlements of
the Benguet Igorots on the way.
It was not possible for me to make further explorations in the
territory of the Luzón wild people until 1905. In this year I
set out, accompanied by Mr. Samuel E. Kane, an American who spoke
Ilocano exceptionally well, and Colonel Blas Villamor, a former
Insurgent officer, who was more familiar with the territory which
I desired to visit than any one else of whom I could learn. He had
established friendly relations with some of its inhabitants during
the insurrection.
We visited several of the wilder settlements of the Tingians in Abra,
then made a hard climb over Mount Pico de Loro and descended its
eastern slopes to the Tingian village of Balbalasan in the Saltan
River valley. Its people, while not really head-hunters, were often
obliged to defend themselves against their Kalinga neighbours, and
were consequently well armed.
After a brief rest we continued our journey down the Saltan River,
visiting settlements on the high hills in its immediate vicinity.
At Salecsec we had an extended conference with an old chief named
Atumpa, a very acute man of wide experience and sound judgment,
who exercised great influence in the territory through which we had
just passed.
Atumpa, satisfied as to our good intentions, consented to accompany us
into the Kalinga country. A Kalinga chief named Saking, whom Villamor
had known during the insurrection, met us here, and told us of a war
trail into his territory which would greatly shorten our proposed
journey, and make it possible for us to reach in one day the first of
the previously unknown Kalinga settlements of the Mabaca River valley.
Saking, observing that the people in the Saltan valley had cleaned
off their old trails, and in some cases had built new ones for our
convenience, went ahead of us to his own country in order to try to
persuade his people to do some trail work, leaving us to follow him.
Our route lay over the top of a high peak called "Dead Man's Mountain"
because a good many people who tried to climb it never came down,
the true explanation of their failure to appear being no doubt that
they perished from exposure during violent storms.
While ascending this mountain I suffered an attack of partial paralysis
of the legs, due, as I now have reason to believe, to heart strain,
but was able to continue the journey after a brief rest and the use
of stimulants.
A considerable part of our trip down the steep northern slopes of
this mountain was made by utilizing a stream bed in lieu of a trail,
and was in consequence very uncomfortable and somewhat dangerous,
as the chance for broken bones was good. Fortunately, however, no
one was badly hurt.
At the first Kalinga village we found about a hundred and twenty
fighting men armed with shields and head-axes, but Saking and his
brother Bakidan at once came forward to greet us and we did not
suspect mischief.
I had brought with me from Manila a great bag of newly coined
pennies. They looked like gold, and we distributed them among the
warriors, who were greatly delighted and promptly proceeded to place
them in the ends of the huge ear plugs which the men of this tribe are
so fond of wearing. Every one seemed friendly enough at the outset,
but soon a rather disturbing incident occurred.
There were eight chiefs present. I noticed that they suddenly withdrew
a short distance and squatted all together in a circle as if by word
of command. After a brief but very animated discussion they rose
simultaneously, and six of them started down the trail at a run,
while Bakidan and Saking came to us and somewhat anxiously suggested
that it was time to be moving on.
Our way lay through enormous runo grass which closed in over our
heads, so that we were marching in a rather low tunnel through the
vegetation. Bakidan went ahead of us, Saking brought up the rear,
and both were evidently on the alert. Bakidan suggested that we keep
our revolvers handy, which we did.
A short march brought us to Saking's place. Here a still larger body
of fighting men awaited us, and there were no women in evidence except
Saking's wife, who, at the direction of her husband, came forward,
and under his instructions sought to shake hands with us. This was
a new ceremony to the Kalingas, and she gave us her left hand.
Standing in a conspicuous place in front of Saking's house were two
baskets filled with flowers which were wet with blood. We surmised,
rightly, as it later proved, that these baskets had contained
human heads just before our arrival, and that we had interrupted a
head-cañao. [17]
One did not need to be an expert in the moods of wild men to see that
the people of this place were feeling ugly, and after shaking hands
with Saking's wife we promptly marched on.
It was fortunate for us that we did so. We later learned that the
conference of the eight chiefs which aroused our suspicion had been
held to discuss our fate. Six of them were in favor of killing us
immediately, arguing that we were the first white men to penetrate
their country; that they might have to carry our baggage, which would
be a lot of trouble; and that if they allowed us to pass through others
might follow us, whereas if they killed us they would have no further
trouble with strangers. Saking was severely criticized for having
told us the whereabouts of the war trail over which we had come,
and was appointed a committee of one on extermination, with power
to act. In fact, he was directed to take his people and kill us, but
he declined to obey instructions, and the other chiefs had run down
the trail ahead of us in order to gather a sufficient force to wipe
our party out. Saking's people were somewhat loath to act under the
orders of any one else, and our sojourn among them was so brief that
they did not have time definitely to make up their minds to attack us.
We now rapidly completed our journey to Bakidan's place, where we
were to spend the night. Here again a crowd of armed fighting men
awaited us. It was momentarily augmented by the arrival of recruits
from the villages through which we had just passed.
Still unsuspicious of mischief, we turned our revolvers over to
one of our Ilocano companions, a man named Lucio, who had served as
Aguinaldo's mail-carrier during the latter days of the insurrection. We
then walked into the middle of the crowd and sat down on pieces of
our own luggage.
Bakidan immediately brought me a small wicker basket of very dirty
looking bananas. I was nauseated as a result of severe exertion in
climbing Dead Man's Mountain, and the bananas did not look appetizing,
so I thanked him and put the basket on my lap. Instantly I felt
strong tension rising in the crowd. We had brought along chief Atumpa
and several friendly Kalingas from the Saltan River valley. They
seized their head-axes and stepped in behind us, facing out. Bakidan
instantly withdrew into his own house, and from a point where hardly
any one except myself could see him made emphatic gestures, indicating
that I was to eat. Little suspecting the significance of the act,
but desirous of placating his outraged feelings if he felt that
his hospitality had not been appreciated, I hastily peeled a banana
and took a bite. To my amazement, there was an instant and obvious
relaxation of tension in the crowd. The Kalinga warriors loosened
their grip on their head-axes and began to walk about and talk. My
own old men also assumed an air of indifference.
Much puzzled, I made up my mind to look into this matter further,
and later learned that when people from one Kalinga settlement visit
those of another if the latter wish to be friendly it is customary
for them to offer the visitors salt if they have it, bananas if salt
is lacking, and water in the event that neither salt nor bananas
are available. If the visitors wish to accept the friendship thus
proffered, they promptly eat or drink, as the case may be; otherwise
it is understood that they have come looking for trouble.
Bakidan had ceremonially proffered the friendship of himself and his
people, and in my ignorance I had practically declared war on the
whole outfit! When I learned these facts I asked Bakidan why they did
not kill us at once. He said they were afraid. I expressed my surprise
that they should be afraid of three unarmed men, and he explained that
it was very bad etiquette in the Kalinga country for a person with a
head-axe to go behind another, and that we had amazed every one when
we walked into the midst of that gathering of armed men and sat down
with our backs to half of them. They instantly concluded that we had,
concealed about our persons, some new and strange device with which
we could annihilate a crowd, hence they were afraid!
Here, as at Saking's place, we had interrupted a head-cañao. The head
had been smuggled out of sight just before our arrival. The cañao
was now renewed and continued all night, although the head was not
again put in evidence. It is needless to say that we attended. We
witnessed one of the weirdest sights I have ever seen.
The following day was spent in distributing presents to the Kalinga
head-men, in taking photographs, and in getting a little much needed
rest. As evening drew near Bakidan suggested that it was about time
we formally made friends with each other. We were beginning to feel
rather far away from home, and wanted all the friends we could get,
so promptly acceded to his suggestion and repaired to his house at
eight o'clock, the hour he had indicated.
The ceremony proved very simple. His wife fried some boiled rice in
fat--dog fat as we afterward learned, but fortunately we did not know
this at the moment! We all squatted on the floor, Bakidan facing us,
and the dish of fried rice was placed between us. He squeezed a mass
of it into a ball and gave it to me. I ate it, and then rendered
him a similar service. He ate in turn, and we were friends! The same
procedure was followed with each of my companions.
In the midst of the ceremony there came a very unexpected
interruption. A Kalinga woman was standing near me holding a torch. She
had been silent and had seemed timid. I chanced to stretch out my
right hand palm up. To my surprise she uttered an exclamation which
was almost a shriek, seized my wrist and began to point excitedly to
the lines in my palm. The other Kalingas gathered about, evidently
greatly interested. Several of them showed the lines in the palms of
their own hands, and an animated conversation ensued. I asked what
it all meant, and was informed that I was going to become a man of
great influence! I had already modestly introduced myself as the
ruler of all non-Christians, so found this reply unsatisfactory,
but could get no other.
It was fortunate indeed for us that we made friends with Bakidan. On
the following day we continued our journey down the valley. Our
baggage was carried by women, children and a few old and more or less
decrepit warriors who obviously felt deeply insulted at being required
to render such a menial service, and were decidedly resentful toward
Bakidan for having ordered them to do it.
Before we started Bakidan warned us that the Kalingas were queer
people, and in consequence it would be well for us very quietly to go
around certain of their settlements. Others we would visit. Their
inhabitants would be sure to invite us to stay and enjoy their
hospitality. He would second every such invitation. We were to pay
no attention to his words, but were to note whether or not he sat
down. If he did, we might accept the invitation. Otherwise we must
plead an urgent engagement farther down the valley and move on.
Things came out exactly as he had foretold. In several villages we
heard noises decidedly suggestive of head cañaos, and discreetly
circled these places. We declined all invitations seconded by Bakidan
when he did not seat himself, and rested comfortably for a time in
several villages where he did.
Toward noon we walked straight into an ambush laid for us in the runo
grass, discovering it only when Bakidan began to deliver a forceful
oration in which he set forth the fact that he had a right to stroll
down his own valley with a party of friends without being annoyed
by having his fellow tribesmen hide beside the trail and prepare to
throw lances.
Bakidan, who was himself a famous warrior, told these men that
they might kill us if they saw fit to do so, but must kill him
first. Apparently rather ashamed of themselves, they came out on to
the trail and slunk off to their town. Bakidan, greatly disgusted,
suggested that we follow them and lunch in their village just to show
that we were not afraid of them, and we did this.
After lunch I photographed a number of our late opponents, and we then
continued our journey, escorted by a Kalinga chief named Bogauit from
Took-Took. This man had previously descended to the Cagayan valley,
where he had seen white people, and hearing of our advent in the
Kalinga country, and fearing that we might have trouble in getting
carriers for our baggage, had come with his fighting men to help
us out.
The people of his village received us in a most friendly spirit,
and after attending a bit of a cañao organized in our honour, and
doing our best to entertain the crowd with a few simple experiments in
physics, and some sleight-of-hand tricks, we retired, as we supposed,
for a peaceful night's rest.
No such good fortune awaited us. We were aroused in the middle of
the night by a fearful din only to find our hut surrounded by a
great circle of armed men. The people who had attempted to ambush
us earlier in the day had repented of their action in letting us
pass through unharmed, had gathered a strong force of fighting men,
had surrounded our house and were now vociferously demanding to be
allowed to take our heads.
Old Bakidan was apparently fighting a duel with their chief in the
midst of the circle. The two men were dancing around each other with
cat-like steps, occasionally coming to close quarters and clashing
shields, then leaping apart, swinging their head-axes and obviously
watching for an opportunity to strike home. Had either of them gained
any decided advantage of position he would doubtless have used his
head-axe, and this would have started a fight which could have had
but one ending.
Owing to a mistake made when the ammunition for our trip was
purchased, we had just twenty-two revolver cartridges amongst us,
and in the darkness they would have been worth about as much as
so many firecrackers. The roof of the house was dry as tinder; a
blazing brand thrown on it would promptly have forced us into the
open. We should have been met by a flight of head-axes and lances,
and this book would not have been written!
The majority of the crowd were determined to take our heads. The
Took-Took people, greatly outnumbered, were evidently on the fence,
and Bakidan was our only advocate. He still insisted that any one
who wished to kill us must kill him first. His reputation stood
him in good stead, and no one tackled the job. The uproar continued
until nearly morning. Bási, a strong native liquor, was constantly
passed. Indeed, every one but Bakidan had been drunk when we were
first awakened. Finally food was handed around, and when the excited
warriors stopped yelling in order to eat it the liquor had a chance
to work, and most of them went to sleep.
We might probably have then effected our escape for the time being,
but it was utterly impossible for us to get out of the country without
the assistance of the Kalingas, and we decided to see the thing out
right there.
In the morning the crowd was uglier than ever. As we crossed the little
plaza they suddenly closed in on us with the obvious intention of
doing for us, and we thought the end had come. At this critical moment
a diversion was created in our favour by the wholly unexpected arrival
of a letter brought in by a Kalinga runner. It had followed us all the
way from Abra, and contained information about two pieces of baggage
which were missing when we started. Its arrival greatly alarmed the
hostiles, who interrogated me as to whether soldiers were coming. They
had heard of soldiers, but had never seen them. I assured them that
the arrival or non-arrival of soldiers would depend on the way they
treated us, and to our utter amazement, they presently faded away.
The Took-Took people again showed themselves friendly when their
unwelcome visitors had departed, and made us bamboo rafts on which
we descended the river.
Our voyage was a decidedly adventurous one. Our rafts were repeatedly
smashed by the swift current. As we approached each Kalinga village
we were met by a reception committee carrying a bunch of bananas,
followed at a short interval by a crowd of fighting men fully armed,
and were thus given an opportunity to decide whether there should be
peace or war. Needless to say, we voted for peace every time. I ate
bananas until it was difficult to find room for more!
We spent the night at the rancheria of a friendly, white-haired old
chief who had been to Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan, and knew
a few words of Spanish. The next day we reached the settlement of
Chief Doget, who had a wonderful house of red narra, a wood which
closely resembles mahogany. It was furnished with beds, chairs and
tables obtained from the Spaniards. Here we were able to rest in peace.
After sleeping the clock twice around, we continued our journey, and
at dusk reached the Filipino town of Tuao, glad enough to get back to
civilization and feeling that the kindly Providence which watches over
fools, drunken men and children had had its eye on us. Without escort,
and armed only with six-shooters rendered almost useless by lack of
ammunition, we had completed the first trip ever made through the
Kalinga country, and had done it without firing a shot and without
losing a man.
This trip marked for me the beginning of friendly relations with the
Kalingas. They have never since been interrupted, and now, when I ride
a fast American horse rapidly over the splendid trails which cross
their country from south to north and from west to east, or meet at
Lubuagan the fighting men who were once so anxious to take my head
but now make a long journey yearly in order to see me, I realize, as
perhaps no one else does, how very materially conditions in Kalinga
have changed.
It had been our intention, after spending a brief period in
recuperation at Tuao, to proceed to Malaueg and continue our journey
through the absolutely unknown country of the Apayaos, but we found
it impossible to secure guides. The leading men of Malaueg, who
came to Tuao to meet us, assured us that there were no trails known
to them, which was untrue, and added that they would not under any
circumstances consider trying to enter the territory of the fierce
Apayao head-hunters.
We accordingly proceeded to Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan,
intending to descend the Cagayan River to Aparri, go overland to
Abulúg or Pamplona and there get guides and carriers.
At Tuguegarao, however, we found assembled the presidentes of all the
Cagayan towns. Those from Abulúg and Pamplona positively assured me
that there were no trails thence into the Apayao country, and that
guides and carriers would be absolutely unobtainable. I insisted that
I would visit their towns and ask them to accompany me, whereupon they
actually wrung their hands and wept, complaining that the people of
Apayao used bows and poisoned arrows.
In disgust I told them that I would abandon the trip for that year,
but the following year would go to Laoág in North Ilocos, cross the
"Cordillera Central" and come out through the Apayao country, taking
with me Ilocano guides and carriers, as the Ilocanos were real men.
I then proceeded up the river to Ilagan and went overland through Nueva
Vizcaya, ultimately crossing Ifugao from east to west and thoroughly
exploring the territory from which I had been excluded on my previous
trip; proceeding thence to Bontoc and Cervantes over a route new to me,
and finally returning through Benguet and Pangasinán to the railroad,
where I took train for Manila.
The following year I carried out my promise, taking with me Colonel
Villamor, who had rendered very valuable and satisfactory assistance on
my previous trip. I also had three white companions, Dr. Paul C. Freer,
superintendent of government laboratories, Major Samuel Crawford and
Lieutenant L. D. Atkins. These officers commanded a detachment of
twenty-five Ilocano constabulary soldiers which I reluctantly took
along, warned by my experience of the previous year and convinced by
the arguments of my Ilocano carriers, who declined to accompany me
unless I took an armed escort.
Prior to my departure from Manila I had received an urgent telegram
from the governor of North Ilocos informing me that one Abaya, a wild
Tingian from Apayao, had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in
Bilibid, the insular penitentiary, and urging me to arrange if possible
to have him detained at Laoag until my arrival there, which I did.
On reaching Laoag, I was amazed to find a large delegation of fully
armed Apayao men waiting for me at the river bank. They followed me to
the house where my quarters were to be, and sat down on the stairway,
with the obvious intention of seeing that I did not leave without
their knowledge.
On asking the meaning of this occurrence, I was told that they were
friends of Abaya and wished to talk with me. When given an opportunity
to do so, they told me a singular tale, which admirably illustrates
the relations prevailing in that region between the wild men and
their Filipino neighbours.
Abaya was one of a few men in Apayao who dared to descend to the
lowlands. He came down occasionally, bringing tobacco and wax to
barter for cloth, steel, salt and other necessaries not obtainable
in Apayao. Being unable to speak Ilocano well, he obtained a Filipino
agent known as his "commissioner," who transacted his business for him,
withholding for himself a liberal percentage of the proceeds.
On the occasion of his last visit to the lowlands, the "commissioner"
had told Abaya that he had a Negrito slave who was planning to escape,
and had directed him to take his head-axe and kill the Negrito,
promising him half of a large pig in payment for this service.
Abaya, nothing loth, hastened to execute the order, hunting up the
Negrito and aiming a terrific blow at him. Fortunately the Negrito saw
it coming and jumped so that he received it on his shoulder instead
of his neck. It inflicted a horrible wound, but he nevertheless
ran away so fast that Abaya was unable to catch him and finish the
job. He returned and regretfully reported his lack of success to his
"commissioner." To his amazement he was arrested, taken to Laoag
and held for trial. Both he and his friends were convinced that the
reason for this was his failure to kill the Negrito, and the friends
assured me in the most positive terms that Abaya had done his very
best and that it was through no fault of his that the Negrito had
escaped! They demanded his immediate release.
Meanwhile I had been informed by the governor of the province that
Abaya's people had threatened to come and wipe out the village where
his "commissioner" lived, and also to kill all of the Negritos in that
vicinity in revenge for the arrest and imprisonment of their chief.
It struck me that the "commissioner" was the man who ought to be in
jail, but I did not care to allow the Apayao people to think that they
could make such threats with impunity, so asked them whether it was
true that they were planning to wipe out the village in question. They
said yes. I then told them that they must not do it. They expressed
a willingness to obey any instructions that I might give to them. I
asked whether their promise to let the village alone was dependent upon
Abaya's being set at liberty, and they answered no. We then took up
the question of killing the Negritos. They were greatly amazed that I
should object to this, urging that they had always fought the Negritos,
and that the latter were bad people who constantly made trouble with
their poisoned arrows; theretofore it had been considered commendable
to kill as many as possible. However, they said that they would let
the Negritos alone if I insisted upon it, irrespective of whether or
not Abaya was released. Having duly impressed them with the fact that
the matter of the release of Abaya must stand on its own merits,
and could not be made to depend on their subsequent good or bad
conduct, and having interviewed the Filipino judge who sentenced
Abaya and learned that he had been puzzled to know what to do and
was heartily in favour of having him pardoned, I telegraphed to the
acting governor-general requesting that this be done, and continued
my journey, leaving word that Abaya should follow me if set at liberty.
He was promptly pardoned. His people insisted that he join them
and take to the mountains, but he told his friends that since I
had secured his release he would do what I had asked. He overtook
me before I had finished my second day's march, and stayed with me
until I gave him leave to go his way!
Our climb over the cordillera was by no means a pleasure trip. We
were forced to use beds of streams and Tingian warpaths in lieu of
trails. At one time our way lay over wet limestone rocks which were
slippery as ice. Here our hobnailed shoes were a positive source of
danger. The feet of our carriers were badly torn, and we ourselves
suffered from occasional falls on the sharp rocks. We secured the
help of some additional Tingians whom we met journeying to the coast,
paying them liberally enough so that they were willing to abandon
their proposed trip and accompany us.
We sent all of our Tingian companions ahead to give notice of our
friendly intentions before reaching the first village in Apayao,
but its inhabitants nevertheless ran away. Thoroughly exhausted, we
decided to spend a night there. In the course of the afternoon our
men were able to bring in some of their fellow tribesmen who lived
in the vicinity, and we made friends with them.
From this point a half day's march brought us to the head-waters of the
Abulúg River at a point where it was navigable for bamboo rafts. We
delayed at a little village until we could construct rafts enough to
float our large party, and then started downstream, knowing that we
should meet plenty of people, for the Tingians of Apayao are fond of
placing their villages on river banks.
Our trip was a wild and adventurous one. Fortunately I had purchased
some twenty dollars' worth of beads and with these I made at least
twenty-five hundred presents! The friendship of the women at the first
town which we met was thus secured, and thereafter the "grapevine
telegraph" worked ahead of us and we found waiting delegations of
women and girls on the river bank at almost every village. So long
as they were about, it was reasonably certain that the men would not
make any hostile demonstration.
The trip proved a great success in every way. Many of the numerous
settlements which we visited were at war with each other. One had
just been attacked, and a number of its people had lost their heads,
literally. We were constantly warned that the residents of the next
town down the river were "bad people" and that "five hundred" of them
were waiting in the river bed to attack us, but only once were we in
any real danger of being molested, and even then diplomacy prevailed.
We were careful to respect local customs. One town was reported to be
cañao, which is equivalent to "taboo," because of the death of the
wife of the headman, and we religiously kept away from it. Another
was cañao because of a virulent epidemic of smallpox, and we were
more than willing to keep away from that one!
We bumped down rapids and shot over several low falls. Again and again
our rafts were torn to pieces and we were precipitated into the rushing
stream. At one time a constabulary soldier was under water for some
ten minutes, and we thought him dead when he was first fished out,
but finally succeeded in resuscitating him.
We had been told that the trip would take eight days and had made
our plans accordingly. It took fifteen. Food ran short. Shoes and
clothing gave out. Some of our soldiers were dressed in clouts before
we reached civilization, and crawfishes on which our men could pounce
along the edges of the river were out of luck!
I shall long remember the shout of delight which our Filipino
companions set up when we finally passed through the last mountain
gap and came out into the open country, but as a matter of fact the
most disagreeable part of our journey lay before us. Up to that time
our progress had been rapid and exciting. Now the current of the river
grew sluggish, and we were largely dependent on it, as our rafts were
too heavy to paddle and the stream was in many places so deep that
we could not pole them.
We found ourselves in the country of very wild Negritos. Our Tingian
friends had informed us that these people would certainly sneak up
and shoot arrows into our camps at night, but nothing of the sort
occurred. On the contrary, through the liberal use of scarlet cotton
cloth, we were able to establish very friendly relations with the
Negritos encountered, some of whom gave us in exchange deer meat
enough for a feast, which was highly appreciated by all concerned.
On arrival at Abulúg we were received with great surprise by the
people, who had heard that we had been attacked and killed. There I
developed malaria and contracted bronchitis.
We made our way up the Cagayan River to Ilagan and thence proceeded
overland to the Kalinga villages in the vicinity of Sili. At the
latter place we had an amusing experience. Knowing that we were
going to Mayoyao, some Ifugaos from that town had joined our party
for protection. A delegation of Sili Kalingas waited on us during the
lunch hour and politely asked to be allowed to take the heads of these
Ifugaos, saying that they needed some fresh heads, and that it would
save a lot of trouble if they could have these, so providentially
brought to them by their respective owners. I explained to them that
we really needed the Ifugaos, and they politely waived their claim
to them in our favour!
I had been assured that I could ride a horse to Mayoyao in two and
a half days. The trip took five days. Much of the way horses were
worse than useless. Before we reached our destination my bronchitis
had developed into pneumonia and I was very ill. My white companions
on the Apayao trip had long since left me, but at Ilagan I had been
joined by Señor Claraval, who was later elected governor of Isabela,
and by an American school-teacher. Colonel Villamor had stayed with
me. Now all my companions turned back and I continued my journey
accompanied only by Ifugaos and by a young lieutenant of constabulary
named Gallman, who had then just come to the Ifugao country but was
later destined to play a most remarkable part in bringing its warlike
people under control and starting them on the road toward civilization.
Our route from Mayoyao to Banaue of necessity followed the Ifugao
war trails, which invariably run along the crests of mountains so as
to command a view in both directions. The country through which we
passed was frightfully broken, and I could hardly stand.
Wherever it was humanly possible to do so, the Ifugaos carried me in
a blanket slung under a pole. They took me up almost perpendicular
ascents in this way, but in some cases the ascents were quite
perpendicular and the descents the same, so that I had to try to
climb, constantly falling as the result of weakness and exhaustion,
in spite of the efforts of the Ifugaos to keep me on my feet. We
reached Dukligan at dusk and there we spent the night.
In the morning I found myself unable to rise, so took a stiff dose of
whiskey. As this failed to produce the desired result, I took a second
and finally a third. Under the potent influence of the stimulant I
managed to get up. The willing Ifugaos carried me clear to the rice
terraces near Banaue, making a joke of the hard work involved. There
were always a dozen men on the pole, and whenever one set of carriers
grew weary there was a scramble, closely approaching a fight, to
determine who should be allowed next to take their places.
These jolly people constantly gave a peculiar shout which was
ridiculously like an American college cheer. Ill as I was, I almost
enjoyed the trip, and conceived a great liking for the splendidly
developed men who were seeing me through in such gallant style. Had
it not been for their kindness, I should certainly have left my bones
somewhere between Mayoyao and Banaue.
They were determined to lug me through the rice terraces, but as
it took at least four men to carry me, and the weight of the five
of us was sufficient to cause the tops of the high terrace walls to
crumble so that I had several narrow escapes from falling down them,
I climbed out of my extemporized hammock, took one more big drink of
raw whiskey and on the strength of it managed to stagger along to
the river, where I was amazed to find a horse awaiting me. Nothing
ever looked better to me than did that somewhat decrepit animal!
I was absolutely unfit to travel, but having rested at Banaue for
half a day, and realizing that it was imperatively necessary that I
should get to a doctor at once, I made what was then record time to
Banaue, Bontoc, Cervantes and Baguio, and on arrival at the latter
place proceeded to go to bed and be comfortably ill.
Tramping over the northern Luzón mountains with my lungs partly
solidified left my pumping machinery in such shape that I have never
since been able to make a hard trip on foot, but that is no longer
necessary. Splendid horse trails now make travel through this region
a pleasure.
When we crossed Apayao only one other white man had achieved the
feat. This was a good missionary priest who in 1741 traversed the
country between Abulúg and one of the North Ilocos towns.
Lieutenant Gilmore's [18] Filipino captors took him and his companions
across a corner of Apayao, and instead of murdering them in the forest,
as they had been ordered to do, turned them loose. They made their way
across a portion of the territory traversed by us, and had reached
the Abulúg River and were attempting to build rafts when overtaken
by a rescue party of American soldiers. All hands then descended the
river to the town of Abulúg, and proceeded overland to Aparri.
Colonel Hood, who was commanding the United States forces there,
declined to let them enter the town until they had been provided with
decent clothing, thinking that the sight of American soldiers clad
in clouts might be too much of a shock to the inhabitants!
In 1907 I was able to land at various points along the then absolutely
unknown Pacific coast of northeastern Luzón, but failed to get
into touch with the Negritos, who constitute its sole inhabitants,
until near Palanan, the northernmost settlement of Filipinos on the
east coast.
With this trip my exploration work in northern Luzón ended, although
I have ever since made extended annual trips through the non-Christian
territory of the island.
During the years covered by this hasty narrative, I also made trips
to the territory of the wild men in Mindoro, Palawan, and Mindanao,
as opportunity offered. In Spanish days I had lived among the
Moros and had visited the mountains of Negros and Panay and seen
something of the wild men living there, so that I finally gained a
fairly comprehensive knowledge of the non-Christian tribes of the
Philippines, having seen representatives of nearly all of them, [19]
and lived for longer or shorter periods among all except some of the
more unimportant peoples in the interior of Mindanao.
As a result of these personal investigations I was able to reduce to
twenty-seven the eighty-two non-Christian tribes said by Blumentritt
to inhabit the Philippines; to determine with reasonable accuracy
the territory occupied by each, and not only to become familiar with
the manners and customs of the people of each important tribe, but
to establish relations of personal friendship with many chiefs and
headmen which have proved invaluable to me in my subsequent work for
the betterment of the non-Christian peoples which has so irritated
certain Filipino politicians who have wished to continue to oppress
and exploit them, or, like Judge Blount, have sought to minimize
their importance.
The latter individual seems to regard my past efforts to portray
actual conditions among the wild men as a personal grievance, and
has devoted an entire chapter to the shortcomings of "Non-Christian
Worcester." In it he says of me that I impressed him as "an
overbearing bully of the beggar-on-horseback type"; that I am "the
P. T. Barnum of the 'non-Christian tribe' industry"; that "in the
early nineties he [Non-Christian Worcester] had made a trip to the
Philippines, confining himself then mostly to creeping things and
quadrupeds--lizards, alligators, pythons, unusual wild beasts, and
other forms of animal life of the kind much coveted as specimens by
museums and universities," and goes on to tell how it was that "the
reptile-finder ultimately became a statesman." The Honourable Judge
summarizes his views concerning me by stating that he "considers
Professor Worcester the direst calamity that has befallen the
Filipinos since the American occupation, neither war, pestilence,
famine, reconcentration nor tariff-wrought poverty excepted." He
describes the experience on which he bases these statements as follows:
"During all my stay in the Philippines I never did have any official
relations of any sort with the Professor, and only met him, casually,
once, in 1901."
This latter statement is correct to the best of my recollection. "A man
is known by the company he keeps." I feel that I have been fortunate
in my friends and singularly blessed in my enemies! If I do not in
turn attack the Philippine career of Judge Blount, it is not for lack
of abundant ammunition, but for the reason that I believe that the
American public will be more interested in the truth or falsity of the
allegations concerning more important matters which we respectively
make than in our opinions of each other.
The Judge seems to have overlooked the fact that invective is not
argument. I leave to him the use of needlessly abusive and insulting
language. He has also apparently overlooked the further fact that
disregard of the truth is apt, sooner or later, to bring its own
peculiar reward. Later I call attention to certain of his misstatements
concerning the wild peoples of the Philippines, and correct them.
CHAPTER XXI
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES
When I visited Benguet in July and August of 1900, I found conditions
there such that the early establishment of civil government seemed
practicable and desirable. The people had taken no part in the
insurrection and nowhere in the province was there any resistance
to American authority. An act providing for the government of the
province and its settlements was accordingly passed on November 23,
1900, Benguet being thus the first province to pass from the control
of the military.
In drafting this act I was fortunate in having the coöperation of
Mr. Otto Scheerer, a German citizen who had lived for a number of
years among the Benguet Igorots, understood them fully and was most
kindly disposed toward them.
The Benguet law, in considerably amplified form, was applied to Nueva
Vizcaya when that province was organized on January 28, 1902, and on
April 7, 1902, a carefully considered act entitled "An Act providing
for the Establishment of Local Civil Governments in the Townships
and Settlements of Nueva Vizcaya" was passed by the commission.
On May 28, 1902, the province of Lepanto-Bontoc was established. It
had three sub-provinces, Amburayan, Lepanto and Bontoc. The two Nueva
Vizcaya acts above mentioned were made applicable to it, and to its
towns, respectively.
On June 23, 1902, an act was passed organizing the province of Palawan
(Paragua) and extending to it, and to its towns, the more essential
provisions of the two Nueva Vizcaya acts.
On the same day Mindoro was incorporated with the province of
Marinduque under the regular Provincial Government Act, which was
then being made applicable to all provinces populated chiefly by
Filipinos. As might have been anticipated, it did not prove feasible
properly to administer the affairs of Mindoro under this act, and on
November 10, 1902, a province of Mindoro, including the main island
and numerous neighbouring small islands, was established under a law
embodying the essential provisions of the Nueva Vizcaya Act. Certain
provisions of the Nueva Vizcaya township and settlement act were made
applicable to its municipalities, while on December 4, 1902, other
provisions of the same act were made applicable to the settlements
of the wild Mangyans, who occupy the whole interior of this great
island so far as it is occupied at all.
The desirability of uniform legislation for the government of the
non-Christian tribes, except those of the Moro Province, soon became
evident, and after much experience in the practical working of the
several acts above mentioned under the conditions presented in the
five provinces, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Lepanto-Bontoc, Palawan and
Mindoro, I drafted the so-called "Special Provincial Government Act,"
and "The Township Government Act." The former was made applicable to
the five provinces above mentioned, and the latter to all settlements
of non-Christian tribes throughout the Philippines except those of
the Moro Province.
On August 20, 1907, an act was passed carving the province of Agusan
out of territory which had previously belonged to Surigao and Misamis,
and organizing it under the Special Provincial Government Act.
Finally, on August 18, 1908, the Mountain Province was established
in northern Luzón.
At the same time that the Ifugao territory was separated from
Nueva Vizcaya there was added to the latter province the Ilongot
territory previously divided between Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva Ecija
and Pangasinán.
Before considering the details of the work accomplished in the
several special government provinces and sub-provinces, I will state
the general principles which have been found useful in bringing the
non-Christian peoples under control and in establishing friendly
relations with them, and will explain how these principles have been
applied in actual practice.
I have always considered the opening up of adequate lines of
communication an indispensable prerequisite to the control and
development of any country, and this is especially true of the
territory of the wild man. No matter how unruly he may be, he is apt
to become good when one can call on him at 2.30 A.M., since that is
the hour when devils, anítos and asuáng are abroad, and he therefore
wants to stay peaceably in his own house! Again and again we have
built a trail to an ugly, fighting, head-hunting settlement whose
people have at first thrown spears at our road labourers, but later,
when they found that the trail was really going to arrive, have ended
by building one out to meet it. Constabulary garrisons which we have
expected to be forced to establish have often proved unnecessary when
communication was opened up.
We have had scanty funds for public works in these regions. At the
outset I had to get along with four or five thousand dollars a year
in the territory now included in the Mountain Province and the task
which confronted me seemed utterly hopeless. Nevertheless, I made
a beginning and did the best I could. Now the Mountain Province has
annual receipts of about $85,000, of which some $65,000 are expended
for public works and permanent improvements. This is made possible by
the fact that the salaries and wages of the provincial officers, and
certain contingent expenses as well, are met by direct appropriation
of insular funds.
Another principle to which I have steadfastly adhered is never to
impose taxes on a wild man until he can be made to realize that direct
good to him will result from their collection. One of several reasons
why the Spaniards never could dominate the hill people of Luzón was
that they insisted at the very outset upon exacting "tribute" from
them. The hill people regarded the money thus contributed as a present
to the man who collected it, and rebelled against making presents to
people who did not treat them well and whom they did not like.
The most important tax in the special government provinces is the
so-called "public improvement tax."
The law imposing it does not become operative on the non-Christians
of any given territory without the prior approval of the secretary
of the interior.
It provides for the collection from every able-bodied adult male
between the ages of 18 and 55 of an annual contribution of two
pesos. [20] The taxpayer is allowed to render ten days of service
upon public works in lieu of cash payment if he prefers, and most
non-Christians do prefer to settle the obligation in this way. All
money derived from this source is expended on public works, going to
pay for supervision, dynamite, powder, caps, fuse, steel, road tools
and the like, as it is seldom necessary to hire labourers.
We paid for all labour on the first trails constructed, and it was
only when the people themselves learned to comprehend the usefulness
to them of improved means of communication that I made the public
improvement tax applicable to them.
Except under very special circumstances, I did not allow the
construction of a trail with a grade higher than six per cent. There
are two reasons for this rule. First, the torrential rain-storms of
the tropics rapidly destroy high-grade trails in spite of all efforts
to provide adequate drainage; second, if trails are constructed on
low grades, every shovelful of earth which is thrown is just so much
accomplished toward the eventual opening up of cart roads, carriage
roads or automobile roads, the whole subsequent question involved
being one of widening and surfacing.
In constructing a trail we first carefully stake what seems the best
possible line between the two points to be connected; then build on
this line a path which is cut into the hill [21] four feet, the dirt
being thrown outward. No special effort is made to give the bank
a proper slope; the Almighty does this in the course of the first
rainy season, when the earth sloughs off on to the trail in those
places where it stands too steeply. It is then promptly thrown off
the road-bed while still loose, and much hard pick and shovel work and
many "pop shots" are thus saved. Only the most necessary drainage is
provided before the first rainy season, for the reason that experience
has shown that what seem dry beds of streams and look as if they would
be converted into raging torrents during the rainy season sometimes
then hardly carry water enough to wash one's face in; while, on the
other hand, destructive torrents come charging down the crests of
hogbacks in places where one would least expect them, and cut out
the trail completely where they strike it. With the first rain the
maintenance gangs get to work, noting where drainage is especially
needed and providing it, throwing off loose earth and stones when
slides occur, and widening the trail or cutting off sharp corners
when not otherwise engaged.
American and Filipino road foremen were at first used for trail
construction, but the Igorots, Ifugaos and Kalingas, all of whom
are very intelligent people, soon learned to serve as foremen. I had
Ifugaos who ran about clad in clouts only, but were nevertheless quite
capable of carrying a road or trail across the face of a precipice,
doing all of the powder work.
The wild men soon learn to take great pride in their trails, and
usually keep them in an excellent state of repair. It is a remarkable
fact that on the thousand miles of road and trail which have been
constructed since the American occupation in the Mountain Province
and Nueva Vizcaya no one has as yet been murdered. In the wildest
regions there has been an understanding from the outset that people
travelling over government roads were to be let alone!
The establishment of government, and of a decent state of public
order, have gone hand in hand with the opening up of lines of
communication. Wherever practicable it is highly desirable to police
the wild man's country with wild men, and this has proved far easier
than was anticipated. The Bontoc Igorots make good, and the Ifugaos
most excellent, constabulary soldiers. They are faithful, efficient,
absolutely loyal and implicitly obedient. The Ifugaos are born
riflemen, and their carbine practice is little short of marvellous when
one considers their very limited experience. Natural fighters as they
are, the people of these two tribes make the best of soldiers. They are
absolutely fearless, and fight much as do the Ghurkas of India. Benguet
Igorots and Kalingas are now being enlisted as constabulary soldiers,
and from the very outset the people of many of the non-Christian tribes
of the islands have been used as policemen in their own territory.
The annual inspection trip which the secretary of the interior is
required by law to make to every province organized under the special
provincial government act has become very important in the control
and advancement of the non-Christian tribes.
It is now customary to hold fiestas, or as they are locally designated,
cañaos, at central points, to which are invited great numbers of
the wild people from the neighbouring country. At the outset these
gatherings served to bring together men who had hardly seen each other
except over the tops of their shields when lances were flying. They
were all friendly with me, but they were by no means friendly with
each other, and trouble threatened on various occasions. Within the
space of thirty seconds I have seen a couple of thousand men draw
their war knives and snatch up their lances, and have feared that a
record killing was about to occur, but in the end the excited warriors
always quieted down.
We took advantage of these great gatherings to bring about the
settlement of old difficulties between hostile towns and they have
thus proved an important factor in the establishment of peace and
order throughout the wild man's territory. Furthermore, they afford
excellent opportunity to discuss past events and future plans under the
most favourable conditions. I well remember the occasion on which the
Ifugao headman of Quiangan requested that the public improvement tax
be imposed upon them and their fellow tribesmen. There was at that
time but one decent trail in this sub-province. It had been built
by paid labour. Some of the headmen who had gone to Bontoc with me
had seen excellent trails there and had asked why Ifugao could not
have some just as good. I had replied that the Bontoc Igorots were
more civilized than the Ifugaos and had come so to appreciate the
benefit of trails that they were willing to build them without being
paid for their labour. Vehement exception was taken to my contention
that the Bontoc Igorots were further advanced than the Ifugaos. The
latter insisted that they were much better men than the Igorots, and
could and would build better trails. I explained to them in detail
the practical working of the public improvement tax, and asked if
they would be willing to have this contribution imposed on them. They
insisted that they wanted it, and I finally gave it to them, although
I doubted their ability to bring their people into line. On the
following day there was a precisely similar occurrence at Banaue. I
soon found that I had underrated the influence of the headmen. That
year twenty thousand Ifugaos worked out their road tax. The following
year twenty-four thousand men rendered the prescribed ten days'
service; and the number has steadily increased year by year ever since,
with the result that the sub-province is crisscrossed with trails,
many of which are already wide enough for considerable distances to
permit the passage of automobiles if they could be brought there,
while the main line of communication with Bontoc on the one hand and
the capital of Nueva Vizcaya on the other is open for cart travel
from the western to the eastern boundary of the sub-province.
At many of the cañaos we have athletic contests, which the wild
men, with their splendid physical development, greatly enjoy. It
is much better for two hostile towns to settle their differences
by a tug-of-war, or a wrestling match, than by fighting over them,
and they are now often quite willing to adopt these more pacific
means provided the audience is sufficiently large and enthusiastic,
for the average wild man has a very human love of playing to the
gallery. He takes to the athletic contests of the American like a
duck to the water, and soon learns to excel in them. No sooner is a
cañao over than those who have taken part in it begin to look forward
to the next one, and the small expense involved is repaid a thousand
fold in the good feeling produced.
In the course of a year the people of each of the non-Christian tribes
do many things for us simply because we want them to, and it seems
only fair that we should give them at least one opportunity during
the same period to have a good time in their own way.
The personal equation is of vital importance in dealing with wild
men. They know nothing of laws or policies, but they understand
individuals uncommonly well.
The men in immediate control of them must be absolutely fearless,
must make good every promise or threat, must never punish except in
case of deliberate wrong-doing committed in spite of warning duly
given, and must, when punishment is thus made necessary, inflict it
sternly but not in anger. The wild man thus dealt with is likely to
call quits when he has had enough, and if he promises to behave must
be treated like a man of his word, which he usually is.
As a result of such just, firm and kindly treatment governors and
lieutenant-governors soon find themselves endowed by their people
with powers far in excess of those conferred on them by law. They are
ex officio justices of the peace, but are just as apt to be asked to
settle a head-hunting feud between towns, which has caused a dozen
bloody murders, as a quarrel growing out of the joint ownership of
a pig. They are the law and the prophets, and no appeals are taken
from any just decisions which they may make, nor is their authority
questioned. On the contrary, their people usually object when sent
to the courts, as is of course often necessary.
These officers are always on the watch for opportunities to get the
people of hostile towns to swap head-axes, or dance together, and so
become friends.
When one town has been in the very act of raiding another the timely
appearance of an unarmed Apo [22] has sufficed to shame the culprits
into laying down their arms and going home without them.
No one who has not seen for himself can appreciate the courage,
tact and patience of the handful of Americans who have not only
brought under control the wildest tribes of the Philippines, but have
established the most friendly relations with them.
Having now outlined in a general way the principles which have been
followed in the work for the non-Christian tribes of the special
government provinces, I will set forth some of the more important
results which have been obtained.
In Benguet, which under the Spanish régime was organized
as a comandancia, [23] there dwell a kindly, industrious,
self-respecting, silent tribe of agriculturists known as the Benguet
Igorots. Governmental control was established over them by the
Spaniards. They have never indulged in head-hunting nor caused any
serious disturbance of public order, but have persistently refused
to give up their ancient religious beliefs, and for this reason were
not allowed by the Spaniards to obtain education, so that, with rare
individual exceptions, they were completely illiterate. When I first
visited their country I found the men clad in clouts, supplemented in
the case of the more wealthy by cotton blankets. The women usually
wore both skirts and upper garments, and bound towels around their
heads for turbans.
The Benguet Igorots were formerly compelled to trade for the
necessaries of life in the lowlands of the neighbouring province of
Union, where they were shamelessly exploited by the Filipinos. They
had been obliged by the Spaniards to pay taxes for which they received
no adequate return. They had furthermore been roughly treated by the
Insurgents during the war, and were extremely fearful and timid. Men
ran away at my approach. Women overtaken unexpectedly on the trail
leaped down the steep mountain sides, squatting where they first
struck the ground and covering their faces with their hands.
It proved a simple matter to establish friendly and helpful relations
with these simple and gentle people. Fortunately for them Mr. Otto
Scheerer, who had lived among them for years, helped organize their
settlements. Some of them were still so wild that they ran away at
his approach, sitting up on the high mountain sides and watching him
from a distance, but declining to come down. Patience, perseverance
and kindness soon overcame their fears, and local governments were
established in the several settlements.
Travel through Benguet was then dangerous and difficult because of the
condition of the trails, which were mere footpaths. None of the streams
were bridged. Work was promptly begun upon a trail system, and now
one can ride a large horse rapidly to every settlement of importance.
At first the people had nothing to sell, and no money with which to
buy what they needed. From time to time they packed coffee and Irish
potatoes down to the lowlands and traded them for salt, cloth and
steel, which they needed, and for vino, which was poison to them.
We have protected them in their property rights and encouraged them
to increase their agricultural holdings. As they were too ignorant to
understand and exercise their right to obtain free patent to small
tracts of land which they had long occupied and cultivated, I sent
out a special survey party to help them make out their applications
in due form.
The gradual development of Baguio, first as a health resort and later
as the summer capital, afforded them an ever increasing market for
their products; while trail construction, the opening of the Benguet
Road and the erection of buildings at Baguio made it possible for every
one desiring it to secure remunerative employment. In the old Spanish
days they had been forced to build trails without compensation, and
to feed themselves while doing it. When they realized that the new
régime had come to stay, their gratitude knew no bounds.
For a time they could not be persuaded to try the white man's
medicines, but ultimately the wife of the most important chief
in the province, who was dying of dysentery, was persuaded to let
Dr. J. B. Thomas, a very competent American government physician, treat
her case. She recovered, and the news spread far and wide. After that
Igorots came in constantly increasing numbers to the hospital which
had meanwhile been established, and to-day their sick and injured
are often carried to it from a distance of fifty miles or more.
Schools were soon established in several important settlements. The
boys proved apt pupils. At the outset parents would not allow their
girls to attend. Gradually the prejudice against sending them to
school was overcome, and at three different places girls are now
given instruction in English and in practical industrial work.
The children learn English readily and the old folks pick it
up from them. Mrs. Alice M. Kelly, who started the first Igorot
school, taught her boys respectfully to salute her in the morning,
and shortly thereafter American travellers over the Benguet trails
were addressed by Igorots with the cheerful greeting, "Good morning,
Mrs. Kelly." Their feelings were doubtless identical with those of the
traveller in Japan to whom a beginning student of book English said,
"Good morning, Sir, or Madam, as the case may be!"
The Benguet Igorots have responded quickly to the opportunities
afforded them, and several serious dangers which have threatened
their progress have been met and overcome.
The Filipino peoples will never become victims of alcoholism. They
drink in moderation, but seldom become intoxicated. The non-Christian
peoples, on the contrary, never lose an opportunity to get
boiling drunk. All of them make fermented alcoholic drinks of their
own. Fortunately most of these beverages are comparatively mild and
harmless; but if a hill man can get hold of bad vino or worse whiskey
he will get so drunk that he thinks he has to hang on to the grass
in order to lie on the ground.
The Filipinos had long taken advantage of this weakness of the
Benguet-Lepanto Igorots to debauch them with vino and cheat them
while they were intoxicated. I regret to say that since the American
occupation some white men who wanted them as labourers have used liquor
as a bait. Because of these conditions, and of more or less similar
ones throughout the rest of the wild man's territory, I drafted
and secured the passage of an act making it a criminal offence to
sell or give white man's liquor to a wild man, or for such a man to
drink such liquor or have it in his possession. This law has been very
successfully enforced. Although Benguet-Lepanto Igorots have sometimes
succeeded in purchasing liquor at Baguio or Cervantes, their use of
strong alcoholic stimulants has steadily decreased, and throughout much
of the wild man's territory strong drink is absolutely unobtainable.
The Benguet Igorots have an abiding love for gambling, and some of
them learned new tricks, which did them no good, through contact with
Filipinos when working on the Benguet Road. Strict enforcement of the
law against gambling has, however, prevented any considerable spread
of this evil.
One of the most interesting results thus far obtained is the arousing
of a strong commercial instinct among them. It was literally true
at the outset that one could not buy from them an egg, a chicken or
a basket of camotes, much less a pig or a cow. Now special market
buildings have been erected for them at Baguio, and they are thronged
on Sundays. The Igorots have money and spend it wisely. They also
have farm products to sell, know what they are worth, and insist on
getting full value for them. Among other things there may be mentioned
sleek cattle, the best fat hogs grown in the Philippines, chickens,
eggs, cabbages, Irish potatoes, peas, beans, tomatoes, squashes,
camotes and strawberries.
There have been some interesting episodes in connection with the
work for the Benguet Igorots. At one time it became necessary for the
provincial governor, Wm. F. Pack, to undergo a severe and dangerous
surgical operation. Word spread through Benguet that the doctors
were going to cut him to pieces. Palasi, an old Igorot chief of Atok,
gathered his cohorts and came in hot haste to Baguio to stop it. He
was assured by Governor Pack himself that the cutting was to be done
with his consent, but still entertained some doubts about the matter
and asked to be allowed to be present. His request was granted. There
was then no operating room in Baguio, so one was extemporized in the
governor's house. He walked out to the operating table, and Palasi,
who was standing by, once more asked him if he was to be cut up with
his own consent, offering to stop the performance even then if the
governor so wished!
On March 30, 1913, I sat at a luncheon given at Trinidad, Benguet,
in honour of former Lieutenant-Governor E. A. Eckman, who had just
been promoted to the governorship of the Mountain Province. At the
long tables were seated a representative gathering of decently clad
Benguet Igorot head-men, the hosts of the occasion. They understood
the use of knives, forks and spoons. At the close of the luncheon they
presented Governor Eckman with a beautiful silver cup. The presentation
speech was made by an Igorot named Juan Cariño, who had been shot and
badly wounded by American soldiers from whom he foolishly endeavoured
to escape in 1900!
Fortunately old Juan was not killed. Like every other Igorot in Benguet
he is to-day a good friend of the Americans. The people of his tribe
are now sober, industrious, cheerful, contented and prosperous. As
time passes they keep cleaner, wear more and better clothes and build
better houses. In this case, at least, a primitive people has come
in close contact with the white man and has profited by it.
Lepanto, like Benguet, was a comandancia in the Spanish days. Its
Igorot inhabitants are fellow-tribesmen of their Benguet neighbours,
and like them are, and have long been, peaceful agriculturists,
raising camotes, rice, coffee and cattle. They also mine gold and
copper. In the extreme southeastern and the extreme northern parts
of Lepanto the people are wilder and less law-abiding than those of
Benguet, and some of them are prone to indulge in cattle stealing.
This subprovince has one Ilocano town, Cervantes, which was made the
capital of the province of Lepanto-Bontoc. At the outset communication
with the coast was maintained over a very bad horse-trail crossing the
coast range at Tilad Pass. It zigzagged up one slope of the mountains
and down the other on a grade such as to make travel over it very
difficult. Furthermore, after reaching the lowlands on the west side
of the range, it crossed a river some fourteen times. During the rainy
season there were weeks at a time during which this stream could not
be forded. In the early days of the American occupation a good wagon
road was built from the coast to the point where the trail began,
and the trail itself was put in the best possible condition. It was
subsequently well maintained, but after the establishment of a Filipino
provincial government in South Ilocos the wagon road was allowed
to fall into such a state of neglect that travel over it, even for
persons on horseback, became impossible during wet weather. Mr. Kane,
the supervisor of the Mountain Province, was nearly drowned in mud
when trying to ride over it, being thrown from his horse into soft
ooze so deep that his hands did not reach bottom, and had it not
been for a timely rescue by Filipinos who chanced to be passing,
he would certainly have lost his life.
Although forty or fifty thousand pesos' worth of supplies were annually
sent into the mountain country by the people of South Ilocos over this
trail, that province refused to spend a peso in keeping the connecting
road up. The constantly growing trade of the mountain country made it,
in my opinion, necessary that it should have a good outlet to the
coast, and a route for a road was surveyed from Cervantes directly
west over the Malaya range, traversing the subprovince of Amburayan
from east to west and coming out at the municipality of Tagudin. In
order to prevent the occurrence of a state of affairs such as had
rendered the Tilad Pass trail practically useless during much of
the rainy season, this Ilocano town was annexed to Lepanto-Bontoc,
thus giving the province a route to the coast within the limits of
its own territory.
The people of Tagudin were at first inclined to protest against
annexation to the country of the non-Christians, but soon discovered
that the change was greatly to their advantage. Their town had long
been threatened with destruction by the encroachment of the Amburayan
River, and they had appealed in vain to South Ilocos for help. The
Mountain Province gave them assistance in the construction of a
protecting wall which held the river within bounds and adequately
safeguarded the town. Their business rapidly increased when Tagudin
became the western terminus of an important trade route. They soon
began to take an active interest in improving local conditions, and
their municipality was gradually changed from a dirty, down-at-the-heel
place to a neat, clean, sanitary town in which its people could take
justifiable pride. An old feud which had long separated the leading
men into two parties so bitterly hostile to each other that the mere
fact of advocacy of a given measure by one of them was sufficient to
cause determined opposition to it by the other, died out, and Tagudin
is to-day quite a model place in comparison with the general run of
Filipino towns.
The opening up of transportation lines has placed the people of
Lepanto within much easier reach of a market for their rice, coffee
and cattle. The successful combating of cattle disease by the Bureau
of Agriculture has been a great boon to them, as has the suppression of
the liquor traffic. Schools have been established in a number of their
settlements. Last, but by no means least, their lives are no longer
endangered by the head-hunting Bontoc Igorots. They are now a peaceful,
prosperous people, and are progressing steadily in civilization.
In Spanish days there was a comandancia known as Amburayan wedged in
between the provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur. After the American
occupation this territory was at first organized as a part of Ilocos
Sur, but it soon became necessary to make of it a separate subprovince
and add it to Lepanto-Bontoc, to the end that its people might be
adequately protected. In contact on two sides with Christian Filipinos,
they were shamefully maltreated and oppressed, and they appealed to
me for help.
Filipinos were graciously permitting them to cut firewood and lumber
in the public forests, and taking the lion's share of the products
in return for their consent! They were debauching the Igorots with
vino. I remember particularly the case of one unfortunate individual
who owned five carabaos, two of which got to fighting. As usually
happens with these animals, the one that was whipped ran away, and
the victor blindly pursued it. Both charged over a precipice and broke
their legs. The owner killed them, dressed them, and divided the meat
among his family and friends. He was arrested, given a mock trial for
killing carabaos without a license, and fined three carabaos--all he
had left--which of course went to his persecutors!
Instances of this sort of thing could be indefinitely multiplied.
Amburayan was freed from the vino traffic soon after it became a
subprovince of Lepanto-Bontoc. This alone was a great boon to its
Igorot inhabitants, who little by little were helped to assert
their rights as they gained greater confidence in their American
lieutenant-governor and learned to go to him freely with their
troubles. They had so long been helpless and hopeless that it was some
time before they could be convinced that a new day had dawned for them.
And now let us betake ourselves to the country of the real wild man,
and consider briefly past and present conditions in the subprovince
of Ifugao.
The people of the tribe known as Ifugaos are a remarkable lot. Their
country is almost entirely made up of exceptionally steep mountain
sides with hardly a naturally level piece of ground in it. On almost
precipitous slopes they have built wonderful series of irrigated rice
terraces held in position by stone retaining walls which have been laid
without mortar or cementing material of any kind, and are so skilfully
constructed that they withstand even the terrific rains which sometimes
occur during typhoons. Accurate rainfall statistics for Ifugao are not
obtainable, but, as we have seen, in the neighbouring subprovince of
Benguet, there is of record a period of twenty-four hours during which
forty-nine and nine tenths inches of rain fell! Under such conditions
as this, exceptionally good work is necessary to prevent structures of
any sort built on mountain sides from sliding into the valleys below.
Up to the time of the American occupation the Ifugaos had always
been inveterate head-hunters. Unlike the Bontoc Igorots, who depend
on large numbers of fighting men for protection, they live in small
villages usually placed in inaccessible spots which can be reached
only by ascending the almost perpendicular rice-terrace walls.
Not only were the people of this tribe then constantly fighting among
themselves, but they from time to time raided the Bontoc country or
that of the Kalingas, and they persistently victimized the people of
Nueva Vizcaya, making travel so unsafe on the main road between Nueva
Vizcaya and Isabela that the Spaniards found it necessary to maintain
several garrisons along it, and forbade private persons to pass over
it without a military escort. Even so, parties of travellers were cut
down from time to time, the savages making their attacks at the noon
hour when Spanish soldiers had a way of going to sleep beside the road.
I have already narrated my earliest experiences in this subprovince,
which occurred in 1903, and have called attention to the fact that
when I returned in 1905 I was able to traverse it from east to west
without the slightest danger. This condition of affairs was due to the
efforts of Governor Louis G. Knight, supplemented by those of Captain
L. E. Case of the Philippine constabulary, who had established his
headquarters at Banaue and had exercised a strong influence over his
unruly constituents.
Perhaps I ought to change my statement and say that order was
established by Captain Case, assisted by Governor Knight. Captain Case
was very fortunate in his dealings with the Ifugaos. He was a kindly
man, who won their friendship at the outset. He resorted to stern
measures only when such measures were so imperatively necessary that
the Ifugaos themselves fully recognized the justice of employing them.
On my trip through the Ifugao country in 1906 I was accompanied from
Mayoyao to Banaue by Lieutenant Jeff D. Gallman, who had come to the
former place to meet me. This young man had been especially selected
by Colonel Rivers, of the Philippine constabulary, to be trained for
work among the Ifugaos. Never was a selection more fortunate. When
Captain Case injured himself by over-exertion in climbing a steep,
terraced mountain side in the hot sun, and had to return to the United
States for recuperation, Gallman took up his work and devoted himself
most effectively to the task of bringing the Ifugaos under control,
protecting them, and improving their conditions. He was a dead shot
with revolver and carbine; was absolutely fearless; was of a kindly,
cheerful disposition, and soon not only won their respect but gained
their love.
As the years went by, the Ifugaos came to regard him as but little
less than a god. He had extraordinary success in training them
for service as constabulary soldiers. On the occasion of the first
general rifle competition between all the constabulary organizations
in northern Luzón ten Ifugao soldiers were sent to the lowlands to
participate. Gallman, who had trained them, was travelling with me at
the time, so they were taken down by a comparatively inexperienced
officer who, instead of selecting the best ten men from among the
ninety possible candidates, took ten from the twenty who happened to
be stationed at Mayoyao.
The hot climate of the lowlands troubled them. The Filipino
constabulary soldiers made fun of them because they wore no trousers,
and bedevilled them in various ways. The best shot among them lost his
nerve in consequence. Nevertheless, when the competition was over they
ranked Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively, an Ilocano
soldier from the lowlands being tied with the last man for tenth place!
Ifugao soldiers are submissive to discipline, obey orders implicitly,
and are loyal and brave to a fault. When on duty they attend strictly
to business. No prisoner ever yet escaped from one of them. This is
more than can be said of the Bontoc Igorots. It is of record that on
one occasion when a prisoner guarded by a raw recruit of the latter
tribe made a break for liberty, the recruit followed him, firing
as he ran. After missing the fleeing man five times, he threw his
carbine at him, lance-fashion, and speared him with the bayonet! So
long as an Ifugao has a cartridge in his magazine he does not indulge
in bayonet practice.
The same general policy was pursued in Ifugao which had been found
so effective elsewhere. Lines of communication were opened up;
after a short time criminals were for the most part apprehended and
turned in by the head-men themselves; whenever possible, hostile
towns were left to sulk until they had learned from the experience
of their neighbours that there was nothing to be afraid of or to
complain about, and voluntarily came into the fold; head-hunting was
suppressed with a heavy hand, but only after due warning as to what
the fate of transgressors would be. It is now some six years since a
head has been taken in this region. Travel not only in Nueva Vizcaya
but in Ifugao itself is at present absolutely safe, and general
conditions as to law and order are better than those which prevail
in many American communities. The people have been assisted in the
construction of irrigation ditches, and little by little are being
persuaded to come down from their steep and overpopulated mountain
sides to the neighbouring fertile, level vacant plains. They are loyal
and friendly to a marked degree, and I experience no greater pleasure
than that which I derive from travelling through their country.
Credit for this happy result is chiefly due to the efforts of Jeff
D. Gallman, who speedily rose to be a captain in the constabulary and
at an early date was made lieutenant-governor of Ifugao. He has done
a monumental work for civilization in the Philippines.
The Kalinga country was at the outset administered as a
part of Bontoc. This made that subprovince so large that one
lieutenant-governor could not hope satisfactorily to cover it,
especially as there were no good lines of communication. Although a
constabulary garrison was early stationed at the town of Lubuagan,
comparatively little progress was made in bringing the Kalingas under
effective control until their territory was made a separate subprovince
of the Mountain Province and Lieutenant-Governor Walter F. Hale,
of Amburayan, was transferred to it as its lieutenant-governor.
Lieutenant-Governor Hale has now been in the special government
service longer than any other man who remains in it, and has an
admirable record for quiet efficiency. Like Gallman, he is a man with
chilled-steel nerve, and he needed it in the early days in Kalinga
where the people, who had been allowed to run wild too long, did not
take as kindly to the establishment of governmental control as had
the Bontoc Igorots and the Ifugaos. The Kalingas are a fine lot of
head-hunting savages, physically magnificently developed, mentally
acute, but naturally very wild. Hale soon made friends with many of
the local chiefs, and thereafter when he received invitations from
outlying rancherias to come over and have his head taken would quietly
accept to the extent of setting out accompanied by a few soldiers,
or none at all, and talking the matter over with the people who had
made the threat! In the end they always decided that he was too good
a man to kill.
Here, as in Ifugao, we felt our way, avoiding trouble with hostile
settlements as long as it was possible to do so. And here, as in
Bontoc and Ifugao, head-hunting was abolished and law and order
were established practically without killing. In a few instances
settlements which absolutely refused to come into the fold, and
persisted in raiding and killing in the territory of people who
had already become friendly, were given severe lessons, which they
invariably took in good part.
One of the pleasant things about dealing with people like the Kalingas
and the Ifugaos is their manliness when they fight. They let one know,
so plainly that there can be no mistake about it, whether they are
friendly or hostile, and even if thoroughly whipped they bear no ill
will provided they know that they deserve a whipping, but come calmly
walking into camp to tell you that they have had enough and are going
to be good. And they keep their promises.
In Kalinga, as elsewhere throughout the Mountain Province outside of
Apayao, an admirable trail system has now been opened up and travel
is not only safe but comfortable. The people are most friendly and
loyal, and while head-hunting has not completely disappeared, cases
of it are extremely rare and occur only in the most remote parts of
the subprovince.
Apayao has proved a hard nut to crack. As previously stated, I made
a trip across this subprovince from west to east in 1906, without
encountering any hostility whatsoever. Unfortunately, the officer
who commanded my escort saw fit to go blundering back there with a
constabulary command a few weeks later. He managed to get into a fight
and was whipped and chased out of the country. A so-called punitive
expedition was then sent in, which came near meeting a similar fate,
but finally withdrew in fairly good order after having inflicted
slight damage on the town of Guennéd, the people of which made the
original attack.
Apayao was at first organized as a subprovince of Cagayan, and
Colonel Blas Villamor, who had accompanied me on my two longest
exploration trips through northern Luzón, was appointed its
lieutenant-governor. The attitude of the provincial officials of
Cagayan toward the difficult task which confronted them in Apayao was
most unsatisfactory. Indeed, the governor of that province informed me
that in his opinion the best way to settle the Apayao problem was to
kill all of the inhabitants. As Colonel Villamor reported that there
were some fifty-three thousand of them [24] this procedure would have
presented practical, as well as moral, difficulties! I myself was of
the opinion that the Apayao people, who proved to be wild Tingians,
were altogether too good to kill.
Colonel Villamor was a native of Abra, where approximately half the
population is made up of Tingians who have attained to a high degree
of civilization. He was already quite familiar with the dialect
spoken by these people, and speedily learned the language of their
wild brethren in Apayao, many of whom understood Ilocano, which was
his native tongue.
At the outset he made excellent progress in bringing his people
under control. The task was undoubtedly more difficult than that
in any other subprovince of the Mountain Province, both because the
Spaniards had failed to penetrate into this region, leaving the people
untouched by civilization up to the time of the American occupation,
and for the further reason that their head-hunting is connected with
religious beliefs. They think that when a man dies his prospect for a
good time in the future world is bad unless the members of his family
take a head within six months, and this idea has a tendency to keep
society in a somewhat disturbed condition.
For reasons which I have never been able fully to fathom, Villamor's
progress in establishing governmental control grew steadily slower as
time went by, and ultimately came to a standstill. During my absence
from the islands it was deemed best to accept his resignation, for
reasons not immediately connected with his administration of the
affairs of his subprovince. Before surrendering his post he caused
word to be spread among the Tingians that the kindly policy which
had thus far been pursued in dealing with them was to be superseded
by one of severity, greatly alarming them, and seriously retarding
work which he had quite auspiciously begun. There was absolutely no
justification for his statements, as no one thought for a moment of
dealing with the Apayao Tingians in a fashion differing at all from
that invariably followed in our relations with non-Christians in the
special government provinces.
Mr. Norman G. Connor was appointed to succeed Señor
Villamor. Mr. Connor had been acting governor of Nueva Vizcaya and
had rendered very satisfactory service. He has made material progress
in establishing control over the people of Apayao, where the work
of trail construction has now begun. At the outset communication
was maintained by boats on the Abulúg River and its branches, near
which most of the wild Tingian villages are situated, but it is a
dangerous stream to navigate, especially when in flood, and lines of
land communication must therefore be opened up.
We found the subprovince of Bontoc peopled by a tribe of wild, warlike,
head-hunting Igorots over whom the Spaniards had never been able to
establish effective control. At the time of the American occupation
their numerous settlements were constantly at war with each other,
and with the Kalingas and the Ifugaos as well.
The Bontoc Igorots build large towns and depend on the numbers of their
hardy fighting men for protection. Each town formerly kept a profit and
loss account of heads with every town of its enemies. Physically these
people are splendid men, and we soon found that they were usually both
brave and fair in their fighting, formally making and breaking peace,
and serving due notice on their enemies before attacking.
If a small town felt itself aggrieved by a big one, it would send
a messenger to say, "You have more fighting men than we have, but
they are no good! Pick fifteen of the best from your thousand and
send them to a certain place at a certain time to meet fifteen real
fighting men selected from among our five hundred." At the appointed
time the thirty warriors would meet in deadly combat, while their
fellow-townsmen looked on.
The Bontoc Igorots are naturally truthful and honest, and they soon
became most friendly, gladly bringing many of their troubles to their
lieutenant-governor for settlement. Fortunately, head-accounts between
different towns can be adjusted by proper payments made by those who
hold the highest scores. We took advantage of this fact to establish
peace between the towns, and when once established it was, as a rule,
religiously kept.
Trail construction was promptly inaugurated and has been steadily
pushed. Most of the towns have thus been made readily accessible.
When friendly relations had been established, and we were in a position
to back orders with force if necessary, settlement after settlement
was warned that head-hunting must cease and was further informed as to
what would happen if the mandate was disobeyed. Certain dare-devils
promptly broke over, partly, I fancy, to see what would happen,
and partly, no doubt, because they found the influence of tribal
customs too strong to resist. We made our warnings come true. One
settlement required three bitter lessons. For others a single mild
one sufficed. The majority of the towns were content to get their
experience vicariously. We were amazed at our own success in stopping
this horrible practice. At the outset we burned towns if their people
engaged in head-hunting. [25] The Igorots recognized the justice of
this action because the whole town was invariably cognizant of, and
party to, every head-hunting raid made by any of its people. Later,
when head-hunting became comparatively rare, we began to deal with
the individuals concerned. They were arrested, brought before the
courts, and tried like any other criminals. To-day head-hunting in
Bontoc is almost unknown. When it does occur the people themselves
usually capture and turn over the culprits.
The respect of the Bontoc Igorots for the law is extraordinary. In
1910 a Constabulary soldier shot the presidente of Tinglayan without
just cause. The people of the place rushed to arms, meaning to kill
the soldier. Chief Agpad, assisted by the son of the murdered man,
took station before the door of the house in which the assailant had
sought refuge, and the two stood off their fellow-townsmen, saying
that the government had promised to kill evil-doers and that this
man must be turned over to the government to be killed! When I passed
through their town a few weeks later, with Governor-General Forbes,
they begged to have him killed promptly.
In the early days I myself had a rather stormy clash with some of the
Bontoc Igorots. During Aguinaldo's long flight he had passed through
half a dozen of their towns, as had the American soldiers who pursued
him. The Igorots did not like this, so tore out the trail to Ifugao,
between Bontoc and Samoqui, and built high-walled rice paddies where
it had been, with the result that persons making the journey had to
use the river bed for several miles. This was all very well if the
river was low, but was no joke if it chanced to be in flood.
I ordered that the trail be rebuilt, the Igorots to be paid for their
work, and for the resulting damage to their rice fields, and this
was done.
The lieutenant-governor was a weak man, and the Igorots, after getting
their money, tore the trail out again and rebuilt their stone terrace
walls across the place where it had been, just to see what he would
do about it. He did nothing. I found things in this condition when
I arrived, and was obliged to come down the river bed at dusk, with
the result that my horse and I took several impromptu baths.
The Samoqui warriors came dancing out to meet me, playing their gansas
[26] and making a grand hullabaloo. Summoning my sternest expression,
I refused to shake hands with them, telling them to go home and to
report at Bontoc at nine the following morning.
The fighting men of the town of Bontoc met me on the other side of
the river, and I served them the same way. The official under whose
nose they had destroyed the trail was greatly alarmed, and assured me
that if I ordered it rebuilt, as I told him I would do, there would
be a fight, and the Igorots would cut the heads off all the Americans
in town, including the ladies. He added, "Think how the ladies would
look without any heads!" While this was a disquieting reflection,
I remained obdurate.
At the appointed hour the Samoqui and Bontoc men appeared, armed with
head-axes and lances. I asked them if they would rebuild that trail,
and they said no! I told them that if they did not I would cut their
main irrigating ditch and put a constabulary guard on it to see that
it was not repaired until they changed their minds. This might have
meant the loss of their rice crop. They knew me quite as well as
they did their lieutenant-governor, and promptly rebuilt the trail
for nothing, as I told them they must.
When the Mountain Province was established, the town of Bontoc
was made the capital, as Cervantes, which had been the capital of
Lepanto-Bontoc, was hot, had proved unhealthful, and was not centrally
situated. Bontoc has a cool, delightful climate, is near the geographic
center of the province, and from it radiates a road and trail system
of constantly increasing importance. Things have moved rapidly there
since the status of the place was changed.
To-day the town has modern public buildings of brick and stone. The
bricks have been made, burned and laid by Igorots. Much of the stone
has been cut and laid by Igorots. The mortar used has been mixed
by Igorots with lime burned by Igorots. Some of the carpenter work
has been done by Igorots. There is a modern hospital to which the
Igorots flock. There are schools in which Igorot boys and girls
learn the English language, and become adept in the practice of
useful industries.
Perhaps the most unique of the Bontoc institutions is the provincial
jail. Years ago I discovered to my horror that a two-year sentence
to Bilibid, the insular penitentiary, was a death sentence for a
hill-man! Not all who were sent there died, but the average term
of life of men from the hills was two years only, while those who
served out their sentences and returned to their mountain homes had
invariably become adepts in crime as the result of prolonged contact
with vicious Filipinos. I promptly drafted an act providing for
the establishment at Bontoc of a penitentiary where all prisoners
from the highlands should be confined, and the commission passed
it. The prison has been made a real educational institution. Most
of its inmates have been guilty of crimes of violence, committed in
accordance with tribal customs, and are not vicious at heart. The
jail building is perfectly sanitary. Its occupants are required to
keep their persons clean and their quarters both clean and in perfect
order. They live amid healthful surroundings and receive abundant and
nourishing food. They are taught useful trades and are compelled to
work hard, which they do not in the least mind, as industry is the
rule in the mountain country. They usually leave the jail better men
than when they entered it, and thereafter, instead of being a menace
to law and order, assist in their enforcement and maintenance.
We do odd things with some of these prisoners. Last year we paroled
a man from Ifugao who had a score of heads to his credit. Learning
that his people believed him to be dead and were greatly troubled,
we told him to go home, show himself to them, tell them how he was
treated in jail, and come back. He did it!
Proof of the kindliness of the relations which have existed with the
Bontoc Igorots is found in the fact that no member of this tribe has
ever yet turned his hand against an American. On the contrary, there
are not a few Americans who owe their lives to Igorots. Agpad, of
Tinglayan, has twice dived into rivers swollen by typhoons and rescued
Americans who had sunk for the last time beneath the rushing, muddy
waters, while their fellow-countrymen stood by paralyzed with fear.
Last year there occurred an event of profound significance. In
the past, American officials have often worked hard for days to get
representatives of two hostile towns to dance together, for this would
make friends of them. On the occasion in question there had gathered
at Bontoc to meet me representatives from every settlement in the
subprovince. Each town had brought its gansas and its dancers. On
the second day of my visit the people of one of the towns started
a dance on the plaza. They were promptly joined by representatives
from another town which had long been hostile to them. People from
yet other towns followed suit, until finally the plaza swarmed with a
great crowd of dancers in which every settlement in the subprovince
was represented. Even at that late day I should not have dared to
attempt to bring about such a thing. It happened of itself, and to
the initiated told an eloquent tale of the results of our years of
patient work!
The first time I climbed Polis Mountain, on my way from the Bontoc
country to the land of the Ifugaos, four Igorots went ahead of me,
armed with head-axes and lances, carrying their shields in position. At
each turn in the steep, worn-out trail, they drew back their lances
ready to throw. I had eighty-six armed men with me, and knew that I
might need them. To-day I travel through the length and breadth of
the Mountain Province unescorted and unarmed. Furthermore, I usually
take my wife with me.
Prior to 1903, if an Ifugao showed himself on the north side of the
Polis range he lost his head. Now people of this tribe stroll into
the town of Bontoc almost daily. They travel north through the Bontoc
Igorot country to Lubuagan, in Kalinga, and west to Cervantes, in
Lepanto, or even to Tagudin on the coast, crossing three subprovinces
on the latter trip. They also go south to Baguio.
All freight was formerly packed in from the coast on men's backs a
distance of eighty odd miles over steep, narrow, stony trails which
were really foot-paths. Now it comes in carts over a good road which
has a maximum grade of six per cent.
The people of the settlement had to get their water from the river. Now
it is piped into town.
There was not a shop in the place, and every one had to go to the
coast to make the smallest purchases. There are at present half a
dozen good stores, beside the provincial exchange, a store where the
government sells the Igorots what they want at reasonable prices,
thus preventing shopkeepers from overcharging them.
Commodious quarters for visiting Igorots and Ifugaos have been
provided, and there is a fine market where they may display and sell
their products. This market is a busy place.
The population is rapidly increasing, now that head-hunting has
practically ceased. The area of cultivated lands steadily grows larger,
for the men are freed from the necessity of being constantly under
arms, and we are helping them to get more irrigation water, so that
they can extend their rice fields.
There are a thousand or so Bontoc Igorots in Benguet to-day,
contracting for railroad excavation work. Times have changed.
When Nueva Vizcaya was first organized, its non-Christian inhabitants
greatly outnumbered its Filipino population, as there were at least
one hundred fifteen thousand Ifugaos in addition to several thousand
Ilongots and a few Benguet Igorots, locally known as Isinayes,
who had strayed over the boundary line. With the transfer of the
Ifugao territory to the Mountain Province, the Filipinos were left
in the decided majority. Later all of the Ilongot territory which
had previously belonged to the provinces of Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva
Ecija and Pangasinán was added to Nueva Vizcaya, in order that the
members of this wild and primitive tribe might be brought under one
provincial administration.
The Ilongots are a strictly forest-inhabiting people. Many of them
have a considerable admixture of Negrito blood and live a semi-nomadic
life. Their settlements, which are small and more or less transient,
are usually situated in remote and inaccessible places surrounded by
the densest jungle. It is at present impracticable to open up horse
trails through their country, for the number of inhabitants is so
small, in comparison with the area occupied, that such trails could
not be built with Ilongot labour, nor indeed could they be maintained
even if built. One main trail is, however, being constructed, and it
is planned to build foot trails from this to the more important of
the settlements which it does not reach.
A special assistant to the Provincial Governor of Nueva Vizcaya for
work among the Ilongots has been appointed and assigned to duty at
Baler, on the Pacific coast of Luzón, from which place he can more
conveniently reach the Ilongots east of the coast range. These people
were very wild at the outset, and it proved difficult to establish
friendly relations with them, but this has now been successfully
accomplished, and their fear of the white man is largely a thing of
the past.
There is a school for Ilongot children at Campoté. They prove to be
bright, capable pupils.
At the same place there has been established a government exchange,
where the Ilongots can sell such articles of their own manufacture as
they wish to market, and can purchase what they need at moderate cost.
They still fight more or less with each other, but depredations by
them upon Filipinos have ceased.
CHAPTER XXII
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES (continued)
The province of Mindoro includes numerous small islands, all peopled
by Tagálogs, and the main island of Mindoro, which has a narrow broken
fringe of Tagálog settlements along its coast. Its whole interior
is populated, so far as it is inhabited at all, by the Mangyans,
a primitive semi-nomadic tribe which is of Malayan origin but has
considerable Negrito blood. No one knows even approximately how many
of them there are, for although the island has been crossed in several
different places, much of it is still quite unexplored. In most of
the interior regions thus far visited the population is very sparse,
but one quite thickly settled district has been found. It is believed
that the Mangyans number something like 15,000.
The Filipino settlements were so disorderly, filthy, and unhealthy
that the energies of the first governor, Captain R. G. Offley, and
those of his successor, Captain Louis G. Van Schaick, were to a large
extent expended in efforts for the betterment of the Tagálogs. It
is a pleasure to record the fact that these efforts met with a very
large degree of success.
The condition of most of the Tagálog towns is now good. Mangarin
is the chief exception to this statement. Its surroundings are such
as to make it impossible successfully to combat malaria, from which
every one of its inhabitants suffers. We are still endeavouring to
persuade its unfortunate people to move to a healthy site!
Governor Offley did some work for the Mangyans. They have advanced
but slightly beyond the Negritos in civilization. Many of them live
under shelters not worthy of the name of huts, and in the vicinity
of Mt. Halcon even the women are clad only in clouts. Houses are
placed singly in the dense forests, or at the most are gathered in
very small groups. It proved a most difficult undertaking to persuade
any considerable number of Mangyans to gather together and construct
decent dwellings. It had been their custom to abandon their forest
homes whenever a death occurred, leaving behind all their belongings,
and perhaps even changing their names on the theory that their old
names were unlucky and new ones might prove advantageous.
With admirable patience Governor Offley organized a little village
called Lalauigan on the south coast of Mindoro. Lalauigan has
prospered. It is very clean; the houses of its Mangyan residents are
quite presentable. The neighbouring fields are planted with corn and
rice. It has a school, and the children prove to be apt pupils.
Another Mangyan village, organized near the west coast, was
short-lived. The Tagálog Filipinos look with great disfavour on
the gathering of the Mangyans into settlements where they can be
protected, as this renders it difficult to hold them in a state of
peonage. Whenever Governor Offley got a little group together, they
did their best to scatter it. In this instance they passed the word
that smallpox had broken out in a neighbouring Tagálog village. All
Mangyans are deathly afraid of this disease, and this particular set
built a great fire, jumped through the flames to purify themselves
from contagion, took to the hills, and have not been seen since!
While in hearty sympathy with the admirable work which was being
done among the Tagálogs, I was dissatisfied with the failure to push
explorations in the interior more actively and to get more closely
in touch with the wild inhabitants. When the Tagálog settlements
had at last been put in really good condition, I gave Governor Van
Schaick, who had succeeded Governor Offley, positive instructions
that more attention must be paid to the Mangyans. He then began
active explorations, and pushed them with considerable success up
to the time when he was compelled to tender his resignation by the
terms of the Army Appropriation Bill for 1913, which necessitated
his return to his regiment. Prior to his departure he succeeded in
establishing a new Mangyan village which has continued to prosper up
to the present time. His successor, Governor R. E. Walters, was kept
from actively pushing exploration work during the past "dry" season,
by unprecedented rains.
Road and trail construction began several years ago and is going
forward as rapidly as limited funds will permit.
The great trouble with the Tagálogs of Mindoro is that nature has
been too kind to them. They have only to plough a bit of ground
at the beginning of the rainy season, scatter a little rice on it,
and harvest the crop when ripe, to be able to live idly the rest of
the year, and too many of them adopt this course. However, some good
towns, like Pinamalayan, are waking up as the result of immigration
from Marinduque.
Two great services have been rendered to the more orderly of the
inhabitants of Mindoro, which was, in Spanish days, a rendezvous
for evil-doers from Luzón. Indeed, it was the most disorderly
province north of Mindanao. An excellent state of public order has
been established, and there has not been an armed ladrone [27] in
the province for years. It was famous for its "bad climate." We have
shown that its climate is good, making its towns really healthful by
merely cleaning them up.
The establishment of a great modern sugar estate on the southwest
coast has doubled the daily wage, and given profitable employment
to all who wanted to work, and the people are beginning to bestir
themselves. The public schools, of which every town has one, are
materially assisting the awakening now in progress.
Palawan, like Mindoro, is made up of one large island, which bears
the name of the province, and a number of smaller ones. Indeed, it
includes more small islands than does any other province, with the
possible exception of Moro.
The bulk of its Christian population are found on the smaller islands,
several of which are very thickly settled.
The non-Christian inhabitants are divided between three tribes,--the
Moros, Tagbanuas and Bataks. The latter are Negritos of very pure
blood. Their number is quite limited. They extend across the island
from the east coast to the west in the region north of Bahia Honda.
Until within a short time there have been Moro settlements scattered
along both east and west coasts of the southern third of the main
island. The Moro population of Palawan is largely composed of renegades
who have been driven out of Joló, Tawi Tawi, Cagayan de Joló, British
North Borneo and Banguey by their own people because of infractions of
the laws of their tribe. When the province was organized, they were
not cultivating a hectare of land amongst them. They lived in part
by fishing, but chiefly on what they stole, or on the products of the
labour of the hill people in the interior, many of whom they enslaved
or held in a state of peonage, taking their rice and other agricultural
products with or without giving compensation, as seemed to them good.
The hill people, who occupy the higher mountains in the interior of
southern Palawan, and who in the central and northern portions of the
island extend down to the very coast, are known as Paluanes in the
south and as Tagbanuas elsewhere. Tagbanuas are also found on Dumarán
and Linapácan, and quite generally throughout the Calamianes Islands,
especially on Culion and Busuanga. I have failed to discover any real
tribal differences between the Paluanes and the Tagbanuas and believe
that they should be classed as one people, although the Paluanes are
more inclined to stand up for their rights than are the Tagbanuas, and
by using blow guns and poisoned arrows have succeeded in keeping the
Moros out of the interior highlands. They were, however, long forced
to trade with the Moros in order to obtain cloth, steel, salt and other
things not produced in their own country, and so were at their mercy.
The Tagbanuas are a rather timid and docile people, giving evidence
of a considerable amount of Negrito blood. They are at times quite
industrious, and raise considerable quantities of rice and camotes,
but live, in part, on fish, game and forest products.
Communication in this province was very difficult. The main island
of Palawan, which is some two hundred fifty miles in length and very
narrow, extends in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, and as
a result both of its coasts are swept by each monsoon so that there
are only about two months of the year when travel by sea in small
boats is comfortable and safe. At the outset there was not a mile of
trail on the island. This latter condition is being rapidly remedied.
The first governor appointed for the newly established province of
Palawan was Lieutenant E. Y. Miller, U. S. A., a man of splendid
physique, tireless energy, and indomitable courage.
Governor Miller set to work very actively to better the condition of
the Filipinos and to establish friendly and helpful relations with
the non-Christians.
The bulk of the Christians are unusually poor and ignorant and
many of them were held in a miserable state of peonage by a few
caciques. Vigorous efforts extending through a long term of years
have weakened the grip of the caciques, but have by no means broken it.
At an early date the new governor won the admiration of the Moros, who
like courage, by a series of very brave acts. A number of constabulary
soldiers who were coasting along the west shore of Palawan in a
sail-boat went ashore, leaving their rifles on board guarded by two
or three of their comrades. They also left several Moros on the boat,
and the latter, watching their opportunity, killed the guards and
got away with the rifles, taking them to Dato Tumay, their chief,
who armed his people with them.
Governor Miller, with Captain Louden, of the constabulary company
concerned, promptly attacked Tumay's place and drove him into the
hills. Tumay took refuge in a Tagbanua village, never dreaming that
he would be pursued into the mountain fastnesses. Miller and his
companions succeeded in getting into the place before Tumay knew
they were in the vicinity, and there followed a fight to the death
at close quarters. Two soldiers, standing one to the right and one to
the left of Governor Miller, were shot dead, but he was not scratched.
On a number of other occasions he displayed a bravery approaching
recklessness. Hearing that a fleet of some fifty Moro boats had put
to sea on a piratical expedition, he embarked in a twenty-foot launch
accompanied only by a captain of constabulary, and the two of them
ran down and disarmed the pirates and sent them home. They nearly sank
their tiny launch with the dead weight of the weapons which they took
on board. The thing seems preposterous, and only Miller's extraordinary
moral influence over these unruly people made it humanly possible.
When I visited Palawan on my regular inspection trip in the year 1909,
I found Mrs. Miller much worried about her husband, who was absent from
the capital, having gone to arrest some Moro murderers at Lara. As
usual, he had taken with him only a constabulary captain and three
or four soldiers, and Mrs. Miller feared that he might be killed.
I hastened down the coast of the island at the full speed of my
steamer, keeping a close watch for his boat, and finally located
it at Bonabóna, where he had succeeded in arresting several of the
criminals. On his way down he had stopped at Lara and had learned
that a brother of the local chief, Dato Pula, was responsible for the
murder, having ordered it and paid the assassins who committed it,
one of whom was lurking in the vicinity, while others had gone to
Bonabóna. Governor Miller called upon Dato Pula to deliver both his
brother and the murderer, who was then at Lara, and stated that he
would be back on a certain day to receive them. As he insisted on
returning at the appointed time and attempting to arrest these men,
I took him on my steamer, together with his American companion and
one constabulary soldier. The other soldiers remained on his boat to
guard the prisoners he had already taken.
We returned to Lara, but were unable to land in front of the
town as a heavy surf was thundering on the beach. A mile to the
north we found a sheltered spot where we could safely disembark
and our little party, consisting of Governor Miller armed with a
six-shooter, a constabulary captain armed with a Winchester shotgun
and a six-shooter, a constabulary soldier armed with a carbine,
ex-Insurgent Colonel Pablo Tecson armed with my double-barrelled
shotgun, Governor Pack of the Mountain Province, my brother George
S. Worcester, and my stenographer, all of whom were without weapons,
and myself carrying an automatic Winchester rifle, marched on the
town. Governor Miller sent the soldier ahead to warn the Moros that
they must meet us unarmed. A small reception committee did so.
On the very outskirts of Lara we waded a creek nearly up to our necks
in water, then marched up the street and entered Pula's house. Just as
we did so I saw twenty or thirty fully armed Moros come in on the run
and hastily conceal themselves in one of the numerous neighbouring
houses. I further promptly discovered that two rooms partitioned
off in the corners of the great living room of Pula's house were
crowded full of men armed to the teeth, and that a second-story
room, immediately under the roof and over our heads, was similarly
occupied. I asked Governor Pack quietly to ascertain how many of
the houses in the village were occupied by fully equipped fighting
men, and he soon informed me that every one of them was packed. We
estimated that there were several hundred warriors in town, which
meant that Pula had raked the coast of the island north and south
for miles and brought in every male Moro big enough to wield a weapon.
We seated ourselves on a table, back to back and facing out, with
our own weapons very handy, and had a talk with Pula which lasted
until late in the afternoon. Standing within striking distance of us
most of the day, were two stalwart Moros, each of whom had a kriss
dagger firmly gripped in his right hand and concealed between his
folded arms. When one remembers that the average Moro fighter does
not seem to know when he is dead, but keeps on doing damage after he
ought to be busily occupied in passing to the other world, it will
be seen that our situation left much to be desired.
Under the pretext of sending for a phonograph with which to entertain
the crowd while our negotiations continued, I communicated with
the captain of our steamer, advising him of the facts. He got out
ammunition for his two one-pounder rapid-fire guns and took up a
position immediately in front of the town. We did not ask him for
reënforcements, believing that any attempt on his part to send them
would precipitate an attack on us.
Never did I pass a more peculiar, or a more unpleasant, day. Miller
steadfastly insisted that Pula's brother and the hired assassin be
given up. Pula produced two thoroughly cowed Tagbanuas whom he had
induced by threats to declare that they had committed the murders,
and most emphatically declined to turn over either his brother or
the true murderer. Our discussions were punctuated by tunes played
on the phonograph which created great excitement among the Moros,
some of whom got up and danced to the music!
Finally, late in the afternoon, Pula gave in, turned the murderer
over to us, and promised to turn over his brother, but said that
the latter must first be allowed to go home to get some clothes,
and that he would then send him on board our ship.
We improved this our first opportunity to beat a retreat without
losing face. Our Moro "friends" bid us good-by on the beach, then
armed themselves and followed us at a short distance as we marched
back to the landing place where our launch was pounding in the surf,
awaiting our return. Three strong fighting parties came out of the
dense vegetation which bordered the beach immediately after we had
passed the places where they were concealed. They had obviously been
waiting there to cut off our retreat if trouble started, and could
most certainly have done it. In fact, they could have shot us down
from the brush without showing themselves.
It required all the self-control which I could muster to keep my
back toward the strong and constantly growing group of armed men who
followed us, and to look unconcerned, yet I knew, as did every other
member of the party, that our seeing the light of another day probably
depended on our ability to do both things. The slightest evidence of
alarm would have precipitated a fight which could have had but one
outcome for us.
When opposite the launch, we turned and faced the Moros and then the
several members of the party went aboard, one at a time. Never did a
widening strip of water look better to me than did that which finally
began to separate us from the shore.
To our great amazement Dato Pula kept his word and sent his brother
on board!
No man ever laboured more diligently for the good of alien peoples
than did Governor Miller. He evolved a wise plan for improving the
condition of the Tagbanuas living in the vicinity of Puerto Princesa,
many of whom, as is so often the case with the uncivilized peoples of
the Philippines, were reduced to a state of peonage by their Filipino
neighbours. A large reservation was set aside for their exclusive use,
and they were persuaded to retire to it. At the cost of infinite labour
and pains Governor Miller built there a fine set of school buildings,
and the Bureau of Education started a school which gives instruction
in English, arithmetic and manual training to Tagbanua boys and girls.
Governor Miller's keen interest in this project led him to stop to
inspect the progress of the work when returning from a long trip around
the island. In the face of a coming storm he ascended the Aborlan River
to the school site, where he remained until after dark, oblivious
of the fact that a tremendous downpour of rain in the neighbouring
mountains had produced a sudden flood in the river. Returning to
his launch, he jumped on board and cast off before the engine was
started. The current swept the launch away like a straw, carried it in
close to the bank, and an overhanging branch, which ordinarily would
have been high above the water, struck the governor a stunning blow
on the head, knocking him overboard. He never came to the surface,
and twenty-four hours elapsed before his body was recovered.
Mr. John H. Evans, then serving as lieutenant-governor of Bontoc,
in the Mountain Province, was appointed in his place, and I took
him around the Palawan group of islands to introduce him to his
unruly subjects. On arrival at Puerto Princesa we were told that the
occupants of a fleet of Moro boats were already raiding and killing
along the southern coast of the island, and we accordingly took on
board Captain Moynihan of the Philippine Scouts, with thirty of his
soldiers. The report proved unfounded, but nevertheless the soldiers
came in very handily.
I landed at Culasián Bay on the west coast, meaning to ascend a river
to the settlement of Dato Tumay, the man whose people had on a former
occasion fought Governor Miller with captured constabulary rifles and
been soundly whipped. Finding no one on the beach, we walked up the
river bank for a short distance to a group of half a dozen tightly
closed houses which looked as if they might belong to fishermen. Here
we were met by a splendidly dressed glad-hand delegation, who greeted
us rather too effusively. My suspicion was further aroused by the fact
that only three of them carried weapons, in sight at least. The weapons
of a Moro chief are just as much a part of his full dress as are the
garments he wears. I had a few moments' friendly conversation with
these people, during which I noticed that several of them displayed
a marked inclination to get behind me. This I did not like, so took
up a position with my back to the river. Presently I suggested that
we had come to call on Dato Tumay. The following conversation ensued:--
"You cannot go to see him."
"Why not? Are the trails in bad condition?"
"There are no trails."
"Are you not Dato Tumay's people?"
"Yes."
"How did you come down if there are no trails?"
"We came down the river."
"Very well, we will go up the river."
"You cannot do that."
"Why not?"
"There are no boats to carry you."
"How did you come down?"
"In those boats. [Pointing out two tiny dugouts barely able to carry
two men each.] You and one of your friends can go up in them if you
like. Two of our men will paddle you."
This proposition did not seem attractive to me, so I suggested that I
would take a little walk up the river. I had been positively assured
that there was no other boat in the vicinity, but at the very first
turn discovered a suspicious looking trail running up into the bushes
and following it found a fully rigged war-canoe over which freshly
cut brush had been hastily thrown. I suggested to the Moros that this
looked very much like a boat. They replied that it leaked. I asked them
to put it into the water, stating that I liked to see boats leak. Not
a Moro stirred. We had brought twenty-five soldiers ashore with us,
as Tumay's reputation was by no means of the best, and I now called to
some of them to come and put the boat into the river. In passing back
of the group of Moros, one of these men stubbed his toe on the shaft
of a lance which was hidden in the grass, and fell on his nose. He
raised the lance as he recovered his feet, then stooped and picked
up a second one, trailed them behind him until he reached a position
in front of me and dropped them on the ground. Both had the sheaths
removed from their long steel heads. Another soldier kicked around
in the grass a bit and produced a serpent kriss which had been drawn
from its scabbard. Still another fished up a baróng. [28]
I asked the ranking Moro present what was the meaning of these weapons,
concealed at our very feet. He said that they were afraid that we
would steal them and had therefore hidden them. I asked him whether
any white man had ever stolen anything from them, and also why they
had hidden them there, where we were likely to cut our feet on them,
instead of in the forest which was not fifty yards away. Obviously
there was no satisfactory answer to these questions and he had no time
to attempt any, for one of the soldiers stooped down and pulled out of
the grass from beside his very hand a forty-five caliber single-action
revolver, cocked and with all six cylinders loaded. Fearing to be taken
at a disadvantage, I said to the soldiers, "Make these men sit down,
and search the place for arms."
The soldiers repeatedly ordered the Moros to sit down and the order was
translated to them in their own language by my interpreter. Not a man
obeyed. On the contrary, one of them turned his back and started off
at a quick pace, disregarding repeated orders to halt. Theoretically
he should have been shot.
Practically, I had ordered the soldiers not to fire under any
circumstances unless some Moro drew a weapon. Mr. Olney Bondurant,
assistant to the provincial governor for work among the Moros, had
been taking a hasty look back of the houses and was returning to
tell me that they were full of armed men. The Moro above mentioned,
just before meeting Bondurant, reached into a bush and drew out two
of the cruel fighting knives known as baróngs. They were in their flat
sheaths, and lay one on top of the other. Snatching the upper one from
its scabbard, he struck a wicked blow at Bondurant as the latter passed
him on the trail. Bondurant, who was quick as a cat, dodged the blow,
then whirled and shot his assailant. Instantly armed men with drawn
weapons began to boil out of the houses on the side farthest from us,
and those soldiers who were in a position to see them promptly opened
fire. Other Moros also began to pop up at the edge of the forest,
and we had a bit of a scrimmage, lively enough while it lasted. I
took no part in it, but with three soldiers helping me compelled
eleven men of the group with whom we had been talking to sit down,
and kept them sitting until the unpleasantness was over, as I wanted
to talk with them. I then told the head man to stand up.
He was very reluctant to do this, obviously expecting to be shot,
but no such fate was in store for him. On the contrary, I gave him a
lecture, told him where certain wounded and certain dead Moros were
to be found, and instructed him and his people first to care for the
wounded; second, to bury the dead; third, to go to Tumay's place and
tell him that although I had come to make a friendly call on him,
my party had been attacked by his people, but that the only men who
had been hurt were those who had endeavoured to use their weapons on
us. I furthermore directed him to tell Tumay that he must come across
the island to the place where Mr. Bondurant lived, and explain this
extraordinary occurrence. We then took our departure, marching down
the beach a mile to our launch, and expecting every moment to be
fired on from the dense forest close at hand.
We learned from a wounded Moro that our party had been mistaken at
a distance for that of Governor Miller. On his last trip around the
island he had been threatened by Tumay, who surrounded him with
a strong body of armed men and talked to him in a very insulting
manner. Miller, who had but a single companion, knew himself to
be at Tumay's mercy, and believing that he was in grave danger of
being killed and that only a bluff could save him, slapped Tumay's
face vigorously and then gave him a strong piece of his mind. Tumay,
overawed at such temerity, allowed him to depart in safety. Before
leaving, Governor Miller exercised his lawful authority to order Tumay
to take his people and move to the east coast of the island. [29]
Tumay begged that his people be allowed to harvest some rice which he
said they had planted, and Governor Miller, not knowing whether or not
the statement was true, and not being in a position to investigate it,
allowed him two weeks to be spent in this way.
I was about Governor Miller's size. When I landed Tumay's people
mistook me for him, and thought that he was returning with soldiers
to punish them for having disobeyed him, or to enforce his order that
they move to a more accessible place. Hence the plan for the attack,
which was rather clever. While the reception committee entertained
us, the men concealed in the woods were to open on us. As we turned
to deal with them the ones hidden in the houses were to attack us
from the rear, and the reception committee were then to join in. When
they found themselves mistaken as to the make-up of the party, which
was larger than they had expected, there was delay and confusion,
and the attack fizzled.
A few days later Tumay actually started across the island in obedience
to my instructions, but on the way he met two recalcitrant Moro chiefs
who encouraged him to stand out, saying that they and their people
would help him fight the Americans, and he turned back. I accordingly
asked that a hundred scouts be sent after him, and this was done, fifty
of them marching over the mountains to cut off his retreat and fifty
coming on a coast-guard boat which was intended to serve as a base of
operations and afford a place to which injured men might be brought
for treatment. Strict instructions had been given that there was to be
no firing, except in self-defence, when women or children were liable
to be hit. These orders were strictly adhered to, and Tumay was twice
allowed to escape when he could have been shot down if it had not been
for the danger of killing Moro women and children. Ultimately, after
the non-combatants had surrendered, his armed band was overtaken early
in the morning, and fired from ambush into the approaching scouts. The
return fire killed or wounded most of them, but Tumay got away. It
was stated by some of his followers that he was badly wounded, but
this proved to be untrue. A little later he voluntarily surrendered,
as he had been deserted by his people and was reduced to dire straits.
The misconduct of Tumay and his men gave me a reason for moving
the Moros from the west coast of Palawan, where they were living in
mangrove or nipa swamps. It was hard to approach their settlements
under any circumstances, and very dangerous to do so if they were
disposed to be hostile. The west coast of Palawan was a no-man's land,
difficult of access on account of weather conditions and numberless
uncharted reefs. It had long been a safe haven for evil-doers who
fled from other portions of the Moro country to escape the vengeance
of their fellows, and there was no possibility of compelling them
to abandon their evil practices unless they were transferred to more
accessible regions.
Governor Evans, with my approval, now issued the necessary
instructions to them, and they were all moved to the other side
of the island, together with their household goods and chattels of
every description. Once there they were assisted in procuring building
materials, and were fed until such time as they were able to take care
of themselves. Only the old, the infirm, and women and children who
could not support themselves by working were given food gratis. Trail
construction was inaugurated, and all able-bodied persons were given
an opportunity to engage in this or in other honest labor for a good
wage payable either in money or in rice.
At the end of a year I visited these Moros at their new homes near
Bonabóna, going ashore without a weapon of any sort, and finding them
more friendly than could reasonably have been anticipated. I sent for
old Tumay and had a very frank talk with him about past differences,
in the course of which I asked him if he had had enough. He assured me
that he had, and I then suggested that we forget the troubles which
were behind us and try to get on better in future. He promised to do
his part, and has faithfully kept his word.
In August, 1912, I again visited the Moros of this region and to
my great surprise was greeted as if I were a member of their royal
family. They carried me ashore through the surf in a chair covered
with a fine piece of purple brocade. Two men equipped respectively
with a five-foot blue and a five-foot yellow umbrella, struggled with
each other to see who should protect my delicate complexion from the
sun. Wonder of wonders, the wives of the ranking chiefs were present in
a dancing pavilion which had been erected for our benefit, this being
the first time that these women had ever shown themselves in public. I
learned that Hadji Mohammed [30] had explained to them that the women
of other nations were getting progressive, and had argued that they
ought to follow suit. The poor things were dreadfully frightened,
and sat with their backs toward us, covering their faces with gayly
colored cloths if we so much as glanced toward them, but they were
there, anyhow!
At noon the Moros sat down with us to a fine luncheon of their own
providing. This is the first time in my eighteen years of residence
in the Philippines that I have known a Moro to sit at meat with a
white man, or for that matter with any person not a Mohammedan.
After the meal several chiefs insisted on my visiting them
individually, and I found that entertainment had been provided at each
of their houses. Old Dato Tumay, with only one woman to help him,
had built the best house in town, and was cultivating with his own
hands the largest piece of land farmed by any Moro in Palawan. He
was greatly pleased when I complimented him on the good example he
was setting. Later I referred to it in my annual report, and the
assistant to the governor for work among the Moros read to him what I
had said. The old man was delighted. He immediately called the local
chiefs together and delivered a long lecture on the advisability of
settling down and tilling the soil. The principal request that the
Moros made, on the occasion of this visit, was that they be furnished
agricultural implements and seeds.
Tumay was very ill with dysentery. From the ship I sent him medicine
and a case of milk. He recovered in due time.
Moros are uncertain people to deal with, but I believe that we are
now on the right road so far as concerns those inhabiting Palawan,
and that with a continuance of the present policy there will be no
further serious trouble with them.
The Tagbanua reservation and the school established in connection
with it have proved a great success. A large number of Tagbanuas have
settled on the reserve and are farming industriously, while their
boys and girls are making rapid progress in school, where they obtain
practical instruction that will make them better and more useful men
and women.
In Southern Palawan the wild people of the highlands, who have never
yet allowed any one to enter their country, are being persuaded to
come down to the coast by the establishment of little government
trading posts where they can sell their few products at good prices,
and can purchase what they need at a reasonable figure.
All in all, things are moving forward steadily in Palawan,
although many of the Filipino settlements are still filthy and
unsanitary. Encouraged by the results obtained in Mindoro, I have
inaugurated an active campaign to compel these people to clean up,
and anticipate success. One thing which renders it difficult to deal
with some of the Filipinos of this province is that in its more remote
districts they are showing a marked tendency to scatter out into the
forests where they make caiñgins, or forest clearings, and live in tiny
huts. Little by little they are gravitating back to the barbarism from
which they originally emerged, and under existing laws they are free
to do this if they like. I regret that this tendency is by no means
confined to the province of Palawan. The Spaniards dealt with it in no
gentle manner, but we are powerless to do more than argue against it.
The cost of the work in Palawan in valuable human lives has been
dear. No one can at the outset fill the place of a man like Governor
Miller, who had become invaluable not only as a result of his personal
characteristics, but because of his years of experience and of the
regard in which he was held by his people. Unfortunately his life
is not the only one which has been sacrificed for the good of the
inhabitants of this province. Mr. W. B. Dawson, who organized the
work of the Tagbanua Industrial School and was in a fair way to
make a success of it, died of malignant malarial fever contracted at
his post of duty. Mr. William M. Wooden, who succeeded him, in his
anxiety to return more quickly to his post after a brief absence,
leaped overboard from a launch and was drowned while trying to swim
ashore. Mr. Olney Bondurant, assistant to the provincial governor,
who did admirable work among the Moros and the Tagbanuas in Southern
Palawan, and though suffering from dangerous illness never gave up,
but rendered service in the field on the very day of his death,
also fell a victim to pernicious malaria.
If the results obtained by these splendid men, who amid lonely
surroundings and in the face of manifold discouragements, bravely
and effectively carried on their country's work, are to be permanent
results, then I hold that the price has not been too dear, but if
they are to be destroyed by the premature withdrawal of American
control these sacrifices are pathetic indeed.
All of the territory in Northern Mindanao east of Dapitan and north
of the eighth parallel of latitude was at the outset divided between
the provinces of Surigao and Misamis. It is generally conceded that
these provinces had been worse governed under American rule by their
Filipino officials than have any others, and it was to be anticipated
that, under such circumstances, their very numerous non-Christian
inhabitants would prove to have been very badly mistreated. Sinister
rumours reached me from time to time as to what was occurring, but
I had no competent persons whom I could send to make investigations
on the ground, and intended to defer action until I could go myself.
Matters were finally brought to a crisis by reports from Catholic
priests, school-teachers and other reliable persons setting forth
a condition of affairs which seemed to demand immediate remedial
action. The commission had previously made a liberal sum available for
work among the Bukidnon people of Misamis, and I had endeavoured to
bring about the prosecution of this work by the Filipino provincial
officials, but my efforts had been fruitless. Not one centavo of the
funds appropriated had ever been expended. No Filipino provincial
official had so much as visited the main Bukidnon country, the
borders of which were distant less than three hours' ride from the
provincial capital.
The Bukidnon people are industrious. They raise a large part of the
coffee, hemp and cacao exported from Cagayan, the capital and the
principal port of Misamis. They were being robbed when they sold their
produce. A common procedure was to instruct them that they must sell
to certain individuals at absurdly low prices, and if they did not
promptly obey, to bring charges of sedition against them and throw
them into jail. As a matter of fact, they hardly knew the meaning of
the word sedition.
Depredations upon them were by no means confined to the town of
Cagayan de Misamis. Filipinos from the coast invaded their territory,
debauching them with vino and purchasing their property when they were
drunk; getting them into crooked gambling games and cheating them,
or swaggering around armed with revolvers and so terrorizing them that
they surrendered their belongings. It was common for a Filipino to go
into the Bukidnon country with nothing but the clothes on his back,
and soon to return with three or four carabaos heavily laden with hemp,
coffee, cacao, or gutta percha.
Although the provincial governor had appointed, in some instances, men
whom he had never seen as presidentes of settlements, the settlements
were in reality without government, and their discouraged and disgusted
people were betaking themselves to the mountains whence they had been
brought years before by Jesuit missionary priests. The wilder members
of the Bukidnon tribe, and the Manobos in the southern part of the
province, who had never abandoned their mountain homes, were preying
upon their neighbours, and committing crimes of violence undisturbed.
In the Agusan River valley conditions were nearly as bad. The
people along the main stream were for the most part broken-spirited
Manobos. Their settlements had been parcelled out among the members
of the municipal council of Butuan to be plundered. The activities
of these "Christian" gentlemen had been such that a number of Manobo
villages were already completely abandoned, while the people of
others were gradually betaking themselves to secure hiding-places in
the trackless forests which stretch east and west from the banks of
the Agusan.
Both in the Bukidnon and in the Manobo country the trade in bad vino
was being actively pushed. The principal business on the Agusan River
at that time was shipping it up-stream. Opium was being imported in
considerable quantities from Cebu. The use of this drug was already
established among the people of Butuan, and was gradually spreading
up the river. The wilder Manobos, who lived some distance back from
the stream, and the Mandayas along its upper waters, were killing
and plundering without let or hindrance.
These statements, coming as they did from absolutely reliable
witnesses, convinced me that I had allowed work for non-Christians in
other parts of the archipelago to interfere unduly with investigations
which I should have made in this region. As the legislation under
which we were working for the betterment of the wild people had now
taken final form, all that was necessary in order to begin active
operations looking to the correction of these untoward conditions
was to cut off a province from Surigao and Misamis and organize it
under the Special Provincial Government Act. In view of the relative
unimportance of the Filipino population in Misamis and Surigao, and
of the lamentable conditions which had arisen there under Filipino
provincial officials elected in accordance with the provisions of
the Provincial Government Act, I suggested that both provinces be
reorganized under the Special Provincial Government Act. This would
have had the effect of making their officials appointive. American
governors who would have protected the non-Christian inhabitants
could have been put in office. Unfortunately, the first session of
the Philippine Legislature was about to be held, the assemblymen
having already been elected. Every member of the commission present,
American and Filipino, agreed with me that the course which I suggested
would be in the interest of the inhabitants of these two provinces,
but they all shied off when it came to taking the needed action
because of the political hullabaloo which would most certainly have
resulted. I was forced to accept the best compromise I could get,
and a law was passed providing for the establishment of the province
of Agusan with two sub-provinces to be known respectively as Butuan
and Bukidnon. Butuan took in the whole Agusan River valley as far
south as the eighth parallel of latitude, and east and west to the
crests of the two watersheds. It also included some territory on the
west coast of the northern peninsula of Mindanao. Bukidnon included
all of the territory inhabited by the people of the same name, and
that of some wild Manobos in central Mindanao.
Armed with the law creating the new province, I proceeded to
investigate conditions on the ground, and actually to establish the
provincial government. At the town of Butuan, situated about five
miles up the Agusan River, and accessible to good-sized steamers, I
was met by Frederick Johnson, a captain in the Philippine constabulary
who had had wide experience in dealing with the non-Christian tribes
of the Moro Province and had been very successful in this work. At
my request he had been appointed governor of the Province of Agusan,
of which the town of Butuan was the capital.
We hired a launch, driven by a one-cylinder engine, from a man named
Wantz, and in it proceeded up the river, taking the owner along to
run the boat. It was paid for by the day, and I was warned before I
started that Wantz had his own ways of lengthening journeys. I soon
discovered that this was true. Before starting I had indicated the
settlement which must be reached before dark, but the engine soon began
to wheeze and thump dolefully. It happened that I knew something about
gasoline engines, and this one sounded to me as if it were running with
the spark advanced too far, but I could not discover the adjusting
mechanism, so exercised diplomacy, involving Wantz in a discussion
of the intricacies of modern gasoline engines, and stating that I
had an automobile with a very convenient attachment for advancing and
retarding the spark. He promptly and proudly showed me the device on
his engine for the same purpose. It was hidden away where I could not
have found it. After he had instructed me in its operation I quietly
retarded the spark, and the engine began to work in a most cheering
manner. In order to punish Wantz, I insisted that we keep on until we
reached our prescribed destination, in spite of the time we had lost.
We had a prophet of evil on board who predicted that Wantz would
certainly have the engine thoroughly stacked by the next morning,
and he did. We had planned to start at daylight, but, when we
climbed down to the boat in the gray dawn, found him puttering
over its machinery. He said that the cylinder was "froze up." As the
temperature did not seem to warrant such a result, I got him to explain
to me what was wrong, and after watching him put on and take off
the cylinder-head several times, discovered that he had an ingenious
contrivance so arranged that by giving a single push he could put the
make-and-break spark connection out of commission from the inside of
the cylinder. I myself adjusted it properly, compelled him to put on
the cylinder-head without touching his disarranging mechanism, and
we went on our way. For some time I watched him closely, and while
I continued to do so, the engine ran beautifully, but ultimately I
had to go ashore to inspect a rotting Manobo settlement, and while
I was gone he queered it again in such a manner that I could not
find the cause of the mischief. We had speedy revenge, however, for
while we were negotiating a swift rapid the engine died, with the
result that the launch nearly turned turtle and narrowly escaped
being wrecked. This frightened Wantz, and after a few mysterious
manipulations on his part the engine began to "put, put, put" again
most cheerfully, and we ascended the rapid without difficulty.
On the evening of the third day we reached a Filipino settlement
called Talacógon, seventy miles up the river. Wantz began to complain
that he was sick, and as Talacógon would have been a very comfortable
place to lie over, I opined that his ailment would become acute before
morning. At four o'clock I sneaked down to the river bank by a back
street to see what was going on. He was whistling cheerfully. I beat
a careful retreat, then came ostentatiously down the main road to the
pier. Sepulchral groans were now issuing from the launch, and Wantz was
not visible. I found him writhing on its bottom in assumed agony. By
this time I had become convinced that a native banca with a few good
oarsmen would be better than a launch with such an engineer, so told
him I was sorry he was ill, gave him permission to return to Butuan,
and offered to pay what I owed him on the spot. When he found that
it was not my intention to pay for the time consumed by the return
trip his symptoms became less alarming, and he expressed hope of
ultimate recovery. Interrogated as to the probable date when he would
be prepared to continue the journey, he put it three days ahead. I
told him that I could not wait so long. Gradually he reduced to half
a day the time which the reëstablishment of his health would require,
but I told him that I could not wait, and that his recovery must be
immediate if he was to continue with us. This was too much of a jolt
to his pride, and when we were ready to embark he was still too ill
to start! We accordingly loaded our belongings into two bancas each
some sixty feet long, lay down on our backs in their little cabins,
and continued on our way upstream.
The trip up the Agusan River is a most wonderful one. Nothing
could surpass the magnificence of the tropical vegetation along its
banks. The sportsman finds himself constantly diverted. Great fruit
pigeons and huge hornbills frequently fly over one's boat, or perch
in trees where they can be shot from the river. Monkeys abound. Huge
crocodiles may occasionally be observed sleeping on the banks. Wild
hogs are plentiful, but usually keep out of sight. The trees are hung
with a marvellous drapery of vines, orchids and ferns, and, as the
stream is so broad and deep as to render its navigation easy, one can
lean back and enjoy to the full the beauties of nature displayed in
prodigal abundance on every side.
We found the human inhabitants of this wonderful region a highly
unsatisfactory lot. The Manobo families were living either singly,
scattered along the river, or grouped in little villages composed of
a dozen or two rotting huts and surrounded by the accumulated filth
of years. As was to be anticipated under the circumstances, most of
the people were full of malaria, and many suffered from repulsive skin
diseases. They had little cultivated ground. The growing and cleaning
of hemp was their only resource, and they had become so accustomed to
having the products of their labour taken from them by the people of
Butuan that they had almost given up working. They listened with dull,
uncomprehending hopelessness to our story of better days to come,
and it soon became evident that nothing but practical experience
would convince these helpless people that times were going to change.
The Filipinos of Talacógon were an especially lazy, vicious lot,
who did no work themselves, but sponged or stole a living from their
non-Christian neighbours. Forest trees were springing up on the plaza
of this town. Its streets were deep in mud, and its sanitary condition
beggared description. I was really afraid to stay overnight. I ordered
the people to clean up, and they laughed at me. I ultimately made
them clean up, but they successfully resisted my efforts to do so
longer than the people of any other town ever did, and several years
passed before I was at all satisfied with results.
Our progress up the river was unimpeded until we reached what is shown
on the maps of Mindanao as a series of extensive lakes, but is in
reality a huge and trackless swamp. Some years before a very severe
earthquake had caused the subsidence of a vast forested area along
the banks of this portion of the Agusan River, with the result that
the old river-bed was completely broken up, and the river below this
point reversed its flow for some time until the depressed region had
been filled up by the water which entered it from all sides. There
were no well-established channels through this submerged forest,
and navigation in it was dangerous unless one had experienced guides.
In order that such guides might be always available, the Spaniards
had compelled a number of them to live on the outskirts of the swamp
at a place called Clavijo. The ground on which their houses stood
was under water most of the year. They were a miserable, sickly
lot. Most of them were suffering acutely from malaria, and all were
very anxious to abandon the ill-fated site of their village,--a thing
which, it is needless to say, they were promptly permitted by us to
do. Having secured the services of several of them, we continued our
journey toward Bunauan, but found the stream which we ascended after
extricating ourselves from the swamp so choked with rubbish that it
was frequently necessary either to clear channels or to haul our heavy
boats over masses of dead tree trunks, branches, bamboo, etc. From
Bunauan we returned to Butuan and sailed for Cagayan de Misamis.
While passing along one of the main streets of the latter town on my
way to the provincial building, I discovered Bukidnon people buying
vino by the demijohn. The law prohibiting the sale of alcoholic liquors
to members of non-Christian tribes was then in effect throughout the
archipelago. One of the first questions which I put to the Filipino
governor was whether he had taken the necessary measures to see that
this law was enforced. He replied in the affirmative. I asked him what
he had done. He said that he had sent letters to the several Bukidnon
settlements telling the people that they must not buy vino. I asked him
if he had warned the dealers in his own town that they must not sell to
the Bukidnons, and he replied, "It has not occurred to me to do that!"
Having explained to the governor the terms of the law establishing
the province of Agusan, and the reason for its adoption, I proceeded
across the bay to a barrio which then was, and still is, the point
of departure for the interior, planning to start at daylight the
following morning. I had with me my private secretary Mr. Zinn,
and Mr. Frederick Lewis, who had just accepted appointment as
lieutenant-governor of the sub-province.
Lewis had taken a number of Zamboanga Moros to the St. Louis
Exposition and had also assumed charge of the Lake Lanao Moros there
when their manager misbehaved and it became necessary to dispense with
his services. He had looked after his people so carefully and so well
that some of the hardened old sinners from Lake Lanao actually wept
when they parted company with him on the beach after their return from
the United States! He was a tireless rider, and the country which he
was to govern was a horseman's country par excellence.
Our transportation for the trip was in charge of a Filipino lieutenant
of constabulary, named Manual Fortich, and I was not greatly pleased
with this arrangement, as we had a hard journey ahead of us which
might be rendered difficult or even dangerous by lack of efficiency
on the part of the man who looked after our saddle animals and our
carriers. I soon learned, however, that no better man could have been
selected for this task.
We marched at daylight, as is my custom when travelling overland in
the provinces. At midnight a mounted Filipino messenger, sent by the
caciques of Cagayan, had started ahead of us to frighten the people
of the towns which we proposed to visit so that they would take
to the hills. In this he was partially successful. When we reached
the small settlement of Tancuran late in the afternoon, after a hard
day's work, the only inhabitants left were a few old cripples who had
been too sick or too feeble to run away. However, many of those who
had fled were hiding in the underbrush near by. Lieutenant Fortich,
who had already made himself invaluable to us, soon rounded up quite
a number of them, and they were in turn despatched for their friends.
This little village was in a deplorable state of abandonment. Only
a few of its houses were habitable. It had been well laid out by
some good Jesuit missionary priest, but its streets and plaza were
choked with a jungle of tropical vegetation through which ran trails
resembling deer paths! There was absolutely nothing growing in the
vicinity which could furnish food for a human being.
Lieutenant Fortich ultimately got together quite an audience for
me. We squatted around a cheerful camp-fire and discussed the past
and the future until late at night. I was delighted to find that my
auditors took a keen interest in my statements. They soon gained
courage to tell me freely of the abuses which they had suffered,
and while obviously not optimistic over my promises of better things,
were evidently willing to be shown.
Just before we turned in Lieutenant Fortich asked me at what time I
would like to start in the morning. I said "five o'clock." He replied,
"Very well." While his remarks were gratifyingly in accord with the
biblical injunction to "let your conversation be yea, yea; nay, nay,"
I feared that he did not fully comprehend the difficulties involved in
an early start, so decided to take a hand myself when the time came. I
accordingly arose at three-thirty A.M., and nearly fainted when I
found that the horses were already munching their grain and, wonder
of wonders, that the carriers were eating their breakfast. The usual
thing is to be informed, when you are about an hour on your way, that
the carriers have had no breakfast, and to be forced to sit down and
wait while they cook and eat their morning meal. I went back to bed,
convinced that I had discovered a new kind of Filipino constabulary
officer. I got up again at four o'clock, dressed, and went to the
table at four-thirty, finding a piping hot meal ready. When at five
o'clock I descended the stairs of the house where I had spent the
night, my horse was saddled and waiting at the gate. All I had to do
was to climb aboard. Meanwhile I had not heard an order given, or a
word spoken in a tone above that of ordinary conversation. Throughout
the trip Lieutenant Fortich continued to display quiet efficiency. I
jotted his name down in my mental notebook as that of a man to be
used later. He is to-day the lieutenant-governor of Bukidnon, and a
most faithful, competent and efficient public officer.
During my first day's ride I had had a decidedly startling
experience. On leaving the sea beach one climbs rather abruptly for
some nine hundred feet and then comes out on a wonderful plain. After
riding over this beautiful stretch of level country for some time I
could not longer resist the temptation to attempt to take a panoramic
series of views showing it, so dismounted, set up my camera and made
three exposures, rotating the instrument so as to get a panoramic
effect. I worked with my back toward my companions, and became so
absorbed in my task that I failed to notice that they were moving
on. When I finally turned around I discovered to my utter amazement
that I was alone, save for the carrier who packed my camera and
plates. In every direction an apparently unbroken plain stretched for
miles, and there was not another human being in sight. My companions
had disappeared from off the face of the earth. I actually began
to fear that I had taken leave of my senses. Nothing which has
ever befallen me has given me such a curious sensation. However,
one tangible thing remained; to wit, a well-marked trail through
the grass. I followed it, and before I had gone three hundred yards
came to the brink of a precipitous cañon down the wall of which my
companions were zigzagging. From the point where I had taken my
photographs it was absolutely impossible to detect the existence
of this narrow crack in the earth. We soon learned, to our sorrow,
that this first cañon was only one of many.
At its bottom was a raging torrent which we forded with difficulty. My
fool horse got frightened and turned down-stream where the current was
swiftest, and I narrowly escaped taking an impromptu trip down rapids
which would have hammered me into insensibility against the rocks.
Until we reached Malaybalay the conditions encountered in the several
villages through which we passed were similar to those which we had
found at Tanculan: houses abandoned for the most part, and always in
a lamentable state of neglect; sanitary conditions very bad; streets
and plazas overgrown; an abundance of coffee bushes in some of the
villages, but no visible source of food supply anywhere, except for
a few scraggly banana plants.
At the outset we had found all the villages deserted, but in each
case had managed to get some of the people back and hold a friendly
interview with them. The "grapevine telegraph" got to working, and soon
they began to await our arrival. At Malaybalay they gave us quite an
ovation. This town was comparatively clean; the grass on the plaza
was neatly cut. All in all, conditions were so encouraging that I
decided that it should be the capital of the subprovince.
The following day we continued our journey to Linabo, where I heard
of a Filipino engaged, as usual, in terrorizing the inhabitants and
taking their products from them. I twice sent him courteous requests
to come to see me, and then had him unceremoniously brought into my
presence. He was carrying an ugly looking, heavy-calibre six-shooter. I
demanded the document which justified his possession of this weapon,
and as he could produce nothing more satisfactory than a note from the
governor of Misamis authorizing him to use it in that province, I took
his gun away from him. He assumed a threatening attitude and warned me
that he was a friend of the provincial governor, but I told him that
he was not a friend of mine, and started him on his way to the coast.
This occurrence was known throughout Bukidnon within three days,
and as the man in question was influential the fact that his claws
had been at least temporarily trimmed greatly encouraged the people.
From Linabo we returned by a different route, visiting the old
settlement of Sumilao, the site of the original Jesuit mission in
Bukidnon, and spending a day in endeavouring to reach a constantly
disappearing village named Nanca. We had gathered from the written
report of a lieutenant of the United States army that Nanca was
distant from Sumilao about two hours' ride. We reached it after dark,
having travelled steadily throughout the day except for some thirty
minutes taken for lunch, and having, I firmly believe, broken the
world's record for the number of cañons encountered in the course of
a fourteen-hour ride.
Nanca proved to be a very interesting Bukidnon village, as its
people retained their picturesque tribal dress and most of their
primitive customs. I became much interested in finding out about
its organization, and the part that each family took in its affairs,
and asked the persons present what each man did. I finally came to a
particularly fine-looking white-haired individual, and when I inquired
about him my informant replied: "Oh, he does not do anything. He is
a philosopher!" Then the crowd shouted with laughter. We decided that
the Bukidnons were not without a sense of humor.
A hard half day's ride brought us back to Cagayan de Misamis, and
I sailed at once for Manila, leaving Lieutenant-Governor Lewis
to face his difficult task alone. As I had anticipated, trouble
promptly began. The wealthiest people of Cagayan had always lived
off the unfortunate Bukidnons, and had no intention of relaxing
their grip. I have deeply regretted that I did not myself visit the
remaining villages in the valley of the Cagayan River and explain to
their inhabitants the change in their fortunes. Agents of the Cagayan
caciques had been busy there while I was occupied on the other side
of the subprovince, and shortly after my arrival at Manila a telegram
was received from the provincial governor, saying that the Bukidnons
were asking for a brown governor, instead of a white one, and were
reported to be preparing ropes and poison with which to commit suicide.
Now these simple people of the hills had no intention of committing
suicide, nor did they want "a brown governor." Their petitions were
prepared by Cagayan caciques and they were forced to sign them.
In the part of the subprovince which I had visited the conspirators
against the new government made little headway. Nevertheless their
vicious activities continued, and later, on several occasions,
they succeeded in frightening the people of one or another of the
then rapidly growing towns so badly that they took to the hills, and
Mr. Lewis had to hunt them up and persuade them to come back again,
which he always succeeded in doing.
When I returned to inspect Bukidnon a year later, I found that a
marvellous change had already been brought about. Model villages had
taken the place of the ramshackle affairs which I had found on my first
visit. The houses were grouped around spacious plazas on which the
grass had been so carefully cut that they had already begun to look
like lawns. Streets were kept so clean that one could literally pick
up a dropped pin without the slightest difficulty. Where the streets
reached the open prairie, bars were provided to keep stray animals
out of town. Every yard was neatly fenced. All domestic animals were
properly confined if not out at pasture. Every village was perfectly
drained, the slope of the land being such that all drainage promptly
ran off onto the prairie. Yards were immaculately clean and were
planted with useful food-producing crops. Little cultivated fields
were already beginning to appear near the outskirts of the towns. This
latter change greatly delighted me. These poor, ignorant people had
always believed that the prairie soil was worthless for agricultural
purposes, and that in order to grow crops it was necessary for
them to go to the distant mountains, clear forest land and plant
it. Furthermore, they had been quite unable to break the prairie
sod and bring the underlying soil under cultivation with such simple
agricultural implements as they possessed.
At the request of Lieutenant-Governor Lewis, I had furnished two disk
plows with the necessary animals to pull them, in order that the land
might be plowed the first time for those who were willing to cultivate
it. Thereafter they were left to care for it themselves. This plan
had aroused great enthusiasm. As I approached Sumilao I saw a crowd
of men busily engaged in some task, and when I drew near was amazed
and delighted to find that, although the disk plow intended for use
at that place had arrived before the animals which were to pull it,
fifteen men had harnessed themselves to it and were vigorously breaking
the sod. I decided on the spot that the Bukidnon people had a future,
and have never changed my mind. The progress which they have since
made is almost unbelievable.
Efforts to destroy the government which we had established in
Bukidnon, and to reëstablish the system of peonage under which
its peaceful, industrious inhabitants had so long groaned, were
persistently continued. During my third annual inspection trip,
I found that there was a plan on foot to trump up criminal charges
against Lieutenant-Governor Lewis and Señor Manuel Fortich, whose
services I had meanwhile secured as an assistant to Mr. Lewis upon
his severing his connection with the constabulary. The efforts of
the mischief-makers had become so persistent and so vicious that I
decided to declare war on them. Accordingly, I ran over to Cagayan
and summoned the provincial officers and several other prominent
citizens, with whom I went straight to the point, telling them that I
had not anticipated that they would readily adapt themselves to the
changed conditions which resulted from the separation of Bukidnon
as a distinct subprovince, and had patiently waited three years for
them to accept the inevitable, but that I had grown weary of their
constant efforts to nullify the work which we were doing, and that I
was aware of the plan to destroy the usefulness of Lewis and Fortich;
adding that they must let the Bukidnon officials alone, and that in
the event of future failure to do so I would temporarily transfer my
office to Cagayan de Misamis and devote my time and attention to making
things interesting for certain of them. I named no names, and it was
not necessary to do so. The individuals referred to knew whom I meant.
Conditions now rapidly improved for a time, but in November I
was called to Washington to be investigated by the Committee on
Insular Affairs with reference to my administration of public and
friar lands, and the enemies of the Bukidnon government promptly
became active. Governor Lewis was arrested and tried on two criminal
charges, while his assistant, Señor Fortich, was charged with murder,
no less. If the charges of estafa and falsification of public documents
brought against Lewis failed, it was proposed to prosecute him for
adultery, the minimum penalty for which in the Philippine Islands is
imprisonment for two years, four months and one day.
Fortunately, it took but a short time to show that the cases against
those two young men were spite cases pure and simple, and they
collapsed miserably. Other charges were promptly brought.
There had been a sad mix up, resulting from an ill-defined boundary
line between Bukidnon and the Moro Province, for which I myself
was directly responsible, as the papers concerning it were on my
desk awaiting action when I was called home, and in the rush of
a hurried departure I had overlooked them. Lewis and Fortich had
been unjustly blamed for the result. I now took a hand in the game
myself, and the whole matter was satisfactorily cleared up. Lewis was
promoted to the governorship of the province of Agusan, and Fortich
was made lieutenant-governor of Bukidnon, a position which he has
filled ever since with great credit to himself and advantage to the
Bukidnon people.
The progress which has been made in Bukidnon is really wonderful. At
the outset there was not a decent trail in the subprovince. Now
one can go nineteen miles inland to the Mañgima River cañon in an
automobile, and it will be soon possible so to continue the journey
ten miles further to Maluco. Excellent low-grade horse trails,
many miles of which are already wide enough to serve as automobile
roads as soon as the line to the coast is completed, connect the
principal settlements of Bukidnon proper, which also have telephonic
communication, the people having gladly undertaken to cut and erect
the necessary poles and build and maintain the lines, if furnished
instruments, wire, insulators and tools. They have kept their bargain,
and there are constant demands for an extension of the system, under
similar conditions, to the more remote mountain villages.
There was not a bridge or a culvert in the subprovince. Pack animals
were constantly being swept away by the rushing currents of the
larger rivers, or perishing miserably in mud when attempting to cross
soft-bottomed creeks. Now one may ride from the sea-coast to Malaybalay
without wetting the feet of one's horse, and in so doing one will
cross more than a hundred substantial bridges and culverts built by the
Bukidnons themselves. As a rule, even the largest bridges have cost the
government no more than the price of their iron bolts and braces. The
people have voluntarily and cheerfully done the work, in order to get
the benefits which would result. In some cases heavy hardwood timbers
have been dragged for fifteen miles or more by teams of hundreds of
men. All bridges are roofed, and they afford fine camping places for
travellers and their pack animals. Incidentally the load which pack
animals can comfortably carry has been more than doubled.
Old villages have increased greatly in size, and numerous new ones
have been established. All have spacious plazas and streets which
are beautifully kept. The mountains are almost depopulated. The
hardy old fighters who used to frequent them have become peaceful
agriculturists. Houses are neat and clean. Yards are fenced, planted
with useful crops, and well cultivated. Each house has its own sanitary
arrangements. No domestic animals are allowed to run at large in towns.
Rich, cultivated fields surround the villages and each year stretch
farther and farther out over the neighbouring prairies. Coffee
production is increasing by leaps and bounds, and blight is
disappearing from the plantations as the result of intensive
cultivation. The people are well fed and prosperous. Their condition
steadily improves. They have been taught the value of their products,
and encouraged to insist on receiving it.
Practically every village has its schoolhouse and its schoolmaster's
house, voluntarily built free of charge by the inhabitants. Children
are sent to school by their parents and learn rapidly. On my second
visit I found the boys trying to play baseball, using joints of bamboo
for bats, and big, thick-skinned oranges for balls. I sent to each
of the more important towns a complete baseball outfit, and now the
boys certainly know, and can play, the game.
These results have been accomplished practically without bloodshed
or rough treatment of any sort. Only in the rarest instances, and in
dealing with the very worst of the hill men, who were professional
murderers, has a shot been fired.
When the subprovince was invaded by bands of savages from the mountains
of Butuan and from the neighbouring Moro Province, the people requested
firearms so that they might protect themselves. Some twenty-five old
carbines were furnished them, and they organized an effective force
which pursued the evil-doers and policed them up very effectively.
Marámag, one of the most recently established villages, is in the very
heart of Mindanao. Two years ago a good many of its leading citizens
were living in tree-houses. During August, 1912, I found them cutting
the grass on their plaza with a lawn-mower!
Another thing which has made me rub my eyes and wonder if I were
awake was the discovery that the people of this subprovince were
clothing themselves and their children in garments purchased from
Montgomery, Ward & Co., of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.! The explanation
is simple. The Cagayan shopkeepers persist in cheating them at every
opportunity, and the house of Montgomery, Ward & Co. does not. Although
Chicago is far away, the mail service is nevertheless good!
Death has just summoned Leoncio, one of the most remarkable men who
has yet arisen among the Bukidnon people. We found him an absolutely
illiterate heathen. With no other instruction than that given him
by lieutenant-governors Lewis and Fortich, he learned to lay out and
build roads and trails on any desired grade, to construct bridges which
will be standing twenty years hence, and to erect public buildings
which would be a credit to any man compelled to use such materials
as those available in Bukidnon.
At the time of his death he was just finishing a bridge three hundred
feet long across the rushing Culaman River. This structure has a
galvanized iron roof, contributed by the enthusiastic residents
of Sumilao.
The healthful rivalry between towns is one of the delightful things
about Bukidnon. Each desires to have better buildings, better streets,
better bridges, better roads and better schools than its neighbours.
I experience no keener pleasure than that which I enjoy on my annual
trips through Bukidnon. There is always something new to see. The
people are most grateful for the help which has been given them. Their
friendliness and their loyalty cannot fail to touch the hearts of
all who know them. They are now well housed, and well fed. Their
children are being given in liberal measure the education which had
previously been denied to them. The Bukidnons are to-day a prosperous,
progressive people, happy and contented. I have an abiding faith in
their future if they are given a chance.
When they meet their old Filipino oppressors on trips to the coast,
the latter grit their teeth and remark under their breath: "Oh, very
well. This is your inning now, but ours will come! The Americans
are going soon, and then we will square our little account with
you. You will pay dearly for your 'insubordination'!" Having set
the feet of these people on the road which leads onward and upward,
shall we leave them to their fate?
Conditions in Butuan have improved far more slowly than in
Bukidnon. The climate is less favourable. Bukidnon is a highland
country with a white man's climate. The Agusan River valley is
usually hot, and always damp. The town of Butuan was considered the
worst misgoverned municipality in the Philippines on the date of its
separation from Surigao, and it was certainly one of the filthiest. I
have sunk to my knees in the mud of its streets. It is to-day a
beautifully kept and sanitary place, and is certainly not misgoverned.
As I have already said, the Manobo inhabitants of the wretched
villages along the banks of the main Agusan River were a sickly,
filthy, broken-spirited lot, besotted with vino and in danger
of becoming victims of the opium habit. It is almost a physical
impossibility completely to suppress the opium traffic because of
the ease with which the drug is smuggled, but the vino traffic has
been suppressed. The chief business on the Agusan River was formerly
the transportation of vino up-stream. It is now the transportation
down-stream of Manila hemp raised by the people of the valley.
The villages have been greatly improved and rendered reasonably
sanitary. The best of them compare not unfavourably with some of the
Bukidnon towns. The people improve, but radical improvement will not
be in evidence until the next generation comes on.
Transportation facilities have been greatly increased by freeing
several of the more important branches of the Agusan River from snags,
and so opening them for launch navigation. Two good canals have been
cut through the swamps, and communication by launch has thus been
opened with the upper Agusan valley.
There is an industrial school for Manobo boys, and a number of the
villages have primary schools.
Doubtless the most important single factor in improving the condition
of the Manobos has been the establishment of a series of government
shops at which they can sell their products for a fair price, and
buy what they need so cheaply that it almost seems to them as if they
were receiving presents.
Governor Frederick Johnston, who is largely responsible for these
improved conditions, laboured ceaselessly to bring them about. At the
outset he had no launch transportation and lived for weeks at a time
in native canoes or bancas. He was fearless and tireless. When the
time came for him to take long overdue leave I had no competent person
to put in his place, and in deference to my wishes he continued at
his post for nearly two years. At the end of that time it was found
that one of his legs, which had been injured on an early exploring
expedition, had become cancerous, and that immediate amputation was
necessary. This made it impossible for him to continue his work,
and crippled him for life. He had borne his trouble uncomplainingly,
and I had not even known of its existence. Although a man of mature
years, he bravely entered upon the study of medicine, hoping to
prepare himself for a useful life, but the operation had come too
late. Cancer reappeared, and for a year he was dying by inches. In
a way I am responsible for it. Do you think he laid it up against
me? You shall judge for yourselves.
He used to write a copy-book hand. Just before leaving Manila I
received from him an almost illegible letter in which he economized
words as if composing a cablegram. It brought the tears to my eyes. He
said:--
"I thank you for your slavery book just received. If strength is
left me to read it, I shall read it though I do nothing else in
this life.
"I have had letter in preparation to you since last June but
I haven't strength to sit at the machine. I expect now to die
before New Year.
"I have offered surgeons to take all chances, but they decline
to operate, stating that they would consider operation deliberate
murder.
"This is first letter I write since last September. If I do not get
strength to finish typewritten letter I have given instructions it
be sent when I am dead. I cannot write with pen; I have tried it.
"If you hear no more, please remember I never forgot you. Sorry
you leave the Secretariat--so sorry I can't tell you.
"I am ready to die. I know that I have lived unselfishly for
what I thought was right and good, and death is nothing. If this
should be the last, then accept from the man that was always your
man and will be your man until he dies, a last Good-by."
A few days later he went to his reward.
The loyalty of such a man is a precious possession.
The lot of the non-Christian tribes inhabiting the regularly organized
provinces is not a happy one. The township government act is applicable
to their settlements, and the provincial officers have the same
powers and duties with reference to them as have the corresponding
officers in the special government provinces. In both cases these
powers are exercised subject to the approval of the secretary of the
interior, but in providing for the government of non-Christians in
Christian provinces, we overlooked one very essential detail. Neither
the secretary of the interior nor any one else has authority to
compel the governors or provincial boards of these provinces to
act. They have discovered that efforts to improve the condition of
the ignorant and primitive peoples intrusted to their charge can be
very effectively nullified if they merely sit still and do nothing,
and almost with one accord they have adopted this policy. Exception
should be made in favour of North Ilocos, South Ilocos, Pangasinán,
Ambos Camarines, Iloilo and Zambales. No other provinces have made any
real effort to help their non-Christian population, and the funds set
aside by law to be expended for this end simply go on accumulating
in their respective treasuries, as I have managed to convince them
that efforts to divert such funds to purposes not authorized by law
will not prosper. The law should be so amended as to provide that if
provincial boards fail to act, the secretary of the interior may do so.
The organization of the Moro Province was provided for by an act
passed on June 1, 1903. It is the largest single province in the
Philippine Islands, including within its limits more than half of
the great island of Mindanao with various small islands adjacent
thereto, and Basilan, Joló, Siassi, Tawi Tawi, Sibutu, Cagayan de
Joló and the very numerous other small islands stretching between
Mindanao and North Borneo. It is divided into five districts, each
with a district governor. The province has a governor, a secretary,
a treasurer, an attorney, an engineer and a superintendent of schools.
The four officials first named constitute a legislative council the
acts of which are subject to the approval of the Philippine Commission.
The province is allowed to expend the moneys accruing from the
customs dues paid at Joló and Zamboanga, which are ports of entry,
but is not fully self-supporting. The insular government pays for
the Philippine constabulary serving there. Until within a very short
time the provincial officials have been almost exclusively officers
of the army of the United States. In my opinion this arrangement has
been a bad one, not because of the character of the men who have done
the work, many of whom were of exceptional ability and were admirably
fitted for the performance of the duties which fell to their lot, but
because no one of them has retained a given office long enough to carry
a policy through to its logical conclusion and get the results which
might thus have been obtained. Indeed, the lack of a fixed policy,
combined with some unnecessary and unjustifiable killing, explain,
in my opinion, the fact that the results accomplished have come far
short of what might have been expected when one considers the splendid
body of men from which the provincial officials have been drawn.
Noteworthy public improvements have been made in places like Zamboanga
and Joló, but the country of the hill people, which ought to have
been crisscrossed with trails long ere this, is still not opened
up. Tribes like the Mandayas would, if given the opportunity, advance
as rapidly as have the Bukidnons, but such opportunity has not been
given to them to any considerable extent.
Having heard much of the Mandaya villages near Mati, I improved
the opportunity to visit them in August, 1912, only to find to my
amazement that the local constabulary officer, who ought to have been
in the closest possible touch with these people, did not even know
the way to their settlements. At another place where some 1400 hill
people had been compelled to come down from their native mountains and
settle in a village which could have been made a model of cleanliness,
and should have been surrounded by rich cultivated fields, not half
enough ground had been cleared to furnish food for the inhabitants,
even under the most favourable circumstances. The houses were falling
down; the streets were deep in mud; the garden patches were overgrown
with weeds; more than half of the people had taken to the hills again
in a search for food, and small blame to them! I found here as fine
appearing a young constabulary officer as one could hope to meet,
eating his heart out because he had nothing to do! Neither he nor any
of his soldiers spoke the local dialect. He was supposed to be running
a store, among other things, for the benefit of the hill people. I
asked to see it, and it took him half an hour to find the key! In sixty
minutes I could have set him work enough to keep him busy for three
months. All that he needed was some one to direct him, but there was
no one to do it. With the best intentions in the world he was using
his soldiers to chase a lot of poor hill people back into a village
where they ought never to have been asked to live. In other words,
the Moro Province, having brought these people down and ordered them
to settle on a site selected for them, had signally failed to back its
own game. I myself would not think of trying to compel members of a
wild tribe to live in any given place, unless it were necessary to do
so in the interest of public order. Life in villages can, and should,
be made so attractive to them that they will be glad to adopt it.
The Moros, with their fanatical religious beliefs and prejudices,
present a very grave problem. Conditions have undoubtedly greatly
improved in Davao, Cotabato and Zamboanga. I am not sufficiently
familiar with affairs in the Lanao district to express an intelligent
opinion concerning them. So far as concerns Joló, it is my opinion
that things have come to a bad pass there; that life and property
are not as safe to-day as they were during the early days of the
American occupation, and that we have progressed backward for some
time. However, Joló pirates have at least been pretty effectively
kept off the sea, and that in itself is a very important result.
It is idle to suppose that the Moros can be subdued and made into
decent citizens by throwing kisses at them. It was certain from the
start that they would transgress. In my opinion, if we are to cure them
of their evil tendencies, we must first warn them that they will be
punished if they misbehave, and then make the warning come true. This
has been done, but to another very important part of the programme
which I deem essential to success, comparatively little attention seems
to have been given. When people who have been punished for misbehavior
have had enough they should be afforded a chance to quit, and indeed
should be encouraged and helped to do so. No grudge should be borne
for past misdeeds after the account has once been settled. Occasions
have not been lacking in the Moro Province on which men have been
treated with severity when they should have been treated with kindness.
In the Moro, native racial characteristics have been profoundly
modified by religious beliefs. Men endowed with such magnificent
courage as the Moro warriors often display certainly have their
redeeming qualities. The same old policy that has won with the Ifugaos,
Bontoc Igorots and Kalingas, and is winning with the wild Tingians
and Ilongots, has been tried in dealing with the renegade Moros of
Palawan with a considerable degree of success. It is my firm belief
that it will work with the Moros of Mindanao, Basilan, Joló and Tawi
Tawi, but substantial and permanent progress cannot now be anticipated
for many years. The Moros must be given more than a square deal, or
results will not differ essentially from those which have attended
the efforts of Japan to subdue the hill people of Northern Formosa,
or those of the Dutch to subdue the Achinese.
Recently nearly all of the army officers holding positions in the Moro
Province have been replaced by civilians. This is a move in the right
direction; not, I repeat, because the men thus displaced are incapable
of achieving success if given the opportunity, but because continuity
of policy is absolutely essential to success and is impracticable if
the men charged with carrying out that policy are to be constantly
changed. The next governor of the Moro Province should be a civilian
and should be selected with the greatest care. He should be able,
energetic, fearless, tireless and young. He should be kept in office
for twenty years if he will stay so long. The task which awaits him
is real man's work.
CHAPTER XXIII
CORRIGENDA
I trust that the foregoing incomplete outline of what has been
accomplished toward bettering the condition of the non-Christian
tribes of the Philippines has at least sufficed to convey some
idea of the nature of the task which has confronted us and of the
spirit in which it has been approached. Before considering further
the difficulties which have been successfully met and the problems
which still remain unsettled, I will correct some of the numerous
misstatements which have been made relative to the unimportance
of the non-Christian tribes, the nature of the work done for them,
and the motives of some of those who have engaged in it.
I once heard it said that the trouble with Blount's book was that
it contained five thousand lies, that the correction of each would
require, on the average, two pages of printed matter, and that no
one would read the resulting series of volumes!
I have not counted the misstatements of this author. They are
sufficiently numerous to make it impracticable to answer them all in
detail. It is hard to know just what to do in such a case, as one must
run the risk of giving undue importance to them by noticing them, or of
creating the impression that they cannot be answered by ignoring them.
Under all the circumstances it has seemed to me well to reply somewhat
fully to his more important allegations relative to non-Christian tribe
matters, for the reason, among others, that many of his statements
embody the more important claims of the Filipino politicians relative
thereto; and to add that it would be equally easy to riddle his
contentions relative to most other matters which he discusses. He
says:--
"Professor Worcester of the Philippine Commission has for the last
twelve years been the grand official digger-up of non-Christian
tribes. He takes as much delight at the discovery of a new
non-Christian tribe in some remote, newly penetrated mountain
fastness, as the butterfly catcher with the proverbial blue
goggles does in the capture of a new kind of butterfly." [31]
I have never had the good fortune to discover even one new tribe,
the net result of my explorations and studies having been to reduce
the number of such tribes claimed to inhabit the Philippines from
eighty-two to twenty-seven, and to throw serious doubt on the validity
of several of those which I still provisionally recognize. Blount
adds:--
"Professor Worcester's greatest value to President Taft, and also
the thing out of which has grown, most unfortunately, what seems
to be a very cordial mutual hatred between him and the Filipinos,
is his activities in the matter of discovering, getting acquainted
with, classifying, tabulating, enumerating, and otherwise preparing
for salvation, the various non-Christian tribes." [32]
It is quite true that the Filipino politicians have bitterly resented
my making known the facts relative to the existence of numerous
uncivilized peoples in the islands, but to the charge that I hate
the Filipinos I must enter an emphatic denial.
Fifteen years ago I expressed my opinion of them in the following
words:--
"The civilized native is self-respecting and self-restrained to a
remarkable degree. He is patient under misfortune, and forbearing
under provocation. While it is stretching the truth to say that
he never reveals anger, he certainly succeeds much better in
controlling himself than does the average European. When he does
give way to passion, however, he is as likely as not to become
for the moment a maniac, and to do some one a fatal injury.
"He is a kind father and a dutiful son. His aged relatives are
never left in want, but are brought to his home, and are welcome
to share the best that it affords to the end of their days.
"Among his fellows, he is genial and sociable. He loves to sing,
dance, and make merry. He is a born musician, and considering the
sort of instruments at his disposal, and especially the limited
advantages which he has for perfecting himself in their use,
his performances on them are often very remarkable.
"He is naturally fearless, and admires nothing so much as bravery
in others. Under good officers he makes an excellent soldier,
and he is ready to fight to the death for his honour or his home.
"With all their amiable qualities it is not to be denied
that at present the civilized natives are utterly unfit for
self-government. Their universal lack of education is in itself
a difficulty that cannot be speedily overcome, and there is much
truth in the statement of a priest who said of them that 'in many
things they are big children who must be treated like little ones.'
"Not having the gift of prophecy, I cannot say how far or how
fast they might advance, under more favourable circumstances than
those which have thus far surrounded them. They are naturally
law-abiding and peace-loving, and would, I believe, appreciate
and profit by just treatment.
"In the four months which separate May 1, 1898, from the day
when the manuscript for this volume leaves my hands, important
events have crowded on each other's heels as never before in the
history of the Archipelago. Whatever may be the immediate outcome,
it is safe to say that, having learned something of his power, the
civilized native will now be likely to take a hand in shaping his
own future. I trust that opportunities which he has never enjoyed
may be given to him. If not, may he win them for himself." [33]
This opinion, which I trust will not be considered unkindly, has
not been modified in its essentials as a result of many additional
years of life in the Philippines. I have unexpectedly had a hand in
giving to the Filipinos opportunities which they had never before
enjoyed. I drafted the act under which the municipalities of these
islands to-day govern themselves; the act creating the College of
Medicine and Surgery where young Filipino men and women may receive
the best of theoretical and practical instruction; the act creating
in the Bureau of Lands a school of surveying as a result of which
the present dearth of Filipino surveyors will soon end; the provision
of law creating and providing for the Philippine Training School for
Nurses, which is preparing hundreds of young Filipino men and women to
practise a useful and noble profession. I drafted the legislation which
created a forest school, where many bright Filipino lads are now being
trained for the government service. I drafted the provision of law
which gives to all Filipinos the right to make personal use of timber
from the government forests without paying a cent therefor, and the act
which makes it possible for municipalities to have communal forests,
reserved for the special and exclusive benefit of their citizens.
I fought for eight years to get the money for the Philippine General
Hospital, where nearly ninety thousand patients, the vast majority
of whom are Filipinos, are treated annually either in beds or at the
several clinics; I have approved, and indeed compelled, the appointment
of a staff for that institution largely made up of Filipinos, and
I have steadily supported the Filipino members of that staff when
insulted or unjustly accused, as I regret to say they sometimes have
been, as a result of race prejudice with which I have no sympathy.
I am the official ultimately responsible for the establishment and
maintenance of a health system which indisputably saves the lives of
hundreds of thousands of Filipinos every year, and has practically
rid their country of smallpox, plague and cholera.
All of the employees of the Weather Bureau, which comes under my
executive control, are Filipinos.
I could name a score of other important measures, having for their
sole object the betterment of the condition of the Filipinos, and
extension to them of increased opportunity to demonstrate their
capacity, which I have originated. I have never knowingly opposed a
measure which would produce this result.
I frankly admit that I have declined to approve the appointment of
a Filipino to any position under my control simply because he was
a Filipino. I have insisted that appointees have higher and better
reasons to claim consideration, among which may be mentioned decent
character and ability to do the work of the positions to be filled. No
living man entertains more genuinely kindly feelings toward the peoples
of these islands, Christian and non-Christian, than do I. An allegation
that I hate the Filipinos comes with especially bad taste from a man
who himself never ceased to criticize them, and to denounce them as
utterly incompetent and worthless throughout his Philippine career,
but who finally experienced an eleventh-hour conversion on the eve of
a presidential election which was likely to bring into power another
political party.
Blount has worked out a theory, peculiarly his own, to the effect
that the non-Christian peoples have been set aside as a field for
purely Protestant missionary activities, and that I am a party to
this scheme. In this connection he says:--
"It seems that the Catholic and Protestant ecclesiastical
authorities in the Islands get along harmoniously, a kind of
modus vivendi having been arranged between them, by which the
Protestants are not to do any proselyting among the seven millions
of Catholic Christians. So this field of endeavour is the one
Professor Worcester has been industriously preparing during the
last twelve years. [34]
"Obviously, every time Professor Worcester digs up a new
non-Christian tribe he increases the prospective harvest of the
Protestants, thus corralling more missionary votes at home for
permanent retention of the Philippines. [35]
"But neither Bishop Brent nor any one else can persuade him [36]
that it is wise to abandon the principle that Church and State
should be separate, in order that our government may go into
the missionary business. Since it has become apparent that the
Philippines will not pay, the Administration has relied solely
on missionary sentiments....
"The foregoing reflections are not intended to raise an issue
as to the wisdom of foreign missions. They are simply intended
to illustrate how it is possible and natural for President Taft
to consider Professor Worcester 'the most valuable man we have
on the Philippine Commission.' The Professor's menagerie is a
vote-getter." [37]
The first passage quoted has the merit of being ingenious, and embodies
a half truth. Bishop Brent deems it inadvisable to try to proselytize
Catholic Christians, and outside of Manila his co-workers confine
their efforts to the conversion of persons other than Filipinos. They
conduct missions for non-Christians at Sagada and Bontoc in Bontoc,
at Baguio in Benguet, and at Zamboanga in the Moro Province.
In Manila they conduct a mission for Filipinos in connection with
a hospital which does most valuable work, but they mean to leave
Catholic Filipinos alone.
The Catholics recognize no corresponding limitations. They conduct
missions for the Benguet-Lepanto Igorots at Baguio, Itogon, Kabayan,
Cervantes and elsewhere; for the Bontoc Igorots at Bauco and Bontoc
and for the Ifugaos at Quiangan.
The other Protestant denominations having missions in the Philippines
work chiefly among the Catholics.
I have absolutely no connection with any such enterprises except that
I have helped to make them possible in the wild man's territory by
the establishment of law and order there, and have sometimes made both
Catholic and Protestant missionaries my agents for administering simple
remedies to sick persons who might otherwise have perished miserably.
To this extent, and to this extent only, has our government gone into
the missionary business.
I am proud to count Bishop Brent and Archbishop Harty among my personal
friends. I am in complete sympathy with the purposes which actuate
both of them in prosecuting Christian missions. I have sometimes
disapproved, personally, of methods employed by their subordinates
in this work, and have felt free to tell them so!
Blount complains bitterly over the exhibition of members of
non-Christian tribes at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. For a wonder
he admits that Tagálog and Visayan Filipinos were also exhibited. He
fails to record the fact that a commission of highly educated and
cultured Filipino men and women were sent to the exposition and
travelled quite widely in the United States, so that they were seen,
and heard of, by great numbers of people who never visited St. Louis
at all. Of the exhibition of wild men, he says:--
"I think no deeper wound was ever inflicted upon the pride of
the real Filipino people than that caused by this exhibition,
the knowledge of which seems to have spread throughout the
islands." [38]
And he rather ingeniously gives it to be understood that I was
responsible for this exhibition, although he carefully avoids stating
that this was the case.
I am quite as strongly opposed to the exhibition of members of the
Philippine non-Christian tribes as is Blount himself, but for very
different reasons hereinafter set forth. As such peoples constitute an
eighth of the population of the Islands, I also object to the attempt
of certain Filipino politicians to conceal the fact of their existence,
and to the efforts of certain misguided Americans to minimize the
importance of the problems which their existence presents. Let us
look the facts in the face. The Moros are as "real" as the Tagálogs.
The average Filipino does not object in the least to the exhibition of
wild people. On the contrary, he is just as much interested in them as
is the average American, and goes to see them whenever the opportunity
offers. It is only the Filipino politician who pretends to see any
actual immodesty in scanty costumes worn with the innocence with
which Adam and Eve were endowed before the fall. The truth is that
the politician himself does not really object to this semi-nudity,
to which he is already sufficiently accustomed among his own people
in his own native town, but he plays it up for political effect.
The pedigree of the average Filipino politician very frequently runs
back to white or Chinese ancestors on the father's side. In his heart
of hearts he resents his Malay blood, and he particularly objects to
anything which reminds him of the truth as to the stage of civilization
which had been attained by his Malay ancestors a few centuries ago.
If he be a member of the Philippine Assembly, he further and bitterly
resents his lack of authority to legislate for the Moros and other
non-Christian tribes, and is ever ready to support his frequently
reiterated demand for such authority by arguing the unimportance
of these peoples, and that of the problems which their existence
presents. Up to the time when the assembly was established and was
denied the power to legislate for the non-Christians, my occasional
illustrated lectures on the wild peoples, given at Manila, were very
liberally attended by Filipinos, not a few of whom I am glad to say
still continue to patronize them when occasion offers.
My own attitude toward the exhibition of non-Christians, and my reasons
therefor, are set forth in the following official correspondence,
with which I will this phase of the subject:--
(Telegram.)
"Pack [39] Bontoc, Manila, Dec. 4, 1909.
"Schneiderwind is back with his Igorots some of whom have as
much as two thousand pesos due them. Am trying to arrange to
have this money put in postal savings bank to protect them from
themselves. Schneiderwind is after another party of wild people
to take to Europe. Has asked about Ifugaos and Apayaos. Have told
him strongly opposed to taking these people to other countries
for exhibition purposes and will place all possible obstacles in
his way if he attempts to do so. If after this warning he enters
Mountain province to secure people for exhibition purposes give him
no assistance but use every legitimate means to prevent his getting
them. Give proper and seasonable instructions to your subordinates.
"Worcester."
On April 22, 1910, in returning to the Governor-General a petition
dealing with the exhibition of wild people I placed upon it this
indorsement:--
"Respectfully returned to the Honourable, the Governor-General.
"The undersigned is strongly opposed to the sending of members of
wild tribes to the United States or to other civilized countries
for exhibition purposes. Apart from all other considerations
experience shows that the men and women thus taken away from their
natural surroundings are apt to be pretty thoroughly spoiled and
to be trouble makers after their return.
"The undersigned has recently informed Mr. R. Schneiderwind that
he would, if necessary, do everything in his power to prevent the
latter gentleman from taking another set of Igorots away from the
Philippines for exhibition purposes. This, too, in spite of the
fact that Mr. Schneiderwind has apparently been very considerate
in his treatment of the Igorots whom he has taken to the United
States for exhibition purposes.
"The undersigned would assume the same attitude toward any other
person endeavouring to obtain Igorots for exhibition purposes."
The advocates of the "united people" theory for these islands are
forced to insist on the unimportance of the non-Christian tribes and
it is needless to say that Blount does this. His contentions on the
subject are rather concisely stated in the following passage:--
"You see our Census of 1903 gave the population of the
Philippines at about 7,600,000 of which 7,000,000 are put down
as civilized Christians; and of the remaining 600,000 about half
are the savage, or semi-civilized, crudely Mohammedan Moros,
in Mindanao, and the adjacent islets down near Borneo. The other
300,000 or so uncivilized people scattered throughout the rest
of the archipelago, the 'non-Christian tribes,' which dwell in
the mountain fastnesses, remote from 'the madding crowd,' cut
little more figure, if any, in the general political equation,
than the American Indian does with us to-day." [40]
If there were ten million American Indians who were in undisputed
occupation of half the territory of the United States, this statement
might in a way approximate the truth. Blount's ten-year-old population
figures are a trifle out of date, but before demonstrating this I
wish to show certain peculiarities in his method of manipulating
them. He says:--
"That the existence of these wild tribes--the dog-eating
Igorrotes and other savages you saw exhibited at the St. Louis
Exposition of 1903-4--constitutes infinitely less reason for
withholding independence from the Filipinos than the American
Indian constituted in 1776 for withholding independence from us,
will be sufficiently apparent from a glance at the following table,
taken from the American Census of the Islands of 1903 (vol. ii.,
p. 123):--
Island Civilized Wild Total
Luzón 3,575,001 223,506 3,798,507
Panay 728,713 14,933 743,646
Cebu 592,247 592,247
Bohol 243,148 243,148
Negros 439,559 21,217 460,776
Leyte 357,641 357,641
Samar 222,002 688 222,690
Mindanao 246,694 252,940 499,634
"I think the above table makes clear the enormity of the injustice
I am now trying to crucify. Without stopping to use your pencil,
you can see that Mindanao, the island where the 'intractable
Moros' Governor Forbes speaks of live, contains about a half
million people. Half of these are civilized Christians, and the
other half are the wild, crudely Mohammedan Moro tribes. Above
Mindanao on the above list, you behold what practically is the
Philippine archipelago (except Mindanao), viz. Luzón and the six
main Visayan Islands. If you will turn back to pages 225 et seq.,
especially to page 228, where the student of world politics was
furnished with all he needs or will ever care to know about the
geography of the Philippine Islands you will there find all the
rocks sticking out of the water and all the little daubs you see
on the map eliminated from the equation as wholly unessential to a
clear understanding of the problem of governing the Islands. That
process of elimination left us Luzón and the six main Visayan
Islands above as constituting, for all practical governmental
purposes all the Philippine archipelago except the Moro country
Mindanao (i.e. parts of it), and its adjacent islets. Luzón and
the Visayan Islands contain nearly 7,000,000 of people, and of
these the wild tribes, as you can see by a glance at the above
table constitute less than 300,000, sprinkled in the pockets of
their various mountain regions. Nearly all these 300,000 are quite
tame, peaceable and tractable, except, as Governor Forbes suggests,
they 'might possibly mistake the object of a visit.'" [41]
This is all very well unless you take the Judge at his word and turn
to the page of the census report referred to, but if you do this
a rude shock awaits you, for instead of the table above quoted the
following is the table which you will find:--
Table 1.--Total Population, Classified as Civilized and Wild, by
Provinces and Comandancias.
Province or Comandancia Total Population Civilized Wild
Philippine Islands 7,635,426 6,987,686 647,740
Abra 51,860 37,823 14,037
Albay 240,326 239,434 892
Ambos Camarines 239,405 233,472 5,933
Antique 134,166 131,245 2,921
Basilan 30,179 1,331 28,848
Bataán 46,787 45,166 1,621
Batangas 257,715 257,715 ----
Benguet 22,745 917 21,828
Bohol 269,223 269,223 ----
Bulacán 223,742 223,327 415
Cagayán 156,239 142,825 13,414
Cápiz 230,721 225,092 5,629
Cavite 134,779 134,779 ----
Cebú 653,727 653,727 ----
Cotabato 125,875 2,313 123,562
Dapitan 23,577 17,154 6,423
Dávao 65,496 20,224 45,272
Ilocos Norte 178,995 176,785 2,210
Ilocos Sur 187,411 173,800 13,611
Iloílo 410,315 403,932 6,383
Isabela 76,431 68,793 7,638
Joló 51,389 1,270 50,119
La Laguna 148,606 148,606 ----
La Union 137,839 127,789 10,050
Lepanto-Bontoc 72,750 2,467 70,283
Leyte 388,922 388,922 ----
Manila City 219,928 219,928 ----
Marinduque [42] 51,674 51,674 ----
Masbate 43,675 43,675 ----
Mindoro 39,582 32,318 7,264
Misamis 175,683 135,473 40,210
Negros Occidental 308,272 303,660 4,612
Negros Oriental 201,494 184,889 16,605
Nueva Ecija 134,147 132,999 1,148
Nueva Vizcaya 62,541 16,026 46,515
Pampanga 223,754 222,656 1,098
Pangasinán 397,902 394,516 3,386
Paragua 29,351 27,493 1,858
Paragua Sur 6,345 1,359 4,986
Rizal 150,923 148,502 2,421
Romblón 52,848 52,848 ----
Sámar 266,237 265,549 688
Siassi 24,562 297 24,265
Sorsogón 120,495 120,454 41
Surigao 115,112 99,298 15,814
Tarlac 135,107 133,513 1,594
Tawi Tawi 14,638 93 14,545
Tayabas [43] 153,065 150,262 2,803
Zambales 104,549 101,381 3,168
Zamboanga 44,322 20,692 23,630
From this it will be apparent to the reader that the Judge takes some
rather unusual liberties even with such information as was available
nine years before he finished his book. I have quoted the actual
table in full, as it is useful for reference.
In the middle of the page referred to by Blount there begins another
table showing "Total Population, Classified as Civilized and Wild,
by Islands." This table occupies four and one-half solid pages, and
therefore does not closely resemble the one foisted on the public
by him.
It includes 323 islands, from which the Judge has selected eight which
happened to suit his purpose, giving it to be clearly understood
that the islands which he has not included are "rocks sticking out
of the water" and "little daubs you see on the map" "eliminated from
the equation as wholly unessential to a clear understanding of the
problem of governing the Islands."
Among the "rocks" and "little daubs" thus eliminated are Mindoro with
an area of thirty-eight hundred fifty-one square miles, and Palawan
with an area of four thousand twenty-seven square miles. Of the
islands included, Leyte has twenty-seven hundred twenty-two square
miles; Cebu, seventeen hundred sixty-two square miles; and Bohol,
fourteen hundred eleven square miles. Incidentally, neither Leyte,
Cebu nor Bohol have any non-Christian inhabitants at all, while all
of Mindoro and Palawan, with the exception of narrow broken strips
along the coast are populated by wild people, hence it is convenient
for him to ignore them.
In spite of his suggestion that it is not necessary to use the pencil
in connection with his table, I ventured to do so, in connection
with his statement that "Luzón and the Visayan Islands contain nearly
7,000,000 of people." On his own showing they contain 6,158,311.
And now for the real facts. At the time the census enumeration was
made Apayao had been crossed by a white man only once and that
more than a hundred years ago. Extensive portions of Ifugao and
Bontoc, and the greater part of Kalinga, were unexplored, as were
the interior of Mindoro and most of the interior of Palawan, to say
nothing of immense regions in Mindanao. As a matter of fact, we do
not to-day know with any accuracy the number of Mangyans in Mindoro,
nor the number of Tagbanuas in Palawan, but it has been conclusively
demonstrated that the latter were greatly underestimated by the census
enumerators. There will be found in the appendix [44] a table giving
in detail the present accepted estimate of the non-Christian population
of the islands, which numbers at least a million seventy thousand.
It is reasonably certain that the necessary corrections in the figures
for several provinces for which the present estimates are admittedly
too low will raise the total slightly.
Blount has made a further statement relative to the non-Christian
population of Luzón which is indeed extraordinary. He says:--
"Of the 7,600,000 people of the Philippines almost exactly
one-half, i.e. 3,800,000, live on Luzón, and these are practically
all civilized." [45]
The table on the opposite page, giving the census estimate of the
non-Christian population of Luzón and the present accepted estimate,
shows how erroneous is this statement.
It will be seen that the census estimate of non-Christian inhabitants
in the province of Luzón was 224,106 and the present accepted estimate
is 440,926.
In explanation of his extraordinary statement that practically all of
the people of Luzón are civilized Blount has inserted the following
foot-note:--
"223,506 is the total of the uncivilized tribes still extant in
Luzón, Philippine Census, vol. ii., p. 125, but they live in the
mountains, and you might live in the Philippines a long lifetime
without ever seeing a sample of them, unless you happen to be an
energetic ethnologist fond of mountain climbing." [46]
Province or Census Present Accepted
Subprovince Estimate Estimate
Abra 14,037 14,037
Albay 892 892
Amburayan -- 10,191
Ambos Camarines 5,933 5,933
Apayao -- 23,000
Bataan 1,621 1,621
Batangas 000 000
Benguet 21,828 28,449
Bontoc -- 62,000
Bulacan 415 415
Cagayan 13,414 15,000
Cavite 000 000
Ilocos Norte 2,210 2,210
Ilocos Sur 13,611 13,611
Ifugao -- 125,000
Isabela 7,638 (?)
Kalinga -- 76,000
La Laguna 000 (?)
La Union 10,050 000
Lepanto -- 31,194
Lepanto-Bontoc 70,283 000
Nueva Ecija 1,148 862
Nueva Vizcaya 46,515 6,000
Pampanga 1,098 1,098
Pangasinán 3,386 3,386
Rizal 2,421 2,421
Sorsogon 41 41
Tarlac 1,594 1,594
Tayabas 2,803 2,803
Zambales 3,168 3,168
Total 224,106 440,926
Also you might live in the Philippines a long lifetime and never
see anything but wild people. The question of where they live is not
intimately connected with that of their number, which is the point
under discussion.
Blount devotes considerable space to alleged newspaper accounts
of "a speech" said by him to have been delivered by me in the
Y. M. C. A. auditorium at Manila. I delivered two illustrated
lectures there, entitled respectively "The Non-Christian Tribes of
the Philippines," and "What has been done for the Non-Christian Tribes
under American Rule."
In the course of the latter discourse I made the point that Filipinos
who claim that conquest confers no right of sovereignty are hoist
with their own petard, for the simple but sufficient reason that
the Negritos were the aborigines of the Philippines and were later
conquered and driven out of the lowland country into inaccessible,
forested mountain regions by the Malay invaders who were the ancestors
of the present Filipino claimants not only to the territory thus
conquered, but to territory which was held up to the time of the
American occupation by wild tribes whom they now propose to conquer
and rule if given the opportunity!
My shaft struck home and called forth a howl of rage from the
politicians, which was the louder because I further expressed with
entire frankness my firm belief that the Filipinos were unfit to
govern the non-Christian tribes, whether or not they were fit to
govern themselves.
In the course of further reference to the above-mentioned lecture,
Blount says:--
"Another of the Manila papers gives an account of the speech, from
which it appears that the burly Professor succeeded in amusing
himself at least, if not his audience, by suggestions as to the
superior fighting qualities of the Moros over the Filipinos,
which suggestions were on the idea that the Moros would lick
the Filipinos if we should leave the country. (The Moros number
300,000, the Filipinos nearly 7,000,000.) The Professor's remarks
in this regard, according to the paper, were a distinct reflection
upon the courage of the Filipinos generally as a people." [47]
Here, as is so often the case, he finds newspaper statements more
suited to his purpose than cold facts. I yield to no one in my
admiration for the courage of Filipinos, and have expressed it on a
score of occasions. In my first book on the Philippines I made the
following reference to it:--
"I once saw a man in Culion who was seamed and gashed with horrible
scars from head to foot. How any one could possibly survive such
injuries as he had received I do not know. It seemed that his
wife and children had been butchered by four Moros while he was
absent. He returned just as the murderers were taking to their
boat. Snatching a machete, he plunged into the water after them,
clambered into their prau, and killed them all. When one remembers
the sort of weapons that Moros carry, the thing seems incredible,
but a whole village full of people vouched for the truth of the
story." [48]
This was not the only tribute which I paid to the courage of the
Filipinos [49] and I have never made a statement intended to reflect
on it in the slightest degree. It is true that their fighting ability
is on the average far below that of the Moros, and I may add that
the same thing holds for Americans on the average.
It is really funny to see how Blount sometimes tells the truth in spite
of himself. He takes me to task for amusing myself "by suggestions as
to the superior fighting qualities of the Moros over the Filipinos,"
and here is what he says on the same subject:--
"Again, because the Filipinos have no moral right to control
the Moros, and could not if they would, the latter being fierce
fighters and bitterly opposed to the thought of possible ultimate
domination by the Filipinos, the most uncompromising advocate of
the consent-of-the-governed principle has not a leg to stand on
with regard to Mohammedan Mindanao." [50]
"Consistency, thy name is not Blount!"
The Moros are religious fanatics. I have known one when bayoneted to
seize the barrel of the gun and push the bayonet through himself in
order to bring the man at the other end within striking distance,
cut him down, unclasp the bayonet and, leaving it in the wound to
prevent hemorrhage, go on fighting. I have known two Moros armed
with bamboo lances to attack a column of two thousand soldiers armed
with rifles. It is an historic fact that Moro juramentados [51] once
attempted to rush the walls of Joló and kept up the fruitless effort
until they blocked with their dead bodies the rifle slits, so that it
became necessary for the Spanish soldiers to take positions on top
of the walls in order to fire. I have known a Moro, shot repeatedly
through the body and with both legs broken, to take his kriss in his
teeth and pull himself forward with his hands in the hope of getting
near enough to strike one more blow for the Prophet.
The Filipinos are afraid of the Moros and they have the best of reasons
to be. The relative numerical insignificance of this little Mohammedan
tribe of desperate fighters has little to do with the question under
consideration. Their number has for centuries borne substantially
the same proportion to the total population of the Philippines which
it now bears, yet no one can deny that it is but a short time since
they harried the archipelago from south to north and from east to
west. The shores of Northern Luzón and the neighbouring islands are
to-day dotted with the forts which were built for defence against
them. The town of Polillo, on the northernmost island off the east
coast of Luzón, is still surrounded by a high wall built to protect
its inhabitants from the Moros. The churches at Cuyo, Agutaya, Culion,
Linapacan and Taytay stand inside of strong stone fortresses in which
the people took refuge when the Moros descended on their towns. Back
of Bacuit a cave high up in a cliff was kept provisioned that it
might serve a similar purpose. Not only were the Filipinos unable to
protect themselves against these bloodthirsty pirates of the south,
but the Spaniards were for nearly two and a half centuries unable to
afford them adequate protection. When I was in Tawi Tawi in 1891 the
Moros of that island were still actively engaged in taking Filipino
slaves and selling them in Borneo.
With all of our resources we have not as yet been able to establish a
decent state of public order in the little island of Jolo. No serious
minded person, familiar with the facts, with whom I have ever talked,
believes for a moment that the Filipinos could establish an effective
government over the Moros, or could keep them at home. They are
wonderful boatmen and when once at sea in the little crafts of their
own building are liable to strike the coast of the Philippine Islands
at any point. When it is remembered that this coast is longer than
that of the continental United States, the impossibility of adequately
protecting the whole of it becomes immediately manifest. It would
be always possible, under Filipino rule, for the Moros to strike
defenceless towns, and where they struck the only resource of the
inhabitants, whether Filipinos, Europeans or Americans, would be in
speedy flight. It should be borne in mind that one Mohammedan who
is earnestly desirous of being killed while fighting Christians can
chase a good many unarmed citizens into the tall timber, brave though
they may be!
I venture here once more to express the deliberate opinion that if
American control were withdrawn from these islands and some other
civilized nation did not interfere to restore a decent state of public
order, the Moros would resume the conquest of the Philippines which
they were so actively and effectively pushing when the Spaniards
compelled them to abandon it, and would slowly but none the less
surely carry it through to a successful termination.
The inaccuracy of Blount's statements regarding matters covered by
absolutely conclusive documentary evidence is well typified by the
following:--
"The Philippine Assembly, representing the whole Filipino people,
and desiring to express the unanimous feeling of those people
with regard to the Worcester speech, unanimously passed, soon
after the speech was delivered, a set of resolutions whereof the
following is a translation." [52]
The resolution which he quotes was never passed by the Assembly
which on February 3, 1911, four months after my Y. M. C. A. lecture,
[53] and while I was absent in the United States, passed another and
quite different one criticizing language "ascribed" to me, without
ever making any effort to ascertain from me what was really said. I
might quote the two in parallel columns, but I grow weary of showing
the details of Blount's false or mistaken statements, and refer those
interested to the official records which he perhaps did not take the
precaution to consult.
I gave the Assembly and every one else interested in the matter
a chance to attack me by incorporating in my annual report for 1910
every important statement made at the lecture in question and by adding
various new ones for good measure, but there was no response! It is
a time-honoured procedure, but one of somewhat doubtful real value,
to build up a man of straw in order to have the pleasure of tearing
it to pieces. I must decline to assume responsibility for statements
which I did not make.
Blount says he thinks that Nueva Vizcaya is my
"'brag' province, in the matter of non-Christian anthropological
specimens, both regarding their number and their variety." [54]
With regret I must call attention to the fact that he thinks
wrong. In Nueva Vizcaya as originally constituted there were
representatives of three non-Christian tribes, to wit, the Ifugaos,
numbering approximately a hundred and fifteen thousand; the Ilongots
numbering perhaps five thousand; and the Isinayes, who were numerically
unimportant.
Years before Blount wrote his book the number of wild tribes was
reduced to two and that of their individuals to approximately seven
thousand by changes in the provincial boundary. As we have seen,
there are slightly more than one million non-Christian inhabitants in
the archipelago. These facts are of interest chiefly for the reason
that they show how grossly unreliable are his statements.
Finally he seeks to convey the impression that the hill people are
a rather harmless and lamb-like lot. He says:--
"... while I was there, [55] though we knew those people were up in
the hills, and that there were a good many of them the civilized
people all told us that the hill tribes never bothered them. And
on their advice I have ridden in safety, unarmed, at night,
accompanied only by the court stenographer, over the main high-road
running through the central plateau that constitutes the bulk of
Nueva Vizcaya province, said plateau being surrounded by a great
amphitheatre of hills, the habitat of the Worcester pets." [56]
Had Blount taken this ride before the time when the American government
established control over the Silipan Ifugaos there might have been
a different story to tell needing some one else to tell it, for the
Ifugaos were not by any means the gentle and harmless people that one
would infer them to have been from reading the above-quoted statement.
At Payauan, a strongly held point within the plateau referred to,
they annihilated a Spanish garrison. At Aua, further back in the
hills, they did the same thing. The Spaniards never established
control over the Ifugao country, into extensive portions of which they
never even temporarily penetrated. On the main trail which connected
the town of Bagabag, in Nueva Vizcaya with the nearest town in the
province of Isabela, over which Blount rode, the Spaniards found
it necessary to maintain two garrisons. There were also garrisons
at the terminal towns on this trail and it was prohibited to travel
it without military escort. Even so, parties were repeatedly cut up
by the Silipan Ifugaos, and the very soldiers who constituted their
guard were again and again caught sleeping and butchered.
It is only very recently that the murderous raids of wild men on the
Filipinos of Isabela have been finally checked.
Many a time have the Filipinos of Bagabag, in Nueva Vizcaya,
thanked me for making their lives and property safe by quieting the
Ifugaos. Ilongots killed Filipinos in the outskirts of Bayombong,
the capital of Nueva Vizcaya, long after Blount left the province,
and during a period shortly preceding his arrival conditions were
very bad throughout the Cagayan valley.
On August 29, 1899, the Insurgent governor of Nueva Vizcaya reported
[57] that he had only a few rifles, that the "Igorrotes" were preparing
to attack the towns, and that he had been forced to kill and wound a
number of them. On September 6, General Tirona in Cagayan asked that
General Tinio be ordered to give him some of his rifles to protect
the people, as the "Igorrotes" were cutting off heads and the towns
were in danger. Tirona said that he had nine hundred rifles; Tinio
thought that he himself had some two thousand and could spare two
hundred as the conditions along the coast were not as serious as the
conditions inland with the savages preparing to attack. [58]
In July, 1899, the governor of Benguet asked that orders should be
given prohibiting "Igorrotes" from leaving their own towns as they
were growing restless and would probably soon become dangerous. The
Benguet people are the most pacific of all the hill men.
In October, 1899, the Ilocanos of Lepanto petitioned Aguinaldo to send
them arms with which to defend themselves against the people of the
hills, who objected to being forced into paying what the governor of
Benguet Province called "voluntary contributions" for the support of
the war. When an attempt was made to collect, they abandoned their
towns and took refuge in the hills. Next to the Benguet Igorots,
those of Lepanto have the best reputation for quiet and orderliness.
From Simeon Villa's diary, heretofore referred to, we learn that
Aguinaldo's armed escort was attacked again and again by Ifugaos,
Kalingas and Bontoc Igorots when he passed through their country.
The people of these three tribes, and the Ilongots, and the wild
Tingians of Apayao, were fierce, war-like, unsubdued head-hunting
savages at the time of the American occupation.
Friendly as is our present relationship with the former head-hunters
of Luzón, and excellent as is now the condition of public order in
their territory, we still often have the fact brought home to us that
the blood-lust of these sturdy and brave fighters is only dormant. A
steady hand must be held on them for many a year to come.
The problems which the primitive peoples of the Philippines present
are neither few nor simple. We shall not get far by ignoring them or
misrepresenting them. Let us look them squarely in the face.
CHAPTER XXIV
NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBE PROBLEMS
And now let us try to gain a clear appreciation of some of the problems
actually presented by the existence of the non-Christian peoples of
the Philippines.
They belong to twenty-seven tribes at the most. Probably this number
will ultimately be somewhat further reduced. The number of dialects
spoken is greatly in excess of the number of tribes, as the people
of a single tribe sometimes speak three or four well-marked dialects.
The tribes are divided between two wholly distinct races, to wit,
Negritos and Malays.
The Negritos are of very low mentality and are incapable of any
considerable degree of civilization. Many of them are kept in a
state of abject peonage, and not a few are held in actual slavery, by
their Christian Filipino neighbours. In revenge for the abuses which
they suffer they are prone to commit criminal acts, and the problem
which they present resolves itself into protecting them from their
neighbours and their neighbours from them. The latter thing would be
easy enough if the former were practicable, but unfortunately their
neighbours cannot be persuaded to let them alone, and never do it
except under compulsion.
The people of all the Malay non-Christian tribes, with the exception
of certain Negrito mestizos, are undoubtedly capable of attaining to
a fairly high degree of civilization. Physically and, in my opinion,
mentally the people of several of the hill tribes are decidedly
superior to their lowland Filipino neighbours, who have degenerated
to some extent as a result of less favourable climatic conditions
and other causes.
In social development these Malay tribes vary from the semi-nomadic
Mangyans of Mindoro to the highly civilized Tingians of Abra, who
are in many ways superior to the Ilocanos with whom they live in
close contact. Some of these tribes, like the Benguet-Lepanto Igorots
and the Tingians, are peaceful agriculturists; others, like the wild
Tingians of Apayao, the Kalingas, the Bontoc Igorots, the Ifugaos, the
Ilongots, the Manobos and the Mandayas, are, or recently have been,
fierce fighters prone to indulge in such customs as the taking of
human heads for war trophies, or even the making of human sacrifices
to appease their heathen divinities.
The Moros, who are numerically stronger than are the people of
any other one tribe, stand in a class by themselves on account of
their strong adherence to the Mohammedan faith and their inclination
to propagate it by the sword. Who would hold them in check if the
Americans were to go? Certainly not the Filipinos. They have never
been able to do it in the past, and they cannot do it now.
All the non-Christian tribes have two things in common, their
unwillingness to accept the Christian faith and their hatred of
the several Filipino peoples who profess it. Their animosity is
readily understood when it is remembered that their ancestors
and they themselves have suffered grievous wrongs at the hands
of the Filipinos. In spite of all protestations to the contrary,
the Filipinos are absolutely without sympathy for the non-Christian
peoples, and have never voluntarily done anything for them, but on
the contrary have shamelessly exploited them whenever opportunity has
offered. They have never of themselves originated one single important
measure for the benefit of their non-Christian neighbours, and their
attitude toward the measures which have been originated by Americans
has always been one of active or passive opposition. Their real belief
as to what should be done with the wild people is that they should be
used if they can be made useful, but should be exterminated if they
become troublesome. Governor Pablo Guzman, of Cagayan, actually said
to me that the best thing to do with the wild people of Apayao, then
supposed to number fifty-three thousand, might be to kill them all.
Americans have adopted a firm but kindly policy in dealing with
the non-Christian tribes and have met with extraordinary success in
winning their good-will and weaning them from the worst of their evil
customs. Even with those of the Moros who live outside of the island
of Joló considerable progress has been made. Head-hunting has been
abolished among the Ifugaos, Igorots and Kalingas with an ease which
was wholly unanticipated.
In all work for the wild people the attitude of governors and
lieutenant-governors has proved to be a matter of fundamental
importance. The problem in each province or subprovince has been a
one-man problem. He who would succeed in handling wild men must be
absolutely fearless, for if he is not, they are quick to discover
the fact and to take advantage of it. He must protect his people
from injustice and oppression, or they will lose faith in him. He
must have a genuinely friendly feeling toward them, and must bear
them no ill will even when they misbehave. They will not object to
severe punishment when they know that it is deserved, but after being
punished feel that the slate has been wiped clean, and that they are
making a fresh start. They believe in letting by-gones be by-gones,
and their officials should meet them half way in this.
The following occurrence illustrates my point. Before all
the settlements of Ifugao had been brought under control,
Lieutenant-Governor Gallman had a headman acting as a policeman, who
rendered invaluable service and was allowed to carry a gun. No one
dreamed that he would ever be molested. When on a trip to Lingay he
became overheated, and stopped to bathe in a stream, leaving his gun
on the bank. Some young men improved the opportunity thus afforded
to attack him. One of them threw a lance into him, and then they
all started to run away. Such was his reputation and influence that
he succeeded in compelling them to return and pull the lance out,
but he was fatally hurt and soon died.
After his death they took his head and his gun, and immediately
thereafter the Lingay people sent to Gallman a challenge to come and
fight them. He promptly accepted their invitation, taking a few Ifugao
soldiers with him. He found the country deserted. Women, children,
pigs and chickens had been sent into the forested mountains. Roofs
and board sides of houses had been removed so that there remained
only the bare frameworks which could not readily be burned.
For some time Gallman encountered no opposition. He at last grew
careless and walked into an ambush. He was met with a volley
of stones and a volley of lances. Fortunately for him the stones
arrived first and one of them, striking him in the face, knocked him
senseless. Another injured his right hand and knocked his revolver
from his grasp. The lances passed over him as he fell. He slid for
some distance down the almost precipitous mountain side, and his
soldiers thought him dead. When he recovered consciousness, he heard
them talking close to him. They agreed that they must do two things:
first, prevent his head from being taken; and, second, punish his
assailants. Before he could call to them they charged the latter
and scattered them right and left. Gallman staggered to his feet,
hunted around until he found his revolver, and rejoined his men. It
was known that their opponents had had ten guns before killing the
policeman and taking his. There followed a marked unpleasantness,
at the end of which Gallman had the eleven guns, and most of those
who had been using them had been gathered to their fathers. He then
returned to his station at Banaue.
Three days later the headmen of Lingay came walking in, shook hands
and announced that they had had enough. Gallman asked them why they
had been so foolish. They replied that as they already had ten
guns, when they got one more the young men became overconfident,
thought that they could whip the constabulary, get their guns also
and dominate all that part of Ifugao. The old men said that they had
warned the young fellows that their plan would result in disaster,
but as they were not to be dissuaded, and as they were their young
men, had finally joined in. They said, however, that they were glad
things had come out as they had, for the young men would now behave
themselves, and it is worthy of note that they have done so ever since.
Six weeks later, when I visited Banaue, the one survivor of the
eleven gunmen came in and danced with the other Ifugaos on the plaza,
apparently as happy as any of them.
How many Filipinos are there who have the courage, the kindliness,
the knowledge of primitive human nature and the sympathy with it which
would enable them to treat the really wild barbarians as Gallman and
Hale have treated them? Thus far I have found one, and one only.
In a previous chapter [59] I have told the story of a Kalinga with
whom I had just made friends according to the formula of his tribe who
put his life in deadly peril twice within the space of twenty-four
hours in order to save mine when it was gravely endangered by his
fellow-tribesmen. Is such real friendship possible between Filipinos
and non-Christians? Not at present. A lot of ancient history must
first be lived down.
In the Philippines it has invariably been true that the wild man has
in the past been more or less completely despoiled of the fruits of
his labour by his so-called "Christian" neighbours whenever compelled
to do business with them in order to obtain some of the necessaries
of life. He is accustomed to receive a mere pittance for his products,
and to pay enormous prices when he makes purchases. The opening of the
so-called "government exchanges," which are stores where the products
of the surrounding country are purchased and where the things required
by the hill people are sold at a small margin of profit, has proved
very useful in the establishment of friendly and helpful relations
with them. In some places they have been persuaded to grow new and
more profitable crops. Some of the Benguet Igorots, for instance,
now raise strawberries for sale at Baguio, although a few years ago
they had never seen them.
If in control, would the Filipinos reverse the policy they have
heretofore always followed in commercial dealings with the wild
men? Most assuredly not.
The Igorots, Ifugaos and Kalingas are adepts in the use of irrigation
water, and know how to terrace the steepest mountain sides so as to
employ it advantageously wherever it is available. The giving of help
in running main irrigation ditches through rock has been especially
appreciated by them. The money which we expend for this purpose
goes for the establishment of proper grade lines, the providing of
necessary supervision and the purchase of explosives and tools for
rock work. The people concerned are more than glad to contribute all
necessary labour free of charge.
Would the Filipinos continue to make funds available for such
improvements in the wild man's country? A thousand times no! Before
any one disputes me, let him show one instance where they have done
any such thing in any one of the very numerous provinces where the
expenditure of funds for non-Christians is under their control.
In dealing with tribes which have been accustomed to live by families,
or small groups of families, and to select very inaccessible places
for their homes, it is of course necessary to persuade them to live in
larger groups and in reasonably accessible places before much progress
can be made toward improving their condition. This is usually not a
very difficult task if one goes about it in the right way.
In Bukidnon, for instance, where we are still bringing people down
from the tree-tops, in which they and some of their ancestors have
lived for centuries, and settling them in well-ordered and beautifully
kept villages, when new arrivals come in to inspect the towns and
interrogate me as to the conditions under which they may take up
residence there, I often have conversations like this:--
"What about this life in town?"
"Look around and see for yourself. Talk with the people and hear what
they have to say about it. They will tell you whether they like it
or not, and why."
"But what do I have to do if I wish to live in town?"
"A piece of ground will be assigned to you and on it you must build a
decent house like those you see. This house is for you and your family,
not for me. I come here only once or twice a year and at the most stay
over one night, so I do not need your house. The lieutenant-governor
does not need it. When he comes he stays at the presidencia. He will
not let any one take it away from you."
"Very well. What else?"
"You will have to build a good, tight fence around the lot given you
and keep your domestic animals inside it. You must also clean it up
thoroughly, removing all vegetation and filling all the low places
so that water cannot stand in them. Then you must keep it clean."
"What is the use of that?"
"The búsaos [60] who cause sickness do not like clean places and stay
away from them."
"I never heard of that."
"Ask the people who have tried keeping their yards clean, and they
will tell you that it is true."
"Well, what else?"
"As long as you have to keep your yard clean you might as well plant
something useful in it, so that you will get a good return for your
labour."
"That is a good idea. Is there anything more?"
"Yes. You must take up a piece of the beautiful prairie land near
town, build a fence around it to keep out the wild hogs and deer,
and plant it with rice, camotes or something else that will give
your family plenty of food and if possible leave a surplus to sell,
so that you can buy better clothes with the money you make."
"But I cannot break this thick prairie sod."
"The ground will be ploughed for you the first time. After that you
must look after it yourself."
"Is that all?"
"No. There is one additional very important thing. I am getting old
and fat, [61] and I can no longer scramble around over these hills as
I used to do. I want to come and see you every year, and find out how
you are getting on. You will have to help build good trails for my big
horse, working ten days every year, or paying two pesos, so that some
one else can be hired to work in your place. Everything else that I
have told you must be done, if you come to town, is for your benefit,
not for mine, and even the trails are only partly for my benefit. You
will find it easy and safe to travel over them, and when you want to
go to market, your carabao will be able to pack three or four times
as much as he can now carry over bad paths."
"Will I gain any other advantages by living in town?"
"Yes, two very important ones. You and your family will be safe from
attack, and you will have a chance to send your children to school."
"Must I come and live in town if I do not want to?"
"By no means. If you prefer to live up a tree in the mountains, no
one will interfere with you so long as you behave yourself. There
are plenty of mountains and plenty of trees."
As a result of the simple arguments above outlined and of the
protection and help given them, nearly all of the Bukidnon people have
left the mountain fastnesses through which they have until recently
been scattered, and are voluntarily taking up their residences in
towns which in their way are models.
Could the Filipinos keep them in the towns where we have settled
them? No; and they would not if they could. They would chase them
back into the forests as they were doing when we made them stop
it. Furthermore, they could not if they would. In September, 1912,
I heard the people of eastern Bukidnon tell Governor Reyes of Misamis
that if their territory were put back into his province, they would
take to the hills and live with the Manobos.
One of the most important factors in winning and retaining the good
will of the non-Christian peoples has been the extension to them of
protection from the impositions of their Filipino neighbours. The
following is a fair sample of the sort of thing to which they have
in the past been subjected.
During my last trip through Bukidnon I learned that a long-haired
mountaineer who had been encouraged to plant coffee and Manila hemp
had acted on the suggestion, working very hard and establishing an
excellent plantation which had prospered. When he had products ready
for market he had taken them to the coast town of Balingasák. He did
not speak the language of the Visayan Filipino inhabitants of that
place, so fell into the hands of one of them who knew his dialect. This
rascal helped him to sell his produce, but took a heavy commission
for this service. The hillman was nevertheless delighted with the
result, whereupon his "commissioner" suggested that what he really
needed was a partner in town to sell his crops, so that he could
spend his whole time in cultivating his fields and not have to go to
market. This struck the hillman as a good idea. The Filipino made out
what purported to be articles of partnership and the hillman signed
them with his mark, in the presence of witnesses.
A few months later he sent a valuable shipment of coffee and hemp
to his "partner." When weeks had passed without his hearing from
it, he went to Balingasák to find out what was wrong, whereupon his
"partner" stated that he was greatly obliged to him for his trouble
in cultivating and harvesting the products of the farm. The hillman
demanded his share of the returns and the "partner" calmly assured
him that he had no share, having sold his farm at the time of his
last visit. Investigation proved that this ignorant man had signed
a bill of sale for his place.
Lieutenant-Governor Fortich interested himself in the case and caused
suit to be brought against the rascally "partner" for stealing the
hillman's produce. The fiscal, or public prosecuting, officer was
a bright young Filipino who had recently graduated from an American
university. Nevertheless, he had the suit thrown out of court because
the "partner" of the hillman claimed that the farm was his, and a
question of property ownership could not be conveniently determined
in connection with a criminal suit.
At this stage of events I took a hand and brought the matter to the
attention of the Honourable Gregorio Araneta, secretary of finance
and justice. The fiscal had suggested that the wild man could bring a
civil suit for damages against his "partner." How could this helpless
barbarian have gone to Cagayan, hired a lawyer and lived there while
his case was pending? He was absolutely helpless. Naturally, I was
not. Another suit was brought and the "partner" was sentenced to pay
a fine and was given a term in jail.
This is no isolated case. The wild men are constantly deprived of
their crops or their lands; cheated in the sale of their products
and in their purchases; arrested and fined on trumped-up charges;
compelled to work for others without compensation; charged by private
individuals for the privilege of using government forests or taking
up public lands; and badgered and imposed upon in a thousand and one
other ways.
If the Filipinos were put in control, would there rise up among
them unselfish men who would check the rapacity of their fellows,
and extend to the helpless peoples the protection they now enjoy?
At all events, those who have made it their business to protect the
people of the non-Christian tribes have not been popular among the
Filipinos. As a precautionary measure, I warned every man appointed
governor of, or lieutenant-governor in, a special government province
that he must expect sooner or later to be accused of many of the
crimes recognized by existing laws. Every such man who does his duty
eventually has false, and usually foul, charges brought against him. A
common, and indeed the favourite, complaint is that he has been guilty
of improper relations with women. The Filipino is an expert in framing
up cases of this sort, and seems to take special delight in it, partly
no doubt because such charges are so excessively difficult to disprove.
Cruel abuse of the wild men, or their families; falsification of public
documents; misappropriation of public funds; adultery; rape,--these
are all common charges, while more than one of my subordinates has
been accused of murder, and one has actually been brought into court
on such a charge. It is certainly no sinecure to be an officer of a
special government province.
A potent means of winning the undying regard of the wild man is to cure
him when he is sick, or heal him when he is injured. Hospitals have
already been established in two of the special government provinces
and are doing untold good. Practically every officer of these provinces
carries a set of simple remedies with him when he travels, and treats
the sick without compensation as opportunity offers, but this work
is as yet in its infancy.
The Filipinos have not doctors enough to heal their own sick. Would
they remember to heal the wild men? Hardly.
Several of the wild tribes have progressed much more rapidly during
the brief period since the American occupation than have any of
the Filipino peoples, and if given adequate protection and friendly
assistance they will continue to progress. Their splendid physiques
and high intelligence, no less than their truthfulness, honesty and
morality, certainly make them well worth saving.
Under Filipino rule the more helpless of these tribes would speedily
come under the control of their former oppressors, but people like
the Ifugaos, Bontoc Igorots, Kalingas and wild Tingians would fight
to the death before submitting to them, and there would result a
guerrilla warfare as endless and disastrous as that which has lasted
so long between the Dutch and the Achinese. There is every theoretical
reason to believe that the Filipinos would adopt toward such hostile
primitive peoples the policy of extermination which the Japanese have
been so vigorously carrying out in dealing with the hill people of
northern Formosa, who do not differ in any important respect from the
hill people of northern Luzón, with whom such helpful and friendly
relations have now been established.
We have encouraged the primitive Philippine peoples to stand up for
their rights. We have promised them our protection and help if they
would do it, and thus far we have kept our promise. To break it now,
and turn them over to the tender mercies of the Filipinos, who have
never ceased to make threats as to what they will do when they get
the chance, would in my opinion be a crime against civilization.
The Moros openly boast that if the Americans go they will raid the
Christian towns, and this is no idle threat. They will most assuredly
do it.
Were American control to be withdrawn before the civilization of the
wild tribes had been effected, their future would be dark indeed. Under
continued American control they can be won over to civilized ways,
and will in the end become mentally and morally, as they now are
physically, superior to the lowlanders.
No man has been blessed with better subordinates than I have had
to assist me in the work carried on under my direction for the
non-Christian tribes of the Philippines. I wish it clearly understood
that it is to the loyalty and efficiency of these men that the
results which have been obtained are due. Fearlessly, tirelessly,
uncomplainingly, they have borne their heavy shares of the white man's
burden, finding their greatest reward in the respect, gratitude, and
in many cases the affection, of those whom they have so faithfully
and effectively served.
Think of Pack, weakened by illnesses which twice brought him within a
hair's breadth of death, wearing himself out riding over the Mountain
Province trails, many of which he himself had laboriously built,
in order to keep the little handful of men who control its 400,000
non-Christian inhabitants up to the high-water mark of efficiency,
when he could have gone home any day and spent his remaining years
in leisurely comfort; of Bryant, wandering for weeks on end through
the trackless forests of Nueva Vizcaya in order to get in touch with
Ilongot savages who were a good deal more than "half devil" with
the balance not "half child" but peculiarly treacherous, vicious
and savage man; of Offley, packing the bare necessities of life on
his own back while he struggled out to the coast from the centre of
Mindoro, where his frightened carriers had deserted him; of Kane,
burning in the heat of the lowlands or soaked and shivering on chilly
mountain crests, while building new roads and keeping old ones open
for traffic; of Lewis, trying to cover a territory large enough to tax
the energies of three men, and in his efforts to do so riding until
so weary that at night he fell from his horse unable to dismount;
of Fortich, a Filipino lieutenant-governor, faithfully carrying out
the white man's policy and protecting the Bukidnons from his own
people who charged him with murder because he drove them from their
prey; of Gallman, risking his life a thousand times in a successful
individual effort to bring 125,000 head-hunting savages under effective
control and to establish relations of genuine friendship with them;
of Hale, turning tattooed Kalinga devils into effective officers for
the maintenance of law and order, or making a bundle of the lances
thrown at him and sending them back to the people who threw them with
a mild suggestion that it was impolite to treat a would-be friend in
such an unceremonious way; of Johnson, tramping through the reeking
filth of the Butuan swamps with a cancer eating away the bone of his
leg, and referring to it as "a little swelling" when asked what made
him lame; of Bondurant, spending the last afternoon of his life in
pursuing Moro outlaws through that worst of all tropical infernos,
a mangrove swamp, when burning with pernicious malarial fever and
fighting for the very breath of life; of Miller, faithful unto death!
We are wont to quote with feeling the familiar words, "Greater love
hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend,"
but what shall we say of the love of duty of men like Miller and
Bondurant, who in doing their country's work cheerfully laid down
their lives for an alien people?
While in the United States in 1910 I read Rudyard Kipling's "If"
and thereafter did not rest until I had sent a copy of it to each
governor and lieutenant-governor employed in the special provincial
government service of the Philippine Islands. Kipling wrote for these
men of mine up in the hills without knowing it. They understand him
and he would understand them.
There is not one of them who has not learned to
"... fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run";
not one whose personal experience has left him deaf to the appeal of
the lines:--
"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise."
Furthermore, each of them has again and again finished on his
nerve. Did not the words,--
"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'"
run through Bondurant's mind that last afternoon when he was following
Moro outlaws through a foul mangrove swamp, while his senses reeled
with the fever which was so soon to end his life?
In his wonderful quadruplet of stanzas Kipling has fixed one criterion
of manhood which it is hard indeed to meet:--
"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build them up with worn-out tools."
I beg my fellow-countrymen to remember that the non-Christians of
the Philippines constitute an eighth of the population; that the
work undertaken for their physical, mental and moral advancement has
succeeded far beyond the hopes of those who initiated it; that its
results would go down like a house of cards if American control were
prematurely withdrawn. Shall the men who have devoted their lives to
these things be forced to watch them broken, and then be denied the
poor privilege of building them up again? If the splendid results of
so much efficient, faithful, self-sacrificing and successful effort
were to be lost, would not the dead who gave their lives for them
turn in their graves?
The greatest of the non-Christian tribe problems in the Philippines
at present is, "Shall the work go on?"
There is one satisfaction which no man can take from those of us
who have worked for the advancement of these backward and hitherto
neglected peoples. We have shown what can be done!
CHAPTER XXV
SLAVERY AND PEONAGE
Chattel slavery existed in the Philippine Islands when Magellan
discovered them in 1521. It exists there to-day.
Morga, who was in the Philippines from 1595 to about 1608, and is
admittedly the most reliable chronicler of the events of those early
days, has given the following interesting account of the conditions
then existing: [62]--
"There are three classes of persons among the natives of these
Islands, by which the commonwealth is divided: principales, of
whom I have spoken before; timawa which is the same as plebeians,
and slaves, of principales as well as of timawa. These slaves were
of various classes: some are in entire servitude and slavery, like
those which we have, and these are called sagigilir; they served
in the interior of the houses and so also the children descended
from them; others, who have their own dwellings, which they inhabit
with their family, away from the house of their master, and these
come in at times to help the latter in their fields and crops, as
also aboard the vessel when they embark, and in the construction
of their houses whenever they erect such, and they also serve in
their houses whenever there is a guest of some distinction, and
they are under obligation, whenever the master has them called,
to come to his house and to serve him in this ministry without pay
or other stipend; these are called namamahai, and their children
and descendents are slaves of the same condition. Of these slaves
sagigilir and namamahai there are some who are slaves entirely,
and others who are only half slaves, and others who are slaves
only for a fourth part. This originates thus: if either the father
or the mother was free and they had a single child, the latter
was half free and half slave. If they had more than one child,
the children were distributed in this way: the first followed the
condition of the father, be he free or a slave, and the second
that of the mother; and if the number was uneven, the last child
was half free and half slave; and those descended from such child,
if they had a free father or a free mother, remained slave only
for a fourth part, because they were children of a free father,
or mother, and of a half slave. These half or quarter slaves,
namamahai or sagigilir, serve their masters only every second
month, respectively, in proportion to their condition as slave.
"Among the natives the ordinary price of a slave sagigilir used
to be, if much, ten taes of good gold, worth 80 pesos, and if he
is a namamahai half of that, and thus in proportion the others,
taking into account the personality and age.
"It cannot be established as a principle from where these classes
of servitude among the natives arose, for they are all of the
islands and not foreigners; it is understood that they made
them in their wars and differences; and the most certain is
that those who were most powerful made and took as slaves the
others for slight causes and occasions, and most often through
loans and usurious contracts current amongst them, the payment,
risk and debt increasing with the lapse of time until they became
slaves; and thus all these forms of servitude have their violent
and unjust origin, and it is about them that there arise the
greater part of the lawsuits that exist among the natives and
with which they keep busy the judges in the forum of the court,
and the confessors in that of the conscience."
To the last of the preceding paragraphs Rizal makes the following
annotation, which, mutatis mutandis, should give leading Filipinos
of to-day matter for reflection:--
"This class of slaves exists even now in many parts, and before
all in the province of Batangas, but it must be confessed that
their condition is very different from that of a slave in Greece,
or Rome, from that of the negro, and even of those made in later
times by Spaniards....
"Filipinas, in spite of so many centuries of christianization,
in spite of the efforts of some few noble minds, priests as
well as civilians, continues still, and is desired to continue,
almost in the same state as formerly, for those who direct the
country look more to the present than to the future, and because
they are guided not by confidence, but by fear. The efforts of
the religious corporations to improve this state of things have
never been as efficacious, nor as strenuous, as might have been
expected from them."
Morga continues: [63]--
"These slaves are the greatest wealth and capital which the
natives of these islands possess, because they are to them very
useful and necessary for their labors and farms; and among them
they are sold, exchanged, and made objects of contract, like any
other merchandise, from one pueblo to the other, from one province
to the other, and likewise from one island to the other. For which
reason, and in order to avoid so many lawsuits that would arise,
if the question of these servitudes, their origin and beginning,
were taken up, they [the slaves, Tr.] are retained and kept as
they were kept formerly."
Rizal comments on this passage as follows:--
"Thus catholicism not only did not liberate the poor class from the
tyranny of the oppressive, but with its advent in the Philippines
increased the number of tyrants. Time alone, and instruction,
which with it brings suaver customs, will ultimately redeem the
Pariahs of the Philippines, for we see that the apostles of the
peace did not find in themselves sufficient valour to battle
with the oppressors, and this in times of great faith; on the
contrary, they rather contributed indirectly to their misery,
as we see from the foregoing."
The most frequent cause, already mentioned above, from which these
conditions of servitude arose, is again pointed out by Morga in the
following passage: [64]--
"Loans with interest were in very common practice, excessively
high rates of interest being current, so that the debt doubled
and multiplied all the time during which the payment was deferred,
until there was taken from the debtor what he possessed as capital,
and, when ultimately nothing more was left, his person and his
children."
Of these statements Rizal says:--
"This is the sad truth, and so much the truth that it subsists
until now. In many provinces, and in many towns, there is taking
place, word for word, what Morga says, it being to be lamented that
at present not only Indios [Filipinos, Tr.] continue this usury,
but also the mestizos, the Spaniards, and even various priests. And
it has come to this that the Government itself not only permits
it, but in its turn exacts the capital and the person in payment
of the debt of others, as occurs with the cabeza de barangay."
It would be easy to compile passages similar to the preceding from
other authors, but those given are explicit and authoritative enough
to make it clear, first, that slavery existed in the Philippines at
the time of the conquest as a general tribal institution of social
and economical character and in minutely regulated form; and, second,
that although it lost, with the advent of the Spaniards, the character
of an institution, and indeed was formally abolished by early edicts
from Spain, it continued to exist as an unauthorized practice, so
that Rizal, writing at the close of the nineteenth century could say
that slaves still existed in many parts of the country.
In a statement recently published in the New York Evening Post, Señor
Quezon, Resident Delegate from the Philippines to Congress, has said:--
"Since there is not, and there never was, slavery in the territory
inhabited by the Christian Filipinos, which is the part of the
Islands subject to the legislative control of the Assembly, this
House has refused to concur in the anti-slavery bill passed by
the Philippine Commission."
Whom will the American public believe, Morga, the historian, and Rizal,
the Filipino patriot, or Quezon, the Filipino politician?
While I entertain no doubt as to the answer, I shall nevertheless
discuss at length the more recent history and present status of slavery
and peonage in the Philippines, because of the vital importance of
full knowledge of the facts to intelligent consideration of the claim
that the Filipinos have arrived at a stage of civilization comparable
with that of the more advanced nations of the world, and are capable
of establishing and maintaining a just and humane government.
The Spanish Penal Code did not prohibit or penalize slavery, or the
purchase or sale of human beings. It did contain provisions against
forcible detention of individuals and the abduction of minors, but
in the Philippines at least they were more honoured in the breach
than in the observance during the Spanish régime.
The Moros raided the towns of the peaceful Filipino inhabitants of
the Visayan Islands and of Luzón until within quite recent times. An
unhappy fate awaited the prisoners whom they took. Men were frequently
compelled to harvest for their captors the crops which they themselves
had planted, and were then mercilessly butchered. Women, girls and
boys were carried away into slavery, the former to serve as household
drudges or as concubines, and the latter to be brought up as slaves
pure and simple. Some men met a similar fate. The only reason that
more were not enslaved was that it was usually considered too much
trouble to make full-grown individuals work. Slaves were held as
chattels if it suited the convenience of their masters to retain them,
and otherwise were sold, bartered or given away. Zamboanga was at
the outset largely populated by escaped Moro slaves who had sought
the protection of the Spanish garrison there. Coming originally from
widely separated parts of the archipelago, these unfortunates had no
common native dialect, hence there arose among them a Spanish patois
now known as Zamboangueño.
The American occupation brought many and brusque changes in political
conditions. The attitude of Americans toward slavery and peonage was
very different from that of the easy-going Spaniards, who had never
sanctioned it but had never made any determined effort to break it up.
From the effective establishment of United States sovereignty in
1899 until July 4, 1901, the Philippines were under military rule,
which has one great advantage: its methods usually bring quick results.
Doubtless the majority of the slaves then held in the islands were too
timid, and too suspicious of the character and purposes of Americans,
to appeal to them for protection; but there were not a few whose lives
had become so unbearable that they were prepared to take almost any
risk on the chance of securing release. People of this class ran away
from their masters and sought the protection of army officers. I
am glad to say that in every such instance which has come to my
knowledge it was promptly given. Not only were they advised that they
could not be held in bondage, and were free to go where they pleased,
but when practicable their masters were warned against attempting to
regain control over them. It is probable that the large majority of
such cases were never officially reported. Most of the army officers
concerned were in some doubt as to their legal status in the premises,
but they knew that the constitution of the United States prohibits
slavery; their sympathies went out to the wretched human beings who
appealed to them for aid, and they decided to be a law unto themselves.
After the establishment of civil government some army officers
continued to exercise arbitrary powers in dealing with such cases of
slavery as came to their attention, while others contented themselves
with reporting them to the civil authorities.
The conditions which prevailed in the Moro Province in 1902 are
concisely described by its military governor, General George W. Davis,
in a report written on August 25 of that year. He said:--
"With a people who have no conception of government that is not
arbitrary and absolute; who hold human life as no more sacred
than the life of an animal; who have become accustomed to acts of
violence; who are constrained by fear from continuing the practice
of piracy; who still carry on slave trade; who habitually raid the
homes of mountain natives and enslave them; who habitually make
slaves of their captives in war--even when of their own race;
who not uncommonly make delivery of their own kindred as slaves
in satisfaction of a debt for liquidation of which they have not
the ready money; who habitually observe the precepts of the Koran,
which declares that female slaves must submit to their masters,--it
is useless to discuss a plan of government that is not based on
physical force, might, and power."
Señor Quezon, in describing conditions in the Moro country, has said:
[65]--
"American authorities made treaties with the Sultan of Joló whereby
slavery was legalized and recognized among the non-Christian
Moros and received the protection of the United States army and
civil authorities. This state of things continued for a long time
under official recognition and even after the treaties in question
were abandoned it was allowed to go on despite the protests of
Filipino and American students of the question."
It is true that General Bates attempted to negotiate a treaty with
the Sultan of Joló, in which he felt himself compelled to recognize
slavery as an existing Moro custom. This action was unauthorized and
was disapproved by his superiors. It did not legalize slavery. Neither
Moro nor any other kind of slavery was ever protected by the civil
authorities.
The act providing for the organization of the Moro Province was passed
on June 1, 1903, and hardly had the civil officers therein provided for
been appointed when, on September 24, 1903, the legislative council
passed an act entitled "An Act defining the crimes of slaveholding
and slavehunting and prescribing the punishment therefor," [66]
which was promptly approved by the Philippine Commission and thus
came to have the force and effect of law. Under it active measures
were adopted to break up slavery in the Moro Province. They have
resulted very successfully, and persons who have captured others to
be held or sold as slaves, as well as persons who have actually sold,
bought or kept slaves, have been convicted and punished.
Señor Quezon's statement relative to the attitude of the civil
authorities in this matter is therefore recklessly false.
The existence of slavery in the Moro Province was well known from
the outset, hence the immediate enactment of legislation to meet the
special conditions which prevailed there.
Little by little the commission learned that slavery was by no means
confined to Moro territory, and that peonage was general throughout
the islands.
Before going further, I wish to make clear the sense in which I use
these terms.
I define slavery as the condition of a human being held as a chattel
and compelled to render service for which he is not compensated. As
food and clothing are necessarily furnished by the slave owner,
they are not considered to constitute compensation.
Peonage I define as the condition of a debtor held by his creditor
in a form of qualified servitude to work out a debt.
On April 28, 1903, the senior inspector of constabulary in Isabela
wired the first district chief of constabulary, Manila, as follows:--
"In this province a common practice to own slaves. These are
bought by proprietarios [property owners.--D. C. W.] from
Igorrotes and Calingas who steal same in distant places from
other tribes. Young boys and girls are bought at about 100
pesos, men 30 years old and old women cheaper. When bought,
are generally christened and put to work on ranch or in house,
and I think generally well-treated. In this town a number sold
within last few months, and as reported to me, Governor has bought
three. Shall I investigate further? Instructions desired.
(Signed) "Sorenson."
Senior Inspector Sorenson was instructed to make a thorough
investigation of, and a detailed report on, the slave question.
On May 2 he complied with these instructions, [67] describing the
conditions under which slaves were taken by the neighbouring Kalingas
and Ifugaos, whom he wrongly calls "Igorrotes," the methods employed
in selling them, and the treatment subsequently given them by their
purchasers.
He also furnished a list of "Igorrotes" sold in the province during
the past year, with names of the purchasers and prices paid. The ages
of these unhappy individuals varied from eight to twenty-seven years,
the prices paid for them, from one hundred and ten to two hundred
and fifty Mexican dollars.
This report led Governor Taft to write to Governor Dichoso of Isabela,
who was charged with owning a slave, asking him for a frank statement
of the facts as to the prevalence of slavery in his province.
Governor Dichoso's reply, dated September 9, 1903, will make
interesting reading for those who claim that slavery does not exist,
and has never existed, among the Filipinos. I give it practically in
full, omitting only the titles of the governor:--
"Having noted the contents of the official letter of the Honourable
the Civil Governor in the Philippine Islands, Mr. W. H. Taft,
dated the 8th of August, last, and of the copy of the report
annexed thereto, which were received yesterday, I have the honour
to respectfully reply that during the 21 years, more or less,
that I have resided in this provincial capital (Ilagan), I have
never thought of buying a member or a child of the race mentioned
in the report, or of any other tribe, to serve as a slave in my
household, not for the reason that this is prohibited and punished
by section 484 and the following sections of the Spanish Code
now in force, relative to the crime of kidnapping, but because
it goes against my nature to treat in this manner a person who,
like all human beings alive, is a likeness of the Highest. This
I prove by means of the documents annexed hereto.
"I could easily have done so in time of the late Spanish
Government, because I had good opportunities for doing so, and
could have afforded to do so on account of my social position from
that time on up to date, during which period I held successively
the following public offices:--
"This having been my status, and considering the power and the
opportunity which I had for obtaining slaves, I might not have
had only one, but enough to harvest the tobacco on my plantation,
and the other crops which I had planted.
"Under the past Government there existed slaves in this province,
but only a small number, for only wealthy families could afford
to keep them. The same was the case in the neighbouring Provinces
of Nueva Vizcaya and Cagayan; in the former they also used to
have slaves of the Ifugao tribe, and in the latter Negritos,
but very few of these.
"Since the glorious Star-Spangled Banner has been unfolded
over the Province of Isabela, the slaves existing in the same,
which had been purchased in that time and recently, are very
well treated and seem to be members of the family, because the
military authorities prohibited their masters from ill-treating
them as they were wont to do. Since then many of the slaves
have run away from their owners and have sought new masters
who treat them well, as it happened in the case of an Igorrote
woman of the Ifugao tribe, who was about 40 years of age, and
who had been in the service of a lady in the pueblo of Echague
for many years. When, in the year 1900, the military enforced
the prohibition of ill-treatment of slaves in the said pueblo,
this Igorrote woman ran away and presented herself at my house,
I being at this time justice of the peace of this provincial
capital, and asked me to employ her as servant. My principle not
to have slaves preventing me from complying with her wishes,
I directed her to apply to Mr. Andres Claraval and his wife,
Filomena Salinas. They accepted her, and a short time afterwards
they had her baptized and christened Magdalena Claraval. She is
being treated like an adopted daughter by them.
"The gentlemen who are mentioned in the report as having purchased
slaves really acquired Igorrotes by purchase and keep them in their
house, some of them having died since. Some of these transactions
were made in the Spanish times, as in the case of the late
Mr. Policarpo Gangan, who bought 6 or 7 Ifugaos, whom on his death
he left to his children, Mr. Pedro Gangan, Mrs. Susana Gangan,
Miss Maria Gangan, and Mrs. Rufina Gangan, and others were made
recently and secretly, while I was absent from town on official
business in the pueblos of this province. Mr. Thomas Gollayan,
the late provincial secretary, bought two Igorrotes while I was in
Manila in December and January, last. They were well aware of the
fact that I prosecuted kidnapping with tenacity, my object being
to put a stop, if possible, to this abominable practice, which
has since some time prevailed in the pueblos of this province....
"In order to prove that I endeavoured to make the proper
investigation for the purpose of proving whether slavery really
existed in this province, I have the honour to annex an affidavit
by Agapito Telan, a resident of Ilagan, in which it appears that
he sold Igorrotes of the Ifugao tribe to several residents of this
town. I was unable to ascertain the numbers of Igorrotes of the
same tribe sold by Modesto Sibal, Lorenzo Montevirgen, Lorenzo
Montalvo, Andres Castro, and Cosme Ferrer, who are engaged in the
same business as Agapito Telan, as it appears from the deposition
of the latter, for the reason that these persons did not appear
before me, although in 1902 I had on several occasions verbally
requested the late municipal president, Mr. Pascual Paguirigan, to
cause them to appear in an unofficial manner. I was not surprised
that they did not appear before me, as Paguirigan was involved in
the investigation, as it happened in the case of the aforesaid
Agapito Telan, who appeared before me when I asked the acting
municipal president to have him do so.
"I was afraid to direct those persons to appear before me by means
of written orders, because I had not document or complaint whereon
to base them, as required by the procedure now in force, and feared
that on account of the unlawful nature of the summons they might
proceed against me for coaccion, and sue me besides for damages.
"According to my personal observation and to what I have seen in
the other pueblos of this Province of Isabela, but principally in
the provincial capital, the Igorrotes who are said to be slaves
cannot be considered as such since the times of the military
government, as they are considered and treated as members of
the family of the chief of the household. Nevertheless, I am and
shall continue to be inexorable in the prosecution of slavery,
as it is a crime and should be prosecuted as such, in order to
prevent at least that the persons engaged in this business commit
this crime again.
"It is my humble opinion that an act should be passed to the end
of eradicating this practice which has become general throughout
the Cagayan Valley. [68] Otherwise, as I have seen in my continual
efforts, the provincial authorities cannot do anything to check
the evil, however they may try. It is necessary that some one
should be made to feel the rigour of the act suggested and suffer
the punishment designated by it.
"As a rule the inhabitants of this province already understand
personal liberty and know that a person is entitled to go wherever
he pleases, which liberty has given birth to the humane treatment
of the fellow-men which now prevails.
"Caciquism is still existing in parts of this province, but I
am confident that with the coöperation of sensible persons in my
continuous efforts it will be completely eradicated, and personal
liberty will reign supreme, as in every republic where the laws
assure complete and real liberty, the liberty from slavery."
As supporting evidence Governor Dichoso forwarded with his letter a
number of statements from persons resident in the capital of Isabela
to the effect that during the twenty-one years that he had lived
there he had never purchased, intended to purchase, or kept in his
house any Igorrote of the Ifugao or any other tribe.
In addition he forwarded a somewhat unique document in the form of
a sworn statement by a slave dealer which is of such interest that
I give it in its entirety:--
"I, Agapito Telan, a resident of this provincial capital
(Ilagan), certify: On the 19th of June, 1903, I was summoned
by the provincial governor, Mr. Francisco Dichoso y Reyes, and
when I was with him in the office of the provincial government,
he and the secretary took my sworn deposition, as follows:--
"Upon being asked to state the number of children of the infidel
tribe of the Ifugaos sold by me to several residents of this
provincial capital, the approximate age of these children, the
names of the persons to whom they were sold, the number of children
bought by these persons, the value of each of the said children,
their sex, and the year, month, and day on which the said sales
were made, deponent replied that in the year 1902, in the month of
September, and on a day which he cannot remember, he sold to the
late Policarpo Gangan two Ifugao boys, of the ages of 8 and 9,
respectively, for the sum of 360 Mexican dollars, another boy,
9 years of age, he sold to Juan Dauag for the sum of 180 Mexican
dollars, and another boy, 8 years of age, he sold to Seferino
Malana for the sum of 160 Mexican dollars, the latter two being
sold on the same month and year aforementioned, and in Ilagan also.
"In the year of 1903 the deponent sold a boy and a girl of the
Ifugao tribe, who, judging by their physical development, were
about 6 and 8 years old; the boy, six years of age, he sold to
Pascual Paguirigan, late municipal president, and the girl to Doña
Rufina Gangan, for the sum of 180 Mexican dollars each. This was
in January, but deponent does not remember the day.
"In February he sold a boy and a girl of the same tribe, 8 years
of age, the former to Cirilo Gantinao and the latter to Salvador
Aggabao, for 180 Mexican dollars each. The purchasers are residents
of this town.
"Upon being asked who are the other persons who, like deponent,
are engaged in taking Ifugao children from the settlements of
the infidels and then selling the same to whomever wants them,
and that he state where they reside, deponent replied that the
persons who are engaged in the same business as he, are Modesto
Sibal, Lorenzo Monte-Virgen, and Lorenzo Montalvo, residents of
the pueblo of Gamú, and Andres Castro and Cosme Ferrer, residents
of this provincial capital.
"Upon being asked whether he knew if these persons are like
him engaged in the purchase of minors and what was the number of
children taken by each during the year of 1902 and 1903, and if so,
to state to whom they were sold, and at what price the deponent
replied that he is completely ignorant of the matter in regard
to which information is requested, but that it was possible that
they had taken more children, as they are living nearer to the
settlements from which they are taken, and as they are able to
make the trip three times to the defendant's once.
"Asked what methods they employ for the purpose of getting children
from that tribe, deponent says that all they do is to enter into
a contract with those whom they consider their dattos or chiefs,
and who come down from the mountains with the children, which
are purchased from them by the persons engaged in this trade.
"Asked to state the price of the children bought at the accustomed
places for these transactions for the purpose of reselling them,
the deponent states that the children are sold at the same price
at which they are purchased at that place.
"He having thus stated, the foregoing was read to him, and he
agreed to it, signing it after the Provincial Governor, which I,
the secretary appointed for this act, attest.
"Francisco Dichoso,
"Provincial Governor.
"Agapito Telan,
"Fernando Domingo.
"Secretary appointed.
(Sgd.) "Agapito Telan.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of September,
1903.
(Sgd.) "Francisco Tauad,
"Clerk of the Court, Ilagan."
The existence of slavery in Misamis, a regularly organized province,
had been disclosed at a still earlier date.
In May, 1902, its Filipino governor, Sr. Manuel Corrales, was asked
to report, and did report, on slavery in that province, under the
following circumstances:--
On May 2, 1902, General George W. Davis telegraphed the
Adjutant-General, Manila:--
"Following telegram respectfully repeated: 'Zamboanga, May 1, 1902,
via Malabang, to Wade. Commanding Officer, Misamis, reports April
30, that Presidente notified him that he was going to send armed
party to capture two Moro slaves which have escaped from their
Filipino master whose names were not given. Says there are many
Filipinos who own slaves. Presidente was told that the troops had
nothing to do with civilian affairs. I have no doubt but that the
Filipinos on the north coast here have many slaves. At Butuan I
saw one in November that had been recently purchased.'"
Governor-General Wright referred a copy of this telegram to Governor
Corrales with an indorsement--
"calling his attention to the within communication. Information is
desired as to whether or not the within facts are true as stated,
and also whether there are any persons held in involuntary
servitude other than convicts within the province, and if so,
that full particulars be given."
Governor Corrales himself has none too good a record in connection
with the treatment accorded the non-Christians of his province, and
would certainly not paint a darker picture than was called for by the
facts, yet in his reply [69] he gives the names of six towns in which
"one still finds a few slave servants, most of them acquired many
years ago." He adds:--
"At the present time, there are but few sales of slaves proceeding
from the mountain tribes, which are now relatively civilized. In
Iligan and Misamis, I have heard that such sales were more
frequent, for two reasons: (1) the Moro race is more despotic
and more numerous; (2) the weekly market in Iligan gives them
an opportunity to carry on that sort of business, although they
have to do it by stealth, on account of the watchfulness of
the authorities.
"I will call your attention to the fact that the slaves proceeding
from the Moro district constitute, in the Moro villages, an
inferior social class, the slave family, whose origin is due to the
prisoners taken by the Dattos on their expeditions; when they are
transferred to the Christians in Iligan or Misamis, because their
masters wish to make money, or are hard pressed by the famines
which are so frequent in the region of the Lanao, their condition
is considerably improved by the good treatment and the better
and more abundant food which they obtain in their new situation,
by the mere fact that they live with a more civilized people.
"Those who come from the mountain tribes are not born slaves;
with few exceptions, the chiefs and principal men of these
tribes do not own slaves which they use for their service or for
agricultural work, as the Moros do. Slaves are generally obtained
in the following way:--
"It happens that a chief with bellicose and sanguinary instincts,
who leads a nomad life and does not belong to the peaceful class
which is given to farm life, organizes a gang of men of his sort,
makes incursions in the wildest parts of the woods and raids
the lone huts inhabited by savage and nomad families; he kills
by treachery the grown-up people and carries off the children,
which he can easily master; he then sells them to the peaceful farm
dwellers, who sell them in their turn to the Christian pueblos.
"As I have already said, such cases are happily rare. In Iligan
and Misamis, which are far from the capital of the province,
and therefore from the Court and the provincial authorities, the
slaves have had less opportunity to claim their rights, and it is
not astonishing that neither the slaves nor their masters have
a true notion of what is meant by individual liberty, although
the former are at least sure of their lives since they left the
jurisdiction of the Moros, at whose absolute mercy they were,
and are much better treated among the Christians.
"I intend taking all necessary measures within my jurisdiction
in order to put an end to such a hateful trade, and wait for any
further instructions which you may deem it convenient to give me."
Unfortunately neither the measures taken by Governor Corrales nor
those adopted by his successors have sufficed to end this "hateful
trade" in the province of Misamis.
In July of the present year, [70] a man accused of holding two Bukidnon
children in slavery did not deny the charge, but set up the defence
that he was a resident of Misamis, where there was no law against this
crime. He had been proceeded against under an anti-slavery law passed
by the commission for the provinces under its exclusive jurisdiction,
on the theory that he resided in Agusan. He won his case, proving
that his house was about a hundred yards over the line.
The revelations contained in the reports above mentioned naturally
called for action. Inspector Sorenson's report was referred to the
commission with the following indorsement:--
"Office of the Civil Governor,
"Manila, August 13, 1903.
"The Senior Inspector of Constabulary in the Province of
Isabela reports that there is quite a slave trade in the Cagayan
Valley. The report of Sorenson, the Inspector, is submitted to
the Commission and I suggest a reference to Commissioner Wright
in order that he may include in the Criminal Code some clauses
which will enable us to reach this abuse.
(Signed) "Wm. H. Taft,
"Civil Governor."
The report was, by direction of the commission, referred to
Commissioner Wright as suggested by Governor Taft for consideration in
connection with a proposed new Criminal Code which was being prepared,
under his general supervision, for enactment. An immense amount
of work was necessary on this code, and it was never completed and
enacted. Various matters needing attention have since been reached
through the medium of special laws, and it is obvious that it was
intended to pursue this course in this instance, as is shown by the
fact that Governor Dichoso's reply was forwarded to General Wright
on October 19, 1903, with the following indorsement:--
[First Indorsement]
"Executive Bureau,
"Manila, October 19, 1903.
"Respectfully referred to the Secretary of Commerce and Police,
for his information and consideration in connection with the
proposed Act denouncing slavery and kidnapping and kindred offences
as crimes.
(Signed) "Wm. H. Taft,
"Civil Governor."
Why such an act was not drafted and passed I do not know. I was
then absent on leave, and did not even learn of the existence of
any of the above-quoted documents until years afterward. My personal
attention was forcibly drawn to the existence of slavery outside of
the Moro territory when I first inspected Nueva Vizcaya in 1905. The
territory occupied by the Ifugaos, since separated as a sub-province
of the Mountain Province, was then a part of Nueva Vizcaya, which had
been organized as a province under a special act and was, in a way,
subject to my executive control.
Its governor, Louis G. Knight, called my attention to the fact
that Ifugao children were frequently enslaved by Filipinos of Nueva
Vizcaya and Isabela. I asked him to get specific data so that we might
prosecute the offenders. He soon sent to the Executive Secretary a
report [71] which gave full details of a number of recent cases of
the buying and selling of Ifugaos as slaves, contained a statement
that Governor Knight, who was himself a lawyer, could "find nothing
whatever in the penal code defining or punishing as a crime the
buying or selling of human beings," and recommended that "this crime
be defined and punished in the proposed new penal code."
The report was referred to me by the executive secretary on September
20, 1905, and on September 22 was by me forwarded to the Honourable
Luke E. Wright, governor-general, with an indorsement--
"inviting attention to the inclosed statements from the Governor
of Nueva Vizcaya, relative to the traffic in Igorrote children
in his province.
"The undersigned has reason to believe that Negrito children and
children of other non-Christian tribes are occasionally bought and
sold by civilized natives, and is strongly of the opinion that
in case the Penal Code does not provide adequate punishment for
such offences, it should be so amended as to make it possible to
inflict severe penalties upon those who buy and sell human beings
in this Archipelago.
(Signed) "Dean C. Worcester,
"Secretary of the Interior."
The papers were referred by Governor-General Wright to the
Attorney-General--
"for an opinion as to whether there is not some provision in the
present Penal Code which will provide adequate punishment for
such offences as are related herein."
The opinion of the Attorney-General rendered in response to this
request [72] encouraged me to believe that something could be done
under existing law.
I returned the papers, together with the opinion, to the governor
of Nueva Vizcaya and three test suits were brought as promptly as
possible.
One of them has become historic. It was brought against Tomás Cabanag,
a well-known slave dealer who made a business of buying and selling
Ifugao children. He was charged with illegal detention in connection
with the admitted sale, by him, of an Ifugao girl named Gamaya. [73]
He was convicted in the Court of First Instance. I quote the following
extract from the decision of the court:
"The Congress of the United States has declared that human slavery
shall not exist in these islands and while no law, so far as I can
discover, has yet been passed either defining slavery in these
islands or affixing a punishment for those who engage in this
inhuman practice as dealers, buyers, sellers, or derivers, the
facts established in this case show conclusively that the child
Jimaya was by the defendant forcibly and by fraud, deceit and
threats unlawfully deprived of her liberty and that his object
and purpose was an unlawful and illegal one, to wit, the sale
of the child for money into human slavery. This constitutes the
crime of Detencion ilegal defined and penalized by Article 481
of the Penal Code and this Court finds the defendant guilty as
charged in the information."
The case was promptly appealed to the Supreme Court and was there
lost on March 16, 1907.
Gamaya, a thirteen-year-old Ifugao girl, had been purchased from her
mother for pigs, hens, rice and a cloak, under the absurd pretext that
the object of the purchase was to keep her at home, where she would, of
course, naturally have remained in any event. She was allowed to stay
with her mother during a period of some three years. In this manner
the purchaser was saved the cost of boarding her while she was growing
up. Having now reached what the Igorots consider a marriageable age,
she was sold to a man who was engaged in the business of buying in
Nueva Vizcaya children to sell in the lowlands of Isabela; in other
words, to a slave dealer. He sold her to an inhabitant of the town of
Caoayan, in Isabela, who had instructed him to buy a girl. Caoayan is
distant many days of hard overland travel from this girl's home. When
taken there she was among an alien people of another tribe and another
religion, and although, as stated by the Supreme Court, she was not
kept under lock and key and although that court held that:--
"... There can be no unlawful detention under article 481 of the
Penal Code without confinement or restraint of person, such as
did not exist in the present case."
and held further that:--
"Under the complaint for this crime it is possible to convict for
coacción under proof of the requisites of that offence ... but
among those requisites is that of violence through force or
intimidation, even under the liberal rule of our jurisprudence
...; consequently the charge of coacción against the accused
cannot be sustained upon the evidence."
it is nevertheless true that this child, who had been thrice sold,
was detained just as effectively in Caoayan as if chained to a post
in the house of the man who bought her, and was required by him to
perform menial labour without compensation. It would have been utterly
impossible for her to escape and to make her way back through Isabela
and Nueva Vizcaya to her own people, no matter how strenuously she
might have endeavoured to do so.
It is extremely difficult to prove forcible detention in connection
with most cases of slavery in these islands. Negrito slaves are
usually purchased when mere babes and later have no recollection
of their parents or of their former wild life in the hills. Babes
or very young children bring a better price than do older children,
for the reason that they are less likely to run away.
Adult Negritos, and adult members of other tribes held in slavery,
have, as a rule, been made to feel the heavy hand of the oppressor
and are so afraid of their lives that they will not testify. Only
under very exceptional circumstances will they admit that they are
being held against their will, although they are quick to make their
escape when a favourable opportunity presents itself.
The difficulty involved in protecting these simple people is
illustrated by the following case which came to my personal
attention:--
An eleven-year-old Bukidnon girl was carried away from northern
Mindanao to Bohol by a Filipino school-teacher who had been discharged
from the insular service. Her parents gave every indication of bitter
grief and begged to have their daughter restored to them. This
was finally accomplished, to their great joy, as a result of my
efforts. The kidnapper was ultimately brought into court, but before
the case came up for trial the parents had been subjected to such
"influence" that when called to the witness-stand they swore that
the kidnapper had taken their daughter with their full knowledge
and consent.
In order to be reasonably effective, laws in these islands must be
so framed as to make it possible to protect people too ignorant,
or too timid, to protect themselves.
Returning now to the Supreme Court decision, the court also held
that:--
"... the defendant appears to have engaged in the business
of buying in Nueva Vizcaya children to sell in the lowlands
of Isabela."
But it further held that:--
"Not even the abhorrent species of traffic apparently carried on
by the accused justifies a sentence not authorized by law."
More important still, the court held that:--
"The judge below quotes the Bill of Rights of the Philippines
contained in the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, declaring that
'neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist in said Islands.' This constitutional provision is
self-acting whenever the nature of a case permits and any law
or contract providing for the servitude of a person against his
will is forbidden and is void. For two obvious reasons, however,
it fails to reach the facts before us:--
"First. The employment or custody of a minor with the consent
or sufferance of the parents or guardian, although against the
child's own will, cannot be considered involuntary servitude.
"Second. We are dealing not with a civil remedy but with a criminal
charge, in relation to which the Bill of Rights defines no crime
and provides no punishment. Its effects cannot be carried into
the realm of criminal law without an act of the legislature,"
and also that:--
"To sum up this case, there is no proof of slavery or even of
involuntary servitude, inasmuch as it has not been clearly shown
that the child has been disposed of against the will of her
grandmother or has been taken altogether out of her control. If
the facts in this respect be interpreted otherwise, there is
no law applicable here, either of the United States or of the
Archipelago, punishing slavery as a crime."
In view of the facts above cited the necessity for legislation
seemed obvious.
The commission in its capacity as sole legislative body for the
territory inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes might have
passed an act prohibiting and penalizing slavery, involuntary servitude
and peonage in that territory; but such an act unless supplemented
by a similar one applicable to the neighbouring Filipino territory
where most of the slaves are actually held would obviously have been
ineffective, while the desirability of having uniform legislation
throughout the Philippines was evident.
The Philippine Assembly was about to meet for the first time. The work
of drafting a proper bill was duly provided for and I am sure that no
member of the commission for a moment entertained the belief that there
would be any difficulty in securing the concurrence of the assembly in
the passage of a reasonable act prohibiting and penalizing slavery,
involuntary servitude, peonage and the sale and purchase of human
beings. The gentleman charged with drafting the bill encountered
difficulty in so framing it that it would accomplish the desired
end without unduly interfering with the rights of parents over their
children. Long delay ensued.
I myself finally drafted a bill entitled: "An Act prohibiting slavery,
involuntary servitude, peonage, or the sale of human beings in the
Philippine Islands," and introduced it in the commission.
It was passed, in slightly amended form, on April 29, 1909, and sent
to the Philippine assembly, where it was introduced on May 6, 1909. On
May 7 it was referred to the Committee on Revision of Laws, and on
May 17 it was returned by that committee with the following report:--
"May 17, 1909.
"Mr. Speaker: The committee concurs with the Commission in the
approval of Bill No. 100 with the following amendments:
"(a) That the word 'slavery' be stricken out of the title of the
Act, because it does not exist in the Philippines.
"(b) That from section 1, page 1, lines 7 and 8, the following
words be stricken out: 'take the fruits of his labours, compel
him to deliver to another the fruits of his labours,' since the
acts contained therein constitute other crimes that may be robo,
hurto, or estafa.
"(c) From line 11 in the same section the words: 'less than six
months nor;' and from line 12 the words: 'less than one hundred
pesos and not;' because the acts penalized in section 1 may be of
such slight importance that they should not deserve a punishment
of imprisonment for six months or a fine of one hundred pesos.
"(d) From line 22 (p. 2), the word: 'peso,' substituting for it:
'two pesos and a half.'
"With these enactments Commission Bill No. 100 is drawn up,
according to the one attached hereto.
"For these reasons the committee submits for the consideration of
the Assembly Commission Bill No. 100 and recommends its approval
with the amendments introduced.
"Respectfully submitted.
(Signed) "Aguedo Velarde, "Chairman, Committee on Revision of Laws.
"To the Honourable,
"The Speaker of the Philippine Assembly."
This report, if adopted, would have emasculated the bill by striking
out the minimum penalties, but it was not adopted. On May 19 the
assembly laid the bill on the table without discussion.
So began a long struggle to secure the coöperation of the assembly
in the enactment of legislation on this important subject.
I did not feel that the assembly ought to be allowed to make a joke of
the provision of the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, that "Neither
slavery, nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in said
islands," and inserted a frank statement of the case in my annual
report. During my absence it was cut out by the governor-general
acting on the cabled suggestion of General, then Colonel, McIntyre,
speaking for the secretary of war. The Secretary, it is understood,
based his decision on the statement of alleged facts and the argument
in the above-mentioned memorandum prepared by General McIntyre,
and signed by General Edwards, then chief of the bureau of insular
affairs. Various of these statements of alleged facts were incorrect,
and much of the argument was fallacious, but the toute ensemble was
plausible, and likely to mislead any one not thoroughly familiar with
local conditions in the Philippines. I did not see this communication
until three years later, and so had no opportunity seasonably to
discuss it, or to present my side of the case.
On learning that all reference to slavery had been cut out of my
report, I sent the following memorandum to the governor-general:--
"Baguio, February 28, 1909.
"Memorandum for the Honourable the Governor-General.
"Practices in the matter of purchasing and practically enslaving
the children of wild people, and holding wild people in the state
of peonage, closely approaching slavery, are more grave and more
common than is ordinarily understood here; and, in my opinion,
as stated in my report, ought to be brought to the attention
of the Congress of the United States if the situation is not
dealt with effectively by the Philippine Legislature at its next
regular session.
"I do not object to the omission from my report of the matter
treating on this subject, with the understanding that a strong
effort will be made here to secure legislation which will, at
least, penalize the sale for cash or other valuable consideration
of human beings.
"As things stand at present, we should be placed in a somewhat
embarrassing situation if any one thoroughly acquainted with
the facts were to ask us what we had done to make effective the
provisions of the Act of Congress prohibiting slavery.
"Dean C. Worcester,
"Secretary of the Interior."
The following year I introduced in the commission the bill which
the assembly had rejected. Action upon it was postponed, pending
the receipt of information which was requested from the assembly as
to the reason for the failure of that body to pass it the preceding
year. Shortly after this was obtained in the form of the above-quoted
extract from the minutes of that body I was called to the United
States and no further action was taken in the matter at that time,
although the Governor-General in his message to the Legislature had
included the following recommendation:--
"There is no express provision of law prohibiting slavery or
involuntary servitude in the Philippine Islands. While the law
provides certain methods of punishing the practice of slavery,
as for example, the law for illegal detention, yet it does not
seem right that an enlightened and modern country should have
no way of punishing the purchase or sale of human flesh. It is
recommended that this be remedied by appropriate legislation at
the coming session."
I had also again attempted to discuss this important matter in my
annual report.
I myself reached Washington at about the time this document arrived
there, but that part of it dealing with slavery and peonage was cut
out without either consulting me or giving me a hearing. I was advised
by General McIntyre that the secretary had disapproved it.
In writing to me under date of January 11, 1913, Mr. Dickinson said:--
"I have read with much interest the copy of your communication of
October 28, 1912, with the Acting Governor-General in regard to
the law prohibiting slavery. The whole matter interests me very
much and is very enlightening to me.
"I note what you say in regard to the matter coming up during
my administration and the memorandum made by General Edwards. My
memory may be badly at fault, but I really cannot recall that this
matter ever came to my personal attention. I may have forgotten
it among the many hundreds of things that came before me, but I
certainly have no recollection in regard to it."
I am quite prepared to believe that the matter was never allowed to
come to his personal attention!
On January 31, 1911, I again introduced this bill in the commission. It
was amended in minor details and passed on that date and was duly
forwarded to the assembly. There it was introduced on February 2 and on
February 3 was laid on the table. I here give the full record. It is
significant as showing the lack of interest displayed by the assembly
in this important subject.
"An Act prohibiting Slavery
"The Speaker. Commission Bill No. 88 is submitted to the House
for consideration. Read the bill.
"The Secretary. [reading]....
"Señor Sotto. The Committee on Revision of Laws proposes that
this bill be laid on the table.
"The Speaker. Is there any objection?
"The House. None.
"The Speaker. On the table."
In my report as secretary of the interior for the fiscal year ended
June 30, 1911, I again took up this subject. After this report had been
submitted to the commission I myself cut out all mention of slavery
at the request of Governor-General Forbes, who urged that we make a
last effort to get the assembly to act before appealing to Congress.
In spite of the desirability of having uniform legislation on such
a matter as this in adjacent provinces, the commission felt that it
could no longer with propriety delay action for the territory under
its exclusive jurisdiction, and on August 7, 1911, passed the bill
for Agusan, Nueva Vizcaya and the Mountain Province.
The same act was again passed by the commission for the territory under
the jurisdiction of the legislature, when that body reconvened. The
assembly referred it to committee on October 27, 1911, and tabled it
without discussion on February 1, 1912.
In my annual report for 1912 I included the following recommendation:--
"That for the adequate protection of the non-Christian tribes a
final and earnest effort be made to secure the concurrence of the
Philippine Assembly in the passage for the territory under the
jurisdiction of the Philippine Legislature of an Act identical
with, or similar to, Act No. 2071, entitled 'An Act prohibiting
slavery, involuntary servitude, peonage, and the sale or purchase
of human beings in the Mountain Province and the Provinces of
Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan, and providing punishment therefor,' and
that in the event of failure, the attention of Congress be called
to this important matter to the end that it may pass adequate
legislation if it deems such a course in the public interest."
This time I sent the copy for the report to the printer without
awaiting further possible requests or orders to remain silent, for
I was thoroughly convinced that it was useless to expect action from
the assembly and that nothing remained but to appeal to congress to
pass suppletory legislation making effective the provision of the
Act of July 1, 1902, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude
in the Philippine Islands.
At the next session of the legislature the commission again passed
the bill. The assembly referred it to committee on October 26, and
tabled it without discussion on January 8, 1913.
From the above record it will be plain that, beginning in 1909,
the commission passed laws prohibiting and penalizing slavery and
peonage annually during four successive years, and that the assembly
tabled each of the four measures without deigning to give any of
them one moment's discussion. Much less have they ever asked for any
information as to the necessity for such legislation.
While no member of the assembly had ever made any official statement
on the subject, the Filipino press had on various occasions denounced
me as a liar or an ignoramus, and an enemy of "the Filipino people,"
for saying that slavery existed.
In preparation for what I deemed to be a probable request from
Congress for a detailed statement of facts, I now proceeded to get
together the information on file in government offices and courts,
called upon various officers of the government for data in their
possession which had never been made of record, and initiated new
investigations, using for this purpose the police of Manila, the
Philippine constabulary and various other agencies. Drawing on the
abundant material thus obtained, I began the preparation of a report
to the commission, recommending that the necessity for legislation
be called to the attention of Congress, and supplying abundant data
relative to the existence of slavery and peonage in the Philippines.
Before this report was completed there occurred a most unexpected
event.
Dr. W. O. Stillman, President of the American Humane Association,
had written me months before asking about the power of the Philippine
Legislature to enact humane legislation, and further inquiring what
laws of this sort, if any, had been enacted. In my reply I had called
his attention to the act of the commission prohibiting slavery and
peonage in certain provinces, and to the fact that the attitude
of the assembly had prevented the enactment of similar prohibitive
legislation for the remaining territory. My letter, which furnished
no supporting data, was eventually published by this gentleman and
was read in the United States Senate by Senator Borah. On May 1,
1913, the senate passed the following resolution:--
"Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby,
directed to send to the Senate any and all facts bearing directly
or indirectly upon the truth of the charge publicly made that
human slavery exists at this time in the Philippine Islands and
that human beings are bought and sold in such Islands as chattels."
The reply addressed by the secretary of war to the president of the
Senate on May 6, 1913, contains the following statement:--
"There is not in this Department, to the knowledge of the Secretary
thereof or of the head of the Bureau having charge of insular
affairs, a record of any facts bearing directly or indirectly upon
the truth of the charge, publicly made, that human slavery exists
at this time in the Philippine Islands and that human beings are
bought and sold in such Islands as chattels."
This was a most peculiar statement. The passage cut out of my 1909
report was certainly on file there, and it explicitly stated that
slavery existed in the Islands.
The similar passage from my 1910 report should have been on file there,
and last but not least, when finally, after the lapse of years,
I saw the so-called "Edwards" memorandum, in reality written by
General McIntyre, on which the Secretary of War had based his action
in ordering all reference to slavery cut out of my 1910 report, I had
made a full reply to it, containing a specific statement that slavery
and the sale of human beings were common in certain parts of the
islands and citing certain specific cases. I had specially requested
that this communication be filed in the bureau of insular affairs,
and General McIntyre, the chief of that bureau, who acknowledged its
receipt, could hardly have forgotten its existence.
The war department reported on this matter without seeking any
information from Manila. I can only conclude that Secretary Garrison
was deceived by some irresponsible subordinate.
As promptly as practicable I completed my report and sent it to the
commission, which read and considered it on May 17, 1913, immediately
passing the following resolution:--
"Whereas the Act of Congress passed July 1, 1902, 'temporarily
providing for civil government of the Philippine Islands and for
other purposes' provides that 'neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude except as a punishment for crime whereof the parties
have been duly convicted shall exist in said Islands,' and
"Whereas the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands in the
case of the U. S. vs. Cabanag (Vol. VIII, p. 64, Phil. Repts.),
decided on March 16, 1907, decided that 'there is no law applicable
here either of the United States or of the Archipelago punishing
slavery as a crime;' and
"Whereas, in order to remedy this condition in accordance with
the above-mentioned provisions of the said Act of Congress, the
Philippine Commission in its exclusive legislative jurisdiction
over all that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or
other non-Christian tribes passed Act No. 2071, and as a branch of
the Philippine Legislature has in four successive sessions passed
an act prohibiting and penalizing slavery, involuntary servitude,
peonage, or the sale of human beings, and
"Whereas during each of said sessions the Assembly has failed to
concur in the passage of such Act; now, therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the Honourable the Governor-General be requested to
send to the Honourable the Secretary of War a copy of the proposed
law entitled 'An Act prohibiting slavery, involuntary servitude,
peonage, or the sale of human beings in the Philippine Islands'
as passed by the Commission in the last session of the last
Legislature, but which failed of passage in the Assembly, with
the recommendation that a copy of the law be sent to Congress
with the request that the necessary legislation be enacted to
render fully effective the above-mentioned provisions of the Act
of Congress of July 1, 1902."
I was subsequently requested by the governor-general to address
the report to him rather than to the commission, to the end that
the Filipino members of that body might be spared the embarrassment
which would otherwise result from the necessity of voting either for
its acceptance or for its rejection, and I very willingly made the
requested change.
The printing of the report was delayed until July 19, 1913, and I
brought it up to that date, as evidence continued to pour in.
In this document I gave specific cases of chattel slavery in the
provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga,
Batangas, Palawan, Agusan, Ambos Camarines, the Moro province,
the Mountain province and Manila itself, describing quite fully
the conditions under which Ilongots, Ifugaos, Negritos, Tagbanuas,
Manobos, Mandayas, Moros and Filipinos are bought, sold and held as
chattel slaves.
I will here only briefly summarize them.
The Negritos are savages of low mentality, and most of them lead a
nomadic or semi-nomadic life. They constantly get the worst of it in
the struggle for existence and to-day are found only on the islands of
Mindanao, Palawan, Tablas, Negros, Panay and Luzón, where for the most
part they inhabit very remote and inaccessible mountain regions. Owing
to their stupidity and their extreme timidity it is comparatively easy
to hold them in slavery, and they are probably thus victimized more
than are the people of any other tribe. They are constantly warring
with each other in the more remote of the mountain regions which they
inhabit. It would be going too far to say that their moral sense has
been blunted. It is probably nearer the truth to say that they never
had any. It is therefore a simple matter for Filipino slave dealers to
arrange with Negritos for the purchase of their fellow-tribesmen. The
latter then proceed to obtain captives by raiding some hostile group
of their own people, killing ruthlessly if occasion arises.
They are more ready than are the people of any other Philippine
tribe to sell their children or other dependent relatives, and do
this not infrequently when pressed by hunger, a condition apt to
arise because of their utter improvidence. Unfortunately, the matter
does not end here. It is by no means unknown for Filipinos to join
in their slave-hunting raids, or even to organize raids of their own,
killing Negrito parents in order to get possession of their children. I
submit the following case to illustrate this latter procedure:--
"Camp Stotsenburg, Pampanga, P. I.,
"September 26, 1910.
"The Adjutant,
"Camp Stotsenburg, Pampanga, P. I.
"Sir: I have the honour to inform you that a report has this
day been made to me that a party of hostile Filipinos, about
15 in number, armed with 1 rifle, 1 revolver and the remainder
with bolos, presumably ladrones, entered a small Negrito barrio
situated about one and one half miles directly southeast from
the Post during the forenoon of Tuesday, September 20, 1910,
and killed three men and carried away two small children. I have
visited the barrio and the body of one man showing frightful
mutilation, both head, feet and hands completely severed from the
body, was found. This settlement is situated in a dense jungle
and the other bodies were presumably carried away or hidden,
so that they could not be found.
"But one person can be found who witnessed the affair, an aged
Negrito woman, who can scarcely walk from the treatment she
received at the hands of these outlaws. She states that she
would be able to recognize and identify some of the party. I am
informed by Negritos living in the vicinity that this party of
outlaws has a rendezvous a short distance east of Solbac where
they might be apprehended.
"The killing took place without the reservation, but the matter
is of sufficient importance, since all the Negritos living in
the vicinity of the post are greatly excited and disturbed,
to warrant the recommendation that it be referred to the Senior
Inspector of Constabulary, San Fernando, Pampanga, P. I., for
such action as he may desire to take.
"Very respectfully,
(Signed) "Kyle Rucker,
"1st Lieut. and Squadron Adjutant, 14th Cav. Intelligence Officer."
The subsequent fate of these Negrito children is made plain by the
following letter:--
"Philippine Constabulary,
"San Fernando, Pampanga, P. I.,
"October 4, 1910.
"My Dear Holmes: We have a case up here of murder committed near
the town of Angeles in which several Negritos are mixed up.
"We managed to locate two Negrito children who had been sold by
the man who killed their father. They were in the possession of
a man named Ambrocio David who says he paid sixty pesos for them
and says they are his property.
"I think that we can convict the murderer of the children's father,
if we can catch him, but this sale of Negritos has gone such a
pace that almost every family in Pampanga has at least one as a
'Companion' of their children, they say, but really as a slave.
"The Fiscal says there is no law against the sale or purchase of
Negritos and I cannot find it, although I seem to remember a law,
but whether it alludes to Negritos or only Moros I am unable
to say.
"If there is a law, what number is it, and if not, can you get
me an opinion of the Attorney-General or some ruling so as to
show us how to act in this and future cases of this kind.
"Yrs.
"W. S. North,
"S. I."
In this case one of the kidnappers was convicted of murder, but
nothing could be done to him for selling the Negrito children nor could
anything be done to Señor Ambrocio David for buying the children or
for claiming that they were his property.
Like many primitive peoples, the Negritos are inordinately fond
of strong alcoholic drinks. It is strictly against the law to give
or sell any of the white man's liquors to them, but this naturally
does not restrain slave hunters, who frequently get adults deeply
intoxicated and then trade with them for their children or kidnap
the drunken persons themselves and drag them away. Negritos are held
to-day in bondage, in considerable numbers, in provinces like Zambales,
Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan and Cagayan. While they are not displayed
for sale in any market in Pampanga, they can be readily negotiated
for in several different public markets of that province; and if
none happen to be available at the moment, the would-be purchaser is
assured that the supply in the mountains is inexhaustible and that
his needs can soon be met.
The publication of my report has caused consternation among slave
owners in many provinces. Some slaves have since escaped and little
effort has been made to recapture them. Others have been voluntarily
set free by their masters, but in Pampanga the trade still goes
merrily on. Until recently Negritos have been peddled around the
country adjacent to Manila like carabaos or horses, and it is but a
short time since their purchasers have in some instances refused to
give them up, stoutly asseverating that they were their property. Now,
however, warned by experience, owners make no such claim, but advance
various more or less ingenious explanations of the fact that they
have Negritos in their possession and deny that they are slaves. Some
of them insist that it is a Negrito custom to kill orphan children,
and that they have taken orphans out of kindness in order to save
their lives. Patient investigation has failed to show the existence
of any such custom among the Negritos.
Perhaps the commonest procedure of all is to claim that Negrito slaves
are "adopted children" or "members of the family." The presumption
against a Filipino's taking into his family one of these little
woolly-headed, black, dwarf savages is strong. In no single case have
I been able to obtain evidence of real, legal adoption. The following
document illustrates the procedure which seems invariably to have
been followed:--
"On the 25th of December, 1912, I, the authorized curate of this
district, Lubao, Province of Pampanga, baptized solemnly, and put
on the blessed Oleos in this church in my charge on one Negrita
ten and eight years of age (18), and have given the name of Juana,
daughter of a father poor and unknown. The foster mother, Doña
Pia Vitug, married in this town received the charge as a parent
to care for the spiritual welfare and other obligations.
"I for the truth sign,
"Friar Pedro Diez."
(Girl given the name of Juana de Jesus Vitug.)
A document of this sort imposes no legal obligation whatever on the
owner of a slave, and makes no change in the status of the slave,
but merely serves as a basis for the claim that he or she "is treated
as a member of the family."
This is a cheap and easy method of securing a slave, and the child
thus "adopted" may be compelled to labour for a lifetime without
compensation, or turned over for a consideration to be similarly
"adopted" by some one else.
Other Filipinos who do not claim that their Negrito slaves are members
of their families find complete justification for purchasing them
in the allegation that they have taken them to Christianize, thus
preventing their going to hell!
In the provinces of Agusan and Surigao the slave-taking raids of the
Mandayas and Manobos are historic. In the more remote parts of these
provinces they continue from time to time up to the present day. While
one of them lies within the territory for which the commission has
been able to legislate, what shall we say of those who contend that
slavery does not exist in the Philippine Islands in the face of such
occurrences as have taken place there? The same query holds for
the sub-province of Ifugao in the Mountain Province and for Nueva
Vizcaya. The Ifugaos have been especially victimized. The following
kinds of servitude are recognized by them:--
Jim-bút. This is the name applied to real slaves. The Jim-bút becomes
an article of commerce and often changes owners several times before
reaching the country of the Ba-li-uon (Christians).
Nij-cóp. This is the name applied to children who have been really
adopted under a formal contract made with their parents or nearest
relatives in case the parents are dead. The Nij-cóp acquire certain
property rights from their new parents-by-adoption.
Baj-ál. This is the name given to orphan children who have been
formally taken in charge by some well-to-do Ifugao and who are unable
to support themselves. The Baj-ál is a tentative Nij-cóp, for if he
turns out to be bright and industrious, he may become a member of
the family and acquire property rights.
Ta-gá-la. This is the name applied to servants who receive regular
compensation.
It is a matter of common knowledge throughout the sub-province that
there are living to-day in Isabela hundreds of Ifugaos who have been
sold to Filipinos as slaves.
In Nueva Vizcaya it has been possible to deal with the more flagrant
cases since the passage by the commission of the law above referred
to, but the commission is powerless to pass a law effective in Isabela.
The holders of slaves now seek to evade the law by nominally hiring
them at a monthly salary which is not paid. The promulgation of Act
No. 2071 prohibiting and penalizing slavery enabled Lieutenant-Governor
Jeff D. Gallman of Ifugao to liberate some forty boys and girls held
by Filipinos in Nueva Vizcaya. In no single case, however, could it
be proved that the child had been sold. The persons who held them
testified in each instance that they were "hired servants."
When they learned of the provisions of the above-mentioned act they
were easily prevailed upon to pay "salaries" long overdue to their
"servants" and the latter were allowed to return to their homes.
It was found that some of the persons originally sold into slavery in
Nueva Vizcaya had run away from their masters and become vagabonds. Few
really wanted to return to their parents, whose language in many
cases they had almost forgotten.
I wish this were the worst, but the worst is yet to come. Not only
do the Filipinos buy, sell and hold the wild people as slaves, but
Filipino children have been kidnapped, or enticed from their homes, by
other Filipinos, and sold as slaves to their own kind. Young girls have
been sold outright to Chinese who purchased and kept them for immoral
purposes. They have been sold to panderers and keepers of houses of
prostitution and compelled to enter upon lives of shame. Filipino
children and young women have been sold to Chinese who have taken them
to China. God only knows what fate may have befallen them there. In
such cases the victims disappear from these islands, never to return.
Some slaves are well treated. Others are half starved, brutally beaten,
injured or even killed. The Manobos and Manadayas of Agusan and
Surigao, and the Bagobos of the Moro Province, have been accustomed
to sacrifice slaves to appease their heathen deities. The Manobos
on occasion even have their boys take lances and try the effect of
different thrusts on slaves tied to trees or posts.
Those who desire long lists of specific cases of slavery will find
them in my report. I think that I have here abundantly demonstrated
the fact that genuine slavery exists in the Philippine Islands. It
can never be successfully checked until there is a law of general
application throughout the archipelago penalizing the sale, barter,
or purchase of human beings. What reason has the Philippine Assembly
for refusing to pass the necessary act?
Without hesitation I assert that, apart from false and foolish pride
which makes the persons concerned unwilling to admit the fact of the
existence of slavery, their chief reason for objecting to this law
is that it would not only prohibit and penalize slavery, but would
prohibit and penalize peonage, which is so common and widespread that
it may properly be called general. Indeed, I have no hesitation in
asserting that it prevails in every municipality in the Philippine
Islands.
Slavery is a serious matter, but peonage is far more serious because
of the very much larger number of persons involved. It lies at the
root of the industrial system of the Philippines.
Much has been said relative to the probable attitude of large American
landowners toward Filipino labourers. Thus far their attitude, and
that of all other classes of Americans, has been infinitely better
than has that of the wealthy Filipinos themselves. The truth is that
peonage is repugnant to the average American. One of the complaints
persistently made against us by the Filipinos is that we have raised
the daily wage throughout the islands, and this is true. When I was
there in the Spanish days, it was possible, in many regions, to obtain
abundant labour at five cents per day with food, and ten cents with
food was the general rule. Now the same class of labour costs at least
twenty-five cents per day with food, and in some provinces it costs
fifty cents or more. It must be frankly admitted that Americans are
responsible for this sad condition of affairs! American landowners who
desire to pay their employees regularly a living daily wage encounter
difficulty in doing so, for the reason that the labourers have become
accustomed to the old system, the evils of which they know, and are
afraid of a new one, fearing that it may involve worse evils of which
they know nothing.
Incidentally, Americans have learned that their labourers are worth
more if well fed, and this is another grievance held against us in
certain quarters.
With many of the Filipinos it is a different story.
The rich and powerful man, commonly known as a cacique, encourages
the poor man to borrow money from him under such conditions that the
debt can never be repaid, and holds the debtor, and frequently the
members of his family as well, in debt servitude for life. One might
fill a score of volumes with records of cases and I can here do no
more than to select a few typical illustrations of the workings of
this vicious system.
The Filipinos are born gamblers. Gambling is their besetting sin. The
poor are usually glad to get the opportunity to borrow money, and will
do this on almost any terms, if necessary, in order to continue to
indulge in their pet vice. They are thoughtless about their ability
to repay loans, and thus readily fall into the power of the cacique
money-lenders, who thereafter use them as house servants or labourers,
under conditions such as to render their escape from debt-servitude
practically impossible.
Indeed, if they seek to escape, the caciques often threaten them with
the law, or actually invoke it against them, while if they endeavour
to homestead public land and thus better their condition, the caciques
only too often cause opposition to be made to their claims and keep
it up until they become discouraged.
The following facts have been furnished me by Hon. James A. Ostrand,
judge of the court of land registration.
"In 1907 a woman, whose surname, I think, is Quintos, asked me to
lend her twenty-five pesos with which to 'redeem' her daughter who
had been mortgaged for that amount to a Chinese merchant, whose
name at present I do not recall, but who had his establishment
on the ground floor of the house of Ubaldo Diaz in Lingayen. The
woman stated that the Chinaman was corrupting the morals of the
girl, and that this was the reason why she wanted to make the
redemption. I told her that under the circumstances no redemption
was necessary, but that I would see that the girl was allowed to
leave the Chinaman, who, on proper representations, was induced to
let the girl go home. She stayed with her mother for a couple of
weeks but, by adding P75 to the mortgage debt, the Chinaman got her
back and shortly before I left Lingayen I learned that the girl,
though scarcely fifteen years old, had given birth to a child."
"In 1907 a woman from the town of Balincaguin in Pangasinán
came to my office and stated that she, about six years before had
'mortgaged' [the terms 'salda' in Ilocano and 'sanla' in Pangasinán
are usually translated mortgage, but also imply pledge, as the
creditor generally takes possession of the mortgaged property] her
twelve-year old son for some twenty pesos to Don Cirilio Braganza,
the member of the second Philippine legislature for the district
in which I was then living; that her son had been working for
Braganza ever since, and that, according to her reckoning, the
debt had already been paid, but that Braganza had unjustly charged
the loss of a carabao to her son's account, thus adding P120,
if I remember correctly, to the debt. She further stated that
she had asked Braganza to release the boy, but that he refused
to do so. I informed her of the provisions of the Philippine Bill
in regard to involuntary servitude, and advised her that her son
was free to leave Mr. Braganza's services if he so desired. She
said that if the boy should leave, she was afraid something might
happen to him as Braganza was very influential in that locality. I
then gave her a note for Braganza requesting him to let the boy
go. Shortly afterwards Braganza came to me and gave me his version
of the case, stating that he had always treated the boy well,
and that the loss of the carabao was entirely due to the boy's
negligence, and that he, Braganza, would not consent to the boy's
leaving him before the carabao was paid for. At last reports the
boy was still with Braganza and may be there yet. I may add that
I believe Braganza told the truth, and that the boy was guilty
of negligence in connection with the loss of the carabao."
The net result in this case was that a boy was "mortgaged" for a
P20 debt and after six years the debt had very largely increased,
probably in part as a result of the carelessness of the boy.
In a letter to Judge Ostrand I had defined peonage as "the condition
of a debtor held by his creditor in a form of qualified servitude to
work out a debt." Of its prevalence the judge says:--
"While practising law in the Province of Pangasinán, during
the years 1905 to 1909, hardly a week passed but what cases of
involuntary servitude, as defined in the within communication,
came under my observation."
He also calls attention to the fact that interference with the system
does not increase one's popularity:--
"Interference by third parties in cases of involuntary servitude
is not looked upon with favour, and is generally considered highly
reprehensible. I remember, for instance, a case where Mr. Pedro
Sison [not the member of the Legislature], then a prominent
resident of Lingayen, was, as he himself regarded it, made the
victim of unwarranted interference. A woman bought a small parcel
of land from Mr. Sison, agreeing to work out the purchase price,
forty pesos. She worked with Mr. Sison for six years, at the
end of which period the debt had increased to over sixty pesos,
according to Mr. Sison's accounts. In the meantime the woman became
a Protestant, and Rev. E. S. Lyons, the Methodist missionary
in Pangasinán, advised her to leave Mr. Sison's service. Upon
her doing so Mr. Sison became very indignant not only at her,
but also at Mr. Lyons, and for some time thought seriously of
having the latter criminally prosecuted. He appeared to be very
much surprised when he found that there was no penal provision
covering Mr. Lyons's action. Mr. Sison was otherwise a very
estimable and good-natured man, but he never until his dying day,
which occurred a couple of years afterwards, got over his bitter
resentment toward Mr. Lyons."
Judge Ostrand summarizes the results of his observations as follows:--
"Nearly all the involuntary servitude cases of which I have any
knowledge have arisen from the practice of mortgaging half-grown
children. The sum advanced is usually some twenty or thirty
pesos. As the money seldom draws interest at a lower rate than
ten per cent a month, and the creditor furnishes the child food
and such clothing as it may need, its services are ordinarily
not considered worth more than the amount of the interest, and
the debt instead of being reduced usually increases as the years
pass. I venture to say that among the Filipinos in some sections
of the Islands the majority of house servants are obtained and
employed in this manner."
It would indeed seem that with interest at the rate of 120 per cent
per year and the creditor in a position to fix his own price for food,
clothing and other necessaries furnished his debtors while they were
trying to work out their debts, they would not be likely to succeed
in doing so!
In this connection I call attention to the fact that in the course
of the discussion recently caused by requests for the resignation
of certain public officials who had been loaning money at usurious
rates of interests, several of the native papers took the attitude
that 18 per cent per year was a very moderate rate of interest.
If the unfortunate peon finally rebels, the rich cacique often
invokes the law against him by having him prosecuted on some false
criminal charge.
In this connection the following letter is of interest:--
"Philippine Constabulary,
"Office of the Senior Inspector,
"Pampanga, San Fernando, September 26, 1912.
"The Superintendent, Information Division, P. C.,
"Manila, P. I.
"(Thru' Adjutant, District of Central Luzón.)
"Sir: Reference to the prosecution of Maria Guzman before the
Justice of the Peace of Apalit for 'Infraction of Law 2098'
(your file No. 8634-75) I have the honour to attach copy of
decision in the case, and remarks:--
"About three (3) years ago Simeon de los Reyes, by and with the
consent of his wife Maria Guzman, borrowed and signed receipt
for fifty pesos (P50) to Maria Santos of Apalit, contracting that
his wife work out the debt moulding earthen jars--that for every
hundred jars made Maria Guzman received P1, 25 centavos of which
was to go on the debt. The woman states she could make about fifty
jars per week, so that her actual wages were 50 centavos per week,
or $.005 per jar. This without board, as the woman states that
any money she got for food was charged on original debt.
"By the first part of this year the debt had 'decreased' to P70,
when another receipt for that amount was signed by the husband,
de los Reyes, and the old receipt for P50 destroyed. In the month
of August ultimo the Santos woman refused to advance Maria Guzman
more money, so Maria Guzman left and joined her husband, who was
working in Manila. The debt at time of trial amounted to P79 and
a fraction.
"Warrants of this nature are being continually sent from Pampanga,
either by messenger or mail, direct to the Superintendent
Information Division, without passing through my hands. The reason
is evident.
"It is respectfully requested that in the future all warrants
reaching your office in this way be referred back to me before
execution.
"Very respectfully,
(Signed) "L. T. Rohrer,
"Senior Inspector."
This woman, if she succeeded in making fifty earthen jars per week,
received wages amounting to twenty-five cents against which her
creditor charged her food and doubtless also her clothing. In other
words, she was in effect charged for the privilege of making fifty
jars per week for her master. The interest on her debt was meanwhile
piling up while the principal steadily increased, and when she grew
weary of her hopeless task and ran away, her taskmaster prosecuted her.
The following letter presents a typical case of peonage:
"Rosales,
"March 26, 1912.
"Chief of the Secret Service Dept., Manila:
"Dear Sir: On behalf of Garegorio Almario a young girl residing
at my house I write to ask you if you cannot have this matter
attended to.
"Six years ago a man named Tomas Almario, living at present
in Rosales, borrowed some money (twenty pesos only). This
man was unable to repay this money so he sold this girl named
Inocencia Almario to a Mr. Galban. I think he is the President of
Bautista. Her sister has been to Bautista to take this girl away
but she has been rebuked by these people in my presence. They state
she owes P60 the extra P40 being interest on the P20 borrowed 6
years ago. They have got this girl and another girl working as
slaves and to-day I heard that the girl escaped in a carromatta
but they sent an automobile after her and took her into Bautista
beating her all the way. In the interest of justice I hope you
will have this girl released and hand her over to her sister in
my house here out of the hands of those wretches. I also found
out that this girl is being sent from place to place amongst
men who take girls to cover debts. If you send a man here to
Rosales I have the proof and will show you where this girl is
and will get the evidence against these people. I understand that
the President of Bautista is the man who is at the bottom of the
whole affair. I hope you will put a stop to this slavery. I have
the man here who owes the money and sold the two girls to this
man. I have the sister here; also the other relatives to prove
that this girl has worked as a slave for 6 years to cover a debt
of twenty pesos and now they want 60 before they will release
her. Please release my sister and oblige
"Yours truly,
"+ Garegorio Almario.
Witness: (Signed) "W. A. Cole.
"Address Garegorio Almario,
"c/o W. A. Cole, Rosales, Pang."
I have not made the slightest effort to get the peonage records of
Philippine assemblymen, but have taken cases as they came, yet three
of the limited number here discussed concern members or ex-members
of the assembly. Is it any wonder that that body refuses to consider
a law prohibiting and penalizing peonage?
My investigation of this matter has developed some interesting phases
of human nature. Knowing the certain unpopularity which would result
from telling the truth, not a few persons who might have given
valuable testimony refused to tell what they knew, or even denied
that they knew anything. Others made written statements which I was
unable to use, as they insisted that their names be withheld, and
I wanted testimony only from witnesses who had the courage of their
convictions. Fortunately there was no lack of people unafraid to tell
the truth. Among witnesses to the existence of chattel slavery were
army officers, constabulary officers, the Manila chief of police and
many men of the police force of that city, judges, Catholic priests,
the mother superior of a convent, the insular auditor and a number
of his deputies, provincial governors, both Filipino and American,
provincial treasurers, the director of education, school teachers,
an ethnologist, newspaper men, business men and women both English and
American. I accepted only written and signed statements. The long list
of cases in my official report was a sample list, not an exhaustive
one. I stand ready to furnish specific instances of chattel slavery,
ad nauseam, giving names of slaves, their vendors and purchasers,
prices paid and dates of transactions. I hold more than a thousand
typewritten pages of evidence, and it continued to come in up to the
day of my departure from Manila.
The attitude of the Filipino politicians toward this great mass
of data and the witnesses who furnished it is a most interesting
study, from which may be deduced logical conclusions of far-reaching
importance. Let us examine it.
In the issue of the Boston Herald for June 24, 1912, Sr. Quezon,
resident delegate from the Philippines to Congress, published an
article entitled "The Filipinos as Legislators," [74] attacking
Governor-General Forbes for referring in a public speech to the
attitude of the assembly on the slavery question. I will quote and
comment on its essential statements:--
"The fact that the Assembly has refused to approve of the bill
referred to by Governor Forbes, bespeaks the legislative ability
of our Assemblymen, while, on the other hand, the passage by the
Commission of said bill indicates either the incompetency or the
negligence of the Commissioners. Do we have slavery and compulsory
service in the Philippines or not? If we do not, the bill to
abolish it is unnecessary. If we do, it is also unnecessary,
because the Act passed by Congress, creating the present Philippine
Government, which serves as our constitution, already prohibits
slavery and compulsory service, and, therefore, no act of the
Philippine Legislature is needed to declare it illegal."
This is a puerile quibble. The act referred to prohibits slavery,
but does not penalize it.
"If there is slavery and compulsory service in the Philippines,
the Governor-General as the Chief Executive, and the members of
the Philippine Commission, who, with the Governor-General, compose
the executive department of the Islands, are all of them guilty in
not enforcing and executing the constitution of the Archipelago."
False. The Supreme Court of the Philippines has held that the
"constitution" here referred to is non-enforceable without exactly
such suppletory legislation as the commission passed and the assembly
tabled.
"If there is anything in the Philippines akin to slavery or
compulsory service, it can not be found in the provinces to which
the legislative jurisdiction of the Assembly extends."
Utterly false.
"Should there be such a thing in the territories inhabited by
the few non-Christian Filipinos, which are under the exclusive
control of the Philippine Commission, I am sure the slaveholders
can only be the Government officials, who are appointed by the
Secretary of the Interior, the Honourable Dean C. Worcester, the
head of the executive department in charge of said territories."
False and absurd. The larger majority of existing slaves are held by
Christian Filipinos. Not a single official in the territory in question
was subject to appointment or removal by me. Not one has ever owned a
slave, to my knowledge. This statement illustrates Quezon's disregard
for the truth.
"It will not be out of place to indicate here the reason wherefor
the Philippine Commission has passed the bill alluded to by
Governor Forbes. The members of the Philippine Commission are
sternly opposed to Philippine independence. Moreover, they are
opposed to allowing the Filipino people to have a legislature
wholly constituted of natives for reasons too apparent to be
mentioned. One of their everyday arguments is 'that the premature
withdrawal of the United States would result in the establishment
of an oligarchy composed of small and favoured ruling classes
who would oppress the masses.'
"The passage by the Philippine Commission of the anti-slavery
bill placed the Philippine Assembly in a very awkward position
(as it was perhaps intended to do); to concur in the passage of
the bill was to admit that there is such a thing as slavery and
compulsory service in the Philippines, which is not a fact. To
reject the bill would be construed as indicating that the members
of the Assembly were advocates of slavery. The moral courage of
our Assemblymen was shown when they took the former course, that
of truth. The members of the Commission denounce the attitude of
their colegislators as proof of lack of sympathy for the masses
of the people."
False, interesting, and important. There were four Filipino members of
the commission at this time, all of whom were in favour of ultimate
independence, and one of whom was a leading advocate of immediate
independence. All voted for the anti-slavery laws which the assembly
refused to pass.
The Filipinos were not wholly to blame for the existence of slavery at
the time of the American occupation, but the politicians are unable to
grasp the fact that the way to deal with a cancer is to cut it out,
not to deny its existence, and by their refusal to legislate have
now made themselves fully responsible for the continued existence
of slavery and peonage in the regularly organized provinces of the
Philippines. The Filipino newspapers have even gone so far as to
claim that there could be no slavery until a law defined it, hence
to enact such a law would create slavery.
Resident Commissioners Earnshaw and Quezon were prompt and emphatic in
their denials of the existence of slavery when Senator Borah read in
the Senate Chamber my letter to Dr. Stillman. Sr. Earnshaw did not know
any better. Sr. Quezon claims to know the facts. He himself has said:--
"As a Filipino familiar with the facts in the case, I do not
hesitate to qualify the letter of Secretary Worcester as being
at once false and slanderous. It is false, because there does not
exist slavery in the Philippines, or, at least, in that part of the
country subject to the authority of the Philippine Assembly. It
is slanderous because it presents the Philippine Assembly, by
innuendo, if not openly, as a body which countenances slavery."
He was unquestionably familiar with the facts, or many of them. Did he
know of the report of the Filipino Governor Dichoso, describing slavery
in Isabela; of that of the Filipino Governor Corrales, describing
slavery in Misamis; of that of the Filipino Governor Pimentel,
describing the sale of Filipino children into slavery to Chinese;
[75] of that of the American Governor George Curry, describing slavery
in Isabela; [76] of that of the American Governor Knight, describing
slavery in Nueva Vizcaya; [77] of that of the Filipino Governor Sanz,
[78] describing the enticing from their homes of numerous Filipino
children of Romblón and the disposal of them as peons or slaves; of the
reports of army, constabulary and police officers; and of the records
of courts on slavery and peonage? Under the circumstances explanation
or retraction would seem to be in order, but we have had from him only
two more puerile quibbles. In a published statement he has said that
slavery does not exist as an institution in the Philippines. Who ever
said it did? It exists there as a demonstrated fact, and it ought to
be made a crime. In another published statement, [79] Quezon says:--
"The allegation is a most serious one and we think it desirable
to meet the charge directly without hesitation by asserting that
it is unqualifiedly false and that the accusations made in the
report are not only not sustained, but cannot be sustained by
any evidence tending to show that such a 'system' exists."
The placing in quotation marks of a word not used by me fairly
illustrates one of the typical methods of the Filipino politician,
and for this reason alone I refer to it and to the following statements
from the same editorial, which will serve a similar purpose:--
"There is a very serious aspect of this report of Commissioner
Worcester's. If the system he speaks of exists and is known to
him--indeed has been known to him for a long time--why did he
never correct it? He says that the Philippine Assembly has blocked
action. The truth is that he and his fellows had absolute power
long before the Philippine Assembly ever came into existence.
"... Mr. Worcester now practically admits that he knew of similar
conditions elsewhere than among the Moros, but that he never had
anything to say about them and allowed them to go on until, it
would seem, he thought that he could make some political capital
out of a controversy with the Philippine Assembly regarding
anti-slavery legislation."
It did not lie in my power to correct it. On the Philippine
Commission rests the full responsibility for failure to enact
anti-slavery legislation from the time when it first learned of
the existence of this crime among the Filipinos until it passed its
first act prohibiting and penalizing it on April 29, 1909. As I have
already shown, the matter was dealt with, in 1903, by directing the
inclusion of proper legislation in a proposed new Penal Code never
completed. Valuable years were then lost in testing the adequacy of
existing law, and when it proved inadequate further time was, in my
opinion, needlessly wasted in drafting the necessary act. To this
extent, and to this extent only, the commission shares responsibility
for existing conditions. Since April 29, 1909, that responsibility
has rested on the assembly alone.
I have given two of the reasons for its refusal to act. There is
another, but I should have hesitated to give it, as it would have
been hard to prove, had not Speaker Osmeña furnished the necessary
evidence. He is commonly considered to be the leading Filipino
statesman of the day, so special importance attaches to his utterances
and he, if any one, can speak with authority concerning the attitude
of the assembly. The ominous rumble from the United States which
reached these distant shores led him to give out a newspaper interview
explaining the inactivity of that body. He said:--
"Never has Mr. Worcester attempted to furnish us with the facts
which he has placed before Congress. The bill itself was sent to
the Assembly for action but on account of the unfriendliness of the
members for the secretary of the interior and the lack of sympathy
between the Assembly and him, it was not given the consideration
that it would have received if Mr. Worcester had at the same time
sent us the facts which he has sent on to the United States.
"Mr. Worcester as the secretary of the interior, and not as
commissioner was in duty bound to furnish the Assembly with the
facts that he claims to have found. It is the duty of all of
the administrative officers of the government to enlighten the
legislature and to furnish it with information gained officially
by them. As a matter of fact, Mr. Worcester showed that he was
not anxious for the Assembly to consider the matter by never once
even mentioning the subject to me, as is customary with other
matters for legislation which the secretaries have wished taken
up by the Assembly."
If this were not so pathetic it would be very, very funny. The assembly
is now made up of 81 Filipino delegates representing 34 provinces. An
unfeeling American secretary of the interior, residing at Manila,
is charged with having failed to inform them of what was going on
under their very noses. All information deemed by the commission
necessary to justify legislation was transmitted by me to that body
when we lost our slavery case in the Supreme Court.
Never during all the years that this matter has been pending has there
been the slightest suggestion that the assembly desired to receive
information concerning it. If its members were to tell the half of
what they themselves know about slavery and peonage the facts which
I have been able to gather would fade into insignificance, but this
is not the important thing in this interview.
The important thing is that dislike of the person who happened to
introduce in the commission a bill prohibiting slavery and peonage
in the Philippines is considered a valid reason for the refusal of
the assembly to consider it during four successive years.
Shall thousands of suffering human beings be allowed to go on sweating
blood for such a reason?
It is my earnest hope that as a result of the publicity which has
now been given this matter there will be speedy action, either by
the Philippine Legislature or by the Congress of the United States.
I hope that every right-minded person who reads these lines will insist
that we have done with concealment of the truth and suppression of
the facts; have done with boggling over hurting the feelings of the
Filipino people; and will demand that those who have power to end the
disgraceful conditions which now exist in the islands shall promptly
and effectively exercise it.
The native press has naturally bitterly opposed any investigation of
the truth or falsity of my statements. The following extract from a
recent editorial is typical of its attitude:--
"Slavery is not slavery unless it has the characteristics
of frequency and notoriousness. Is there here, or has there
ever been, at least since Christian civilization has reigned,
anything that resembles it? Where is, or who has seen previous to
now, such characteristic slavery? Mr. Worcester? Let him point
it out, let him give a detailed account of it, let him define
it. What will you bet that he will not do so? How is he going
to do it if it does not exist! It was enough for him to say:
"There is slavery in the Philippines" for men, press, government
officials and every stripe of public elements in America to admit
the possibility of the affirmation and even an investigation of
its likelihood to be ordered.
"That is simply absurd. The mere investigation is an offense. The
proof must come solely from, and must be demanded solely of, him
who imputes the charge. If he does not demonstrate it, if he does
not make it patent, further investigation is not needed. All that
there was to investigate is investigated: it is that he has lied."
Nevertheless aroused public sentiment in the United States has forced
action here. Governor-General Harrison called the matter to the
attention of the assembly in his first speech, and that body is now
[80] investigating it. Unfortunately there is grave reason to doubt
its good faith.
It allowed me to leave Manila without the faintest suggestion that
it desired to hear me, and then had the governor-general cable me an
invitation to testify and to assist in the investigation when I was
halfway home and could not possibly return.
Assemblyman Sandoval, defending in the public press a friend charged
with buying a Tagbanua slave who had been thrice sold, says that
the several purchasers did not buy the unfortunate man but bought
his debt. A debt is not ordinarily purchased for itself and it is
admitted that in this instance the man went with it.
The Filipino politicians have hardly approached this matter in a
judicial spirit, and the timid and the politic, who refused to give
me the information they might have furnished, had some reason for
their fears.
The removal of Judge Ostrand and Director of Education Crone, who gave
valuable testimony, was loudly demanded on the ground that they were
"traducers of the Filipino people."
The people were urged to "get together" and disprove my statements.
I have been denounced as an enemy of "the Filipino people."
It has been claimed:--
That my charges were false, and without foundation.
That, if they were true, I myself was to blame for the continued
existence of slavery.
That I published my report when I did in order to hold my position.
That I published it when I did in anger because I had lost my position.
That I had been removed because I published it.
In just one instance, so far as I know, has a Filipino considered
the possibility that the motive which actuated me was a desire to
help many thousands of unfortunate human beings.
Good old Arcadio del Rosario, at one time insurgent governor of
Benguet, who has a kindly feeling for the wild-men and was glad to
note certain immediate results which followed the publication of
my report, has said: "Would that Sr. Osmeña [81] might have had the
glory of doing what Sr. Worcester has done."
What is needed to end slavery and peonage is congressional legislation
enforced by Americans.
Without hesitation I assert that their existence in the Philippine
Islands is the greatest single problem which there confronts
the government of the United States, in its effort to build up a
respectable and responsible electorate and establish representative
government.
Is it reasonable to suppose that the hand which to-day crushes down the
Filipino servant, the Filipino labourer, and the wild-man of the hills,
will to-morrow raise them up and point them on the way to freedom?
CHAPTER XXVI
MURDER AS A GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY
In discussing the prevalence of slavery in the Philippine Islands,
Sr. Manuel Quezon has stated that it has never existed there as an
institution. This is true, to the extent at least that it has never
been recognized as a legal institution, nor directed nor authorized by
order of any competent governmental authority. The same statements
cannot be truthfully made with reference to murder, as I shall
conclusively show by the records of the Insurgent government.
I wish at the outset to draw a sharp line between acts of barbarity or
ferocity, committed without authority by ignorant and irresponsible
Insurgent officers or soldiers during the heat of battle or as
the result of passions aroused by armed strife, and those which I
now discuss. The former must be regarded as breaches of military
discipline. Aguinaldo sought to protect his government from their
consequences by issuing endless orders in Spanish strictly forbidding
them.
His troops were ordered again and again to respect American prisoners
and treat them with humanity.
So far as concerns his own people, however, he displayed a very
different spirit from the outset.
As we have already noted there exists among the Insurgent records
a document written in Tagálog by him, and therefore obviously
not intended for the information of Americans, which contains the
following:--
"Any person who fights for his country has absolute power to kill
any one not friendly to our cause." [82]
Aguinaldo armed not only ignorant and irresponsible people, but
thieves, outlaws and murderers, and turned them loose on the common
people with blanket authority to kill whomsoever they would, and they
promptly proceeded to exercise it. "Dukut" [83] stretched out its
bloody hand even in Manila, under the very eye of American officers,
and as often as not struck down wholly innocent victims.
Aguinaldo was not alone in his views on the subject of murder. Felipe
Agoncillo, long secretary of the Hongkong junta, and official
representative of the Insurgent government in Europe and the United
States, wrote him on August 1, 1898, from Hongkong, suggesting that
he kill the Spanish prisoners "if the country requires" that this be
done, and adding, "if you deem it wise you should secretly issue an
order to kill the friars that they may capture." [84]
Obviously Aguinaldo did not deem it wise to order the murder of the
Spanish prisoners as a whole, nor that of the friars as a whole.
The following letter, marked "confidential," addressed to his cousin
Baldomero Aguinaldo, for a time the Insurgent secretary of war,
tells a significant tale of the course finally decided upon:--
"Filipino Republic,
"Office of the Military Governor,
"Malolos, February 17, 1899.
"Señor Secretary of War:--
"Referring to your note in regard to an unhealthy town or place
in the province of Nueva Ecija fit for the concentration there of
the friars; beside the town of Bongabong there is no good place
except the town of La Paz in the province of Tarlac, because,
according to my observation, even the persons born there are
attacked by malarial fever and ague and if they are strangers
very few will escape death.
"Your always faithful subordinate,
(Signed) "Isidoro Torres.
"17th February, 1899." [85]
Evidently General Torres' recommendation was favourably acted upon,
for among the papers of the Insurgent government is a memorandum,
[86] apparently in Aguinaldo's handwriting, stating that--
"there were 297 Spanish friars held prisoners in Luzón, and that
on February 17, 1899, those in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, and Pampanga,
111 in all, had been ordered by him to be concentrated in La Paz"!
In many instances other prisoners were murdered outright. This hard
fate befell three Spaniards, of whom one was a friar, and two were
shipwrecked Englishmen, who were butchered in Zambales in December,
1899, upon the approach of the American troops, apparently by the
order of the governor, Vicente Camara. [87]
On February 15, 1900, an expedition under the immediate command of
Brigadier-General J. M. Bell sailed from Manila under the personal
supervision of Major-General Bates. This was composed of troops
detailed to take possession of North and South Camarines and Albay,
to which provinces Insurgent troops, having many Spanish prisoners
in their possession, had been forced to retire as a result of the
operations in Tayabas Province. In compliance with these instructions
the town of Daet was occupied after some resistance and the Insurgents
in that quarter were driven to the northeast, taking with them a number
of Spanish prisoners. A large proportion of these were murdered by
command of the officer in charge of the guerilla band guarding them,
probably because he was not able to force them to move as rapidly as
his own men.
On November 15, 1900, Simeon Villa, of evil fame, issued a
circular letter [88] to chiefs of guerillas in the Cagayan valley,
recommending that they all "learn the verb 'Dukutar' [89] so as to
put it into immediate effect," and adding "it is the most efficacious
specific against every kind of evil-doer, and most salutary for our
country." This, too, under the "Filipino Republic" before the outbreak
of war with the United States, and at a time when we are assured that
"profound peace and tranquillity" prevailed in this region.
This villanous order was approved and made general in its application
by Aguinaldo himself, on November 15, 1900. [90]
Aguinaldo's orders were not always couched in such general terms
as the one above quoted. Among the most interesting of the captured
Insurgent documents is the following:--
"Our Honourable President: We, the signers, who subscribe the
declaration appended; by these presents protest against the
American proclamation; we recognize no authority but that of
God and the Revolutionary Government, and we offer our lives and
property for the independence of our country.
"Manila, San Miguel, January 12, 1899.
"Feliciano Cruz
"Severino Quitiongco."
(25 signatures follow.)
(On the back is written in the handwriting of E. Aguinaldo):
"Leberino Kitionko:
"Feliciano de la Cruz: Commissioned to kill General Otis." [91]
The difference in the spelling of the name Severino Quitiongco is
doubtless due to the fact that Aguinaldo wrote it down as it sounded
to him.
When the Insurgent government began to be pinched for funds, failure
to pay taxes became, in many cases, sufficient ground for murdering
the delinquent.
The method of procedure is set forth in the testimony of a tax
collector, published in General Orders, No. 259, 1901, Division of
the Philippines:--
"I carried a letter of authorization to act as special agent,
which means authority to commit murder. Each time a murder was
ordered a letter was sent to one of four men (named above) by one
of the chiefs (naming them). Afterward the letter was taken up and
burned. If a man did not pay his contributions to the insurgent
collector he was ordered to be killed."
The chief cause for murder was friendliness toward the Americans. As
time passed and the common people had an opportunity to contrast the
brutality of their own soldiers with the kindly treatment usually
accorded them by the American troops, they welcomed the latter. Weary
of danger to life and property, the better men in the towns became
very desirous to see the reëstablishment of local governments, and
ready to assist in the work. The answer of the Insurgent leaders took
the form of wholesale orders for the murder or assassination of all
persons friendly to the Americans. I shall cite enough such orders
to show that this policy was duly provided for throughout the length
and breadth of the Insurgent territory.
Many of the Visayans were friendly toward the Americans from the
outset. On March 24, 1900, "General in Chief" Maxilom, of Cebú, issued
an order providing for the execution, after a most summary trial,
of the presidentes of all towns which subscribed to and recognized
American sovereignty. This rule was to apply to Filipino citizens,
including even the wealthy, a most unusual arrangement! Failure to
be "subject to the will of the Honourable President Señor Emilio
Aguinaldo" spelled death. [92]
Outside the Cebú towns occupied by the Americans the guerillas
commanded by Maxilom were able to collect tribute by the employment of
such methods as were provided for on June 22, 1900, by Maxilom's order
fixing the duties of the magdudukuts, or secret avengers, who were
empowered to "execute without remorse all notorious traitors." [93]
This was, in practice, a general warrant to commit murder.
Pursuant to these instructions Pablo Mejia, a Filipino of high
character and conspicuous ability, was assassinated in a street of
Cebú in August, 1899. The Visayans had reason to be proud of him and
to execrate his assassins.
On January 31, 1900, Pio Claveria, delegate to the Military Government
of Iloílo province, Panay Island, wrote the presidente of Tigbauan,
that if it was true that he and various other residents of that
town had taken an oath recognizing American sovereignty and did not
retract it the town would be razed to the ground, and they would be
"deserving of the terrible penalties prescribed by the laws of the
revolution!" [94]
On April 3, 1900, General Leandro Fullón, who signed himself
"Political and Military Governor" of Antique, and was one of
Aguinaldo's emissaries, wrote a circular letter, to be sent "by
the fastest carriers from one town to the other," imposing sentence
of death and confiscation of property on people who had taken out
certificates of citizenship issued by the Americans, together with
annihilation of their towns. [95]
On July 11, 1900, Fullón issued a more sweeping order, containing
the following provisions:--
"1. Any meeting or assembly of a popular character, held at the
instance of the Officers of the United States, for the purpose
of recognizing the liberty and independence of the towns of this
province, is absolutely forbidden.
"2. The person arranging such meeting shall be shot at once
without trial or court martial, unless forced to do so by majeure.
"3. Any Filipino filling any office in the name of the United
States shall be considered a traitor to his country, and in
addition to the penalties imposed by the Penal Code of Spain,
provisionally in force, all his property shall be confiscated,
and if this should not be possible, the authorities of the
Philippine Republic shall endeavour to ..." (remainder of sentence
unintelligible). [96]
In Samar General Vicente Lucban ordered, on February 1, 1901, that
persons who collected food for the enemy be killed, as well as those
who "finding themselves in our camp pass to the enemy without previous
permission from this government." [97]
In Leyte, Honesto Ruiz warned all his "soldiers and bolo-men that
whenever a real Americanista, like the police and volunteers, is caught
he will be killed." On August 11, 1900, he reported to General Moxica
that "the result is that every day they are killing traitors to our
country." [98]
The following is a sample order for the assassination of an obnoxious
individual:--
"October 4, 1900.
"Confidential.
"To the Local Chiefs of Sogod, Kabalián, Anajauan, Hinundayan,
and Hinunangan (Leyte):
"Immediately upon the appearance in the town under your
jurisdiction of the traitor to the Mother Country, Severino
Komandao, you will secure his person and send him to these
headquarters under the proper guard; or if that person should
come into the town followed by an American force, you shall
try to have him killed by treachery (traidoramente), by 'Dukut'
(assassination), for this is what a Filipino deserves who does
not know how to respect his own land and proceeds to injure the
beautiful ideal that we have in view.
"Return the present communication, treating it as
confidential. Health and fraternity.
"Maninging, October 4, 1900.
"M. Pacheco,
"Military Commander."
"The Military Commander:
"The undersigned, Local Chief, notes the orders contained in the
present circular and will strictly comply therewith.
"Kabalián, October 6, 1900.
"B. Veloso,
"Local Chief." [99]
In Negros, the Tagálogs long failed to effect a lodgement. Ultimately,
however, they managed to stir up trouble, and to secure the help
of "Pope" Isio, a noted outlaw. On May 19, 1900, he suggested the
advisability of punishing "by decapitation all those who go with
the Americans" and ordered that "if it should appear that they are
real spies of the enemy they must be beheaded immediately without
any pretext whatsoever against it." To be considered a "real spy,"
it was necessary only to be seen talking to Americans.
The letter from which I quote was addressed to Señor Rufo Oyos,
General of Operations. [100]
Evidently he obeyed orders, for he was still alive in November, 1901,
at which time "Papa" Isio wrote him again, directing that there be
an uprising of all the towns on December 20.
Towns which did not rise on the appointed day were to be "reduced to
ashes and all their inhabitants killed, men, women, children and old
people." Any presidente who had not collected the taxes of his town
before the arrival of Isio was to be "hung without any hesitation
whatever." [101]
Obviously Isio's order was not without effect, for we learn that
sometime during August, 1900, a man had just left the camp "with the
head of the infamous Juan Carballo to hang it in a public place with
a label saying 'Juan Carballo, a man pernicious to the revolution. May
he rest in peace.'" [102]
Isio's agents collected blackmail according to a regular tariff,
based roughly on the value of estates, threatening that those who
did not pay up would be regarded as spies of the heretics. [103]
And now let us briefly review conditions in Luzón. Here many of
the common people were at first hostile to the Americans, but flesh
and blood could not endue what they had to suffer at the hands of
vicious Insurgent officers and ignorant soldiers, and ultimately,
having learned by experience that Americans were not the incarnate
fiends which they had been led to expect to find them, they began to
turn to them for help. And the answer of the Insurgent leaders was
everywhere the same,--death. On March 20, 1900, Tinio ordered the
killing of all officials who did not report to the nearest guerilla
commander the movements and plans of the American troops. [104]
It has been claimed that there was no opposition to the Katipúnan
Society, and that the Filipinos everywhere joined it gladly. This
was not the case. At different times there were a number of similar
organizations opposed to it, and most important of these was the
"Guards of Honour." [105] Its members were ruthlessly murdered. On
April 18, 1900, a guerilla chief in Union Province found it necessary
to order that all towns in which members of the "Guards of Honour"
lived should be burned with the property of the members of that
association; that their fathers, mothers, wives and sons should be
beheaded, while the men themselves should receive that punishment
or be shot. All grown men in every town, and the Sandatahan, were
to proceed immediately to aid in the attack upon the Americans and
Guards of Honour under pain of being shot or beheaded. [106]
In July, 1900, General J. Alejandrino ordered:--
"1st. That the Commanders of Columns proclaim as traitors all those
in their respective Zones who in obedience to personal interests or
from weakness under pressure of the enemy, accept civil positions
and they shall be treated as such when they fall into our hands.
"2nd. The commanding officers of columns will concentrate their
forces so as to fall upon the towns where exist individuals who
favour the formation of such unpopular and despotic Governments
and will use every means to arrest the said traitors." [107]
Nowhere is the policy which was being carried out set forth with more
brutal frankness than in the following letter:--
"August 3, 1900.
"This letter is folded in envelope shape and addressed: Sr. Teodoro
Sandico, Colonel, 1st Military Chief of Staff in Santo Domingo.
"My Respected Chief and Dear Brother: I have received your
respected order, regarding the organization of the Committee in
the towns of Zaragosa, Aliaga, and Licab; (Nueva Ecija) from the
movements and actions of these towns, I don't believe it possible
to organize immediately. Before we can, it will be necessary
that four or five lives be taken in each town. I believe that
what ought to be done to those towns is to make a new conquest of
them, especially the town of San Juan de Guimba; it is difficult
there to set straight the Tagálogs and Ilocanos of importance,
as they are badly inclined and they care to do nothing but pervert
our soldiers.
"This is what I am able to inform you, in fulfilment of the
respected order of the Chief.
"God guard you many years.
"San Cristobal, August 3, 1900.
(Signed) "C. Gonzales." [108]
The organization of municipal governments by the Philippine Commission,
in towns north of Manila, especially aroused the ire of Insurgent
leaders, one of whom issued an order declaring traitors all persons
who accepted municipal office under the Americans. [109]
In October, 1900, we find General Vito Belarmino ordering that
Filipinos in Ambos Camarines who accept office under Americans "be
treated as traitors," and that "commanders of columns and detachments
will cause their forces to fall on those pueblos in which there are
individuals who are in favour of the organization of such unpopular
and therefore despotic governments." [110] One Tuason, an American
adherent, is notified that he and two other persons, who are named,
will be shot and their bodies hung on the cathedral tower as a lesson
to the inhabitants. [111]
In La Laguna province Cailles, who was now in command there, found
himself compelled not only to fight the Americans in the field,
but to combat their growing popularity in the towns, and he promptly
inaugurated a reign of terror, ordering the death of any person whom
he considered an undesirable. His victims were shot, bayoneted or
boloed. If they took refuge within the American lines, they were
followed and assassinated. In his book of letters sent, [112] there
appear the names of thirty-one men whom he ordered killed between
August 20, 1900, and April, 1901. Some of these men were described as
highwaymen or assassins, and probably deserved their fate, but others
were classed as "spies" or "traitors," and certainly did not, unless in
this country where it is claimed that Aguinaldo had his people a unit
at his back it was an offence worthy of death to prefer peace and order
under American rule to conditions such as Insurgent rule fostered.
Cailles did not hesitate to report the results of his orders for the
assassination of individuals, giving full and grewsome details. The
following is a sample circular letter on this subject, sent out
by him:--
"To the local Chiefs and Commanders of Columns, of the province:--
"On this date I have received a communication from the Presidente
of Santa Cruz which is as follows:--
"Sr. General: ... I am pleased, much pleased my General, to inform
you with much satisfaction of the end in this world of the villain,
of the great traitor, Salvador Reyes, in the following manner:--
"This morning at 8 o'clock, according to the reports of Srs. Lázaro
Alfonzo and Modesto de los Reyes, who would gladly give their lives
for our honour and glory, your coachman told them that the traitor
was proceeding to the northern part of the town. They followed
him and upon coming to the front of the house and shop of Cabezang
Jacinto Talcon, the aforementioned Sr. Modesto attacked him with
a bolo like a tiger, with all the strength of his body and soul,
hitting by chance his left jaw, when the other, that is to say,
Sr. Lázaro Alfonso, followed the first, catching the traitor by
the throat with his right hand and with the other fired three
pistol shots at him, one of which missed and the other two took
effect in the traitor's shoulder, from the effects of which he
fell like a stone upon his face.
"Lastly, Sr. Modesto stabbed him with a bolo, and upon seeing that
he was dead, took away his revolver, and carrying the traitor by
his belt to Calle de Maria Christina, threw the body down. This was
done in plain daylight and in plain view of everybody...." [113]
"On January 6, 1901, 'the lieutenant-general of the Philippine
Islands' ordered that all persons who disobeyed the orders of
the Katipúnan were to be tried and sentenced. A member of the
organization who found that any person was contemplating taking
action opposed to the purposes of that venerable society was
authorized to kidnap him, and when the Katipúnan laid hold upon
a man he was henceforth seen no more among the living." [114]
The organization of the Federal Party caused an outburst of fury among
the Insurgent leaders beside which that aroused by the organization
of municipal governments was mild.
Throughout the islands the murdering of officers, members and agents
of this party was ordered, and even those who sympathized with its
ends were to be shot.
The following is a sample of the orders sentencing to death the
adherents of this truly patriotic organization:--
"March 22, 1901.
"Señor Emilio Zurbano y Kajigal,
"Lieutenant Colonel and Military Governor of the Province of
Tayabas.
"2nd. In view of the preceding section, the Local Presidentes
and Commanders of the columns of this province, will carefully
watch their respective jurisdictions in order that not one agent
of the enemy nor of the Federal Party, may be secretly able to
obtain any signatures of the residents, they shall seize any one
who may do it and send him to me with all the possible safeguards
for the execution of what is ordered in the foregoing section.
"3rd. All persons who may show themselves to be inclined to the
Federal Party, will also be captured and shot on being arrested
prior to the proceedings and legal formalities, because being
inclined towards this party, is the same as declaring oneself a
traitor to the country.
"4th. The commander of a column or local presidente who shall
tolerate the existence of the Committees of the Federal Party
in his jurisdiction, being able to avoid it, will be tried and
in case he is found guilty, will be discharged from his duty and
will also be shot, as a traitor to his country.
"5th. The presidentes of the popular committees, will furnish
detailed information to the local presidentes and commanders of
columns of persons within the towns occupied by the enemies who
are engaged in the propagation of the Federal Party or in getting
adhesions in any way, either directly or indirectly, to the said
party, and the presidente of the popular committee who may fail
to accomplish so sacred a duty, will also be punished with the
penalty of death.
"6th. When any of the representatives of the federal party, or
any of its adherents cannot be captured on account of remaining
constantly with the enemy or being protected by him, the local
presidentes and commanders of the columns will procure by all
means the execution of the said representative or adherent within
the line of the enemy through persons of known decision and of
patriotism worthy of all commendation.
"7th. All the citizens living in the province of Tayabas who
may be representatives or adherents to the Federal Party, aside
from the criminal liability which he incurs personally, will be
deprived of the benefits of his property, which will be seized
by the Government, who will take charge of the profits of the same.
"8th & last. The Local Presidente of the pueblo in which exists any
Committee of the Federal Party and the Commander of the column to
whose protection the pueblo is entrusted on pain of incurring the
punishment detailed in section third of the present proclamation,
will proceed to the total destruction of the pueblo in which
there is a federalist committee, if, after having been ordered
to disband it, at the expiration of seven days the same continues
in its traitorous and criminal functions.
"Issued at the Military Government, March 22nd, 1901.
"Emilio Zurbano,
"Lieutenant Colonel, Military Governor." [115]
On March 3, 1899, Antonio Luna, general in chief of operations
about Manila, directed that all persons who either directly or
indirectly refused to aid the execution of his military plans were
to be immediately shot without trial. Nothing could have been more
sweeping than was his order, and the commanders of detachments of
insurgents found in it an authoritative statement that the lives and
property of the inhabitants of the Philippines were theirs to do with
as they chose. [116]
Mabini made this vicious and cruel order the subject of bitter protest,
writing to Aguinaldo, on March 6, 1899, a letter in which he says that
Luna has grossly exceeded his powers, and making the very pertinent
inquiry "if an educated man [117] can hardly understand his duties,
how will the uneducated one understand his?" He suggests that it
would be better to remove Luna. [118] It does not appear that this
order was ever modified.
I might furnish many similar data, but enough of orders. Any one
who is not convinced by these extracts from the official Insurgent
records that murder was a duly authorized governmental agency under
the Philippine "Republic" is not amenable to reason or influenced by
incontrovertible facts.
But were these brutal instructions carried out? They were,
indeed, with a ferocity and a cold-blooded barbarity which make one
shudder. Fortunate indeed was the man who was really shot, like the
presidente of Nagcarlan, [119] and it made no difference if innocent
bystanders were wounded or killed as well.
One of the common methods of procedure with victims of "dukut" was
to bury them alive. A number of individuals suffered this fate at
Taytay, near Manila. They were taken out at night, made to kneel
beside graves already dug, hit over the head with an iron bar and
knocked into their last resting places and the earth was shovelled
in on to them. They were confessed by a native priest, and people of
the town were required to stand by and see them meet their end.
An American lawyer who afterward defended some of their murderers
when the latter were apprehended and brought to trial, told me that
among other grewsome details furnished by his clients, who shamelessly
admitted to him their guilt, were the following:--
A victim who watched the murder of others, while awaiting his turn,
did not want to be struck on the head and begged that as a special
favor the blow from the iron bar be omitted in his case. His request
was granted, whereupon he climbed into his grave, lay down, covered his
face with his handkerchief, and directed his murderers to proceed. I
could cite numerous specific cases in which persons were buried alive,
and will do so if my word is called in question. [120] If not, enough
of this!
Burning alive was occasionally resorted to. [121] More frequently,
the victims had their eyes put out, their tongues cut out, and were
then turned loose to shift for themselves. Justice Johnson, [122] of
the Philippine Supreme Court, has described to me a case in which four
policemen of a town which had received him in a friendly manner, were
served in this way, and the procedure was a comparatively common one.
Taylor gives the following account of certain incidents which occurred
in Ilocos Sur:--
"On page 154 is a record of part of the murders of a body of men
in the town of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur Province, who, in July, 1900,
calling themselves 'Sandatahan,' appointed a chief executioner,
assistant executioners and a requisite number of grave-diggers,
and then, with set purpose, proceeded to assassinate all persons
who manifested reluctance to join them or to contribute to their
support or to the support of the insurgents in the hills whom
their leader claimed they were serving. They operated secretly at
night, the leaders usually selecting their victims one at a time;
and when they were secured they were conducted to a lonely beach
covered with tall grass where the grave-digger had already dug
the requisite number of graves and where the executioners were
already assembled. There in the presence of the assembled band,
men and women, bound and helpless, were placed upon the brinks of
their opened graves, their bodies were run through with swords and
bolos and then buried. The band then dispersed, each man going to
his own home. These operations were continued with industrious
persistency through two months or more until the lengthening
row of graves reached, in the language of one of the witnesses,
'about thirty, more or less.'" [123]
The Insurgent leaders themselves reported in a most businesslike manner
their orders for assassination and the results of their activities
in this direction.
The following are sample communications of this sort:
"Headquarters Camp No. 6.
"Tierra Libre (Free Soil), Saluyan (Laguna Province)
"November 18th, 1900.
"General Juan Cailles,
"Military Governor of La Laguna:
"In Nagcarlang it appears that there will be soon a spy, one Juan,
a native of Biñang, for he has already commenced to disobey the
committee, and so I with much prudence have ordered his eternal
rest. The inhabitants have left the town and no one will serve
either as barber or laundry-man to the Americans.
(Signed) "Julio Infante." [124]
"Proclamation of Lieutenant Colonel Emilio Zurbano,
"Military Governor of Tayabas, To His Fellow-citizens.
"Headquarters and Military Government,
"Tayabas, April 23, 1901.
"Fellow-citizens: The holiness, purity and elevation of purpose of
us who fight for our independence has caused the execution of five
of our fellow-citizens on the 18th instant at five o'clock in the
afternoon. They were shot on the plaza of the town of Sampaloc....
"Vivencio Villarosa, for assassination of eleven foreigners and
for disloyalty; Pedro Cordero, for disloyalty and spying; Remigío
Aviosa, for improper exercise of authority, for many assaults
and robbery in a band; Segundo Granada, for many assaults and
stealing many animals, and Rufino Sabala for being addicted to and
a disseminator of the doctrines of the Federal Party have fallen
on the plaza of Sampaloc at the very moment when the twilight of
the happy triumph of our ideal began to advance over the horizon
of our country until now hidden in clouds of blood. May they rest
in peace.
(Signed) "Emilio Zurbano." [125]
After reporting to his subordinates that the local chief of Bay had,
under his orders, arrested Honorato Quisumbing, an Americanista who
had never served as a spy, and that his captor had killed him when
he called to American troops who were near to help him, Cailles adds:
"His companion was likewise duly executed as a spy and guide for the
enemy. Let us offer up a prayer for their eternal rest." [126]
Blount has made the following statement:--
"I have heard, so far as I now recollect, of comparatively
few barbarities perpetrated by Filipinos on captured American
soldiers. Barbarities on their side seemed to have been reserved
for those of their own race whom they found disloyal to the cause
of their country." [127]
One may well doubt whether he himself wrote the book which goes
under his name, for in it he is made constantly to contradict
himself. Relative to this matter he has also said:--
"He [128] can never forget the magnificent dash back into the
wide, ugly, swollen stream, made by Captain Edward L. King of
General Lawton's staff, as he spurred his horse in, followed
by several troopers who had responded to his call for mounted
volunteers to accompany him in an effort to save the lives of the
men who went down. Their generous work proved futile. But it was
inspired partly by common dread of what they knew would happen to
any half-drowned soldier who might be washed ashore far away from
the column and captured. If an army was ever 'in enemy's country,'
it was then and there." [129]
As a matter of fact, not only did the Insurgents repeatedly torture
and murder American prisoners, but they poisoned soldiers. Lucban and
others directed that this should be done, described the procedure to
be followed, and furnished the poison. [130]
Directions for poisoning soldiers were included in a letter written on
August 21, 1900, to the Brigadier General Superior Military Commander
of the Province of Leyte as follows:--
"It would also be well, in my humble opinion, for you to find out
from the old men and quack doctors the kind of poison that can
be mixed in alcoholic drinks and in cocoanut wine (tuba), as our
enemies now drink these liquors; and after this poison has been
known and tried, let it be used in such a way as to undermine the
constitution of the man, until some day death occurs; for which
purpose you ought to have persons, wherever there are Americans,
to poison them. These things are now being done in Luzón, Cebu
and Panay.
"There is a tree here in the province whose leaves inflame the
body of a man considerably, once applied; for I have seen about
Manila the leaves converted into powder, rolled in pellets of
paper and shot in the faces of Americans. This causes the parts
to swell and become completely useless; and I believe it would be
well to do this within the towns, and especially to the drunkards
asleep along the roads and to the fellows making love." [131]
Various other orders for the poisoning of soldiers or the use of
poisoned arrows or spears were issued. [132] Furthermore, they were
faithfully carried out, [133] and the results were duly reported.
The murder of sentries and of soldiers who straggled was often ordered,
practised and reported. [134]
As damnable as any of these horrible documents was the order of
General Antonio Luna for the massacre of all Americans, foreigners and
"disloyal" Filipinos in Manila.
Blount has alleged that Taylor "obtained no evidence convincing to
him," relative to the authorship of this order [135] and that "a like
investigation by General MacArthur in 1901 had a like result." Whether
he is ignorant of the facts as to the authentication of the authorship
of this very important document, or chooses to ignore them, I do
not know. Taylor in the end conclusively settled the matter, and
so reported. Luna's order, [136] which was issued on February 7,
1899, provided for the massacre of all Americans and foreigners
in Manila. The lives of Filipinos only were to be respected. All
others, of whatsoever race, were to be given no quarter, but were to
be exterminated, "thus proving to foreign countries that America is
not capable of maintaining order or defending any of the interests
which she has undertaken to defend."
This effort to massacre all white persons in the city fell through,
partly because the plan leaked out, and partly because Cavite
Insurgent soldiers did not obey orders.
I consider it important that the authenticity of this
much-discussed order should be placed beyond reasonable doubt,
and so give Taylor's findings in full. He says:--
"A synopsis of this order was telegraphed to Washington by General
Otis on February 21st, 1899, as having been 'issued by an important
officer of the insurgent government at Malolos, February 15th,
1899, for execution during the evening and night in this city'
of Manila. Page 157, Senate Document 208, Fifty-sixth Congress,
First Session. On March 2, 1901, a Senate resolution called for all
information in the possession of the Secretary of War 'relating to,
or tending to show, the authenticity and genuineness of the alleged
order for the massacre of the foreign residents of Manila, P. I.,
on the evening and night of February 15, 1899;' and, further,
whether the original of that order was or ever had been in the
possession of the War Department, and whether it had ever been
seen by such a person. This order required a search in Manila,
which was made. As a result of this it was ascertained that
the synopsis which was telegraphed by General Otis was brought
to Maj. F. C. Bourns, [137] an officer of the provost marshal
general's office, by a rather prominent Filipino [138] who had
given a good deal of information which on the whole had proved
to be correct. He stated that the paper which he handed him was
a copy of the original which had just been sent to officers of
the bolo organization, the sandatahan, of Manila, but that he
had not time to copy the whole of it; yet as far as it went the
paper was an exact copy of the original order, which was signed
by Sandico. Major Bourns said that at the time the paper was
received there was no reason to doubt 'the man's statement that
it was an exact copy of the original order, for we knew that some
such order was under consideration, that this bolo organization
existed, and it was under the orders of Sandico, who, in turn,
was entirely under the influence of Luna. Since my return to the
Philippines, however, several little things have occurred which
have caused me to question whether or not the paper was an exact
copy of the original order. That in the main it was correct,
I do not doubt; but I am just a little inclined to think the man
may have "stretched" things a little.'
"The search was continued, and finally one of the original orders,
a translation of which immediately precedes this note, was produced
by Dr. Manuel Xeres y Burgos who was then a surgeon employed in
the Bilibid prison in Manila and who had been an officer in the
territorial militia of that city. Doctor Burgos wrote in July,
1901, to Colonel Crowder, military secretary to the Military
governor of the Philippines, that if he gave him all the details
in regard to the means he had employed in obtaining the document,
it would require many sheets of paper, and the story would seem
like a novel to those who only superficially knew the customs of
the Philippines. He said that 'a few days after the beginning
of hostilities we were given to read an order of a mysterious
character; we were not allowed to take a copy thereof or to keep it
in our possession, probably from fear of some treachery. However
the bearer told me that several copies had been made which were
to be sent to all the districts in which the "Filipino militia"
had been distributed. The chief of the latter were the men called
upon to execute said order. You know that, thank God, it was not
executed, not only through lack of arms, but also because most of
the chiefs who were in Manila felt a repugnance to execute such a
barbarous and foolish order, which, had it been attempted, would
have been the cause of the extermination of all the Filipinos
who were within the American lines as a just reprisal for such
an atrocious order.
"'Luckily, not only the savage measure prescribed was never carried
into execution, but it was impossible to attack the American army,
the men who had been detailed to do it in Manila having only a few
hundred bolos as arms, and the chiefs of the militia understood
that with such arms they could not think of resisting the rifles
and cannon of the Americans.
"'Up to the middle of April, 1899, several Filipinos who came
from the lines declared that General Luna had sentenced us to
death for having disobeyed that terrible order. We were 14 who
were considered as traitors to our country, and we were precisely
those who had worked for the release of the prisoners in whom we
had the greatest confidence, answering for them to the authorities
and exposing ourselves to get into trouble if they had broken
their word.
"'We had decided to collect all papers which referred to certain
facts, in order to show some day who were those who had lent
real services to the country, and we resolved to try and find
the document which was the principal cause of the danger which
had threatened us at that time.
"'We would have had the paper in our possession since August last
if it had not been for the terror inspired by the secret police
with its unjustified arrests, and our emissaries fled from Manila
and did not come back until after the end of the persecution.
"'On the 25th of February, 1901, our friend Benito Albey, who had
been lieutenant of the militia and had distinguished himself in
the war against Spain, began, on our advice, a new investigation,
which was crowned with success.
"'The document was found among the baggage left by Colonel Leyba
to Teodoro de los Santos at Malolos, and which the latter had
remitted to a certain Tolo Quesada at Alava, Pangasinán.
"'I am sincerely happy that said document, which is the clear
proof of General Luna's iniquitous methods, should have been
found so that it may serve as a voucher to the thoroughness of
General Otis' investigations; although I would have liked to keep
it among my papers, I have more satisfaction to be useful to the
American General, who has obtained the sympathy of the Filipinos
by his kind treatment.
"'And I hope, General Crowder, that you will say as much to
General Otis, as I wish him to know that there are Filipinos who
have kept a grateful recollection of him, and that all Filipinos
are not ungrateful.
"'Very respectfully,
"'Manuel Xeres Burgos.
"'General Crowder.'
"On June 30, 1901, the original of this order, signed by Luna and
produced by Burgos, was shown to Aguinaldo, who, after examining
it, stated that the signature was that of General Antonio Luna,
with which he was well acquainted. He furthermore stated that
he had no personal knowledge of such an order, and had hitherto
been unaware of its existence. He was then asked whether General
Luna's authority, as Director of War, was of sufficient scope to
authorize him to issue such an order without express authority
from the insurgent government. He declined to answer this question.
"A photographic reproduction of the original of the order of Luna,
dated February 7, 1899, a printed copy in Spanish, the translation
which preceded this note, and the correspondence upon which the
foregoing statement is based, is given beginning on page 1903,
Senate Document No. 331, part 2, Fifty-seventh Congress, First
Session, 'Hearings before the Committee on the Philippines of
the United States Senate.'
"There does not seem to me to be the slightest reason for doubting
the authenticity of this order. It was an atrocious one, but that
argument is not sufficient to prove that the order delivered up
by Dr. Burgos was a forgery in whole or in part.
"The facts of the case seem to me to be the following: In
January, 1899, Doctor Burgos was employed in Bilibid prison by the
Americans, and as an officer of Sandatahan was deep in the plotting
for a general massacre of the foreigners in Manila. Sometime that
month he wrote to Aguinaldo that the uprising in Manila should
begin in Bilibid prison, and that the Sandatahan should be posted
on San Pedro street and the adjacent thoroughfares in preparation
for an attack upon the Zorilla theatre, where the Pennsylvania
regiment was quartered across the way from the prison (Exhibit
349). His suggestion was adopted as part of the plan for the
uprising. Burgos, like the majority of the Filipinos in Manila,
believed that Aguinaldo would win, and was doing what he could
to aid his cause, but without giving up his position under the
American government. The plan embodied in Luna's order was to be
carried out as part of the attack upon Manila; but that attack
was delivered prematurely, and it was found impossible to carry
out the uprising in Manila which was to have preceded the attack
upon the American lines. After February 5, 1899, the majority
of the Filipinos in Manila ceased to believe that Aguinaldo was
going to beat the Americans, and Burgos, who was known to have
taken part in the movement in Manila headed by Sandico, found it
expedient to ward off any investigation of his conduct by giving
information. He wanted to stay out of prison, and he wanted to
remain surgeon of Bilibid prison. He was well aware that Sandico
was known by the Americans to have organized bodies of sandatahan
in Manila, and he therefore delivered to the provost marshal
general a partial copy of Luna's order which, if it was not then
in his possession, he had seen; and he saw no reason for telling
more than seemed expedient for the attainment of his immediate
purpose, he said that it had been issued by Sandico, who he well
knew the Americans would believe was the man most likely to have
issued it. He naturally desired to avoid having to make too many
explanations. In 1901, Luna being dead, and Burgos being safe
from his vengeance, he found no great difficulty in delivering
up the original document, which was probably, as he said, in the
papers of Colonel Leyba, or Leiva, a native of Manila whose family
lived there and whose house had probably been a centre of insurgent
intrigue. In 1899 or 1900 Colonel Leyba, a trusted and confidential
aid of Aguinaldo, had been murdered by 'The Guards of Honour'
in Pangasinán Province, and Burgos seems to have had access to
his papers. This, at least to me, seems a plausible explanation
of the incomplete form in which this first order appeared, and
why it appeared at all. It is true that I have found no record of
it among the record-books kept at Malolos; but this order was not
of a character to be written out in full in any letter-sent book;
and, furthermore, the record-books of the government at Malolos
show that almost no records were kept there for a week after the
outbreak of hostilities. The clerks and officials were probably
busy in preparing to defend the place against an advance of the
Americans, whom they had hitherto looked upon with contempt.
"John R. Taylor." [139]
In reality there was nothing novel about the issuing of such an order
in the Philippines.
Alfonso Ocampo, who was to have led the attack in an attempt to
massacre all Spaniards in Cavite at the outbreak of the revolt of 1896,
testified as follows concerning the proposed movement:--
"It was to be carried out in conjunction with the towns of Imus
and others of the province; the people were to enter by the Porta
Vaga (the main gate of Cavite) and uniting into groups, were
to assault, kill and rob all the Spaniards. The deponent was in
charge of this affair. The jailer of the prison was to distribute
daggers among the prisoners and then release them. When the plot
was discovered, some of these arms had been distributed. The
object of the rebellion was to assassinate all the Spaniards,
then to rape the women, and cut their throats, as well as those
of their children, even the smallest." [140]
On June 26, 1896, there was issued an order for an uprising in Manila,
which contained the following provisions, among others:--
"Fourth. While the attack is being made on the Captain-General
and other Spanish authorities, the men who are loyal will attack
the convents and behead their infamous inhabitants. As for the
riches contained in said convents, they will be taken over by
the commissioners appointed by this G. R. Log. for the purpose,
and, none of our brothers will be permitted to take possession of
that which justly belongs to the treasury of the G. N. F. [Grand
Philippine Nation?--Tr.].
"Fifth. Those who violate the provisions of the preceding paragraph
will be considered malefactors, and will be subjected to exemplary
punishment by this G. R. Log. [Grand Regional Lodge?].
"Sixth. On the following day the brothers designated will bury the
bodies of all the hateful oppressors, in the field of Bagumbayan,
as well as those of their wives and children. Later a monument
commemorating the independence of the G. N. F. (Grand Philippine
Nation?) will be erected on that site.
"Seventh. The bodies of the friars will not be buried, but will
be burned in just payment for the crimes which during their lives
they committed against the noble Filipinos, for three centuries
of hateful domination." [141]
As much is said, in the very numerous orders for assassinations,
of trials by courts of most summary procedure, especial importance
attaches to Taylor's statement that there is an almost complete absence
of records of trials or legal proceedings among the two hundred and
fifty thousand documents on which his work was based. He says that
"there are probably less than twenty-five records of trials among
these papers, and not above one or two records of military courts of
summary procedure. Law was the will of the official who would force
obedience to his desire. If he wanted to kill he killed." [142]
General MacArthur is credited by Blount with the following statement:--
"The cohesion of Filipino society in behalf of insurgent
interests is most emphatically illustrated by the fact that
assassination, which was extensively employed, was generally
accepted as a legitimate expression of insurgent governmental
authority. The individuals marked for death would not appeal to
American protection, although condemned exclusively on account
of supposed pro-Americanism." [143]
As a matter of fact, plenty of people appealed to the Americans
for protection and got it. I have seen document after document each
recommending some individual to American officers everywhere as worthy
of protection, and as needing it on account of services rendered to
Americans. Relative to this matter, Taylor says:--
"Among the papers of the insurgents there are a few letters
to American officers asking for protection against the
insurgents. They represent a protest against conditions which
were rapidly becoming unbearable; but most of them must have
been sent without copies, for in case they fell into the hands
of the guerillas they would have served as death warrants for
the men who signed them. From early in 1900, they were much
more frequent all over the archipelago than the number which
have survived, either in the official records of the American
army in the Philippines, or among the papers of the insurgents,
would lead the investigator to believe. Those which were sent to
the commanders of American detachments were not kept as a rule,
for a small detachment has few records. As early as March, 1900,
the head of the town of Passi, Panay, asked American protection
against robbers and insurgents." [144]
General MacArthur had a fixed idea that all Filipinos were against us,
but he was wrong. [145]
In very many cases our efforts to furnish protection were necessarily
futile. It is easy enough to protect a town from an open attack. It
is often excessively difficult to protect an individual against an
assassin who proffers him one hand in assumed friendship and stabs
him with the other.
We shall never know how many men were murdered in accordance with
the orders which I have cited, and other similar ones.
On February 10, 1900, General P. García wrote to General Isidoro
Torres advising him to inform the inhabitants of Bulacan, among
whom it was understood that the Americans were about to establish
municipal governments, "of what occurred in the Island of Negros
where two hundred men have been shot and forty more have been cast
into the water for having accepted the American sovereignty, and
because they were suspected of not being adherents of the cause of
the independence of our country." [146]
In reviewing the sentence of the Taytay murderers, General Adna
R. Chaffee, who, as the ranking military officer in the Philippines,
was closely in touch with the situation, made the following
statement:--
"The number of peaceful men who have been murdered in these
islands at the instigation of the chiefs, while impracticable of
exact determination, is yet known to be so great that to recount
them would constitute one of the most horrible chapters in human
history. With respect to these chiefs, the commanding general
has, therefore, no other recourse than to invoke the unrelenting
execution of the law upon them and to appeal to the intelligent
and educated among the Filipino people to aid him by renewed
efforts to end a reign of terror of which their own people are
the helpless victims." [147]
Taylor has made the following summary of the facts:--
"The justice of the United States was slow in its course;
witnesses had to be examined, and before a notorious criminal
could be punished it had to be proved that he had committed some
particular crime. Unless the crime was proved to the satisfaction
of a military commission by witnesses, the greater part of whose
testimony had to be translated into English from some native
language by an interpreter, who was almost never an American,
the man whom a whole village knew to be an assassin would escape
punishment and would return to avenge himself upon those who
had denounced him. The justice of Aguinaldo was a different
matter. The Americans might hang for murder, but he would bury
alive for serving them. The Americans might send a man to prison
for burning a town, only to release him when an error was found in
the proceedings. There were no errors in the proceedings of the
guerillas. There was usually no summoning of witnesses, no slow
taking of testimony and no careful search for laches which would
invalidate the finding of the court and inure to the benefit of
the accused. It was sufficient for some native to be denounced
as in the employment of the Americans, or as an agent, or as a
civil officer under the United States, for a summons to be issued
for his appearance before a court of summary procedure, which
was a court in name only; or for a mandate to be sent ordering
that 'the serviceable method of dukut was to be employed in his
case.' That meant that he was kidnapped and murdered, usually
after a priest had received his confession; or that he was sent
back to the town hamstrung and with his tongue out, as a warning
to the people that the justice of Aguinaldo was sharp and that
his arm was long." [148]
The blood of these men cries out against those who would deceive the
American people into believing that the Filipinos were ever united in
loyalty toward the Filipino Republic or the leaders who made murder
a governmental agency in the Philippine Islands.
Most of the men who wrote the orders and perpetrated the acts which
I have cited are alive and active to-day. Were independence granted,
they would rule again the country that they ruled before. Is there any
reason for believing that their warped intelligences have straightened,
or their hard hearts softened? Would the United States care to assume
responsibility for any government which they could set up or would
maintain?
CHAPTER XXVII
THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE
From September 1, 1900, to October 16, 1907, the Philippine Commission
was the sole legislative body. The Act of Congress of July 1,
1902, temporarily providing for the administration of the affairs
of civil government in the Philippine Islands, had provided for the
taking of a census after the insurrection should have ceased and a
condition of general and complete peace should have been certified to
by the commission. It had provided further that two years after the
publication of the census, if such condition of peace had continued in
the territory not inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes,
and was certified to the President by the commission, the President
should direct the commission to call, and the commission should call,
a general election for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly
to be known as the Philippine Assembly, and that after said assembly
should convene and organize all the legislative power theretofore
conferred on the commission in all that part of the islands not
inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes should be vested
in a legislature consisting of two houses, the Philippine Commission
and the Philippine Assembly.
The first of the certificates required of the commission was issued
on September 8, 1902. President Roosevelt on September 23, 1902,
issued an order for the taking of the census.
On March 28, 1905, Governor-General Wright proclaimed the publication
of the census. On March 28, 1907, the commission issued the second
of the certificates required of it. [149]
The following day a cablegram was received from the President directing
the commission to call a general election for the choice of delegates,
and on March 30, 1907, the commission adopted the necessary resolution
calling such election to be held on July 30, 1907, in accordance with
an election law previously passed on January 9 of the same year. This
law provided for eighty-one delegates proportioned among thirty-five
provinces according to population, except that each province entitled
to representation was allotted at least one delegate, no matter how
few people it might have. Cebú, the most populous of all, was given
seven. The Mountain Province, the Moro Province, Nueva Vizcaya and
Agusan were left without representation because of the predominance of
Moros or other non-Christians among their people. On April 1, 1907,
the governor-general issued a proclamation embodying the resolution
of the commission.
The election was duly held, and on October 16, 1907, the first session
of the Philippine Legislature was opened, under authority of the
President, by Mr. Taft, then secretary of war, who had returned to
the Islands for this and other purposes.
The action of the commission in issuing its second certificate has
been criticized on account of conditions which arose subsequent to
the publication of the census, in Cavite, La Laguna and Samar. These
conditions were referred to in the commission resolution. There was no
desire to conceal or misrepresent them. As we have already seen, the
trouble in Samar was stirred up by abuses among the hill people. It
has been claimed that they were not members of any non-Christian
tribe. There are a limited number of genuine wild people in Samar,
but the great majority of the so-called pulájanes were in reality
remontados [150] or the descendants of remontados.
In La Laguna and Cavite disorder caused by wandering ladrone bands
at one time had become so serious that it was deemed advisable
temporarily to suspend the writ of habeaus corpus and to authorize the
reconcentration of the law-abiding inhabitants of certain regions to
the end that they might be adequately protected and to make it easier
to distinguish between good citizens, and thieves and murderers.
Whether these occurrences were or were not to be considered as of such
a nature as to render it impossible to certify that a condition of
"general and complete peace, with recognition of the authority of the
United States" had continued to exist in the Philippine territory not
occupied by Moros or other non-Christians, was a matter of judgment,
and the commission exercised the best judgment it possessed.
During the Spanish days ladronism had always been rampant, affecting
every province in the islands and being especially bad in the
immediate vicinity of Manila. When we issued our certificate we had
little hope of promptly ridding the archipelago of ladrones, as has
since been done. On the contrary we expected that a certain amount
of ladronism would continue for many years. We did not think that it
should be considered public disorder within the meaning of the act of
Congress. Furthermore, we were all anxious to encourage the Filipinos
and to give them a chance to show what they could do. I for one hoped
that by this act of liberality we might win the good-will, and secure
the real coöperation, of many of the Filipino politicians. It is always
easy to look back and see one's mistakes. I now know that nothing could
have been more futile than the hope of gaining the good-will of the
men with whom we were dealing by any concessions whatsoever, yet the
attempt was worth making. It is the wild men in the hills and the good
old taos [151] in the lowland plains who appreciate and are grateful
for fair treatment when they realize that they are receiving it.
The politicians of the present day are a hungry lot. The more they
are fed, the more their appetites grow, and the wider their voracious
maws open. Most of them are without gratitude or appreciation, and
regard concessions as evidences of weakness on the part of those who
grant them. Philippine officials and lawmakers might as well make
up their minds to do what is right because it is right, and let it
go at that. By the same token they should refrain from doing what is
questionable in the hope that the good-will resulting will more than
counterbalance the possible evil effect of doubtful measures.
It cannot be denied that the issuance by the commission of its
certificate of March 30, 1907, was a somewhat doubtful measure,
involving a rather strained construction of the words "general and
complete peace, with recognition of the authority of the United States"
in the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902. I am now firmly of the opinion
that in thus giving the Filipinos the benefit of the doubt we erred,
with the result that the Philippine Assembly came at least ten years
too soon. Its creation in 1907 has resulted in imposing a heavy
financial burden on the country for which there has been no adequate
compensating return.
In the Philippine Legislature neither house enjoys any special
privileges, and either may originate any bill which the legislature is
authorized to pass. The assembly has been characterized as "a harmless
little debating society" and the government of the Philippines has been
called "a toy government" because it was claimed that no real powers
were given to the lower house. The commission has exclusive power to
legislate for certain non-Christian territory. In all other legislative
matters the assembly and the commission have equal power. The passage
of legislation requires affirmative action by both houses, a condition
which is certainly sufficiently common in legislative bodies composed
of two houses, and one that does not ordinarily evoke criticism.
Of late the assembly has claimed for itself the exclusive right to
initiate appropriation bills, but there is not a vestige of legal
authority for such a claim, and even the so-called "Jones Bill" does
not confer such right on the lower house. It shares, with the upper
house, one power of deadly effectiveness. It can prevent legislation
on any subject whatsoever. It has not hesitated to employ this power,
when occasion arose, to obstruct the passage of many important and
desirable measures, either in the hope of being able in the end
to make a trade and thus securing the passage of acts of more than
doubtful utility, or because of a purpose to prevent the enactment
of laws dealing with the matters in question.
The most striking instance of the blocking of important legislation
by the assembly is afforded by its action in tabling four anti-slavery
acts passed by the commission at successive legislative sessions. This
matter has already been fully discussed. [152]
The history of the Cadastral Survey Act affords an example of the
holding up by the assembly of a measure of undoubted and undenied
utility in order to attempt to force the passage of positively
vicious acts.
The case of the would-be landowner who has occupied land for years
under such conditions that he could have completed an unperfected
title to it, and who finally desires for one reason or another to do
so, has been a rather hard one, as the cost of the necessary survey
is chargeable to him and when a survey party has to be sent a long
distance to measure a little tract of land the ratio of such cost
to the value of the land is often very high. Cost of surveys can be
materially reduced if all the privately owned land parcels in a given
area are surveyed consecutively, and this procedure has the further
great advantage of effectively delimitating the public domain in the
area in question.
In the interest of small property owners, advantage has been taken
of provisions of the Public Land Act which make it possible to
compel the survey of private lands under certain conditions in
cases of doubt as to ownership. As soon as the people concerned
could be made to understand our object in doing this they became
enthusiastic about it, but the legal procedure authorized was by
no means adequate or satisfactory, and there was great need of
the passage of a carefully drafted Cadastral Survey Act providing
the necessary legal machinery for accomplishing the desired end
with the least possible delay and at the lowest possible expense,
and providing further for the distribution of such expense between
the insular, provincial and municipal governments and the property
owners. All are interested parties, the insular government because
it learns what land in a given region belongs to the public domain;
the provincial and municipal governments because the collection of
taxes is facilitated, and accurate maps of towns and barrios are made.
Such an act was passed by the commission. It was clearly and
indisputably designed expressly for the benefit of poor Filipinos. No
legitimate objection could be made to it. The treatment accorded it by
the Philippine Assembly conclusively demonstrates the irresponsibility
of that body, and its unfitness to deal with great questions which
vitally affect the common people. Realizing that the commission, and
especially the governor-general, were earnestly desirous of securing
its passage, the assembly refused to pass it. It was duly reintroduced
at the next session of the legislature.
I was a member of the commission conference committee appointed
to meet a similar committee from the assembly and discuss it. The
assembly committee informed us at the outset that a sine qua non
for the discussion of the bill was that we should agree to an
amendment which would admit, without examination, to the work of
making public land surveys Filipino so-called surveyors, known to
be utterly incompetent, who could not make correct surveys under the
most favourable circumstances. But this was not all. It was generally
understood that an additional requirement was to be an amendment to
the Judiciary Act providing for a number of new judges. The commission
committee believed that they were unnecessary, and were asked for with
a view to making places for political appointees. Needless to say, the
Cadastral Survey Act failed in conference. In the session of 1912-1913
it finally passed, with practically all of these objectionable
features eliminated, but it is at present much less useful than it
might be for the reason that an act amending the Judiciary Act so as
to provide more judges in the Court of Land Registration, where they
are badly needed, instead of for courts of first instance, where no
such necessity exists, was killed in the assembly.
As it will take the Court of Land Registration something like three
years to finish hearing the cases already in hand, the preparation
of a large additional number for it, as a result of the application
of the Cadastral Act, will not materially help the present situation
unless the number of its judges is increased. There is reason to
fear that future attempts to bring this about will be met by demands
that there be more judges of first instance, and that they be given
jurisdiction in land cases, which should be decided by specially
trained and qualified men.
One who examined only the laws actually passed by the legislature
might gain the impression that the assembly had done good work. It
should be remembered that 312 acts passed by that body have been
disapproved by the commission. Had they become laws there would have
been a very different story to tell. One hundred and seven acts
passed by the commission have been disapproved by the assembly. A
careful study of these two groups of acts will be found worth while,
but in order to make the picture complete it should be supplemented
by detailed consideration of the amendments to assembly bills made
by the commission before they have been passed, which have sometimes
involved the striking out of everything after title, and the insertion
of practically new provisions. It should further be remembered
that many really good measures, which have apparently originated
as assembly bills, have been drafted by members of the commission,
or under their direction, and then first presented in the assembly
in order to facilitate their passage.
Had some one of the several gentlemen who have made brief visits to
the Philippines and then expressed their views as to the fitness of
the Filipinos for early independence devoted himself to the line of
study above outlined, he would have gained valuable information on
their present fitness to legislate, and we should perhaps now be
profiting by the practical results of an experiment already made,
instead of embarking on a new and dangerous one.
I cannot here do more than briefly call attention to the nature
of a few of the bills killed by the commission and the assembly
respectively. For convenience of reference, I refer to these bills
by session and number.
FIRST LEGISLATURE
Inaugural Session
Assembly Bill 117 was "An Act to extend the period within which
provincial boards organized under the Provincial Government Act may
remit the collection of the land tax in their respective provinces."
This was the first of a very long series of assembly measures designed
to abolish or reduce existing taxes, or indefinitely to postpone the
time for their collection. Provincial boards, with a majority of their
members elective, were very amenable to influence in the matter of
"postponing" the collection of the land tax.
The per capita rate of taxation is lower in the Philippines than in
any other civilized country. Money is badly needed for education,
health work and the improvement of means of communication, and all
of these measures were ill-advised.
First Session and Special Session of 1908
Assembly Bill 23 provided for the appointment of jurors in courts
of first instance and justice of the peace courts. Under it the
provincial boards were to select the eligibles from a list of names
submitted by the municipal councils of the provincial capitals. This
would in effect have put the administration of justice in the hands
of the political party in power.
Assembly Bill 104 was entitled "An Act amending Act numbered fifteen
hundred and thirty-seven of the Philippine Commission on horse-races
in the Philippine Islands."
Gambling is the besetting sin of the Filipinos, and in the city
of Manila gambling in connection with horse racing had grown to be
such a scandal that the commission had been compelled to take action
limiting the days on which it was permitted to legal holidays and
one Sunday per month. The evil had reached large dimensions. Several
race-tracks were maintained in one small city, and the money that
went through the totalizer, or gambling machine, had reached the
enormous sum of $3,500,000 per year. Even poorly paid clerks were
leaving their work to bet on the races, and then stealing in order to
recoup themselves for their losses. The morals of the community were
being rapidly undermined. The act passed by the commission interfered
with the business of conducting daily crooked races. It certainly
left plenty of opportunity to indulge in horse-racing as a legitimate
sport. The amendment proposed by the assembly permitted horse-racing
on all Sundays, on three days prior to Lent and on all legal holidays
except Memorial Day, Rizal Day and Thursday and Friday of Holy Week. If
passed it would have protected certain vicious interests and opened
the way to a prompt extension of the gambling business.
Assembly Bill 134 reduced the tax on distilled intoxicating liquors
one-fourth. The tax was already low. The rate proposed by the assembly
was a concession to the demand of powerful interests and its attitude
was worthy of severe condemnation.
Assembly Bill 136 abolished provincial boards of health, substituted
therefor district health officers and took important powers away from
the director of health and gave them to provincial boards. Substantial
progress had been made in improving provincial sanitary conditions
through provincial boards of health, under the control of the director
of health. As was to be anticipated in a country like the Philippines,
many necessary health measures were unpopular. This bill, vitally
affecting one of the most imperative needs of the islands, would if
concurred in by the commission have resulted in widespread disaster.
Assembly Bill 148 provided for the teaching of the local native
dialects in the public schools. This would have had the effect of doing
away with the teaching of English, or preventing its inauguration,
in many places; would have emphasized and perpetuated the different
native dialects; would have helped to keep the people speaking these
several dialects apart, and would thus seriously have hampered progress
toward national unity. One of the most important and useful things
that the American government is doing is to generalize the knowledge
of the English language, which not only gives the several peoples
of the archipelago a common means of communication, but opens up new
fields of knowledge to them and makes it easy for them to travel. Even
during the days of the Filipino "republic" Mabini advocated making
English the official language. [153]
Assembly Bill 197 abolished the Bureau of Civil Service and organized
in its stead a division attached to the Bureau of Audits. This bill,
ostensibly an economy measure, was designed to minimize the usefulness
of one of the most important bureaus of the government. In the early
days of the American régime Filipinos who had served the government
were often deeply offended that appointments were not given to members
of their families or to their near relatives, absolutely irrespective
of their fitness for office. Naturally they disapproved of the civil
service law when they found that it prevented such appointments.
Second Session
Assembly Bill 201 prohibited the employment of foreigners as engineers
or as assistant engineers on vessels in the Philippine Islands. There
were at this time an extremely limited number of Filipinos capable of
filling such positions, which were largely held by Spaniards and other
Europeans who had married native women and had lived in the islands
for years. This measure would have crippled shipping companies and
would have been a grave injustice to the men above referred to.
Assembly Bill 278, which heavily reduced taxes on distilled spirits and
cigarettes, was another attempt to make concessions to certain large
tobacco and liquor interests, which could perfectly well afford to
pay at the rates then prescribed. It would have decreased the annual
insular revenues about $1,000,000 at a time when it was anticipated
that free trade with the United States, resulting from the passage
of the Payne Bill, would greatly reduce customs duties. Such a loss
would seriously have crippled the administration of the islands.
Assembly Bill 352 exempted all uncultivated land, except land
in Manila, from the payment of the land tax for a period of five
years. The excuse given for its passage was the alleged lack of
draft animals. Its real purpose was to exempt valuable property
from taxation. It would have encouraged the continued holding of
great tracts of uncultivated land and was in the interest of large
landowners whose land taxes were likely to be burdensome if they did
not come to a reasonable agreement with their tenants and bring their
holdings under cultivation.
Assembly Bill 360, "specifying the responsibility in a publication
and amending certain sections of the existing libel law," would have
rendered that law abortive by making it possible for a newspaper to
employ as a "libel editor" some irresponsible person who would be
glad to go to jail upon occasion for a consideration.
The Philippines has a fairly good libel law and it was imperatively
needed, for in oriental countries especially, the tendency of a public
press which has been subjected to the strictest censorship is to run
to license when complete liberty suddenly comes.
Assembly Bill 370, creating the new province of Zamboanga, embodied
an attempt on the part of that body to legislate for territory
inhabited by Moros and other non-Christian tribes, over which it had
no jurisdiction. If passed, it would have led to bloodshed between
Moros and Filipinos.
Assembly Bill 433 was an act prohibiting the use of lumber imported
from foreign countries in the construction of public buildings. It
was not then possible to get enough native lumber to erect the public
buildings authorized and needed. The passage of this act under the
circumstances showed lack of business sense.
Assembly Bill 487 provided for compulsory school attendance. It was
so worded as to make it largely inoperative, and if operative it
would have been impracticable, as there were something like 1,200,000
children of school age in the islands and there were neither teachers
enough to instruct them, schoolhouses enough to hold them, nor
funds available with which to pay for new buildings and additional
teachers. Its passage showed lack of business sense.
Assembly Bill 547 amended the so-called "bandolerismo [154] act." Up to
the time of the American occupation brigandage had been a crying evil
throughout the islands. The amendment proposed would not only have
greatly weakened the act under which it had been very successfully
suppressed, but would have turned loose 1156 criminals, many of whom
were desperate and hardened, seriously disturbing the tranquillity of
the country and necessitating the early hunting down of many of them.
Assembly Bill 567 was "An Act empowering the Secretary of Commerce
and Police to make contracts with silk producers, insuring them the
purchase of their silk at a price not to exceed $9 per pound." The
Bureau of Science had conclusively demonstrated the possibility of
establishing a silk industry in the Philippines. This extraordinary
measure would have made it possible for an executive officer to provide
for the expenditure of all the revenues of the government in case of
a great development of the silk industry. Its passage showed lack of
business sense.
Assembly Bill 558 was "An Act to provide for a permanent annual
appropriation of $15,000 to reward the inventor of a steam plough or
any mechanical engineer who shall perfect a ploughing machine." It was
a foolish measure, as there were various successful steam ploughs and
other motor-drawn ploughs then in use, and there was no good reason for
offering a reward for the invention of a thing which already existed.
Assembly Bill 395 was a most extraordinary and dangerous measure. The
Spanish law fixed the age of consent of women at twenty-three, which
is about ten years after the time when young girls in the Philippines
begin to turn their thoughts toward marriage. Whenever a man had
sexual relations with a woman under twenty-three he was liable to
go to jail for rape unless pardoned by the parents, grandparents or
guardian. This provision of law was continually taken advantage of in
blackmailing persons. Suit would be brought and the necessary proof
provided. Pardon would be offered for a consideration. The crime
was known as a private crime, not a crime against the public. The
commission had amended the Penal Code, making it a public crime so
that once complaint was made no pardon on the part of the interested
persons could stop the proceedings. There had been a consequent
noticeable falling off in the number of cases brought for the purpose
of extorting money. Assembly Bill 395 was designed to change this state
of affairs and restore the old conditions. It was a vicious measure.
Special Session 1910
Assembly Bill 396 authorized the use of certain kinds of sledges on
improved roads, although it had been abundantly demonstrated that
they were veritable road destroyers. The commission had passed a law
prohibiting their use and the natives had been compelled to substitute
for them carts with wide-tired wheels that turned freely on their
axles, and improved the roads instead of ruining them. This bill was
an effort to authorize a return to the road-wrecking practices which
had previously prevailed.
Assembly Bill 481, "An Act prohibiting the admittance of women and of
minors under eighteen years of age into cock-pits established in the
Philippine Islands," was a measure encouraging vice, masquerading in
the guise of a reform. By inference it permitted the entrance of women
and minors more than 18 years of age to cock-pits for the purpose of
gambling, and it provided that women and minors could go as sightseers!
Assembly Bill 491 authorized certain classes of people to have firearms
irrespective of their individual characteristics. The presence of
firearms in the hands of irresponsible people had been a source of
great trouble and the granting of gun licenses was then restricted to
persons in whom the government had entire confidence. This had been
an important factor in suppressing brigandage and highway robbery,
and the proposed change in the law was highly undesirable.
Second Session
Assembly Bill 141, "An Act repealing the last paragraph of Act
Numbered 1979," took away from the governor-general authority to
approve suspension of the additional cedula tax for road purposes,
and gave it to provincial boards. The need of improved highways
was very great as the inadequate system which had existed under the
Spanish régime had gone to pieces during the war. A comprehensive
plan of highways for the islands had been worked out and was being
put into effect as rapidly as possible. This act would have allowed
provincial boards to determine whether funds should be collected for
road construction and maintenance, thus bringing this fundamentally
important question into the domain of local politics.
Assembly Bill 168 provided that "the Spanish language shall continue
to be the official language of the courts until such time as the
Philippine Legislature shall provide otherwise."
The reasons why the generalization of English was desirable in the
Philippines have already been stated. Under then-existing provisions
of law it was to become the official language of the courts in
1913. Assembly Bill 168 would have had the effect of leaving Spanish
the official court language for an indefinite time, thus discouraging
the use of English and discriminating against young lawyers who had
made every effort to obtain a good knowledge of it because of its
supposed certainty of usefulness to them.
A novel and objectionable feature of Assembly Bill 947, which
appropriated $375,000 for the construction of roads and bridges,
was that it made executive action of the secretary of commerce and
police subject to the approval of a committee of the legislature.
First and Special Sessions of 1913
Assembly Bill 91 was "An Act prohibiting the exhibition of inhabitants
of the non-Christian tribes, and establishing penalties for its
violation."
This act grew out of the desire of the assembly to conceal the fact
of the existence of wild peoples in the Philippines. It prohibited
the publication of indecent photographs of non-Christians, and the
appearance at any fair or carnival of a member of a non-Christian
tribe clothed in such a manner as to offend against public morals. The
commission committee which had this Act under advisement stated,
as a part of their report on it, that:--
"It is obvious that no indecent or immoral picture should be
published, irrespective of whether the person or persons depicted
are Christian or non-Christian. It is equally evident that no
person should be allowed to appear at any exposition, fair or
carnival in a costume which offends against morality, whatever
may be his religious beliefs or his tribal relationships. Your
committee is of the opinion that there now exists on the statute
books adequate legislation properly penalizing the one offense
and the other."
This act also attempted to limit the right of non-Christians to enter
into contracts.
Assembly Bill 130, "An Act declaring invalid the confession or
declaration of a defendant against himself, when made under certain
circumstances," provided that courts should not give any value to a
confession or declaration, oral or written, of any defendant against
himself made before the agents of the constabulary, municipal police,
judicial or executive officers, or before any other person not vested
with authority, during his preventive detention, or while in their
custody, unless ratified by the defendant himself in proper style
before a competent court.
Only persons familiar with the extreme timidity of many Filipino
witnesses, and with the frequency with which they deny in court true
statements previously made by them, can appreciate the dangerous
character of this measure.
Assembly Bill 170, "An Act obliging manufacturing, industrial,
agricultural, and commercial enterprises in the Philippine Islands
to provide themselves with a duly qualified physician and a medicine
chest for urgent cases of accident and disease among their laborers,
and for other purposes," would have had the effect of forcing the
employment of a large number of incompetent Filipino physicians for
the reason that no one else would have been available to fill many
of the positions in question.
Assembly Bill 172, "An Act protecting the plantation of the cocoanut
tree," prohibited the damaging, destroying, uprooting or killing of
any cocoanut plant or plants without the owner's consent. There was
then going on a large amount of highway construction and widening. This
bill would have strengthened the position of certain persons disposed
to ask exorbitant prices for land needed for rights of way. At about
this time the Manila Railroad Company was compelled to pay a large
sum for orange trees on a piece of land through which its road was
to pass. On investigation the orange trees proved to be cuttings
from branches, or young seedlings, recently stuck into the ground,
many of them being already dead.
Assembly Bill 250 would if passed have had the effect of depriving
agents of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the power
to make arrests, and of compelling the payment of all fines imposed
and collected through the efforts of the society into the insular
treasury, so that the society would have been dependent upon direct
appropriations for funds with which to prosecute its work. For three
successive years there had been no appropriation bill. The Filipinos
have little sympathy with the work of this society, and this was a
scheme to kill it. Under the existing law one-half of the fines in
question go to it for use in promoting its objects.
Assembly Bill 251, "An Act to create rural guards in all the
municipalities organized under Act No. 82, and for other purposes,"
would seriously have interfered with the maintenance of a proper
state of public order. The duties which it proposed to vest in rural
guards are now performed most satisfactorily by the Philippine
Constabulary. The effect of the bill would have been to restrict
the administrative authority of the director of constabulary over
the movements of his force, and to interfere with the administrative
authority of municipal presidents to utilize their police as in their
judgment the public interests require.
Assembly Bill 262 contained the following:--
"Provided: That the Director of Agriculture or his agents shall not
adopt quarantine measures in provinces organized under Act No. 83
without previous agreement with the Provincial Boards concerned."
For many years no more serious problem has faced the insular
government than that of stamping out the contagious diseases which
were decimating the horses and cattle of the islands and threatening to
render agriculture almost impossible. The director of agriculture was
necessarily given wide authority in the matter of establishing proper
quarantines. This act would have taken necessary powers from him and
vested them in provincial boards. Quarantining was very unpopular with
the very people who were benefited most by it, hence the passage of
this act.
Assembly Bill 282 was designed to do away with the public improvement
tax in the provinces of Palawan, Mindoro and Batanes, and to substitute
therefor the so-called double cedula tax. This would have resulted
in decreasing by one-half the amount of money available for the
construction of public works in those provinces and increasing in
the same amount that available for paying salaries of officials
and employees.
Assembly Bill 312, amending "The Philippine Road Law" "so as to
punish the violent occupation of land on both sides of any public
highway, bridge, wharf, or trail at present occupied by other persons,
since prior to the passage of such Act," would have prevented the
recovery by the government of highway rights of way where they had
been encroached upon by abutting owners during the long period of
neglect of road maintenance attendant upon war.
Assembly Bill 319, entitled "An Act to prohibit, and punish judges
for the issuance of orders of arrest at hours of the night or on days
other than working days," was a most extraordinary measure, the object
and effect of which are apparent from merely reading its title. There
are 365 nights and 63 legal holidays in the year, so that the time
during which judges could issue orders of arrest without exposing
themselves to punishment would have been somewhat restricted.
Assembly Bill 324, entitled "An Act amending certain articles of
the Penal Code of the Philippine Islands," had for its object the
reduction of the age of consent of women to the crimes of abduction
and seduction.
Assembly Bill 348 provided for the formation of a "poor list," and
regulated "gratuitous medical attendance at public dispensaries and
hospitals in the city of Manila and the municipalities, or public
hospitals in the provinces."
One of the great things which the American government has done for
the Philippines is to bring medical and surgical service of a high
order within the reach of a very large number of poor persons. By
the proposed bill free service to Filipinos was limited to those
who declared themselves to be paupers. Many of the deserving poor
would have preferred to perish miserably rather than make such a
declaration. Most of the self-respecting poor of the islands are
not paupers. Free service could be rendered to foreigners only on
presentation of certificates of poverty from their consuls, usually
residing in Manila, which would have worked great hardship on such
persons living in remote parts of the islands and in need of immediate
attention. Charitable free service furnished by the government was
objected to by certain Filipino physicians, who hoped to get paid
for attending the persons thus relieved. The practical result of the
bill would have been to force the poor to depend on these people,
and to pay their charges, which are frequently very exorbitant.
COMMISSION BILLS DISAPPROVED BY THE ASSEMBLY
SECOND LEGISLATURE
Commission Bill 55, amending "The Philippine Administrative Act
by including vessels within the provisions of Sections 322 and
323 of said Act," was designed to make vessels responsible for the
transportation of contraband cargo, or for smuggling merchandise,
in the same degree that attached to vehicles for land transportation,
the attorney-general having held that the word "vehicle" used in the
existing law could not be construed to include vessels. This measure
was important in connection with the suppression of opium smuggling.
Commission Bill 59 amended an act providing for the punishment of
perjury "by changing the punishment for perjury and by punishing
persons who endeavour to procure or incite other persons to commit
perjury." Its object was to remedy a defect in existing law under
which there is no punishment provided for subornation of perjury in
official investigations.
Commission Bill 60, "An Act defining habitual criminals and providing
additional punishment for the same," had for its object the breaking
up of petty thieving, the records of the Bureau of Prisons showing
that one hundred twenty-nine persons had been convicted twice,
twenty a third time and one as high as thirty-two times. It would
unquestionably have been a very useful measure.
The Supreme Court of the United States had found that certain
punishments of the Spanish Penal Code, particularly with reference
to the falsification of public and private documents, were cruel
and unusual, and under its decisions a number of criminals, who
should have served moderate sentences, were turned loose because the
sentences actually imposed were admittedly too severe. The Penal Code
fixed the penalties in such cases and gave no option to the judge to
impose lesser ones. This decision of the Supreme Court of the United
States had the practical effect of making it impossible to penalize
certain crimes at all. Commission Bill 61 remedied this situation by
providing moderate penalties. The bill was asked for by the secretary
of finance and justice, who is a Filipino, and by the president of
the code committee, but the assembly would not pass it.
THIRD LEGISLATURE
First Session and Special Session
Commission Bill 59 provided "more severe punishment for illegal
importers and dealers in opium."
Great difficulty has been experienced in endeavouring to check the
use of opium in the islands.
Commission Bill 70 provided for gradually restricting cock-fighting
by decreasing from year to year the number of days on which it was
allowed. It imposed annual license fees of $5 on each fighting cock or
cock in training, prohibited persons under 18 years of age and women,
except tourists, from entering cock-pits, and forbade all games of
chance of any kind on the premises of a cock-pit.
This very cursory review of some of the acts which have failed of
passage will serve to show, in a general way, the attitudes of the
two houses toward a number of important questions.
Had the commission not prevented the passage of much dangerous and
vicious legislation approved by the assembly the public service would
have suffered seriously, and public order would have been endangered.
Heretofore the commission has prevented the enactment of really vicious
legislation. By giving the Filipinos a majority in this body a very
important safeguard has been removed.
Another serious result will follow. It was undoubtedly the will of
Congress, when its Act of July 1, 1902, was passed, that Americans
should control legislation for the Moros and other non-Christians;
hence the power to legislate for the territory which they inhabit was
reserved by Congress for the commission. Under the new arrangement
Filipinos will control in this matter also, and so the will of
Congress will be defeated, although the letter of the law is not
violated. The outlook for the backward peoples of the islands, under
these circumstances, cannot fail to arouse grave apprehension among
all who are genuinely interested in them.
The elections for delegates to the assembly have caused endless
trouble in many of the provinces. Neither the people at large nor
the candidates themselves have as yet learned cheerfully to accept
the will of the majority, and the number of protested election cases
is out of all proportion to the number of delegates.
In many towns, like Cuyo, these elections have given rise to serious
feuds which have brought their previously rapid social and material
progress to a standstill, divided families against each other,
and in general have produced very disastrous results. Many of the
best people of Cuyo are now begging to have the right to elect an
assemblyman taken from their province, on the ground that otherwise
there is no hope for the restoration of normal conditions.
The assembly is the judge of the qualifications of its members. It
has seen fit to admit a number of very disreputable characters. In
my opinion neither the character of its members nor that of the
legislation passed by it has justified its establishment, much less
the "Filipinization" of the commission.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE PICTURESQUE PHILIPPINES
Having now devoted a good deal of time to the consideration of
political conditions in the Philippines, let us turn our attention to
the islands themselves and consider their physical characteristics,
their climate and their commercial possibilities.
There has been much discussion as to the number of islands in the
archipelago. The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey has counted
them. Big and little they number thirty-one hundred forty-one, of which
ten hundred ninety-five are large and fertile enough to be inhabited.
The total land area is a hundred fifteen thousand twenty-six square
miles. The Philippines lie between 5° and 22° North Latitude and 117°
and 127° East Longitude. It follows that the lowlands throughout the
archipelago have a tropical climate, and in the past those two words
have been very generally considered to spell danger for people of
the white race. In this connection it should be said, first, that the
Philippines have one of the most healthful tropical climates in the
world, and second, that the results of sanitary work both there and
within the limits of the Panama Canal zone have largely eliminated
the tropical climate bugaboo. There is plenty of malaria in some
portions of the archipelago, but that is a matter of mosquitoes, not
of climate, and there is no difficulty in freeing any given region
from this disease if drainage is practicable.
The two great drawbacks to life in the tropics are admittedly heat and
humidity. Curiously enough the heat in most parts of the Philippines is
never extreme. We do not have in Manila anything approaching the high
temperatures sometimes experienced in New York or Boston. Humidity
in the atmosphere makes heat trying, and is responsible for what
we call "sultry" days. The dry-bulb thermometer shows how hot one
is, but it takes an instrument with a wet bulb to show how hot one
feels. Fortunately, the periods of greatest heat and greatest humidity
do not coincide in the islands. April and May are the hottest months,
while August and September have the highest humidity.
It must be remembered, however, that very extreme heat for a few
days, followed by cool weather, is not so debilitating as is a lower
temperature which is nevertheless continuously high. There are often
many days in succession during May when the thermometer stands in
the nineties, but there is usually a cool northeasterly breeze at
that season, and throughout the Philippines, except in the Cagayan
valley and in one or two other inland regions of the larger islands,
hot nights are almost unknown. Indeed, it is doubtless due to the fact
that the land area is broken into myriad islands, and is therefore
swept by the cooling sea breezes, that it has such an exceptionally
healthful climate. The heat is never trying when the monsoons blow,
and they blow much of the time.
Speaking of the islands in general one may say that they have a wet
season from July to October and a dry season from December to May,
the weather during June and November being variable. On the Pacific
coast, however, these seasons are reversed, and in the southern
Philippines they are not well defined, the rainfall being quite
uniformly distributed throughout the year. During the months of
November, December, January and February weather conditions are usually
ideal, with bright, clear days and cool and decidedly invigorating
nights. Comfort throughout the year is largely dependent on occupying
well-ventilated houses from which the winds are not shut off.
The following table shows for each month the highest temperature,
the lowest temperature and the average temperature recorded at Manila
from 1885 until 1912:--
Month Highest ° F. Lowest ° F. Average ° F.
January 93.0 59.0 76.8
February 96.1 60.3 77.5
March 97.2 61.2 79.9
April 99.9 64.4 82.8
May 100.9 68.7 83.3
June 99.7 70.9 82.2
July 95.4 70.0 80.8
August 95.4 69.1 80.8
September 95.5 69.6 80.4
October 95.2 67.3 80.2
November 93.0 62.2 78.6
December 92.3 60.3 77.4
The highest temperature ever recorded at Manila is 103.5° Fahrenheit,
in May, 1878; the next highest, 101.9° in May, 1912.
It should be remembered that there are no abrupt changes either
between day and night or from season to season, and that one can
therefore wear light, cool clothing throughout the year.
Far from being oppressive, the tropical nights are, as a rule,
delightful. I know of nothing more satisfying in its way than a stroll
in the moonlight on a hard beach of snow-white coral sand bordered
by graceful cocoanut palms on the one hand and by rolling surf on
the other.
The vegetation in the provinces is a constant delight. Unfortunately,
in the immediate vicinity of Manila it is less attractive than in most
other parts of the archipelago, but by crossing the bay to the Lanao
forest on the slopes of Mariveles Mountain, or by taking an automobile
ride to Atimonan, one may see it in all its magnificence. No word
painter, however skilled, can convey any adequate idea of it.
Everywhere, both on land and at sea, one sees matchless greens and
blues,--greens in the vegetation and in the water, blues in the water
and in the sky. The cloud effects are often marvellously fine. I had
begun to think that perhaps my prolonged residence in the Philippines
had made me forget what was to be seen in other countries, but in
1913 I took the distinguished English vulcanologist, Dr. Tempest
Anderson, on a trip with me, and his enthusiasm over the cloud views
knew no bounds.
Philippine sunsets are unsurpassed and unsurpassable. I have repeatedly
noted one remarkable effect which I have never seen elsewhere, namely
the complete reflection in the east of the western evening sky. On
the occasion when I first witnessed one of these extraordinary sights
I could hardly believe my senses. I was at sea, and had taken a late
afternoon siesta. When I awoke familiar landmarks showed me that I was
looking due east, and yet I saw a magnificent sunset with wonderful
beams of rays radiating from a dark cloud behind which it seemed
that the sun must be hidden. A glance to the westward furnished the
explanation of the mystery, for the view was duplicated there. I have
seen similar wonderful sights several times.
A typhoon, or tropical cyclone, is often dreadfully destructive
but is a most imposing thing to watch from a safe viewpoint, and
the weather service in the Philippines is so excellent that if one
observes such a storm from an unsafe viewpoint it is usually one's
own fault. The rush of the mighty waves at sea and their thunder on
the shore, where they may dash up the cliffs for hundreds of feet,
are awe inspiring. The resistless sweep of the wind, which sometimes
attains a velocity of a hundred twenty miles an hour, or even more,
makes one feel one's insignificance. If one chances to be in the region
over which the centre of the storm passes, there comes a sudden lull
in the terrific gale, followed by a dead calm. Often the sun shines
for a brief interval, and then, without warning, the wind renews its
relentless assault, coming from a direction diametrically opposed to
that from which it was blowing before the lull. The rainfall is often
enormous. At such times rivulets are converted into roaring rivers,
valleys into lakes.
If one is near buildings with galvanized roofs which may fly through
the air in pieces, or trees which may blow down, it is best to keep
under cover, but after the storm there are always to be seen curious
and interesting freaks of wind and water. When the northern district of
Manila is flooded, as not infrequently happens during severe typhoons,
the people turn out for a regular water fiesta as soon as the wind
moderates, and go paddling about the streets in dugout canoes, wooden
tubs, or on rafts extemporized from old barrels, pieces of bamboo,
or the stems of bananas which have been blown down.
Due warning of the approach of a typhoon is given by the Weather
Bureau at least twenty-four hours in advance, so that the damage
done may be reduced to a minimum. Houses of light materials are apt
to suffer severely, but serious damage to strongly built houses is
comparatively rare, as they are constructed with a view to meeting
just such conditions.
Waterspouts are among the most imposing and picturesque of nature's
phenomena in the Philippines. I have repeatedly had the good fortune
to watch them form, and start on their stately march across the sea,
but to my everlasting regret have never had a camera available on
such occasions. They sometimes produce a rain of fishes.
The scenery is never monotonous. At sea one views a constantly changing
panorama of islands, many of which are picturesque in the extreme. On
land one may travel over long stretches of level, fertile plains,
but there are always fine mountains in the background, and once among
them what pleasures await one! Some are grass-covered to their very
peaks; others are buried from base to summit in the rankest tropical
growth. On yet others, pine forests begin to cover the slopes at four
thousand feet, and are in turn replaced by oak forests at five or
six thousand feet. The numerous rushing streams and waterfalls are
a joy in themselves. In one short day one may go from the tropics to
the temperate zone, and come back again.
Active and extinct volcanoes form a striking feature of many Philippine
landscapes. Of the former, Mayon, in the province of Albay, is the
delight of the vulcanologist and of the layman alike on account of its
exquisite form, which is that of the theoretically perfect volcano. It
rises to a height of seventy-nine hundred sixteen feet from an almost
level plain, and the extreme outer periphery of its base measures
approximately a hundred twenty miles. An excellent automobile road
extends completely around it, well within the peripheral line above
mentioned, and the trip, which has no equal in its way, may readily
be made in half a day.
Mayon is a storehouse of titanic energy which has frequently broken
forth in the past with destructive violence. During the last eruption,
which occurred in 1900, lava flowed into the sea at a distance of some
fourteen kilometres [155] from the crater. During previous eruptions
whole towns have been destroyed by lava flows or by falling volcanic
ejecta. Mayon is quiet at present and has been repeatedly climbed of
late. The trip is dangerous because of the steepness of the slopes and
the unstable nature of the material composing them. It takes two days.
Taal Volcano, situated on an island in Bombon Lake, and distant but
thirty-nine miles from Manila, is of special interest on account
of its destructive eruption on January 30, 1911, which killed some
fourteen hundred people within the space of a few moments. It is very
easily climbed, the elevation of the lowest point of the crater rim
above the lake being only 369 feet, and the ascent gentle.
Other important active volcanoes are Apo, in Mindanao; Catarman, on
the island of Camiguin; Canlaon, sometimes also called Malaspina, on
Negros; Caua, in northeastern Luzón; and Claro Babuyan, on the island
of the same name. A considerable number of the volcanic peaks of the
Philippines, including the one last named, have never been ascended.
It goes without saying that in a country where there are so many
active, dormant and extinct volcanoes hot and mineral springs are of
common occurrence. On the slopes of Canlaon there are three of the
former, known respectively as "the chicken killer," "the hog killer"
and "the carabao killer," on account of the supposed destructive
powers of their waters. The Tiwi Spring, near the base of Mayon
Volcano, is famous. The water of Sibul Spring, in Bulacan Province,
has medicinal properties of undoubted value, as do the waters of
various other mineral springs, including those at Itogon and Daklán in
Benguet. The scenic surroundings of some of them are most attractive,
and doubtless important watering places will be established in their
vicinity in the course of time.
Gigantic limestone cliffs are among the most striking features of many
of the more mountainous regions, and in some parts of the islands,
especially along the coast of Palawan, rise directly out of the
sea. They take on wonderfully beautiful, and sometimes very weird,
forms and are often full of caves in which may be found the famous
edible birds' nests, so highly prized by the Chinese.
A range of limestone mountains ends at St. Paul's Bay on the west
coast of Palawan. The bay takes its name from a majestic peak, with
a wonderful limestone dome, which looks like a cathedral. Near it
is another remarkable mountain called Liberty Cap, on account of
its peculiar form. Beneath this range lies the scenic wonder of the
Philippines, the famous Underground River, up which a ship's launch
can run for more than three miles to what is called the "stone pile,"
caused by the falling of a great section of the roof. One may climb
this obstruction, and utilizing native boats dragged over it by my
party in August, 1912, may continue for a distance of half a mile,
to a point where the roof of the cave drops to the level of the
surface of the water, and further progress becomes impossible.
A trip up this river is an experience never to be forgotten. There
is no danger of getting lost, as the three short side passages which
run off from the main cavern all end blindly. The channel has been
mapped by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and is plainly marked at all
critical points.
One's launch should be provided with very powerful acetylene lights so
arranged as to give a general illumination. Stalactites and stalagmites
occur in every conceivable form. There are vaulted chambers which are
full of them, and there are long straight passages which lack them and
have roofs and walls resembling those of a New York subway. In places
the cavern is full of edible-nest-building swifts and of bats. The
air in the main passage is fresh. During the rainy season water runs
from the roof in many places, and one must expect an occasional shower
bath, but this is the only discomfort attendant upon the trip.
Unfortunately, the mouth of this river is quite fully exposed to
the heavy seas stirred up by the southwest monsoon, which heap up
sand, forming a bar on which the surf breaks heavily; but during the
northeast monsoon the current often opens up a wide and deep channel
through this bar.
There are several other underground rivers in the Philippines. An
adventurous soldier embarked in a banca on one in Samar, and passed
completely under a large mountain. Judging from his description of
his experiences, this trip would be remarkably well worth taking.
In the limestone caves we may some day find remains which will throw
light on the history of the early inhabitants of the Philippines,
as many of them have been used for burial purposes in bygone times.
Pleasurable river navigation is by no means confined to underground
streams. In Mindanao there are two rivers which offer strong
attractions to tourists. One may ascend the Rio Grande de Cotabato
through fertile plains, to a remarkable series of lakes swarming with
great tame crocodiles and with a wonderful variety of waterfowl. On
this trip one will see the Moros at home. The Agusan River, which
rises near Davao Gulf and empties on the north coast of Mindanao,
is the largest navigable stream in the islands. During ordinary
weather it is strictly confined between well-marked banks. The dense
forests which cover them have been cleared in a few places to make
room for Manobo villages. Exquisite orchids and beautiful ferns
abound. After ascending the river for one hundred twenty miles one
comes to a remarkable submerged forest in a region which subsided a
few years ago during a great seismic disturbance. Formerly it was
very unsafe to enter it without taking an experienced guide, as
the original river bed was completely destroyed and the many small
streams flowing through the sunken area formed a very complicated
maze. Now, however, two clearly defined canals have been opened up,
both terminating in the immediate vicinity of the town of Veruela,
and a trip through either of them will not soon be forgotten, for
here tropical vegetation is seen at its very best.
During a portion of the year one may ascend the Rio Grande de Cagayan,
the great river of northern Luzón, in a good-sized stern-wheel steamer
for a distance of one hundred twenty miles, passing through a sparsely
settled but potentially very rich agricultural district which now
produces the best tobacco grown in the islands.
It is a common thing for temporary residents in the Philippines
to quote the foolish saying that the flowers are without odour
and the birds without song. There is no more delicious fragrance
than that given off in the evening by the shrub known as dama de
noche. [156] The perfume made from ilang-ilang flowers goes all over
the world. That extracted from the blossoms of the champaca brings
fabulous prices. Jasmine is produced in abundance. If one wishes a
heavier odour, tuberoses furnish it, while many species of trees make
the whole forest fragrant when in flower.
Some of the birds are sweet singers, while others brighten the
landscape with their vivid colours. A row of snowy egrets, perched
on the back of a carabao, presents a striking picture. One constantly
hears by day the plaint of the limócon, a wood pigeon which exercises
a most extraordinary influence over the lives of many of the wild
people, for they believe that the direction and the nature of its notes
augur good or ill for the enterprises which they have in hand. The
crescendo shriek of a great black cuckoo, called by the natives bahów,
commonly heard at night, is likely to cause alarm to one not cognizant
of its origin, and has led many a sentry on a wild goose chase into
a mangrove swamp in the belief that he was hastening to the rescue
of some human being undergoing dreadful torment.
One of the most interesting of the feathered denizens of Philippine
fields and forests is the inconspicuous tailor bird, which carefully
unwinds the silk from cocoons, and using it for thread, stitches
together the edges of living leaves and then builds its nest in the
green pocket thus formed.
The insects are as varied and interesting as are the birds. There
are very numerous species of ants, and the manifestations of their
extraordinary intelligence are well worth careful observation. The work
of the huge flocks of locusts which sometimes devastate the fields
is worth seeing, although the sight is not a cheering one. There are
butterflies and moths of great size and of the most brilliant and
varied hues. Some of the very gaudily coloured species disappear as if
by magic when they alight, because the under surfaces of their wings,
exposed when they close them, perfectly resemble dead leaves. Other
protectively coloured insects look marvellously like green leaves or
dead twigs.
After all is said and done, the most interesting study of mankind is
man, and man in most varied form is to be found in the Philippines,
beginning with Manila itself, where the mixture of Chinese, Japanese,
Spanish, English, German and American blood with that of the original
Malay invaders has produced a wonderfully varied series of types.
Many of the women are bravely decked out in the gayest of colours,
which harmonize well with their raven black hair and brown or yellow
skins.
Manila is a very interesting city. North of the Pasig River are several
native residence districts which have changed comparatively little in
a century. Old Manila, lying just south of the river, is one of the
best remaining examples of a walled town, and it has many buildings
which have withstood typhoons and earthquakes for centuries. Its
churches are of especial interest. The acoustic properties of the
cathedral are excellent, and if an opportunity to hear fine music
there presents itself it should not be missed.
At the University of Santo Tomás and at the Jesuit convento there are
good museums. The insular government has a museum on Calle Anloague,
where may be seen very interesting ethnological collections and an
important and striking exhibit of the products of the Philippine
forests.
In the botanical and zoölogical collections of the Bureau of Science
specialists will find a wealth of material.
The Philippine General Hospital richly repays a visit. It is the
largest and most complete institution of its kind in the Far East,
and within its walls American and Filipino physicians, surgeons and
nurses work side by side for the relief of suffering humanity.
I have only hinted at a few of the interesting sights which may be seen
without leaving the city limits. The open country and the provincial
towns are made readily accessible by splendid automobile roads. To
the north one finds great mango trees with their solid hemispheres
of beautiful foliage, and endless rice-fields in the cultivation of
which the people still employ the methods of bygone centuries. The
good sanitary condition in many of the towns shows that American and
Filipino health officers have not been idle.
To the south the automobile road runs straight away to Atimonan
on the Pacific coast, distant one hundred twelve miles. It passes
near Banájao, one of the most beautiful extinct volcanoes of the
Philippines; is bordered for long distances by cocoanut groves,
and extends for many miles through a most beautiful forest.
No visit to the Philippines is complete without a trip to Baguio,
the summer capital. It is reached by train and automobile in less
than a day. Here one is just at the edge of the wild man's country
and may go to villages of the Benguet Igorots in an automobile.
Starting at Baguio, one may take one of the most wonderful horseback
journeys in the world over the "Mountain Trail" to Cervantes in the
neighbouring sub-province of Lepanto and thence to Bontoc, the capital
of the Mountain Province. Here dwell the Bontoc Igorots, who were
famous head-hunters until brought under American control. Four or five
days more will suffice to make a trip north to Lubuagan, the capital
of the sub-province of Kalinga, inhabited by another most picturesque
tribe of head-hunters. They are physically a wonderfully developed
people, and their personal cleanliness, brightly coloured clothes,
and striking feather ornaments make them especially attractive.
On the way one is sure to see women clad in skirts extemporized from
banana leaves, camote tops, or ferns, of a type popularly but wrongly
supposed not to have been in style since the days of mother Eve.
From Bontoc one rides to the eastward over the Mount Polis range and
descends along the wonderful terraced mountain sides of the Ifugaos,
finding everywhere abundant evidences of the extraordinary industry
displayed by the people of this head-hunting tribe. At Quiangan the
traveller will be amazed to see beautiful buildings of cut stone,
and when informed that they have been erected by Ifugao schoolboys
under an American foreman will doubt the possibility of such a thing
unless he is fortunate enough to see the boys at work.
From this point one may return to Baguio by way of Sapao, and the
Agno River valley, or may continue his journey to the eastward, coming
out on the fertile plains of Nueva Vizcaya. Before the return to the
lowlands of Pangasinán from this province one may make a short side
trip of half a day into the country of the Ilongots, but I do not
recommend such an expedition to persons not familiar with the ways
of savages who are sometimes inclined to be a bit treacherous. The
Ilongots have harmed only one white man, but they still occasionally
murder each other, and it is hard always to know what they will
do next.
There are comfortable rest houses at frequent intervals along the
excellent horse trails over which one rides in making this trip, so
that all one really requires is a good horse and saddle and necessary
clothing. Baggage is transported by Igorot carriers or pack ponies. It
is always well to take one's own blankets. Good thick ones will be
needed, for the Mountain Trail reaches an elevation of seventy-five
hundred feet, and at this height the nights are cold.
Until within a short time it has been impossible for tourists to
travel with comfort in the Philippines. There was no good hotel
even at Manila. This latter difficulty has now fortunately been
remedied. The old carriage and cart roads were impassable during much
of the year. Their place has been taken, in many provinces, by heavily
surfaced automobile roads serviceable at all times. Accommodations
on the inter-island boats were atrocious. They are still far from
first-class, but are rapidly improving, and on a number of the
steamers are now very fair. There is good prospect that a number of
new and up-to-date steamers will be put on inter-island routes in
the near future.
Meanwhile it can safely be said that the world does not afford
more attractive ground for yachting than that to be found in the
Philippines. The scenery among the Calamianes Islands and in Bacuit
Bay and Malampaya Sound is beautiful beyond description. That of the
famous Inland Sea of Japan does not compare with it. Safe, quiet
anchorages are to be found at frequent intervals, and the weather
during the winter months usually leaves nothing to be desired.
CHAPTER XXIX
ROD, SHOTGUN AND RIFLE
The Philippines offer strong attractions to the devotees of the
shotgun and the rifle, and they are a fisherman's paradise.
Having in my earlier days spent some four years in collecting natural
history specimens in the islands I did not need to be enlightened as
to the pleasure which might be had in hunting ducks, snipe, shore
birds, jungle fowl, and wild pigeons; nor as to those afforded to
the hunter of large game by bringing down wild carabaos, hogs, and
deer, bagging an occasional man-eating crocodile, or trying to outwit
the wily tamarau of Mindoro, which is one of the most difficult of
all forest-inhabiting ruminants to track down and kill, and has an
uncomfortable habit of hunting the hunter when molested; but now,
in view of my neglected early opportunities, I must confess with
shame and confusion of face that it remained for Governor-General
Forbes to show me, after I had resided in the islands for sixteen
years that I had been missing a sport fit for kings by not sooner
taking up fishing in the sea.
To one who has been even temporarily attached to a hundred-pound
barracuda through the medium of a split bamboo rod, a tarpon reel,
three hundred yards of line, and a good strong spoon hook, or has
fought a sixty-pound tanguingui, or even a thirty-pound pampano, to a
finish, it seems strange that any one should ever have characterized
fishing as a "gentle art."
If good old Sir Izaak Walton had struggled with a big tuna until his
fingers and thumbs were blistered or skinned, and every muscle in his
body was tired and sore, only to see a huge shark bite his finny prey
off back of the gills when it was almost ready to gaff, it is possible
that his language in discussing fishing would have been less mild,
and his general attitude toward the subject less gently philosophic.
Verily, Sir Izaak missed much by not having been born after modern
fishing tackle had been invented and employed in taking the denizens of
deep tropical seas. Let no one be unduly dismayed over the diminution
of big game fish in the vicinity of Catalina Island, or off the Florida
coast, for among the myriad islands of the Philippine Archipelago one
may fish to one's heart's content, visiting grounds already well known,
or seeking new ones for himself, in the assurance that the supply of
marine game fishes will not be perceptibly diminished for many a long
year to come.
Soon after his arrival, Governor-General Forbes began to inquire
about the opportunities for sea fishing. He received little reliable
information and less encouragement, but undeterred, proceeded to find
out for himself when and where to fish and what tackle to use in order
to obtain the best results. At the outset his efforts netted him few
fish or none, but he kept at it as opportunity offered, and, thanks to
his perseverance, the sport is now firmly established on a sound basis.
One must have rod, reel, line and gaff suitable for tarpon fishing, and
an abundant supply of good spoon hooks, wire leaders and swivels. Live
bait and cut bait are as useful here as elsewhere, but game fish are
so abundant, and spoon hooks have proved so successful in taking them,
that comparatively little use has as yet been made of other lures. One
should fish from a power boat which can be slowed down to four miles
an hour without stopping, and will safely ride a moderately heavy sea.
When thus equipped, if the fisherman hies him to the edge of a coral
reef where the bottom slopes steeply downward, runs the boat so
that he sees green water on one side and black water on the other,
and pays out fifty to a hundred yards of line, he will not have long
to wait before his reel sings the merry tune so dear to the heart of
his kind, and he finds himself vainly striving, with both thumbs on
the brake, to lower the pitch of that insistent high note by slowing
down the speed of the barracuda which has grabbed the spoon, hooked
itself securely, and started for the coast of China with the obvious
intention of getting there before dark.
A big barracuda may take fifty yards of line in his first rush and he
may take two hundred, but one can be certain that when he is finally
stopped he will jump clear of the water, and then will jump again just
to show that he means it. After that, as he is reeled in, he will
jump some more to keep up the interest. Ultimately, having acquired
the habit of coming toward the boat, he will continue to practise
it until he sees that craft, whereupon he is likely to start off at
a rate which makes his first rush seem slow and deliberate. Now and
then he will run down on the line for variety's sake, and then is
the time for the boatmen to get into action, for if he gets slack
line nothing remains but to bid him good-by as cheerfully as possible.
The largest specimen yet taken in the Philippines and actually
weighed was a hundred ten pound monster caught on a trolling line
trailed behind the coast guard cutter Polillo, on which I was making
an inspection trip along the west coast of southern Palawan.
The largest specimen yet taken with rod and reel weighed fifty-two
and eight-tenths pounds. It was brought to gaff in Biobican Bay by
Governor Leo J. Grove of Nueva Vizcaya.
Very numerous individuals weighing between twenty and forty-five
pounds have been captured, and the only reason why numbers of much
larger specimens have not been taken is that tackle was not strong
enough, or the skill of the fishermen was not sufficiently great. Big
barracudas have teeth that would do credit to small sharks, and have
sawed through or broken many a wire leader.
In the Philippines, as in other civilized countries, there are not
lacking narrators of good "fish stories." From Filipino residents
of San Juan, Siquijor, I recently heard a tale of a barracuda which
towed a native dugout boat all day, jumping frequently, and was
finally cut loose after dark by its disgusted would-be captors who
found themselves unable to tire it out!
Of tanguingui, or sail fish, there are at least two species. The
smaller commonly attains a weight of twenty to forty pounds. In the
open sea off the coast of Leyte I took a specimen which measured
sixty-four inches in length and weighed sixty-five pounds. It proved
to be of a species new to science. This magnificent fish, when fresh
from the sea, was a sight calculated to cheer a graven image.
Tanguingui fight much as do barracuda, except that they seldom jump
out of the water after being hooked unless pursued by sharks. This
seems strange, as under normal conditions they leap for the pure joy
of the thing, attaining heights which I hesitate to specify lest I
be held to have qualified for the Ananias club. I know of nothing
more startling in its way than the shock one gets when his eye has
missed the upward leap of a big tanguingui but catches the fish as
it is dropping back toward the sea, apparently from the clouds.
While barracuda and tanguingui may be taken throughout the year,
there seems to be a time when the fish of the latter species "run." At
all events they are found in great numbers during April and May in
the vicinity of Fortune Island, a short distance south of Manila Bay,
but are very scarce, or entirely absent, there during the remainder of
the year. I once visited the famous fishing grounds around Tanguingui
Island, north of Cebú, in August, only to be assured by a light-keeper
that I would find no fish at that season. He said that the barracuda
would return in November and the tanguingui in February. His prediction
as to the fishing in August promptly came true.
Pampano rank high among the game fish of the Philippines. What
will California coast fishermen, accustomed to taking little fellows
weighing a pound or two, say to fifty-pound individuals? I can imagine
what they would say if not confronted by hard facts, but the truth is
that a number of such pampanos have already been taken with rod and
reel in the Philippines, and that there are plenty more waiting to be
caught. During a trip to Palawan in December, 1911, Captain Tornroth of
the coast guard cutter Polillo took a forty-nine-pound specimen. The
same evening Dr. Victor G. Heiser, Director of Health, took an
individual weighing thirty-two pounds. The following August the record
was raised first to fifty-three pounds and then to sixty-three and
a half pounds, the latter fish being caught by Mr. Frank W. Sweitzer.
The pampano takes the hook with a rush and seldom misses his
strike. He never leaps while being played, but helps himself to line
very liberally at the outset and runs deep at once. A large specimen
is never satisfied until almost directly under the boat with several
hundred feet of line out, and will get bottom, snag the line on a sharp
point of rock or a branch of coral, and break away, if such a thing
is materially possible. A pampano never quits fighting until he is
in the boat, and is an adept at turning up his broad side after being
hooked and swimming in a circle, resisting to the utmost all efforts
to raise him. Under reasonably favourable circumstances it usually
takes from twenty minutes to half an hour to land a twenty-five-pound
individual. Pampano run in schools and when they once begin to bite
the fun is fast and furious.
The sergeant fish is one of the gamest fighters for his weight to
be met with in Philippine waters. He keeps up his determined rushes
until brought to the side of the boat and leaps frequently while
being played, at the same time making vigorous efforts to shake the
hook. None of the specimens so far taken have exceeded twenty pounds
in weight.
Ocean bonito are often met with in great schools and present a
wonderful sight when one drives one's boat among them and sees them
leaping high into the air, close at hand, on every side. The largest
specimen yet caught with rod and reel is a sixty-pounder taken by
Governor Forbes. I have seen numerous individuals which must certainly
have weighed a hundred pounds or more.
Red snappers weighing five to twenty pounds also occur in great
schools. They are usually caught with bait by sinking in deep water,
but at times take the spoon freely. The larger individuals make a
game fight. Annually during November and December these fish run in
very large numbers from Naujan Lake in Mindoro to the sea. Whether
or not they can be captured with rod and line while in fresh water
remains to be determined.
The lapu-lapu, or "groupers," of which there are twenty-four known
species in the Philippines, do not attain very great size, but are much
prized on account of the delicious flavour of their especially tender
flesh. Dr. Heiser has taken one weighing twenty-two pounds and I have
seen the dried flesh of one which must have weighed approximately forty
pounds. The colouring of a number of the species is extraordinarily
beautiful. Some are light gray with round blue spots; others carmine
red with blue spots over the body and blue lines and bars about the
head; others are dark blue with carmine spots. There seems no end to
the variety and beauty of the colour patterns, and each new one appears
for the moment more wonderful than those which one has seen before.
Lapu-lapu have a special fondness for crevices in the rocks, and
for holes in coral reefs, and in consequence are responsible for the
loss of much good tackle. One must fight them from the moment they
strike and give them no slack. The penalty for any carelessness in
this regard is a broken line.
Leather jacks, commonly called dorados in the Philippines on account
of their beautifully coloured yellow bellies, are extraordinarily
abundant at certain seasons of the year when they run into the shallow
waters at the heads of bays and sounds, apparently to spawn. When
encountered at all they afford good sport for their size, fighting
well and frequently making splendid leaps out of the water even after
they are brought close to the boat and are apparently tired out. They
commonly run from five to fifteen pounds in weight, but occasionally
reach eighteen or twenty pounds.
The Philippine giant sea-bass, or jewfish, belongs to the same family
as does the California species. While I was on shore at Mæander Reef in
August, 1911, numerous hand lines with which sailors were fishing from
the Polillo were carried away by jewfish. With the permission of the
captain, the ship's log line was then pressed into service. I returned
to the steamer just in time to assist in landing a hundred-and-thirty
pound specimen. A steam trawler, which operated for a short time in
the Philippines, took a specimen seven feet three inches in length,
which weighed three hundred thirty-four and a fourth pounds.
In Coron Passage during July, 1911, I fought a very large fish,
probably a jewfish, for an hour and twenty minutes, at the end of which
time his dead weight broke my line when Governor Forbes, who was with
me, attempted to lift him by it after he had indulged in a prolonged
sulk in deep water. Although I had fought him steadily, I could not
see that I had tired him in the least. In the course of the fracas
the butt of my rod had made a two by three inch black and blue spot
on my right leg and had worn the skin off over a similar area on my
left leg, while my abdomen lacked a good deal of epidermis and I was
tempted to believe that it lacked some dermis as well. My companions
who witnessed the fruitless fight christened this particular fish the
"sea carabao." [157]
Belt and socket should, of course, be used in fighting fish of such
size. Heavy cots for the thumb and first finger of the left hand and
the thumb of the right hand are very essential. I once got a badly
burned thumb because I thought that I was not likely to hook a fish
which would make a quarter-inch-thick leather brake heat through. A
big ocean bonito promptly undeceived me.
Very exciting sport may be had by harpooning the huge rays which
come to the surface in great numbers at certain seasons of the
year. Specimens thirty feet across have been taken in the vicinity of
the island of Siquijor. When one of these great fishes is harpooned,
Filipino fishermen make two or three large boats fast to it as soon as
possible for the reason that a single boat might be dragged under. Even
so the taking of giant rays is not unattended with danger, for they
make most extraordinary leaps into the air, and were one of them to
fall on a boat the result would be disastrous.
We have knowledge of the existence of other very large game fishes
which we have not as yet so much as seen. One species is taken by the
natives of Siquijor, who use a three-quarter inch Manila rope and fish
in water of considerable depth. A number of boats work close together
and as soon as a fish is hooked all flock to the assistance of the
lucky fisherman. A tremendous struggle then ensues and we are assured
that if the fish is landed, it makes a meal for a whole village. What
this species may be we do not know.
One of the charms of fishing in the Philippines lies in the fact
that one can never tell what one is going to strike next. At Mæander
Reef I took the first yellowtail ever caught in the islands with
rod and line. Doubtless there are plenty more where that one came
from. Indeed, yellowtails are common in the market at Zamboanga at
certain seasons. Off the coast of Mindoro I took the first dolphin
known to have been captured in these waters. On a recent trip I took
a large porgy of a species new to the Philippines and likely to prove
new to science. As yet we have hardly begun to explore the fishing
grounds. What shall we find among the swift currents of the Batanes
Islands, and what along the barrier reef of the unexplored east coast
of northern Luzón? No one knows!
Although some 1400 species of fish have already been reported from
the Philippines, new ones are constantly being added to the list, and
it is rather a rare event when a returning party of fishermen fails to
present the ichthyologist with one or more puzzles. On my first trip to
Apo Reef, Dr. Heiser hooked a tremendous fish which leisurely went its
way regardless of his efforts to control its movement. At one time it
deigned to come under the bottom of the launch and within forty feet of
the surface, where it could be seen with perfect distinctness. It was a
long, slender, gamy-looking creature weighing perhaps one hundred fifty
pounds, and it had vertical yellow bars on its sides. No such fish is
known from these waters. Having viewed the boat to its satisfaction,
it proceeded to go back to the reef and to take refuge under its
overhanging edge. Vigorous efforts to dislodge it, lasting for half
an hour, resulted only in sawing off a heavy wire leader.
One may tire for the moment of catching fish, but with a glass-bottomed
boat at his disposal he will never tire of looking at them as he
floats over the wonderful coral reefs for which the archipelago
is famous. Certainly there are no "sea gardens" anywhere which can
excel those of the Philippines. The powerful tropical sun penetrates
the marvellously clear sea water to a great depth, revealing marine
animal and plant life in endlessly varied and marvellously beautiful
forms which beggar description. Former Secretary of War Dickinson is
a rather serious-minded man, but when he gazed for the first time
through the glass bottom of a boat into one of these wonder houses
of nature, he shouted in his excitement and delight for all the world
like a small and enthusiastic boy.
In a few moments one may see fish of the most amazing forms
and extraordinarily bizarre colours: huge sharks; enormous rays;
great sea-turtles; clam shells big enough for children's bath-tubs;
sea-urchins; starfish; sea-anemones; jellyfish in endless variety
of form and colour; sea-fans; and many other varied forms of marine
animal and plant life.
When one grows weary of the water, one may land on snowy coral-sand
beaches, bordered by cocoanut palms, may visit old deserted Spanish
forts rapidly being invaded by rank tropical vegetation; may gather
exquisite orchids; or may for the time being substitute hunting for
fishing. In the Sulu Sea he may visit wonderful bird islands where
the feathered folk refuse to get out of his way and peck viciously
at his legs if he comes too near.
All these delightful experiences may be had without suffering
any discomfort from the Philippine climate, concerning which such
absurd ideas prevail among the uninformed. From November to March the
temperature is delightful, except during the midday hours of bright
days, when fish do not bite well in any event, and when sensible
people keep off the water.
Thus far I have referred only to those game fishes which I myself have
taken, or concerning which I happen to have personal knowledge. I
will now briefly summarize what is at present known about the game
fishes of the Philippines.
The albacore is fairly common, especially during the cooler months.
Amberjacks, reaching a length of two feet or more, are also common.
There are barracudas of seven different species, some of which attain
a length of six feet and weigh a hundred pounds or more.
Bonitos of four different species have been taken. The "ocean bonito"
and the "true bonito" are both abundant and afford fine sport. The
larger individuals sometimes attain a weight of a hundred pounds
or more.
There are six different species of croakers, also called
roncadores. Some individuals reach a weight of a hundred pounds.
Groupers, locally known as lapu-lapu, are found in great variety,
no less than twenty-four species having been recorded.
Hardtails, reaching a length of three feet, are abundant.
Leather-jacks, commonly called dorados, are also very abundant. They
take the spoon freely and fight well. In weight they commonly run
from five to fifteen pounds.
There are several small species of mackerel which are excellent table
fish and afford fair sport.
Pampanos are found in great variety, no less than thirty species
having already been recorded. Individuals weighing as much as fifty
pounds are not uncommon.
Porgies of twelve different species have been taken, and some of the
individuals have weighed up to thirty pounds.
Of snappers we have thirty-four known species. The red snapper
not infrequently attains a weight of twelve to fifteen pounds,
and the larger individuals fight well. At times they take the spoon
freely. The gray snapper runs up to forty pounds in weight and makes
a good fight. The rivulated snapper, which takes its name from the
form of its beautiful colour pattern, is a good game fish, and I have
seen specimens which weighed up to twenty pounds.
Sea-bass of two distinct species are common. Specimens weighing
fifty to seventy-five pounds are frequently seen in the markets. The
largest specimen as yet recorded from the islands weighed three
hundred thirty-four and a fourth pounds.
Spanish mackerel, or tanguingui, are common throughout the islands at
the proper season. A very intelligent Filipino collector of natural
history specimens in the service of the government, who saw my
sixty-five-pound specimen landed, assured me that he had previously
seen larger ones caught.
Swordfish, nine feet or more in length, may be taken during the
cooler months.
Tarpons up to five feet in length may be taken at the proper season,
off the mouths of large streams. The species is distinct from that
found in Atlantic waters, and the young take the fly freely.
Ten pounders, commonly called bid-bid in the Philippines, are not
uncommon, and in spite of their name often attain a weight of thirty
pounds.
Tunas. The great, or leaping, tunas are met with in large schools
during the winter months. The natives call them "cachareta." So far
as I am aware, none have yet been taken with rod and line, but their
capture is, of course, only a question of time.
I believe it certain that the Philippines will become a Mecca for
deep-sea fishermen, and to the end that piscatorial pilgrims may not
come in vain, reliable data are being gathered and compiled by the
Division of Fisheries of the Bureau of Science. The exact locations
where exceptionally good catches are made are being marked on a
comprehensive series of charts which cover the entire archipelago,
and an accurate card record is also kept giving full information as
to the localities where, the seasons when and the weather conditions
under which exceptional catches have been made. Fishermen seeking
fine sport and novel experiences will surely not be disappointed if
they come to the Philippines.
While it is possible to find sheltered waters at any season, and
to take fish throughout the year, our experience thus far seems to
justify the belief that the months from January to August are on the
whole the most favourable ones.
Fishermen may establish themselves at some favourable point, such
as one of the many excellent camping grounds on Malampaya Sound,
and work from this as a base, with no other water transportation
than the motor boats from which they fish. Those who wish to have a
good movable base of operations and to explore for themselves may, by
making seasonable application, secure the use of one of the government
coast guard boats at a cost of $115 a day. These convenient little
vessels measure one hundred forty-eight feet over all and draw nine
to eleven feet of water, according to the amount of coal carried and
its distribution. They are safe in all weathers. Most of them have
four good staterooms for passengers, with berths for eight people;
but as they are provided with good double awnings and have abundant
deck room, a much larger number of persons can be made comfortable, if
willing to sleep on deck, using the staterooms for dressing-rooms. As
a matter of fact, people who have been long in the islands seldom
think of sleeping inside. The coast guard boats readily carry four
motor boats on their davits, and two more might be placed on deck
forward. The Negros is especially fitted out, and has stateroom
accommodations for twenty people. All of these vessels have electric
light, refrigerating plants and distilling plants.
I know of nothing more delightful than to explore the shores and bays
of this wonderful archipelago in such a vessel, fishing and landing
when and where one pleases. With the certainty of fine weather during
the winter months the nights under the deck awnings are a delight, and
nothing will more promptly restore jangling nerves to a normal state,
straighten out impaired digestion and bring back vigorous health,
than will such a salt water fishing trip in the Philippines.
Ducks and snipe are the stand-bys for the hunters who love the
shotgun. A few years ago magnificent duck shooting was to be had
on the Laguna de Bay, as well as in the province of Bataan just
across the bay from Manila. Unfortunately the ducks on the Laguna
were educated by some stupid fellows who shot at them with a Colt
automatic gun. The ideas which they then developed as to danger zones
seem to have persisted ever since, and it is now difficult to get
within range of the great flocks which still continue to frequent
this the largest fresh-water lake in the Philippines.
Ducks have been shot in season and out of season around the water-holes
in Bataan and in the Candaba Swamp, as well as in the vicinity of
the fish pens in Bulacan. The shooting has fallen off rapidly here,
and in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac, for the same cause. We are powerless
to remedy this condition. Some years ago a law was passed authorizing
the secretary of the interior to provide regulations governing the
seasons during which game might be shot, but through oversight no
penalty was provided for the infraction of these regulations, and
the assembly has persistently refused to amend the law in this respect.
On Naujan Lake in Mindoro, and elsewhere in the provinces, magnificent
duck shooting may still be had. The whistling tree-duck and the
Philippine mallard are the two species which afford the best sport,
although pin-tails, bluebills, widgeons, and blue- and green-wing teal
come in on migration as does a tiny goose, smaller than the ordinary
duck. Several other species stray into the southern Philippines from
the Celebes, while at least one Formosan species sometimes visits
the Batanes Islands.
Jacksnipe come to the islands in enormous numbers from Asia,
usually arriving about the middle of August in northern and central
Luzón and gradually working their way south to Mindanao. The return
migration commonly comes during February. The flight of the Asiatic
jacksnipe is exactly like that of his American brother. In fact only
an ornithologist can distinguish between the two species. A bag of
one hundred birds to the gun is by no means unusual at the height of
the season, and a strong sentiment is developing among Americans in
favour of limiting the bag.
There are very numerous species of pigeons and doves in the
Philippines. All of them are excellent table birds and several of
them offer good sport. If one can take up his position under a fruit
tree frequented by the great gray and green pigeons, known locally
as baluds, about the middle of the afternoon he will get a wonderful
series of shots at incoming birds flying fifty or more yards up in
the air. They approach very rapidly, so that one must lead them a
long distance, "pulling them out of sight" in order to bring them
down. One may burn many a cartridge before he learns the knack of
stopping these powerful, swift-flying birds. During certain seasons
the larger pigeons roost, in countless thousands, in trees on little
isolated cays remote from the larger islands, where wonderful shooting
may be had during the morning and evening flights.
Junglefowl, the ancestors of all our domestic breeds of poultry,
are to be found throughout the islands but only in a few places do
they offer much opportunity for the sportsman who likes to kill his
birds on the wing. Prior to the last eruption they were very numerous
on the slopes of Taal Volcano.
A party which happened to visit Cavilli, a small isolated coral island
in the Sulu Sea, once found it alive with junglefowl. No one else
has ever seen any there. Obviously a great flock flew in and then
flew away again.
Particularly fine sport may be had on Fuga Island by walking along
the edge of the forest in the late afternoon. The birds which are
then feeding in the open fly straight for cover and present difficult
cross shots.
The larger hornbills are very good to eat, but as easy to hit on
the wing as a fair-sized door sailing through the air would be,
so do not offer much sport.
Wild hogs are abundant throughout the archipelago. Deer are found on
nearly all of the islands, but there are several noteworthy exceptions,
such as Palawan and Cebú. The Filipinos are very fond of hunting
deer. Sometimes they run them down with dogs and drive them into
nets where they lance them--a most unsportsman-like proceeding. The
wealthier Filipinos like to take up their stations at good strategic
posts, and then have the country beaten toward them. In this way they
sometimes get fifty or more deer in a single drive. I have never been
able to see anything very exciting about this method of hunting.
It is very good sport, on occasion, to still-hunt deer. The best deer
shooting I have ever had was at what is called the Cogonal Grande in
the center of the island of Culion. It is a great circular valley
sloping very gradually toward the center. Its higher portions are
overgrown with cógon grass which gives the valley its name. Probably
it was once the bed of a lake. At all events its center is swampy at
the present time and has grown up into a hopeless jungle of pandanus,
bamboo grass, etc., through which runs a maze of deer paths. Numerous
little cañons lead down from the neighbouring hills to this valley
and each of them has forest in it.
In the month of December, when the cógon is dry, if fired it burns
toward the centre on all sides until the blaze reaches the wet
swampy portion where the vegetation is not dry enough to burn. If
dogs are then put into the little stretches of forest which run down
the ravines toward the open valley, they almost invariably drive out
deer which run straight for the tangle at its centre, necessarily
crossing ground which has been burned bare.
As a result one gets hard cross shots but has the advantage of seeing
every bullet strike, as the soil is very dry at this season. This
makes interesting shooting. One gets game enough to keep the camp in
meat and not enough so that he feels like a butcher.
Many hunters go out at night with bull's-eye lanterns, shine the
deer and fire at their eyes. This is not so bad as jacking them
from a boat, because a man who hunts on foot necessarily makes a
good deal of noise, and they are apt to become alarmed and run away,
whereas one can approach in a boat so silently that they do not hear
the noise of the paddles or the rippling of the water.
Hunting at night in this way in the Philippines is very
interesting. One sees all sorts of nocturnal animals which are never
met with by day, and also gets a good opportunity to pick up owls,
nighthawks and other birds which are not ordinarily taken except
by accident. However, the ordinary hunter is not an ornithologist,
and does not care for such opportunities.
Wild hogs are hunted much as are deer. They drive readily. On account
of the habit of the old boars of turning and facing dogs when the
latter molest them, it is easy to bring them down.
The common people kill wild hogs with spears after the dogs have
brought them to bay. This is by no means a safe undertaking, as some
of the old boars attain tremendous size, have very formidable tusks
and are capable of killing a man in short order if able to come to
close quarters with him.
The wild hogs of the Philippines are very cleanly beasts. They take
daily baths whenever possible, and often build for themselves beds
of clean, fresh brush. They are extremely intelligent animals, and
it is therefore very difficult to still-hunt them. In view of their
huge bulk and ungainly proportions the absolute silence with which
they move through the forests cannot fail to impress one who sees
them stealing quietly along. After being disturbed they make plenty
of noise as they rush away.
One of the best ways to still-hunt them is to secrete one's self near a
water hole which they frequent for bathing purposes, but their sense
of smell is very keen, and if the wind happens to blow in the wrong
direction they will not approach the place where a hunter is lying
in wait.
Wild hogs are fruit eaters for the most part, and their flesh is
delicious. They are enormously abundant on the island of Tawi Tawi,
where the durian tree abounds. The Moro inhabitants will not touch
them, and as food is very plentiful during much of the year the island
swarms with them, and they attain the largest size. Moros say that
during the fruit season they become so covered with fat that if pursued
for any length of time they fall, overcome by the heat and the running!
When I was in Tawi Tawi in 1901 with Dr. Bourns and a Filipino helper,
one of us took a rifle along each morning when we went out to collect
birds and in a few moments, after finishing his bird shooting for
the day, was able to kill hogs enough to keep not only our party but
the local Spanish garrison in meat, while the lard which our servants
tried out lasted us for more than a year thereafter.
There are two animals in the Philippines which can with propriety
be dignified by the name of "big game." These are the wild carabao,
which is still to be found in various parts of the archipelago, and
the tamarau, a true buffalo of a species which occurs nowhere in the
world except on the island of Mindoro.
The wild carabao is a formidable antagonist, hard to stop and a
vicious fighter after he is once wounded. Under ordinary circumstances
he is very wary and difficult to approach. It is highly important
in hunting him to use bullets with great stopping power. A number
of men have been killed in the Philippines by wild carabaos which
they had severely wounded. The most recent case which has come to
my knowledge was that of a Mr. Barbour, in Mindoro. He was an old
hand at the game, and had killed fifty-odd specimens. He shot a bull
three times and it dropped apparently dead. Walking close up to it he
dropped the butt of his rifle to the ground between his legs, and held
the barrel with his knees while trying to light a cigarette. Without
the slightest warning the injured bull sprang to its feet and drove
a horn completely through him, killing him instantly.
There is an interesting and unsettled question as to whether the
wild carabaos of the Philippines are indigenous to the islands or
are merely the descendants of imported animals which have made their
escape from captivity. My own opinion is that both beliefs are true
or, in other words, that we have both a native wild race and other
carabaos just as wild and just as fierce which are the descendants of
tame individuals. The ordinary wild bulls have comparatively short and
thick horns, while the bulls of the species found in Nueva Ecija and
in northern Luzón generally have long, slender, very sharp, strongly
curved horns. I believe that the latter animals belong to the true
native race.
Wild carabaos are found not only at various points in Luzón,
but abundantly in Mindoro and the Calamianes Islands. They appear
in considerable numbers in Masbate, Negros and elsewhere in the
archipelago.
To the inexperienced hunters who are inclined to try to bring them
down my advice is "Don't!"
Few indeed are the men who have killed so much as a single specimen of
the tamarau of Mindoro. It is a small jungle-inhabiting ruminant. Its
color, when adult, is precisely that of the carabao. It is, however,
a much smaller and more active animal. The bulls lose no opportunity
to attack carabaos, both domesticated and wild, and in spite of their
own inferior size kill them with apparent ease.
The tamarau is extremely muscular and when it charges, which it is
prone to do on very slight provocation, bores a hole through the
jungle vegetation, coming on with the speed and recklessness of a
rhinoceros. Under such conditions it is excessively hard to stop,
and when it pushes its charge home, woe be to the unlucky hunter. With
rare exceptions it attacks when wounded if it so much as catches sight
of a human being. Even when unmolested it not infrequently charges,
without warning, when one gets unduly near. It feeds at night, and
never lolls around in the water as does the carabao.
At the time I first came to the Philippines to collect natural history
specimens in 1887, this animal was known only from travellers'
tales and from what purported to be a stuffed individual in the
Dominican museum. It was certainly stuffed, being about as shapely as
a kerosene barrel. Its skin looked so exactly like that of a carabao
that uncharitable persons had suggested that it was an artifact.
At this time the most absurd tales about the tamarau were in
circulation. I was solemnly assured by one group of persons, who
claimed to have seen it, that it had only one horn which grew out of
the top of its head. Others were certain that it had two horns and
but a single eye.
We did not anticipate the good fortune of discovering either a unicorn
or a cyclops, but thought that there must be something behind all of
these remarkable stories.
After undergoing many hardships and performing much hard work, our
party succeeded in taking five individuals, the first ever killed
and properly preserved.
The best way to hunt these wary and dangerous animals is to pick
up a fresh trail early in the morning along some water course where
they come to drink during the night, and follow it as noiselessly as
possible. One is liable to jump the game at any moment. I shall never
forget my astonishment when, on climbing up a steep river bank and
diving into a tunnel through runo grass, I nearly fell over an old
bull. Ordinarily, however, no such luck awaits one. It is frequently
necessary to trail the quarry five or ten miles before one comes up
with it, and then the usual reward, after crawling through underbrush
and wriggling along on the ground, bitten by ants and mosquitoes,
torn by thorns and covered with pestiferous land leeches, is to hear
a terrific crash in the brush and never so much as catch a glimpse
of the animal which makes it. The tamarau sleeps during the day,
almost invariably lying down in the densest of jungle growth, facing
back upon its own trail. Furthermore, it is uncommonly likely to put
a bend in that trail before lying down, so that while one is still a
mile or two from it by the line which it followed, it may in reality
be not more than fifty or a hundred yards away.
A very skilful tracker is necessary if one is to have much hope of
success, and one should not fire, even after the game is in sight,
unless he can get a brain shot or can be certain of breaking the
spinal column; otherwise, he endangers his own life by shooting,
if the tamarau is at moderately close quarters.
I believe that no other ruminant is harder to kill outright. Certainly
there is no other approximating the tamarau in size which is so
tough. I refrain from chronicling my own experiences, as I am certain
that my statements would not be believed, and prefer to leave hunters
to find out for themselves how much shooting it takes to put one of
these extraordinary beasts out of commission.
There is one place in Mindoro called Canturai, where tamarau may be
taken with comparative ease. It was described to me, in Spanish days,
as an extensive open area with a conical hill near its centre, and
I was told that by burning the grass and sleeping on the hill one
could readily get early morning shots at tamarau which came out to
lick up the ashes.
But various other stories had also been told me, and one and all
had proved false. I had dug pitfalls for the wary beasts in vain. I
had perched in trees, devoured by mosquitoes, and with hard branches
cutting into my flesh, waiting for some pugnacious bull to come out
and fight a tame carabao fastened at a convenient distance from my
hiding place, all to no purpose. Under such conditions a tamarau once
came and bellowed around in the bushes, but did not show himself. I
had heard tales of men who rode tamarau down on horseback and lanced
them, and these yarns I knew to be false. So I never took the trouble
to look up the Canturai story, worse luck, for it proved to be true.
American soldiers occupied Mindoro for years before one of them
succeeded in killing a tamarau. Finally a party of officers went to
Canturai and the first morning they shot seven! Various other persons
who have since gone there have had extraordinary luck, although several
have narrowly escaped being killed, owing to their folly in following
wounded animals into the cógon grass.
A tamarau pursued under such circumstances will almost invariably
back off at right angles to its own trail, wait for its pursuers to
come up, and charge them, giving them no time to fire.
Young calves are as wild as their parents, and I am credibly informed
will often endeavour to attack female carabaos if an attempt is made
to get them to regard these animals in the light of foster mothers.
It is a curious fact that calves, and in fact young animals up to a
year or more of age, are of a light reddish colour closely resembling
that of some Jersey cattle. Their coats turn dark later on. Their
horns, too, are at first circular in cross-section. Later they become
triangular.
When pursued, tamarau cows have a curious fashion of passing their
heads under their calves, raising them with the horns pressed down in
such a way as to hold them against their necks, with forelegs hanging
on one side and hindlegs on the other, and running with them. All
in all, they are very interesting beasts, and we still have much to
learn about them. The man who attempts to hunt them with anything
but a heavy and thoroughly reliable rifle is a fool.
Crocodiles of the largest size frequent many of the streams and most
of the lakes in the Philippines. They are also to be seen occasionally
on sandbars rising out of the sea. Doubtless they will some day be
shot for their hides, but as yet they are left undisturbed, unless
they display special proclivities for eating human beings, valuable
horses or fat cattle. The Filipinos claim that with crocodiles the
liking for human flesh is an acquired taste, and that it is only
in comparatively rare instances that they become man-eaters, as do
tigers. I believe that this is true. Certainly, I have seen a clear
pool full of happy Tagbanua children with a big crocodile lying in
plain sight at the bottom of it. On the other hand, I have known of
individual crocodiles, of evil reputation, each of which have killed
numbers of human beings. In one little pool crossed by a trail which
I have had occasion frequently to use in Cagayan province ten persons
were pulled down and devoured in three years. Most men who use the
rifle sooner or later become interested in putting these vicious
reptiles out of the way whenever opportunity offers.
Hunters and fishermen, in search of new and exciting experiences,
will not fail to meet with them in the Philippines, and the tourist
will find there much that is picturesque, strange or wonderful.
CHAPTER XXX
PHILIPPINE LANDS
Especial interest attaches to the subject of Philippine lands for
three reasons: first, the very large majority of small landholders
in the islands have no titles; second, there are enormous areas of
unoccupied, unclaimed, uncultivated land which are doing no one
any good at present and ought to be brought under cultivation as
rapidly as possible; third, not only insular government officials,
but Mr. Root and Mr. Taft have been very unjustly attacked for the
land policy pursued in the Philippines.
As regards ownership, some 31,879 square miles may be considered to be
private land to which owners have obtained titles or could have done
so had they known how to assert their rights. Only about 8937 square
miles of this total amount are estimated to be under cultivation at
the present time.
Excepting only private lands and a few acres belonging to municipal
or provincial governments or to the insular government as the case
may be, the remaining land constitutes the public domain of the
Philippine Islands which is the property of the government of the
United States, but is administered by the insular government. It is
made up of forest land, mineral land, agricultural land, and foreshore
and land under water.
Fifty-four thousand square miles are estimated to be forest land. The
rest is now provisionally classified as agricultural land for the
reason that the mineral land and foreshore have never been segregated.
The condition in which private land titles were found at the time of
the American occupation was very distressing. It had been a difficult
matter to secure title under the Spanish régime and the very large
majority of the common people had accordingly put it off until a
mythical to-morrow which never came. Even those who had succeeded
in obtaining formal documents had in many instances lost them as a
result of the vicissitudes of war.
The Public Land Act of the Philippine Commission, passed under the
provisions of the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, became effective
on July 26, 1904. It contained liberal provisions relative to Spanish
grants and unperfected titles.
Any citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States or of
any insular possession thereof over the age of twenty-one years or
the head of a family can obtain a forty-acre homestead by five years
of cultivation, two years of occupancy and the payment of $10.
The Public Land Act also provided for the issuance of a free patent
to a tract not exceeding forty acres in extent to any native of the
Philippine Islands then an occupant and cultivator of unreserved,
unappropriated, agricultural public land who had continuously occupied
and cultivated such land either by himself or through his ancestors
since August 1, 1898; or who prior to August 1, 1898, continuously
occupied and cultivated such land for three years immediately prior
to such date, and who had been continuously since July 4, 1902, until
the date of the taking effect of the Public Land Act, an occupier
and cultivator of such land.
Most liberal provision was thus made for the small landowner, or
would-be landowner, but neither Congress nor the commission reckoned
with the ignorance of the common people nor with the opposition to
the acquisition of land by poor Filipinos which developed on the part
of their richer and more intelligent fellow-countrymen. This latter
difficulty has proved to be a quite serious one. The cacique does not
wish his labourers to acquire land in their own right, for he knows
well enough that if they did so they would become self-supporting,
and it would cease to be possible for him to hold them as peons, as is
commonly done at present. Serious obstacles are therefore frequently
thrown in the way of poor people who desire to become owners of
land, and if this does not suffice, active opposition is often made
by municipal officers or other influential Filipinos, who claim as
their own private property land which poor men are trying to get. [158]
The Bureau of Lands now interests itself actively and directly in
protecting the public lands against such spurious claims, and thus
keeps large areas open to claim by the common people.
Absolute ignorance of the law was the commonest of all causes
of the failure of the poor to take advantage of its very liberal
provisions. Every known resource was exhausted in endeavouring to
enlighten them. Pamphlets informing them of their rights were published
in all important native dialects, and widely circulated. The schools
coöperated in this good work. Provincial and municipal officials
were instructed to inform the people of their rights, but in very
many cases these instructions were disregarded.
Because of the complete illiteracy of practically all of the members
of the non-Christian tribes in Benguet and Lepanto, I caused a survey
party to be sent out from the Bureau of Lands to inform them of their
rights and to assist them in making the necessary applications. It
was from this territory that proportionately the largest number of
applications were sent in.
The period within which applications might be made was extended from
January 1, 1907 to January 1, 1909, yet it is undoubtedly true that
when it finally expired the vast majority of those who might have
profited by the free patent privilege had failed to take advantage
of it because of ignorance that it existed.
With the rapid spread of the English language such a condition would
not now arise. At its last session the Philippine Legislature passed an
act to renew for a period of ten years the right to secure free patent,
but this act, like the one which it amends, is subject to the approval
of the President and of Congress. It is to be hoped that such approval
will be given. In my opinion every reason which made it advisable to
grant free patents in the first instance is still of full force.
The total number of homestead applications received since the
Public Land Act took effect is only 19,313, and of these it has
been necessary to reject 4811 because the provisions of law were not
complied with. Forty-eight patents have been issued, and there are
8225 approved applications, while 6219 not yet approved by the bureau
are pending.
The figures for free patents are as follows: Number of applications,
15,885; free patents issued, 722; cases still pending, 11,871;
rejected for cause, 3292.
One reason why so many of the free patent cases are still pending
is that there never has been, and is not now, a sufficient force of
surveyors to keep the work of the Bureau of Lands up to date, all
efforts to secure the necessary additions to this force having failed.
Under the Land Registration Act provision was made for the issuing
of so-called Torrens titles for which the government is virtually
responsible, once they are given out, so all that is now necessary
to make it possible rapidly and effectively to remedy the existing
situation is the appointment of a sufficient number of judges in the
Court of Land Registration.
Government lands of provinces or municipalities are chiefly those
needed and utilized as sites for public buildings, plazas and the
like. The insular government owns a similar class of lands, and has
certain lands in trust, such as the San Lazaro Estate, which was
set aside long ago as a source of income for the support of lepers,
but the so-called friar lands, which have a history of their own,
are its most important holdings.
Under the Spanish régime several of the religious orders acquired
large wealth in the form of estates, most of which were brought under
high cultivation, although several of the largest, like the San José
Estate in Mindoro, and the Isabela Estate in the province of the same
name, were nearly or quite uncultivated, and a number of the others
contained large uncultivated areas.
Field labour was performed exclusively by tenants who were settled
on the estates in large numbers and in a number of instances had
built up large and well-organized towns. For various reasons bitter
hostility arose between them and their landlords. In some parts
of the islands the friars were detested by the populace on general
principles. Furthermore, the Filipino becomes greatly attached to his
home, especially if his fathers have lived there before him. Tenants
on the friar estates could be, and not infrequently were, arbitrarily
dispossessed, and the possibility that this might occur was a thorn
in their flesh.
During the insurrection the confiscation of the friar estates was
very seriously considered by the so-called Insurgent government,
which nominally took over their administration. As a matter of fact,
there was then no real administration of them, and the occupied lands
passed under the control of the tenants, who remained in undisturbed
possession for years and came to consider themselves the virtual
owners of their holdings. We have already seen how hostility to the
friars reached its climax at this time. Some were killed outright,
and others imprisoned under such conditions as to make death probable,
but the majority of those captured were in effect held for a long
time for ransom, their liberty being offered on condition of a large
cash payment.
Upon the inauguration of civil government and the reëstablishment
of law and order the friars naturally endeavoured to reassert their
rights. With few exceptions their former tenants absolutely refused
to pay rent. The friars threatened action in the courts, and would
have been abundantly justified in bringing it, but such a course
would unquestionably have led to serious disturbances of public order.
Agitators and demagogues had succeeded in firmly convincing many
of the tenants that they were the actual owners of their lands, and
those of them who knew better were bright enough to take advantage
of the peculiar situation.
Hostility between Filipinos and friars had become so general that the
return of the latter to their parishes, accustomed as they had been to
the exercise of a large measure of control over their parishioners,
and with the memory of grave abuses recently suffered fresh in their
minds, was deemed to be undesirable, but their permanent withdrawal
from the provinces was hardly feasible so long as they continued to
hold very large estates there. It was believed to be in the public
interest to encourage the several tenants to buy their individual
holdings so that they might become responsible landowners rather than
remain discontented and ready at any time to become ladrones. It was
believed that without great difficulty they could be persuaded to
attorn to the government, and that if the estates could be purchased
at a reasonable price individual holdings could eventually be sold
to their occupants. Because of the beneficial influence of such a
course on public order and the probable resulting improvement in
social conditions, the purchase of these estates was believed to be
in the public interest.
Had there been sufficient funds in the treasury the insular government
would have been within its right in making this purchase, but as
the total sum involved was large, and a bond issue was required to
raise it, it became necessary to get the consent of Congress. This
was given in sections 63, 64 and 65 of the Act of July 1, 1902. Under
the authority thus conferred the commission passed the so-called Friar
Lands Act, which provided among other things for the temporary leasing
and ultimate sale of their holdings to tenants as well as for the
determination of values and the fixing of rentals and purchase prices.
Naturally the first thing to be done was to get tenants to acknowledge
the ownership of the government. Until this could be brought about
little could be accomplished toward assisting them to buy their
holdings. With all possible promptness temporary leases were issued
to them. No effort was made carefully to ascertain the real extent
or value of their holdings, and unless their statements were upon
their face obviously very gravely in error they were accepted as a
basis for the first leases issued. The amount of opposition which
was encountered was, under the circumstances, surprisingly small,
and the progress of the work was unexpectedly rapid.
Planimeter surveys were made as rapidly as possible, and it was
soon found, as had been anticipated, that tenants in general had
understated both the size and value of their holdings. While the
rate of rentals as compared with values remained unchanged, there
was a resulting general increase in their amounts, and this caused
murmuring, but no really serious trouble resulted. There followed as
rapidly as possible the completion of accurate surveys and the fixing
of final values which necessitated further changes in rentals. The
volume of work was simply enormous. Many of the estates were divided
into an incredible number of small holdings with boundaries of the
utmost irregularity. An effort was made to get the consent of the
tenants to a readjustment of boundaries on a rectangular system,
leaving the size of their holdings unchanged but straightening them
out. It had to be abandoned. A tenant would be unwilling to part with
a given clump of bamboo or a magnificent mango tree planted by his
great-great-grandfather. The fact that these valuable possessions
occupied salient angles in his boundary naturally did not worry him
at all.
The definite right to purchase their holdings was from the outset
conferred upon lessees so that from the time the first leases were
issued the only possible reasons for the failure of a tenant to
purchase his holdings would be unwillingness to do so or lack of funds.
In passing the Friar Lands Act, which they did during my absence
on leave, the commission, none of whose members were posted on land
matters, rather thoughtlessly made applicable to the sale of vacant
lands the conditions and limitations of the Public Land Act.
We had been compelled to purchase some vacant estates and to forego the
purchase of several which were thickly occupied, for the reason that
the friars insisted on selling the one and absolutely refused to sell
the other. We had to take the best bargain we could get. The vacant
lands on certain of the estates could not be sold in small tracts.
The Friar Lands Act was accordingly amended by the Philippine
Legislature, of which the Philippine Assembly was then the Lower
House, and all restrictions on the areas of those lands which might
be sold were removed, so as to make it possible to get rid of the
vacant friar lands.
Interest was piling up on the purchase price of the latter, and
obviously it was best for the government, which had to administer
them, and for the people, who had to pay the bill, that they should
be disposed of as soon as possible.
Ultimately an opportunity presented itself to sell the San José Estate
of some fifty-eight thousand acres in its entirety to an individual,
and it was thus sold after consultation with the attorney-general of
the Philippines and the attorney-general of the United States as to
the rights of the government in the premises, and with the approval
of the secretary of war and of President Taft first had. The buyer
acted as an agent for Messrs. Welch, Havemeyer and Senf, who were all
heavily interested in sugar growing and desired to establish a modern
sugar estate in the Philippines. This fact, when it became known,
was the beginning of trouble.
Two very distinct classes of men were interested in imposing the
existing legislative restrictions relative to the sale of Philippine
lands. The first were influenced by the most honourable of altruistic
motives. They feared the monopolization of agricultural lands and the
evils of absentee ownership. The other class were the representatives
of certain important sugar interests in the United States who wished to
keep out Philippine sugar at all hazards and had shrewdly figured out
that the simplest way to do this would be to prevent its production
on a commercial scale. They therefore sought to restrict the sale
of public land so as to make it impossible for an individual or an
association to buy enough to establish a modern sugar estate. This
they succeeded in doing. They even went further, and by limiting the
land which a corporation might own and control made it impossible
for a corporation to purchase enough land of any sort for such an
estate. But that is another story with which we are not here concerned.
They built a fence around Philippine lands which they deemed to be
"pig-tight, horse-high, and bull-strong," but we unwittingly cut a
small hole through it. The limitations on the sales of land did not
apply to land belonging to the insular government which had first
imposed certain restrictions on the size of the areas of vacant friar
land which might be sold and had then removed them, having the same
right to do the one thing that it exercised in doing the other.
The San José Estate was sold to an individual. By him it was sold
in part to other individuals who had the undoubted right to acquire
as much land as they could get, and in part to a corporation not
authorized to engage in agriculture which acquired only such land as
it needed to conduct its legitimate business and was therefore within
its legal right. The transaction was a perfectly legitimate one from
every view point. It spread consternation among the beet-sugar men,
and Congressman Martin of Colorado, a state which has extensive
beet-sugar interests, made upon the floor of the House a scurrilous
attack upon President Taft, Secretary Root and the insular government
officials concerned in which he accused them of violating the law and
of having formed a gigantic conspiracy with great corporate interests,
more especially with certain sugar interests, not only to deprive
the friar land tenants of their holdings but to prevent Filipinos in
general from acquiring land and to turn the Philippines over to the
trusts. Mr. Martin and his fellows insisted that section sixty-five
of the Act of July 1, 1902, in itself imposed the restrictions of
the Public Land Act on the sale of friar lands; that the commission
in imposing these limitations in the first instance had merely voiced
the will of Congress and that its act in subsequently withdrawing them
was illegal and iniquitous. They apparently lost sight of the fact
that if so, the iniquity was shared by the Philippine Assembly. Later
they endeavoured to explain the action of the assembly by saying that
it did not know what it was doing, and certain members of that body
made a similar claim, for political effect. As a matter of fact, I
myself explained to the members of the assembly friar lands committee
the purpose of the bill with which they were then in full accord.
I requested an investigation. One was authorized by the House. It was
made by the Committee on Insular Affairs. Its cost to the United States
was very large. The secretary of the interior, the executive secretary,
the attorney-general, the director of lands and other witnesses, were
called to Washington from the Philippines and taken away from their
work at a rather critical time. The result was a complete vindication
of the several persons who had been attacked. Congressman Martin
failed to make good his charges in any particular, and incidentally
members of the committee and such other persons as cared to follow
the proceedings were given a valuable demonstration of the manner in
which the insular government transacts its business.
There was, however, one unfortunate indirect effect. In view of
the difference of opinion among congressmen as to whether Congress
had or had not intended to make the limitations to the Public Land
Act relative to areas which could be sold applicable to friar lands
the secretary of war issued an executive order providing that their
sale should be subject to such limitations, pending an expression by
Congress of its will in the matter. Congress has never acted.
There are large tracts of vacant friar lands which cannot be sold for
years to come, if subject to existing restrictions, either because
they are situated in very sparsely inhabited regions where there
is no demand for them on the part of would-be small landowners,
or because the price as fixed by law is materially in excess of
that of equally good, adjacent, unoccupied public lands which can
be had subject to identical conditions as to areas purchasable. As
the Philippines are "land poor," the inadvisability of such a policy
would seem to be sufficiently evident. The argument against large
estates is without force, both because the amount of land concerned
is relatively insignificant, and because there are already in the
islands so many large estates, owned in many instances by Filipinos,
that the addition of a few new ones more or less would not perceptibly
change the existing situation.
The question might well be raised as to the authority of the secretary
of war to suspend by an executive order the operation of a law duly
enacted by the Philippine legislature pursuant to powers conferred by
Congress, especially as Congress has power, and has had opportunity,
to disapprove it. I think it possible that the director of lands could
be compelled by mandamus to sell vacant friar lands in any quantity
to an individual applicant.
The facts as regards forest lands are set forth in sufficient detail
in the chapter on the Philippine forests.
The existing legislation relative to mineral lands is defective,
or objectionable, in several minor particulars, but on the whole is
reasonably satisfactory except for the provision that a person may
locate but one claim on a given vein or lode. Such a provision would
have very greatly hampered the development of the mining industry in
the United States and it greatly hampers it in the Philippines.
Recommendations that Congress amend the law relative to mining
claims have been persistently made by the commission and have been
persistently ignored, probably for the reason that Congress is too
busy with other matters to give much attention to such requests from
the Philippines.
We now come to the subject of public agricultural lands. I have
already called attention to the fact that little advantage has been
taken of the liberal provision of the Public Land Act relative
to free patents and homesteads. There has been some agitation in
favour of a homestead of one hundred sixty acres instead of the
forty acres now allowed. Personally I do not attach great importance
to this matter. Five acres is as much as the average Filipino will
cultivate [159] and if he has forty there is abundant room for him so
to distribute his cultivated area as to let much of his land "rest,"
which he is very fond of doing. To increase the size of the homestead
would help a very limited number of Americans, but a better way of
accomplishing this would be to allow them to buy what they require,
within reasonable limits.
No one who has not travelled widely in the Philippines can be
adequately impressed with the insignificance of the areas now under
cultivation as compared with those which would richly repay it. The
country is failing to produce food enough for eight millions of people,
yet if advantage were taken of the opportunities which nature so
bountifully affords it could readily feed eighty millions.
Under such conditions the present restrictions on the sale of public
lands, which make it impossible for an individual to buy more than
forty acres, or for a corporation or association of individuals to
buy more than twenty-five hundred acres, are simply absurd. What we
want is not the indefinite preservation of our present vast trackless
wastes of the richest public agricultural land, but productive farms.
Every opportunity should be extended to each native of these islands
who desires to obtain land and cultivate it with his own hands.
The same statement holds for persons who wish to secure land and to
employ others as labourers. Large estates on which modern machinery
and modern agricultural methods are employed are greatly needed. The
methods employed by Filipino owners of such estates are primitive. The
natives believe what they see, and learn far better by example than in
any other way. Absolutely no harm has resulted from the establishment
of large sugar plantations on the San José Estate in Mindoro and the
Calamba Estate in Luzón. On the contrary, both of these great farms
have supplied abundant labour at increased wages to a very large number
of needy people; have taught labourers much about sanitary living,
and have given them very valuable object lessons in agriculture. Both
are frequently visited by intelligent agriculturists glad of the
opportunity to acquire the practical knowledge which can there be so
easily obtained by observation.
It may be a revolutionary statement to make, but if I personally
controlled the public lands of the Philippine Islands, I would
without hesitation give them to persons who would cultivate them,
making the amounts conceded dependent strictly upon the ability of
their would-be owners to cultivate, and restoring to the public domain
any lands not promptly and properly utilized.
The money which the government now derives from the sale of public
lands is a bagatelle compared with the benefit which would result to
the country if cultivated areas were widely extended, and there is
abundant labour here to extend them very rapidly. All that is needed
is the introduction of modern machinery, modern agricultural methods
and capital.
The existing provisions of the Public Land Act relative to leases are
very liberal, but the average man wants to own land before he spends
much money on it.
There are several serious omissions in the provisions of the act of
Congress relative to the sale of public lands. No authority exists
for their sale for residence purposes, business purposes, or cemetery
purposes, except within town sites. The need of land for cemetery
purposes became so acute that I deemed it wise to stretch the law a bit
in meeting it. Many of the old cemeteries were situated in the midst
of dense centres of population, or immediately adjacent to sources
of public water supply. Their areas were usually grossly inadequate
properly to accommodate the very large number of bodies requiring to
be buried. Shockingly unsanitary conditions resulted, and it became
necessary for the Bureau of Health to close many of them. Because of
the trouble between the Aglipayan and Catholic churches, it was often
impossible for representatives of the Catholic church to purchase
private lands for cemetery purposes. Their old cemeteries were
closed; yet they could not open new ones, although able and willing
to pay liberally for the necessary land. Under these circumstances I
ruled that public land could be sold to them, and that occupation by
caretakers, and such cultivation as is ordinarily given in beautifying
cemeteries, would be held to constitute occupation and cultivation
within the meaning of the law, so that title could eventually pass.
In closing let me emphasize the fact that the only method of informing
the common people of the Philippines relative to their rights in the
matter of acquiring public lands thus far found practicable has been
to send special land inspectors from house to house, to convey the
information by word of mouth. A considerable number of such inspectors
are now employed, and more are badly needed.
The total area of all public lands sold to Americans or foreigners
since the American occupation is seventeen thousand acres; that of
all public lands leased by such persons, seventeen thousand three
hundred ninety acres. This is the answer to those who claim that
there has been exploitation of the public domain.
The needs of the Philippine Islands in the matter of land legislation
may be briefly summarized as follows:--
More judges in the Court of Land Registration so that the cadastral
survey work may be expedited, and the poor man may be able to obtain
title to his holdings promptly and at small expense.
The employment of more surveyors on public land work.
A renewal of the privilege of obtaining free patents on the old
conditions during a period of at least ten years.
The employment of more public land inspectors to inform the poor and
ignorant of their rights, and to assist them in obtaining them.
More liberal legislation relative to the size of the tracts of public
land which may be purchased, and the number of mining claims on a
given vein or lode which an individual may record.
Authorization for the sale of public agricultural lands outside of town
sites for residence purposes, business purposes, and for cemeteries.
CHAPTER XXXI
THE PHILIPPINE FORESTS
Would that I had adequate words in which to describe the wonders of
the Philippine forests, through which I wandered almost daily for four
years, and which I love to revisit whenever the opportunity presents
itself! Their majestic stateliness and magic beauty defy description. I
have seen them swept by hurricanes when huge branches crashed down
and mighty trees thundered to earth, imperilling life and limb, and
I have seen them in the still noons of the tropics when not a leaf
stirred. At times they are vocal with songs of birds and ceaseless
din of insects, and again they are as silent as the grave. Who could
do justice to the endless variety and beauty of tree-trunk, leaf
and flower; the exquisite drapery of vines, ferns and orchids which
covers the older forest monarchs; the weird masses of aërial roots
which lead superstitious natives to believe some trees to be haunted,
and small wonder; the ever changing light and shade bringing out new
beauties where one least expects to find them; the endless differences
in the flora due to variations in altitude and in the distribution
of moisture?
In Mindoro, Palawan and Mindanao we find tropical vegetation in its
absolute perfection; in the highlands of northern Luzón we meet our
old friends, the pine and oak, while beside them grow strawberries,
raspberries, huckleberries, jacks-in-the-pulpit and other friends of
our childhood days.
Surely the Philippine forests should be preserved, but not for their
beauty alone! In them the people have a permanent source of wealth,
if they can only be made to realize it and to take proper measures
to protect it. Certainly no other country has a greater variety of
beautiful and serviceable woods. Some of them are so close-grained
and hard that they successfully resist the attacks of white ants,
and prove almost indestructible even when buried in the earth. Others
will not stand exposure to the weather, but last indefinitely under
cover and are excellent for inside framing and finishing. We have the
best of cabinet woods, such as ebony, camagon, narra, [160] acle, and
tindalo. From some of our trees come valuable gums, such as almaciga
[161] and gutta percha. Others produce alcohol, tan barks, dyewoods,
valuable vegetable oils or drugs. The so-called "Singapore cane,"
so highly prized by makers of wicker furniture, grows abundantly
in Palawan. Great areas are covered with a bamboo which makes an
excellent paper pulp.
In short, the Philippine forests should be like money in the bank for
the inhabitants of the islands. There are in this world wise people who
under ordinary circumstances spend only the interest on their money;
and there are others who spend the principal while it lasts. To which
class do the Filipinos belong?
It has been said that the civilization of a people may be measured by
its forest practice, and in a sense this is true, for forestry as we
know it to-day, and as the leading nations of Europe have known it
for a long period, means the limiting of immediate gain in the hope
of future reward, direct and indirect; in fact, it means present-day
sacrifice for the sake of an unborn posterity. A wise national forest
policy therefore involves not only foresight, but statesmanship
and patriotism, which in their most advanced degree are to be found
only among the people of the most enlightened nations. The manner in
which a people regards its forest resources may be taken as fairly
indicative of its outlook in general. What then has been the policy
of the Philippine government and what the attitude of the people,
toward these resources?
There is little room for doubt that practically the entire land
area of the Philippines from the plains at sea-level to the highest
mountain-tops was originally covered with forest growth. At the time
of the American occupation two-thirds of this wonderful heritage
had ceased to exist. This would be all very well if any considerable
portion of the vast deforested areas were cultivated, or put to any
permanent profitable use, but such is not the case. According to the
best estimates which it has thus far been possible to make, only about
fifteen per cent of the land from which the original forests have
been stripped is to-day under any form of cultivation. The remainder
is covered with commercially worthless second-growth forest, and with
several giant grasses which are collectively known as cógon.
The cogonáles [162] make up approximately sixty per cent of the
deforested area, or forty per cent of the land area of the entire
archipelago. They are not good for grazing unless fed down very
closely. They are difficult to bring under cultivation because of the
vitality of the grass roots and the acidity which they impart to the
soil. Cogonáles are often the breeding places of swarms of locusts
which devour growing crops in neighbouring fields. They have been
produced by the shiftless form of agriculture known as caiñgin making.
A large majority of the inhabitants of the Philippines will not fight,
for any length of time, the tropical weeds and grasses which invade
their cultivated fields, and rather than attempt to do so prefer
to clear forest lands, slaughtering the trees indiscriminately
and burning them where they fall. An area so cleared is known as
a caiñgin. It is usually planted with camotes, corn, rice or some
similar quick-growing crop. Cultivation is carried on in a haphazard
way, but is soon abandoned when a jungle growth of grass, weeds and
seedling trees begins to spring up. At the end of the first, the
second or, at latest the third year the caiñgin maker abandons his
clearing and starts a new one. Fires sweep over the abandoned areas,
killing everything except the cógon grass which takes possession and
holds it against all comers. The forest destruction thus wrought in
the past is appalling. Within limits, it still continues, although
unlicensed caiñgin making is now forbidden by law.
In cutting timber for domestic use and for the market, the Filipinos
have in the past been absolutely indifferent to the matter of
reproduction, making a clean sweep in those places where merchantable
tree species could be readily and cheaply obtained.
Six weeks after the Philippine Commission became the legislative
body of the islands, it passed an act for the reorganization of the
Forestry Bureau, which had previously been created by military order,
continuing as its chief Major George P. Ahern, who had held this
position under the military régime, and who is to-day in length of
service the ranking bureau chief of the insular government.
Major Ahern was thus intrusted with the management of some fifty-four
thousand square miles of forest land, and was charged with the
duty of investigating the forest resources of the Philippines,
and of developing and protecting them. These two latter objects are
by no means incompatible. Vastly more timber falls and rots in the
Philippines than is cut and marketed, and the forest wealth of the
islands may be developed in such a way as actually to improve the areas
that are cut over by removing old trees, and thus giving light and
air to younger ones which then rapidly grow up and take their places.
The stand of hardwood timber in the Philippines is now probably
the finest in the world. The United States and Europe are ready
to purchase every foot of the selected grades of lumber that we
can ship. China offers a practically inexhaustible market for the
cheaper grades. Stumpage charges are moderate. Yet in spite of all
these advantages the islands do not, as yet, produce lumber enough
to supply their own needs.
This condition is rapidly changing, however, and if adequate measures
are not adopted for the conservation of the forests, we shall sooner
or later be confronted with the danger of their devastation by the
lumberman.
Under the direction of the Bureau of Forestry the trees which are
to be felled are in many instances marked, and in any event care
is taken to prevent the cutting of any which have not attained to
certain prescribed diameters, while the leaving of enough adequately
to provide for reproduction is obligatory.
Up to the time of the American occupation forest operations had been
limited to a very small number of well-known species of demonstrated
commercial value. The total number of tree species which had then
been identified was about twelve hundred. The number identified up
to the present time is approximately twenty-five hundred. A large
amount of important work has been done in determining what ones of
the commercially unknown species are valuable, and in what ways they
may best be utilized.
One of the most important functions of the Bureau of Forestry has
been to investigate unexplored and unknown forests, and ascertain
definitely the stand of commercially valuable trees, at the same time
giving proper consideration to the practicability of getting lumber
from them to the market at reasonable expense. As a result of this
work the bureau has been able to furnish much accurate and valuable
information to persons desiring to engage in the lumber industry.
Some forests have been found to be very valuable, while others are
practically worthless either on account of the absence of the better
tree species or because of difficulties which render it impossible
or unprofitable to transport lumber from them to a market.
At the time of the American occupation the methods employed in
felling trees and converting them into lumber were primitive in
the extreme. The small Malay axe, the edge of which is hardly wider
than that of a good-sized chisel, was in common use. Once felled,
trees were necessarily cut into short lengths, as all logs had to be
hauled by carabaos. The logs were ultimately cut into lumber by hand
with whip-saws operated, as a rule, by two men each. There was not a
modern sawmill in the Philippine Islands. The few mills which existed
were of the most antiquated type, and with one or two negligible
exceptions were confined to Manila.
To-day there are about sixty steam sawmills in operation and orders
have been placed for others, some of which will have a capacity of one
hundred thousand board feet of lumber per day. The actual investment
in logging equipment and sawmills runs into the millions of dollars.
Logging was formerly closely restricted to the most valuable species,
so situated that they could be rolled into the water or hauled to
the beach by carabaos. Large tracts are now being logged with modern
machinery under conservative forest methods, and the logging railway
and the skidding engine are rapidly coming into use.
Three forest reserves, similar in purpose to the national forests
of the United States, have been set aside to insure a permanent
timber supply in certain regions and to afford permanent protection
to streams capable of furnishing irrigation water upon which may
depend the prosperity of the inhabitants of neighbouring plains. One
hundred and forty-nine communal forests have been created for as many
municipalities, in order permanently to provide them with timber and
firewood. The interests of the Filipinos themselves have been given
first consideration, and the inhabitants of towns for which communal
forests have not been set aside may freely cut and gather from any
public forest, without license and without payment, all timber of
the second and lower groups which they require for domestic use,
while gratuitous licenses can be had for first-group timber to be
employed in the construction of permanent houses.
Within recent years the revenue derived from forest products has
steadily increased, in spite of the fact that the government charges
have been materially reduced.
The public forests of the Philippines are not sold, but are developed
under a license system. Small operators usually work under ordinary
yearly licenses for definite small areas. Exclusive licenses, or
concessions as they are popularly called, are generally in the form
of twenty-year exclusive licenses to cut and remove timber and other
forest products from certain specified tracts. The land itself is in
no way affected by such licenses. Merely the timber and minor forest
products are included. When a lumberman is seriously considering
an investment in the Philippines, he himself, or an experienced
representative, should state to the director of forestry approximately
the extent of the investment he contemplates. He will then be given
information about several tracts which promise to answer his needs,
and arrangements can be made for an experienced forester to accompany
him over the tracts in question so that he may size up conditions for
himself. All maps, estimates and other detailed information which
may have been collected on the tracts will, of course, be placed
at his disposal, and he can count upon the heartiest governmental
coöperation and assistance in making a success of his enterprise. It
should be understood, however, that in no case does the director of
forestry guarantee the correctness of the estimates or other data
which he furnishes. These are given to the applicant for what they
are worth, and in every case he is advised to take such steps as
may be necessary to satisfy himself as to whether or not they are
correct. If the lumberman then decides to apply for a concession, he
makes a formal application in writing to the director of forestry for
an exclusive twenty-year privilege for the tract he has selected. His
application is then forwarded by the director of forestry with
recommendations to the secretary of the interior, who may approve the
issuance of an exclusive license if he decides that such a course is
in the public interest. For an area of more than a thousand hectares
(approximately twenty-five hundred acres) proposals for bids to secure
the desired privilege are published in the Official Gazette and other
papers. At least six weeks intervene between the appearance of the
first advertisement and the opening of the bids, but in order to
give interested parties in the Philippines ample time to correspond
with their principals in Europe or America, this period is usually
extended to about four months. The advertisement also enumerates
certain minimum requirements which principally specify the minimum
amount of capital which must be invested within a certain given time
and the minimum cut during the several succeeding years, together
with certain requirements regarding logging and milling equipment.
Formal bids are finally submitted, and the license is ordinarily
granted to the bidder who gives the best assurances of developing
the tract most thoroughly and promptly. The right to reject any and
all bids is expressly reserved.
In fixing the annual production there is taken into consideration,
so far as possible, the amount of over-mature timber on the stand and
the amount of the annual increment, with the object of rendering the
investment a permanent one instead of merely permitting the operator
to strip and abandon the area he holds. In preparing regulations under
which the operator is required to work, first care is given to the
future condition of the area, in order that the land after logging
may be potentially as valuable as before, and no consideration
of immediate profit is allowed to interfere. Nevertheless, the
logger in the Philippines will find that in comparison with similar
conditions elsewhere he will have few restrictions to contend with,
and in practically no cases are these such as seriously to increase
the cost of his operations. It is to permit such permanent use of
the land that concessions are granted over such large areas, often
consisting of a hundred square miles or even more.
As local residents are given the right to cut what lumber and firewood
they may need for their private use in the territory covered by
exclusive licenses, this system is not open to objection, especially
as there are more than sufficient forest areas to accommodate all
applicants desiring exclusive licenses. The director of forestry
has the right to reduce cutting areas if outputs do not come up
to requirements, so that a dog-in-the-manger policy is rendered
impossible.
The local market takes about one hundred million feet per year. Only
a few million feet are exported annually at present. A properly
distributed cut of five hundred million feet per year would actually
improve the forests.
It would seem that the policy which we have followed would meet with
the almost unanimous approval of the Filipinos, but as a matter of
fact it has been far from popular with them. The forest reserves have
been set aside against the protest of the very people who will profit
by the conservation of their resources, and would be the first to
suffer from their destruction. The native press, and the Filipinos
generally, have opposed the opening up of timber tracts by modern
logging methods, despite the fact that such tracts are usually
inaccessible to persons operating with old-fashioned equipment,
and the further fact that the establishment of important lumbering
enterprises means additional employment for well-paid skilled and
unskilled labor, increase in the money in circulation, decrease in
lumber imports and the ultimate development of a lucrative export
trade. Fear of American capital can hardly be cited as an explanation
of this phenomenon. Of three concessions granted last year only one,
which was subsequently abandoned, went to American capitalists.
Thus far the Filipinos have made no attempt to share in the development
of their forests on any save a very small scale. Of the total amount
of lumber sawed in the islands only about ten per cent is produced
in mills owned or controlled by them. It is useless to argue that
the timber should be saved for future generations, for if not cut at
maturity trees fall and rot.
So far as concerns conservation, the attitude of the Filipinos is
even less satisfactory. There is abundant evidence on which to base
a prediction as to the policy which they would follow in practice,
if the compelling hand of an enlightened nation were withdrawn.
There is a singular indifference to the results of wanton forest
destruction, not only on the part of the persons guilty of it but on
that of the municipal, provincial and judicial officials who should
prevent it by enforcing the law. Even when the employees of the
Bureau of Forestry have laboriously gathered conclusive evidence
against caiñgin makers it often proves excessively difficult, or
impossible, to secure conviction. The existing opposition to forest
protection springs from a desire on the part of the Filipinos to
consume their capital as well as their interest, without thought of
the morrow, or of the permanent advantage to their country as a whole
which would result from conservation of its forest wealth. If they
were left to their own devices the forests would once more blaze
with caiñgin fires set by the poor peasant at the command of the
influential cacique. Unfortunately that is now only too often the way
in which caiñgins come to be made. The rich landowners compel ignorant
dependents to make them, furnishing seed for the first agricultural
crop. Under this arrangement the poor labourer runs all the risk of
being prosecuted, does all the work, and often gives half or more of
his crop to the cacique as a return for the seed loaned him. After
the caiñgin is abandoned the cacique claims the land as his own,
and through his influence in provincial politics can often succeed in
delaying, or avoiding, prosecution even if detected in his wrong-doing.
What the result would be were all restraint withdrawn, and were
the Filipinos permitted to destroy their forest resources at will,
may easily be inferred from what has happened in the past, as well as
from the difficulties encountered in enforcing the present law. Cebú,
the most thickly populated large island in the archipelago, is already
practically deforested, and until recently many other islands have
been rapidly approaching the same unfortunate condition.
Under conservative forest management the existing annual output of
lumber might be increased fivefold and the unfortunate results from
reckless cutting, which have so frequently occurred in the past and
which not infrequently still occur, might be completely avoided.
If these very desirable ends are to be attained, the force employed
by the Bureau of Forestry must be materially augmented. It has
been conclusively demonstrated that every increase in the number of
its employees is promptly followed by a sufficient increase in the
insular revenues derived from forest products to more than offset the
expense involved in the payment of the additional salaries and travel
expenses. For every extra peso that the government expends in this way
it takes in about two, and if this can be done, and the enormous forest
resources of the islands developed and conserved at the same time,
there ought to be no trouble in securing the necessary legislation.
I long endeavoured to bring about the establishment of a fixed
relationship between the amount annually collected on forest
products and the amount allotted for the work of the Bureau of
Forestry. Obviously the working force of the bureau must be increased
as the lumber industry develops, or adequate supervision cannot
be exercised.
Increasing the working force of the bureau makes possible
investigations which stimulate the development of the lumber industry,
and lead to a largely increased output.
The collection of revenue on forest products from government lands is
made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue under the general supervision
of the secretary of finance and justice. I have recently learned,
to my amazement, that every large sawmill owner in the islands is
allowed to make the statement of the output of his mill upon which
collections are based; a procedure very like allowing importers to
assess their own customs dues. The inevitable result is that the
government is robbed right and left. Finding that an attempt was made
to justify this procedure on the ground that it was impracticable to
have lumber measured at the mills, as the Bureau of Internal Revenue
has not sufficient employees for this purpose, I endeavoured to remedy
this extraordinary situation.
Under existing law, timber may be measured in the round, in the square,
or after it has been manufactured into lumber. Measurement in the round
is quick and simple, and it has the further advantage that loss due to
wasteful sawing falls on the lumberman, while if the sawed lumber only
is measured such loss falls on the government. I therefore drafted and
submitted to the commission a law providing that all timber should be
measured in the round, with proper allowance for defects. Had the law
passed, I could have had employees of the Bureau of Forestry measure
the logs brought into each of the several mills which collectively
turn out ninety per cent of the sawn lumber of the islands, and so
could have effectively prevented frauds upon the government.
A system which practically allows the individuals interested to fix the
amounts which they shall pay the government for its timber naturally
meets with the unqualified approval of the lumbermen. I therefore
expected that they would strenuously object to the proposed change
in law. To my surprise there was no complaint while it was pending
before the commission, which passed it.
Then, and only then, I learned that certain lumbermen had quietly done
their work where they believed, rightly, that it would be effective,
and that the bill would not pass the assembly. An effective lobby,
headed by a Filipino representative of the largest Filipino lumbering
concern in the islands, had been organized against it, and so a
measure having no other object or effect than to prevent frauds on
the government and increase its revenue, was killed, for the time at
least, consideration of the bill being "deferred," by the assembly,
with the result that a large number of foreign mill owners will be
allowed to continue to make an illegitimate profit, and a very limited
number of Filipino mill owners will do the same.
The commercial outlook for the Philippine lumber industry is very
encouraging. No more greedy lumber market exists than Manila has
offered during the past few years, this condition being due primarily
to the stimulus given to all lines of industrial development by the
economic policy of the insular administration.
Prices are high, and the supply is still unequal to the local
demand. Forest products to the value of $696,407 were last year
imported into the Philippines when we should have exported them in
large quantities. A lumber company properly equipped and managed,
and operating on a suitable tract, can place lumber in its Manila
yards at a cost of half or even less than half the price at which
the same lumber readily sells. The export trade, which should be very
profitable, has as yet scarcely been inaugurated. Tan bark, dyewoods,
valuable gums and rattans find a ready sale. It may reasonably be
expected that the world's demand for forest products of all kinds
will increase as the years go by, and that the resources of older
countries will become depleted, or at least inadequate to supply
steadily growing needs. Forest growth in the Philippines is rapid,
and under suitable conservation methods reforestation comes about
quickly. With continued enforcement of existing law, and with adequate
supervision over cutting and reforestation, the cost of which should be
paid by the lumber industry itself, the forests of the islands should
become an important permanent source of revenue and wealth. Filipinos
ought to become holders of forest concessions instead of labourers
on the concessions of others. Whether any considerable number of
them will care to do so remains to be seen, but at all events their
forests should be conserved, so that the opportunity may be ever
before them. At the present time caiñgin makers destroy far more
timber in the course of a year than lumbermen use.
In the hope of awakening an interest among Filipinos in forest
conservation and development, and of being able to train an adequate
Filipino working force, a forest school has been started at Los
Baños, in the immediate vicinity of one of our forest reserves, where
practical instruction can advantageously be given. It is anticipated
that the graduates of this school will be of great use in bringing
about a radical change in the attitude of the Filipinos toward forest
conservation.
It is an astonishing fact that the Bontoc and Lepanto Igorots have
been the only ones of the very numerous Philippine peoples to see
for themselves the benefits derivable from forest conservation.
When I first visited their country I noted that all the trees in
certain pine forests were carefully trimmed of their lower branches,
and on inquiry found that trees might not be felled until they reached
a certain size, although branches might be cut for firewood. The
prevention of fires, which are very destructive in pine forests, and
the care of young trees, were also adequately provided for! The Bureau
of Forestry now employs Igorots as fire wardens in Benguet and Bontoc.
If the policy were adopted of appropriating annually an amount
equivalent to sixty per cent of the forest revenues for the work of
the Bureau of Forestry, the proper conservation and development of
the great potential source of wealth intrusted to that bureau would
be adequately provided for. The commission has agreed to such an
arrangement; ten per cent of the total forest revenues to be expended
in the provinces under its exclusive legislative control, and fifty per
cent in the other provinces. Appropriations for the territory occupied
by non-Christians are now made on this basis. No appropriation bill
has been passed by the assembly since this policy was agreed to by the
commission. It remains to be seen whether the former body will favour
the expenditures necessary to support the work of forest conservation
and development, with the reasonable certainty that such work will
not only assure to them and to coming generations a permanent source
of wealth, but will more than pay for itself in dollars and cents.
CHAPTER XXXII
IMPROVED MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
The improvement in means of communication which has taken
place in the Philippines since the American occupation is almost
revolutionary. I well remember my tribulations in the Spanish days,
resulting from the inadequacy of the mail system. There were long
delays in receiving letters sent from Manila to the more important
towns in the archipelago, but if, as was usually the case with us,
one was living in a small and more or less isolated provincial town,
he was fortunate to get his letters at all. They would be forwarded
from place to place by irresponsible native carriers, and under the
most favourable circumstances were likely to be greatly delayed in
transmission. There was little respect for the privacy of letters. On
one occasion I arrived at Joló, confidently expecting a large mail,
only to be disappointed. A week later my companion, Dr. Bourns, was
calling upon a German resident of that place. Lying in a waste-basket
he saw a letter written in a hand which he recognized as that of
one of my friends. He thereupon called upon the German to deliver
any other letters he might have for me, and some were produced, but
others had been thrown away! We found that our mail had begun to come
prior to our arrival, and as the Spanish postmaster did not know any
persons named Bourns or Worcester he turned it over to this man to
see whether he could make out whom it was for. The latter opened the
letters, read them, and threw them away.
But this was not the worst of it. There was a time when for months I
received no letters, and my companion no newspapers or magazines. Then
the arrangement was reversed. I got my letters but no papers or
magazines, while he had papers but no letters.
Under the Spanish régime letter carriers in Manila received the
munificent salary of $46 per annum, but were authorized to collect a
charge of three-quarters of a cent on every article of mail delivered
by them, except letters from foreign countries and letters passing
between persons living in Manila.
The Spanish government did not admit general merchandise to the
mails, but accepted only samples and medicine. We admit all classes
of merchandise except certain objectionable things and certain
articles dangerous to the mails or to those handling them. We have
increased the maximum allowable weight of mail packages to eleven
pounds, and on January 1, 1913, established a "collect on delivery"
service under which merchants and others may send goods through the
mails and have the charges thereon collected from the addressee before
delivery. These are important and valuable extensions of the service,
and greatly benefit the Filipinos as well as the merchants by bringing
people throughout the islands into touch with shops from which they
can order the goods they need.
It is difficult to determine the difference in the amounts of business
done under the Spanish and American systems for the reason that the
Spanish figures are in many cases obviously unreliable. The latest
available statistics, for the fiscal year 1893, show an enormous
discrepancy between the amount of mail matter claimed to have been
transported and the revenue received, which should theoretically
have been about twice as large as seems to have been collected. It
is believed, however, that the following figures are fairly reliable.
The number of post-offices has increased from four hundred sixty-six
to five hundred ninety. It is anticipated that one hundred fifty
additional post-offices will be established in smaller municipalities
and out-of-the-way places within the present year, and as it is these
places are receiving postal service through the employment of competent
letter-carriers, who are collecting and delivering their mails.
Only sixty-five of the Spanish post-offices were in charge of officials
employed by the general government. The remaining four hundred one were
looked after in a way by local municipal officials. All postmasters
are now paid by the general government.
The mails are being carried with much greater frequency than ever
before. During the last year there were 273 contract routes on which
mails were carried a total of 873,957 miles at a cost of $40,440.75.
So far as can be judged from the figures available the mails despatched
from the islands during the fiscal year 1912 were about five times
those annually despatched during the late years of the Spanish régime.
In 1893 nine parcel post packages were sent to foreign countries. In
1912, 2640 such parcels went abroad. In 1893 the number of registered
articles transmitted between Philippine post-offices was 29,078. In
1912 it was 535,137. The increased use of newspapers is shown by the
fact that in 1893 the weight of the newspapers mailed for delivery
within the Philippines was 121,070 pounds, while in 1912 it was
687,568 pounds. This difference is no doubt largely due to the severe
restrictions imposed on the press under the Spanish régime as compared
with the freedom which it enjoys to-day.
The Spanish postal administration paid little attention to complaints
by Filipinos relative to losses of articles transmitted through the
mails. Now the most trivial complaint is painstakingly investigated,
and only in rare cases is there failure to recover the value of
lost or stolen articles from the postal employee responsible. The
sanctity of the mails which now prevails is an important factor in
the increased use which the people make of them. It is claimed that
under the Spanish régime few matters of importance were intrusted
to the mails by Filipinos because their letters were so frequently
opened and inspected by government officials.
The Spaniards had four subsidized mail routes after 1897. We have
nine subsidized routes, and six others which are maintained wholly
at government expense by the Bureau of Navigation.
The Spanish government provided no postal money-order service whatever,
and the transmission of money by mail with safety was impossible. We
have 265 money-order post-offices and during 1912 issued 160,524
money-orders payable in the islands, the total sum of which was
$5,592,205.85. We also issued 68,229 orders amounting to $1,764,608.02
payable in the United States, and 2607 orders amounting to $68,364.83
payable in other countries. These amounts were transmitted largely
by Filipinos, who now do a considerable mail order business with
merchants in the United States.
A further great convenience not furnished by the Spanish government
is the payment of money-orders transmitted by telegraph. During the
last fiscal year there were forwarded 8333 such orders, covering
payments amounting to $1,128,229.79.
The improvement in the telegraph service has been quite as marked as
that in the mail service. In 1897 there were only 65 telegraph offices
in the islands, 49 of which were on the island of Luzón, 9 on Panay,
4 on Negros and 3 on Cebú. The total length of all telegraph lines was
some 1750 miles. There were no cables or other means of telegraphic
communication between the islands.
Practically all of the old lines were destroyed during the revolution
which began in 1896, so that the lines now existing must be considered
as having been built since the American occupation. There are 282
telegraph offices with 4781 miles of land line and in addition 1362
miles of marine cable and 7 wireless stations in operation. Every
provincial capital, with the exception of Basco in the remote
Batanes Islands, and Butuan in Agusan Province, now has telegraphic
facilities as does almost every other place of commercial importance
in the Philippines. The advantage of prompt telegraphic communication
with such outlying points as Puerto Princesa, Joló, Zamboanga, Davao,
Surigao and the east coast of Samar is enormous, while the extension
of the cable service to Catanduanes has been a great boon to the
hemp growers of that island. The latest available figures relative to
the telegraphic business conducted by the Spaniards are for the year
1889, during the second six months of which there were handled 33,697
commercial telegrams. During the fiscal year 1912 our business of the
same class reached a total of 496,643 telegrams. This class of business
has been increasing from 25 to 30 per cent yearly for several years.
The expenditures of the Spanish government for all postal
and telegraphic service for the fiscal year 1895 amounted
to $484,960.50. Those of the Bureau of Posts for 1912 were
$1,072,684.48. No statement of the Spanish revenues can be found. Our
revenues for 1912 were $627,724.70. The personnel of the Spanish
service for 1895 shows only 31 positions paying salaries of more than
$500 per year, most of which were filled by Spaniards. There are
now 96 positions paying salaries of more than $500 per year filled
by Filipinos. Filipino post-office employees receive salaries 50 to
100 per cent larger than those of employees of similar rank during
the Spanish régime. Think how much these figures mean in increased
opportunity for employment of Filipinos, and in increased communication
not only between the people in the islands but between them and the
outside world.
In a number of instances the telegraph lines which are controlled by
the Bureau of Posts are supplemented by provincial telephone systems,
which are of great value in maintaining quick communication with
towns not reached by telegraph wires. Such lines are especially
useful in the Mountain Province, Mindoro, Palawan, Nueva Vizcaya,
and the sub-province of Bukidnon, where messengers who travel by land
have to go on horseback or on foot.
The following table shows the growth of the postal and telegraph
business of the Islands:--
Post-Office and Telegraph Statistics
-----------+-----------------------+----------+------------------------
| Money Orders Sold | | Telegraph Receipts
+------------+----------+ +-------------+----------
Fiscal | | Increase | Postage | | Increase
Year | | (+) or | Receipts | | (+) or
| Amount | decrease | | Amount | decrease
| | (-) | | | (-)
-----------+------------+----------+----------+-------------+----------
| | Per cent | | |
1900 | $1,526,310 | | $117,848 | |
1901 | 1,514,435 | - 1 | 122,833 | |
1902 | 1,854,927 | +22 | 126,375 | |
1903 | 2,842,587 | +53 | 132,445 | |
1904 | 3,102,606 | + 9 | 121,714 | |
1905 | 3,444,053 | +11 | 121,648 | |
1906 | 3,687,127 | + 7 | 198,583 |[163]$56,351 |
1907 | 3,229,446 | -12 | 198,546 | 118,360 | +110
1908 | 3,645,123 | +13 | 220,306 | 136,138 | + 15
1909 | 4,008,678 | +10 | 245,482 | 139,208 | + 2
1910 [164] | 4,890,835 | +22 | 282,317 | 168,402 | + 21
1911 | 6,132,582 | +25 | 313,549 | 184,555 | + 9
1912 | 7,425,173 | +21 | 349,407 | 236,679 | + 28
1913 [165] | 8,272,858 | + 6 | 380,942 | 283,305 | + 4
-----------+------------+----------+----------+-------------+----------
As I have elsewhere remarked, the Philippines have a coast line longer
than that of the continental United States. A very large percentage
of the municipalities are situated on, or close to, the sea and the
maintenance of adequate marine transportation is therefore a matter
of vital importance to the peace and commercial prosperity of the
archipelago. In the early days of American occupation conditions
were most unsatisfactory. Most of the boats in the coastwise trade
were antiquated, foul and had no decent facilities for transporting
passengers. As the number of vessels was too small to handle the
business of the country, ship-owners occupied a very independent
position. The freight rates on such things as lumber and currency
were practically prohibitive. It was a common thing for vessels to
refuse to receive hemp, sugar and perishable products that had been
brought to the beach for shipment, giving as an excuse the fact that
they were employed in the private business of Messrs. Smith, Bell &
Co., Warner, Barnes & Co., or whoever happened to own them, and could
not transport freight for the public as the volume of their private
business would not permit it. However, if the owners of the freight
were willing to sell it to the ships' officers for a fraction of its
value, they encountered no difficulty in transporting it!
Furthermore, there existed the danger of Moro raids, the necessity
for checking the operations of smugglers, and that of preventing
the ingress of firearms, which in the hands of irresponsible persons
might cause great damage and expense to the government and the public.
In view of these facts it was decided to establish a fleet of twenty
coast-guard vessels, which were not only to do police duty and to
assist in the transportation of troops, but were to carry freight and
passengers when opportunity offered. Fifteen such vessels were ordered
from Messrs. Farnham, Boyd & Co., of Shanghai, and five from the Uraga
Dock Company of Japan. The Japanese vessels proved unsatisfactory,
and only two were accepted, making the total fleet seventeen. As
the condition of public order improved the coast-guard boats became
available to a constantly increasing extent for commercial service.
Prior to July, 1906, there were practically no established
steamship routes over which commercial vessels operated on regular
schedules. With the exception of the service between Manila, Cebú and
Iloílo, vessels traded here and there without regular ports of call
or fixed dates of arrival or departure. The policy which guided their
owners was one of privilege and monopoly, and by agreement between
them competition was rigidly excluded. Trade was discouraged and the
commercial development of the islands seriously retarded.
In accordance with a plan formulated by Mr. Forbes, then secretary of
commerce and police, the coast-guard vessels were placed on regular
commercial routes and were operated on schedules which gave efficient
service to all important islands of the archipelago. Ten routes were
maintained and many isolated points, and small towns or villages which
offered so little business at the outset as to make them unprofitable,
and therefore unattractive as ports of call for commercial vessels,
were put in close communication with the larger towns and distributing
centres, so that the small planters could market their products with
little trouble. This promptly led to increased production and trade,
and greater prosperity through the islands.
Business increased to such an extent that in July, 1906, it proved
practicable to withdraw the government vessels and turn these routes
over to commercial firms which entered into a definite contract with
the government to maintain an adequate service. Their vessels were
allowed substantial subsidies, amounting in the aggregate to $100,000
per year, in order to assure the prompt despatch of mail, adherence
to schedule, and efficient service. The ten old coast-guard routes
were divided into fourteen new commercial routes which gave excellent
service to all parts of the islands.
Secondary routes were then arranged and coast-guard cutters were placed
on them. A number of these were in turn given over to commercial
vessels after they had developed enough trade to be commercially
profitable. Three such routes are now maintained by the Bureau of
Navigation, and it is planned to establish two more in the near future.
The importance of the change thus brought about by the government
in transportation facilities can be appreciated only by those who
have had actual experience with the intolerable state of affairs
which previously existed. Meanwhile conditions on the inter-island
steamers have been enormously improved by the enforcement of proper
sanitary regulations, and insistence that staterooms be decent and
food reasonably good.
Of the original cutters two were for a long time under charter by
the military authorities for use as despatch boats and transports;
two are employed as lighthouse tenders, and two have been assigned to
the Bureau of Coast Surveys for coast and geodetic work; one collects
lepers and takes them to the Leper Colony at Culion. The cable-ship
Rizal, operated by the Bureau of Navigation, has succeeded in repairing
and keeping in repair the marine cables throughout the islands. Such
cables are especially subject to injury in Philippine waters on account
of the strength of the currents between the islands, the frequency
with which stretches of sea bottom are overgrown with sharp coral,
and the common occurrence of earthquakes. When not otherwise engaged
the Rizal carries commercial cargoes if opportunity offers. She has
proved useful for bringing in rice when a shortage of this commodity,
which is the bread of the Filipino people, threatened, and for handling
cargoes of lumber of sizes such that regular inter-island steamers
could not load it.
In addition to the vessels above mentioned, the Bureau of Navigation
owns and operates a fleet of launches, some of which are seagoing,
and a number of dredges which are employed in improving the harbours
and rivers of the islands as funds permit. The bureau also owns and
operates its own machine shop and marine railway, and repairs its
own vessels.
A section of the machine shop is set aside for lighthouse work, and
in it lighthouse apparatus of every description is fabricated and
repaired. While lighthouses and buoys are not means of communication
they are aids to it.
The thousand and ninety-five inhabited islands and approximately two
hundred and fifty ports of varying importance, depending as they do
entirely upon water transportation for communication with each other
and with the outside world, had no wharfage whatever available for
large vessels, and no publicly owned wharfage within ten yards of which
even the larger inter-island steamers could be berthed. Manila had
no protected anchorage, and during the season of southwest monsoons
and typhoons vessels were sometimes compelled to lie in the harbour
for weeks before they could unload, a fact which gave the port a
deservedly bad name.
The Spaniards had commenced harbour work at Manila in 1892,
twenty-five years after preliminary study began and sixteen years
after prospective plans had been submitted. Their operations were
stopped by the insurrection in 1896, at which time the present west
breakwater had been about half completed, but as the completed portion
was at the shore end and in shallow water it afforded no protection to
ships. There had been constructed twenty-four hundred feet of masonry
wall partly enclosing one of the basins provided for in the Spanish
plans, and fourteen hundred eighty-five feet of wall lining canals
connecting the proposed new harbour with the Pasig River. These also
were temporarily useless, because there had been no dredging in front
of them, or backfilling in their rear.
Outside of Manila practically nothing had been done to facilitate the
loading and discharge of vessels, or to protect them from the elements.
We now have at Manila a deep-water harbour dredged to a uniform depth
of thirty feet and enclosed by two breakwaters having a total length
of nearly eleven thousand five hundred feet. Two hundred and sixty-one
acres of land have been reclaimed with the dredged material. Two steel
piers extend from the filled land into the deep-water harbour. One of
these is six hundred fifty feet long and one hundred ten feet wide,
the other six hundred feet long and seventy feet wide. Both are housed
in, the sheds covering them having a total area of ninety-two thousand
square feet. These piers and sheds are practically fireproof, and
the largest ocean-going steamers on the Pacific can lie alongside
them. Additional work planned, which should be undertaken when
funds permit, includes two more piers; and bulkheads to connect the
inner ends of the present piers, so as to give inter-island steamers
opportunity to unload.
At Cebú the sea-wall has been completed to a length of two thousand
sixty feet and the channel in front of it dredged in part to ten and a
half and in part to twenty-three feet at low water. Some ten and a half
acres of land have been reclaimed with the material removed. Streets
and roadways have been built on the reclaimed area, and a wharf eight
hundred twelve feet in length, designed as an extension to the wall,
is now fifty per cent completed. The harbour at Cebú should ultimately
be dredged so as to give thirty feet of water along the piers.
At Iloílo the dredging of a fifteen-foot channel up to the custom-house
was completed in March, 1907. Seven hundred and eighty-three feet
of river wall and twelve hundred ninety feet of reënforced concrete
wharf, both to accommodate vessels of eighteen feet draft at low
water, have been built along the south bank of the middle reach of
the river. The lower reach has been dredged to twenty-four feet at
low water, the middle reach to eighteen feet and the upper reach to
fifteen feet, while two hundred ten thousand square metres of land
have been reclaimed and two hundred six thousand improved with the
dredged material. Wharves for ocean-going steamers should ultimately
be constructed at this important port.
At Paracale, in Ambos Camarines, a reënforced concrete pier four
hundred ninety feet in length has been built. It extends out to a
depth of fifteen feet at low water.
At Bais, Negros, a timber pier for vessels of sixteen feet draft,
with a stone causeway approach a mile and a half in length, and a
warehouse for the temporary storage of sugar, have been constructed.
Channels have been blasted through the coral reefs surrounding the
islands Batan, Sabtang and Itbayat in the Batanes group, where the
annual loss of life had previously been great, owing to the occurrence
of sudden storms which often made it impossible for people to return
to their towns through the surf. The port of Pandan, in Ilocos Sur,
has been improved by means of a stone revetment twenty-nine hundred
seventy-five feet in length along the north bank of the Abra River,
thus maintaining the channel in one position and affording vastly
better means of loading and discharging cargo for the important town
of Vigan. A self-propelling combination snag boat, pile driver and
dredge for the improvement of the great Cagayan River has been built,
and is now in operation on that stream.
Very numerous other works of repair and construction have been carried
out. Some 80 surveys have been made in minor ports to determine
the feasibility of improvements, and in many cases plans have been
prepared for proposed work.
The Spaniards had devoted much time and study to a project for
coast illumination. At the outbreak of the insurrection in 1896
they had twenty-eight lights, fourteen of which were flashing and
fourteen fixed minor lights, while four additional stations were
under construction. Then all work was stopped, and when systematic
inspection was made by American lighthouse engineers five years later,
extensive repairs were found to be necessary. The repairs were made as
promptly as possible, and new construction then began. To-day there
are a hundred forty-five lights in operation, and the waters of the
Philippines are among the best lighted in the world. One hundred and
eleven buoys of various classes are being maintained.
The following table shows the progress made in the construction of
lighthouses:--
Fiscal Year Light-houses
in Operation
1902 57
1903 66
1904 76
1905 89
1906 105
1907 117
1908 129
1909 139
1910 143
1911 142
1912 145
1913 [166] 145
In all nearly $7,000,000 have been expended in the improvement of
ports and harbours, and about $750,000 in the construction of lights.
At the time of the American occupation, knowledge of the waters of
the archipelago was in a most unsatisfactory state. There was not
even an accurate chart of Manila Bay. Navigating officers followed
certain well-known trade routes which experience had shown to be
safe, but did not dare to leave them. Uncharted dangers were soon
discovered at Iloilo and in other important ports, and the necessity
for a systematic survey of the waters became immediately apparent.
On September 6, 1901, the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Surveys was
organized. The work is conducted under a joint agreement such that
it is supervised by the superintendent of coast and geodetic surveys
at Washington, who is represented in the Philippines by an officer
called the director of coast surveys. The latter reports to the head
of the insular government so far as concerns the expenditure of funds
furnished by that government, which has the power of approval over
his assignment to duty. There is a division of expenses between the
two governments. The United States has paid approximately fifty-five
per cent of the total cost, and the insular government has paid
the balance.
The Bureau is engaged in a systematic survey of the coasts,
harbours and waters of the Philippine Islands and of the topography
of the shore-line. It determines positions astronomically and by
triangulation, investigates reported dangers to navigation, and
observes tides, currents and the magnetic elements. Five steamers
are now engaged in this very important work. It is estimated that
fifty-four per cent of the surveys of the coast and adjacent waters
have already been completed. When one remembers that the coast-line of
the Philippines is longer than that of the continental United States,
one realizes that this is a remarkable achievement.
The Bureau has published one hundred twenty-four charts covering the
entire boundaries of the islands, and six volumes of sailing directions
which are kept constantly up to date by additions whenever new facts
of importance to mariners are ascertained. The greater part of the
information thus made available represents results obtained by the
Bureau, but these are supplemented by the most reliable data that
can be obtained from other sources.
The following table shows the number of miles of coast surveyed at
the end of each year, beginning with 1901:--
Number of Miles of Coast Surveyed
Fiscal Year Miles
1901 89
1902 576
1903 1,208
1904 1,921
1905 2,415
1906 3,041
1907 4,536
1908 6,109
1909 7,126
1910 8,763
1911 9,992
1912 11,308
1913 [167] 11,748
Not only have all important waterways through the islands been surveyed
and lighted, but travel and the transportation of merchandise on land
have been enormously facilitated by the construction of additional
railways and of a system of first-, second- and third-class roads
and of trails.
Prior to 1907 the only railroad line in operation in the Philippines
was the so-called Manila-Dagupan Railway, which was 122 miles long.
The following table shows the steady increase in mileage since that
time and also the steady increase in railroad earnings:--
Railroad Statistics
---------+-----------+-------------+----------+----------+----------------------
| Total | Earnings of | | | Earnings of Manila
Fiscal | Mileage | Philippine | | Calendar | Railway Co.
Year | in | Railway | Increase | Year +-----------+----------
| Operation | Co., Amount | | | Amount | Increase
---------+-----------+-------------+----------+----------+-----------+----------
1907[168]| 122 | | | 1907 | $25,823 |
1908 | 221 | | | 1908 | 961,936 | 16
1909 | 290 | $74,815[169]| | 1909 | 1,023,812 | 6
1910 | 400 | 118,646 | 59 | 1910 | 1,233,794 | 21
1911 | 455 | 142,888 | 20 | 1911 | 1,919,244 | 56
1912 | 599 | 386,970 | 171 | 1912 | 2,304,436 | 20
1913 | 611[170] | ([171]) | | | |
--------+-----------+--------------+----------+----------+-----------+----------
The north line of the Manila Railroad Company, which is the successor
to the Manila and Dagupan Railway Company, now extends to Bauang in
the province of La Union. It has laterals terminating at Camp One,
on the Benguet Road; Rosales in Pangasinan; Mangaldang in Pangasinan;
Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija; Camp Stotensburg in Pampanga; Florida
Blanca in Pampanga; Montalban in Rizal, and Antipolo in Rizal.
The main south line of this road extends from Manila to Lucena in
Tayabas. It has branches to Cavite in the province of the same name;
to Naic in Cavite; to Pagsanján in La Laguna, and to Batangas in the
Province of Batangas.
The Philippine Railway Company has built and is now operating a
line on Panay which extends from Iloilo to Capiz, and a line on Cebú
which extends north from the city of the same name to Danao and south
to Argao.
The development of the road system is even more important than that
of railroads.
The following tables show the mileage of first-, second- and
third-class roads, and the total number of permanent bridges and
culverts, in existence at the end of each year, beginning with 1907:--
Public Works Statistics
-------------+-------------------------------------------------------
| Total Mileage of Roads in Existence
+-------------+------------+--------------+-------------
Fiscal Year | First-class | | Second-class | Third-class
| Roads | Increase | Roads | Roads
-------------+-------------+------------+--------------+-------------
| | Per Cent | |
1907 | 303[172] | -- | -- | --
1908 | 423 | 40 | -- | --
1909 | 609 | 44 | -- | --
1910 | 764 | 25 | 641[173] | 2,074[173]
1911 | 987 | 29 | 664 | 1,837
1912 | 1,143 | 16 | 1,342.1[173]| 1,999
1913[174] | 1,187[175] | -- | 1,305.3 | 1,967
-------------+-------------+------------+--------------+-------------
-------------+-----------------------
| Total of Permanent
| Bridges and Culverts
Fiscal Year | in Existence
+------------+----------
| Number | Per Cent
-------------+------------+----------
1907[176] | 3,280[176] | --
1908 | 3,631 | 11
1909 | 3,865 | 6
1910 | 4,372 | 13
1911 | 4,842 | 11
1912 | 5,181 | 7
1913 | 5,660 | 9
-------------+----------+------------
The old Spanish road system was quite extensive and very well planned,
but the amount of really good construction was very limited. The
system of maintenance was faulty, and the abandonment of maintenance
during the insurrection against Spain and the war with the United
States resulted in the almost complete destruction of many roads
which were in fairly good condition at the time public order became
seriously disturbed. The total value of Spanish work on existing
roads is estimated at $1,800,000. The total value of all American
work up to June 30, 1911, is estimated at $6,100,000.
The imperative need of better highways throughout the islands was
brought home by the difficulties encountered by the army during the
insurrection, and the first act of the Philippine Commission, passed
on the twelfth day after the commission became the legislative body
of the islands, appropriated $1,000,000 ($2,000,000 Mexican) for the
construction and repair of highways and bridges.
Much of this money was very advantageously expended by the
military, who contributed a large amount of transportation free of
cost. Unfortunately, while the necessity for roads was at this time
fully appreciated, there was failure to appreciate the extraordinary
rapidity with which tropical rains and vegetation destroy good roads
in the Philippines. We further failed to appreciate the absolute
indifference of the Filipinos themselves as to whether roads once
built are or are not maintained.
One of the first large pieces of work undertaken was a road from
Calamba on the Laguna de Bay to Lipa, an important town in the province
of Batangas, and thence to the town of Batangas itself. This road
ran for its entire extent through a rich agricultural district. I
passed over it when the dirt work had all been completed, and when
all but two short stretches were surfaced. I certainly had vigorously
impressed upon me the necessity of surfacing. Over that portion of the
road which had been so treated an automobile could have been driven
at sixty miles an hour. Over the remainder of it, built by the same
engineer, shaped up in the same way, and as good a dirt road as could
be constructed, four mules could not haul the ambulance in which we
were riding without our assistance. We had to get out and literally put
our shoulders to the wheel, or tug at the spokes, in order to enable
the faithful beasts to extricate the ambulance from the morasses into
which the two unsurfaced stretches had been converted.
Needless to say, the surfacing was completed as soon as possible, and
then came what the Filipinos call a great desengaño. [177] I venture to
say that from the time the road was finished until it was completely
destroyed there was never a shovelful of dirt nor a basketful of
gravel placed upon it. In 1908 I attempted to drive over it in one
of the two-wheeled rigs known as carromatas, which will go almost
anywhere. I was upset twice in as many miles and gave up the attempt.
For a considerable time the destruction of roads almost kept pace with
their construction, and until 1907 the small amount of provincial funds
available usually resulted in failure to attempt repairs until both
surfacing and foundation had been badly injured or destroyed. The
remnants of old Spanish roads still existing, and the new roads
constructed by Americans, were in danger of being wiped out. It was
then decided that further insular aid for road construction should
not be given until the indifference of provincial officials could be
overcome, and funds provided for proper maintenance. It was further
decided that roads and bridges should be considered as on a basis
similar to that of other government property, and that maintenance
must take precedence over new construction. Regulations providing
for it were outlined and incorporated in a proposed resolution which
was submitted to the several provincial boards with the information
that further insular funds would not be appropriated for any province
until its board passed this resolution, thereby agreeing to provide
road and bridge funds by means of the so-called double cedula tax, and
perpetually to maintain the heavily surfaced roads then in existence
within its limits.
The cedula tax is an annual personal or poll tax. The amount originally
fixed by the commission was one peso, but legislation was subsequently
enacted empowering provincial boards to increase it to two pesos,
the additional amount to go for road and bridge work.
Most of the provinces promptly took the suggested action, and the few
which at first stood out were soon compelled by popular opinion to
follow suit. It is not too much to say that real progress in permanent
road and bridge construction in the Philippines dates from 1907 when
the present regulation relative to maintenance was put into effect.
Provision was made for a yearly provincial maintenance appropriation
of not less than $282 per mile of duly designated road. Stone kilometer
posts were erected beside all improved roads.
During the rainy season one caminero, or roadman, is stationed on
each kilometer section. During the dry season one caminero cares for
a two-kilometer section. These men are constantly at work cutting the
encroaching vegetation from the lateral banks, keeping drains clear,
and immediately filling depressions in the road-bed as they appear,
using for the purpose material stored in specially constructed bins
placed at regular intervals and kept filled with broken stone and
gravel. Heavy repair work which may be necessary after great typhoons
or floods must be specially provided for.
The inspection of each kilometer of road is made as follows: daily,
by the sub-foreman; bi-weekly, by the foreman; monthly, by the district
engineer; and tri-monthly by the division engineer.
Under this system, in spite of unfavourable climatic conditions
the reconstructed or newly constructed Philippine roads are to-day
maintained far better than are most of the roads in the United States,
and one may drive automobiles over them at top speed. Numerous freight
and passenger automobile lines have already been established.
The average present cost of constructing heavily surfaced roads,
including bridges which are apt to be numerous and expensive, is
$8250 per mile.
Only first-class bridges, of concrete, masonry or steel, are permitted
on main roads in the lowlands. Arbitrary enforcement of this rule
is the one thing about the present road system which in my opinion
affords grounds for legitimate criticism.
While no one can dispute the wisdom of constructing bridges of hard
materials whenever this can be done, it is possible to carry too
far the policy of limiting construction to such materials, and in my
opinion it has been carried too far in a number of instances.
Years ago a good automobile road was constructed from Cagayan
de Misamis to and beyond the barrio of Agusan, which is the
point of departure for the main trail into the sub-province of
Bukidnon. Numerous small streams on this road were bridged with
reënforced concrete, but proper allowance was not made for their
terrific rise during heavy rains in the highlands and almost
without exception the bridges were destroyed during the first
severe typhoon. Funds are not yet available for their reconstruction
with strong materials. Meanwhile nothing has been done. The road is
therefore impassable during heavy rains, as the streams cannot then be
forded. Meanwhile, our "temporary" wooden bridges on the connecting
trail system, constructed before the bridges on the coast road were
built, remain intact, and render it possible always to cross streams
much larger than any of those which intersect the coast road.
Of course if the hard and fast rule governing bridge construction
in the lowlands is once departed from, its enforcement may become
difficult. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that existing regulations
should be so modified as to authorize and encourage the construction
of temporary bridges in such cases as that above cited.
The enormous change which road construction has produced in ease of
travel, and in reduced cost of transporting farm products, cannot be
appreciated by one unfamiliar with conditions in Spanish days. Then
the ordinary country road was a narrow ditch sloping in on both sides
toward the bottom, this condition being brought about by failure to
provide proper drainage so that there was tremendous erosion during the
rainy season, at which time these so-called roads became converted into
deep quagmires by the action of very narrow-tired solid wooden cart
wheels, most of which were fixed upon their axles. It was not unusual
to see carts in mud up to their bodies, seeming to float on it while
being pulled by floundering carabaos. Many of the roads were so bad
that wheeled vehicles could not be used even during the dry season,
and their place was taken by so-called cangas, or bamboo sledges, which
also caused rapid road destruction. When all else failed, the Filipino
mounted his faithful carabao, which could swim the unbridged streams
if the current was not too swift, and could successfully negotiate
deep quagmires, and thus he journeyed from place to place, leaving
the transportation of his products until the coming of the dry season.
The use on improved roads of cangas, and of carts with narrow-tired
wheels or with wheels fixed on their axles, is now forbidden by
law. The carts permitted to be used have broad tires that help to
smooth the roads instead of cutting them to pieces.
As already stated, this road system is supplemented in the wilder
parts of the archipelago, so far at least as the special government
provinces are concerned, by a trail system which is rapidly being
extended. The trails, which are at first built only wide enough to
permit the passage of horses, are on grades such that they can be
converted into roads by widening and surfacing, and are gradually
widened in connection with the maintenance work so as to permit the
passage, first of narrow-tired carts, and later of carts of ordinary
width. Indeed one such trail extending from Baguio, in Benguet, to
Naguilian, in the lowlands of the neighbouring province of Union,
has already been sufficiently widened to permit the passage of
automobiles, and the same thing can be done with any of the others
when occasion requires.
It has been most interesting to note to what an extent the construction
of good roads and trails and the cultivation of the land in their
vicinity have gone hand in hand. The prosperity of the country has
been enormously increased by the carrying out of the present sensible
road policy for which Governor-General W. Cameron Forbes is primarily
responsible.
The policy of the Forbes administration contemplated the steady
continuance of road and bridge construction and maintenance until a
complete system, which had been carefully worked out for the entire
archipelago, should have been finished.
What would result if road and bridge work were turned over to a
Filipino government? Judging from their absolute failure to maintain
any roads until the insular government assumed control in 1907, and
from the present neglect of municipalities to care for the sections of
road for which they are responsible, we are justified in saying that
new construction would promptly cease; maintenance would be neglected;
existing roads would be destroyed; bridges would be left up in the
air by the destruction of their approaches, and would ultimately go
to pieces, and the whole system would come to rack and ruin.
To be sure, the Filipino politicians loudly assert that they are
heartily in sympathy with the present road policy of the government,
but this is largely because the securing of government aid for roads
in their respective provinces increases their popularity with the
people, and the probability that they will be reëlected. If it were
left for them to determine whether money should be expended for this
purpose or for some other which would more immediately inure to their
private benefit, there can be no two opinions as to the result.
The continuance of American control for the present is absolutely
essential, if proper means of communication and aids to navigation
are to be established and maintained in the Philippine Islands.
CHAPTER XXXIII
COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES
If the commercial possibilities of any region are to be attractive to
Europeans or Americans, it must have a just and stable government;
a reasonably healthful climate; fairly good means of communication
and transportation; forest, agricultural, mineral or other wealth,
and labour with which to develop it. Proximity to main lines of travel
and to markets is also an important consideration.
The present [178] government of the Philippines is highly effective
and the state of public order leaves little to be desired. Doubt has
been expressed as to the stability of the existing régime, but it is
at the very least safe to assume that the United States will never
withdraw from the islands without leaving behind a government which
will assure to the residents of the archipelago, foreign and native,
personal safety, just treatment and security of property rights.
Health conditions are now excellent, and the death rate among whites
at Manila is lower than that in many European and American cities. If
one will only vary the monotony of the continuous warmth by making
an occasional trip to Baguio, and take reasonable precautions as to
food, drink and exercise, there is no reason why one should not die
of old age.
Means of communication by land are now fairly good and steadily
improving. The seas are well lighted and the main lines of sea travel
have been carefully surveyed.
The islands have many beautiful harbors and, as we have seen, at
Manila, Cebú and Iloílo extensive harbour improvements have already
been made. There are no special difficulties attendant upon the
loading or unloading of ships anywhere in the archipelago. The rapid
extension of highways, and the construction of additional railways,
are facilitating and cheapening land transportation.
The natural resources of the country are unquestionably vast. I
have already devoted a chapter to the discussion of the forests and
their wealth.
As to the mineral resources, while we have much still to learn we
already know that there are excellent lignite, some coking coal
and extensive deposits of high-grade iron ore and of copper. One
flourishing gold mine is now giving handsome returns, and several
others seem to lack only the capital needed to develop them on a
considerable scale in order to make them pay; dredges are operating
for gold with great success in the vicinity of Paracale in eastern
Luzón, and there are other gold placer fields in the islands which
are worthy of careful investigation. The prospect of obtaining in
quantity a high-grade petroleum with paraffine base rich in low-boiling
constituents is very good.
Difficulties in the way of the development of the mining industry are
to be found in the disturbances of geological formations which are
inevitably met with in volcanic countries, in the dense tropical
vegetation which in many regions covers everything and renders
prospecting difficult, and in the unevenness of the rainfall which
in some parts of the archipelago results in severe floods at one
season and in the lack of sufficient water to furnish hydraulic power
at another. But we are at least free from the troubles incident to
freezing cold, and in my opinion a prosperous mining industry will
ultimately be built up in the Philippines.
Agriculture has always been, and will doubtless long continue to be,
the main source of wealth. In the lowlands may be found conditions of
soil and climate favourable to the growing of all important tropical
products. Owing to the position of the islands with reference to the
northeast and southwest monsoons, practically any desired conditions
as regard humidity and the distribution of rainfall can be found. There
are regions which have strongly marked wet and dry seasons, and regions
in which the rainfall is quite uniformly distributed throughout the
year. In some provinces the heaviest rains come in January, while
in others they come in July or August. The Philippine Weather Bureau
has gathered an immense amount of very valuable rainfall statistics
and is constantly adding to its present store of knowledge. Father
José Algué, its distinguished director, can always be depended upon
to furnish any obtainable information.
But this is not all. We are not confined to tropical products. In the
highlands of Luzón and of Mindanao practically all the vegetables and
many of the grains and fruits of the temperate zone may be produced.
When well fed, properly directed and paid a reasonable wage, the
Filipino makes a good field labourer. Much of his so-called laziness
is unquestionably due to malnutrition. A diet made up largely of rice,
especially if that rice be polished, does not develop a maximum of
physical energy.
When threshing machines were first introduced it was impossible to get
Filipinos to handle the straw. The work was too strenuous for them. We
soon discovered that by picking fairly strong men, and feeding them
plenty of meat, we could make them able and willing to do it.
Some extraordinary misstatements have been made as to Manila's
position with reference to main lines of travel and to markets. In
this connection Blount says that it is an out-of-the-way place so
far as regards the main travelled routes across the Pacific, [179]
and adds that shippers would not take to unloading cargo there before
finally discharging it on the mainland of Asia.
With singular inconsistency he also says that Manila could never
succeed Hongkong as the gateway to Asia. [180]
One might almost believe him ignorant of the fact that Hongkong is an
island, separated from the continent of Asia, and that the very thing
which he says would not happen at Manila, to wit the "unloading by
way of rehearsal, before finally discharging on the mainland of Asia,"
is the thing which has made Hongkong harbour one of the busiest ports
in the world.
Manila has numerous very definite advantages over Hongkong. Health
conditions are vastly better, and there is far less danger that
crews of vessels will become infected. Ocean going steamers come
alongside piers and unload directly into great sheds which protect
goods during storms. The pier sheds have direct connection with the
electric railway system of the city, so that freight can be quickly
and cheaply transported under cover. The Manila breakwater affords
excellent protection during typhoons, whereas Hongkong harbour is
periodically swept by storms which cause great damage to shipping
and very serious loss of life.
Hongkong is a free port, but the construction of bonded warehouses
at Manila for the reception of goods intended for reshipment would
largely make up for the fact that Manila is a port of entry.
The reply to the claim that Manila is far from markets and established
lines of travel is simple. Look at the map and compare it with
Hongkong!
Let us now consider more in detail the resources of the Philippines.
The first thing that impresses one who studies their agriculture
is the extremely primitive state of development to which it has
attained. Rice is the bread of the people and is produced in
large quantities, but as a rule land is prepared for planting it
by ploughing with what is little better than a crooked stick, which
may or may not have an iron point, and by subsequent puddling with a
muck rake, both instruments being drawn by carabaos. As the ground
cannot be worked in this fashion until the rains come on, and the
young plants should be set in the ground very shortly thereafter,
the period during which the soil can be prepared is brief, and the
amount brought under cultivation is correspondingly small. Rice is
usually planted in seed beds and transplanted by hand, the object of
this procedure being to give it a start over the weeds which would
otherwise swamp it. It is a common thing to see a crowd of men,
women and children setting it to the music of a small string band,
with which they keep time. Organizations which have the reputation
of maintaining a rapid rhythm are quite in demand because of the
increased amount of rice set! Ordinarily, in the lowlands at least,
comparatively little attention is paid to subsequent weeding, and
when harvest time comes the crop is usually gathered by cutting off
the heads one at a time. Threshing is frequently performed in the
open air on a floor made of clay and carabao dung. Often the grain is
trodden out under the feet of the owners themselves; sometimes it is
stripped off by drawing the heads between the teeth of an instrument
somewhat resembling an inverted iron rake; again it is beaten off
against stones; a more advanced method is to drive horses, carabaos
or cattle over the straw until the grain has been loosened from the
straw. The palay [181] is usually winnowed in the wind, although crude
fanning mills are sometimes employed for this purpose. The threshing
takes much time, and while it is in progress great loss results from
the depredations of rats and wild hogs, from unseasonable rain-storms,
and from the carrying off of the grain by the threshers. A large part
of the palay employed for local domestic use is husked by pounding it
in wooden mortars and winnowed by tossing it in flat baskets. As a
result of such methods the Philippines, which ought to export rice,
are compelled to import it, the figures for the last 15 years being
as follows:--
Rice Imports
Fiscal Tons Value
Years (Metric)
1899 58,389 $1,939,122
1900 109,911 3,113,423
1901 178,232 5,490,958
1902 216,403 6,578,481
1903 307,191 10,061,323
1904 329,825 11,548,814
1905 255,502 7,456,738
1906 138,052 4,375,500
1907 112,749 3,662,493
1908 162,174 5,861,256
1909 137,678 4,250,223
1910 184,620 5,321,962
1911 203,083 6,560,630
1912 260,250 10,569,949
1913 179,205 7,940,857
American influence has already made itself strongly felt on the
rice industry and small steel ploughs, of suitable size to be drawn
by single animals, are coming into very general use. A steadily
increasing amount of rice is harvested with sickles instead of with
small bladed knives. Modern threshing machines are rapidly discouraging
the employment of the threshing methods of biblical days, and their
operation in the large rice producing regions is a good business
for persons with limited capital, as the returns are immediate and
the investment is small. The customary toll taken for threshing is
one-eighth of the output.
While under my direction, the Bureau of Agriculture began the
introduction of modern threshing machines. The amount of grain obtained
from a stack of given size when thoroughly machine-threshed before
there had been time for waste was so much greater than that to which
the Filipinos had been accustomed that they thought that there must
be a deposito of grain hidden away somewhere within the machine, and
insisted on sticking their heads into it in search of this supposed
source of supply!
Many small, mechanically driven hulling machines are now in use
and the number of regular rice mills, with up-to-date machinery for
hulling and polishing, steadily and quite rapidly increases.
The rice industry has at present two great needs: the first is
irrigation, the second, careful seed selection. The average Filipino
depends directly on rainfall for irrigation water, and although there
may be a stream close at hand, he does not trouble to turn it on to
his land unless conditions happen to be exceptionally favourable. The
result is that dry years cause a very heavy, and largely avoidable,
loss to the islands. A dependable supply of irrigation water would make
two crops a certainty where one is now more or less of a gamble. The
insular government is spending considerable sums on irrigation work,
and in my opinion it offers a wide field for profitable private
investment.
There are in the Philippines many different varieties of rice,
each with its peculiar advantages and disadvantages. There is no
possible doubt as to the opportunity which lies before the skilled
plant breeder to increase the crop, and shorten the time required
for its production, by the methods which have been so successfully
applied to wheat and other grains.
Finally, in the highlands of Bukidnon, in Mindanao, there are
immense areas which can be cultivated and planted with motor-drawn
machinery. After taking off the first crop it would be readily possible
to plough, harrow and seed in one operation, and here, if anywhere,
modern harvesters and threshers can be employed to good advantage. In
short, rice can be grown in Bukidnon as wheat is grown in the United
States, and the company which goes into this business on a large
scale should make money.
Abacá, commonly called Manila hemp, was for many years the most
important Philippine export. The plants from which it is produced
resemble bananas so closely that the uninitiated cannot distinguish
them. They furnish the longest and strongest cordage fibre in
the world. The Philippines have practically a monopoly on its
production. Abacá culture is carried on in a very primitive way. The
plants require well-drained soil and for this reason the Filipino
often puts them out on steep mountain sides. The forest is felled,
the timber is burned on the ground and the young plants are set
before weeds have time to encroach. The bolo is usually employed for
subsequent "cultivation," which consists in the occasional chopping
down of weeds. Fortunately the shade in an abacá plantation is so deep
that it materially impedes the growth of other plants. The fibre is
obtained from the leaf petioles which make up the stem. At the present
time practically all of it is stripped by hand. This is a slow and
tedious process, involving very severe physical exertion to which the
average Filipino is disinclined, and serious losses often result from
inability to get the crop seasonably stripped. Stripping is greatly
facilitated if the knife under which the fibre bands are drawn has a
serrated edge, but in that case the fibre is not thoroughly cleaned,
soon loses its original beautiful white colour, and diminishes in
strength owing to decay of the cellular matter left attached to it.
The production of high-grade fibre or of comparatively worthless
stuff is chiefly a matter of good or bad stripping.
Abacá requires evenly distributed rainfall and constant high humidity
for its best development, and should not be planted in regions
subject to severe drought, which greatly reduces the crop and may
kill the plants outright. Experience has shown that it richly repays
real cultivation.
The trunks are heavy, and water makes up a large part of their weight,
but they are full of air chambers, float readily and could be rafted or
sluiced to a central cleaning plant wherever conditions are favourable
for so transporting them. The one great desideratum of the industry is
a really good mechanical stripper which will turn out clean, high-grade
fibre in large quantity at small cost. At least one machine has been
brought reasonably near perfection. In my opinion all that is now
necessary is to put a skilled mechanic into the field with it under
service conditions, and keep him there until such minor difficulties
as remain have been successfully overcome. Stripping mills could
readily be established in regions like that along the lower Agusan
River, where climate and soil are ideal and water transportation is
always available. A reasonable number of such plants in successful
operation would go far toward revolutionizing the hemp industry,
the development of which is at present greatly handicapped by the
production of enormous quantities of badly cleaned fibre, which does
not sell readily, whereas first-class abacá is without a rival and
always sells at a high price.
The table on the opposite page shows the value and amount of hemp
exports during a period of fifteen years.
Copra, or the dried meat of the coconut, has now become one of the
most important exports of the islands, which lead the world in its
production. The table on the opposite page shows the rapid increase
in copra exports.
Hemp Exports
------------------------------++----------------------------------
|| To United States, including
To All Countries || Hawaii and Porto Rico
-------+---------+------------++------------+--------+------------
| | Value || Percentage | | Value
Fiscal | Tons | in U. S. || of Total | Tons | in U. S.
Years | | Currency || Exports | | Currency
-------+---------+------------++------------+--------+------------
1899 | 59,840 | $6,185,293 || 45.1 | 23,066 | $2,436,169
1900 | 76,709 | 11,393,883 || 52.6 | 25,764 | 3,446,141
1901 | 112,215 | 14,453,110 || 34.6 | 18,158 | 2,402,867
1902 | 109,969 | 15,841,316 || 58.3 | 45,527 | 7,261,459
1903 | 132,242 | 21,701,575 || 54.7 | 71,654 | 12,314,312
1904 | 131,818 | 21,749,960 || 58.8 | 61,887 | 10,631,591
1905 | 116,733 | 22,146,241 || 59.6 | 73,351 | 12,954,515
1906 | 112,165 | 19,446,769 || 59.5 | 62,045 | 11,168,226
1907 | 114,701 | 21,085,081 || 61.7 | 58,389 | 11,326,864
1908 | 115,829 | 17,311,808 || 52.7 | 48,814 | 7,684,000
1909 | 149,992 | 15,833,577 || 51.0 | 79,210 | 8,534,288
1910 | 170,789 | 17,404,922 || 43.6 | 99,305 | 10,399,397
1911 | 165,650 | 16,141,340 || 40.5 | 66,545 | 7,410,373
1912 | 154,047 | 16,283,510 || 32.3 | 69,574 | 7,751,489
1913 | 144,576 | 23,044,744 || 43.3 | 63,715 | 11,613,943
-------+---------+------------++------------+--------+------------
Copra Exports
------------------------------++----------------------------------
|| To United States, including
To All Countries || Hawaii and Porto Rico
-------+---------+------------++------------+--------+------------
| | Value || Percentage | | Value
Fiscal | Tons | in U. S. || of Total | Tons | in U. S.
Years | | Currency || Exports | | Currency
-------+---------+------------++------------+--------+------------
1899 | 14,047 | $656,870 || 4.7 | ---- | ----
1900 | 37,081 | 1,690,897 || 7.8 | ---- | ----
1901 | 52,530 | 2,648,305 || 10.0 | 103 | 4,450
1902 | 19,687 | 1,001,656 || 3.6 | ---- | ----
1903 | 97,630 | 4,472,679 || 11.2 | 61 | 9,173
1904 | 54,133 | 2,527,019 || 7.0 | 174 | 9,231
1905 | 37,557 | 2,095,352 || 5.6 | 205 | 14,425
1906 | 66,158 | 4,043,115 || 12.3 | ---- | ----
1907 | 49,082 | 4,053,193 || 11.8 | 1,110 | 108,086
1908 | 76,420 | 5,461,680 || 16.6 | 2,968 | 228,565
1909 | 105,565 | 6,657,740 || 21.1 | 4,714 | 287,484
1910 | 115,285 | 9,153,951 || 22.9 | 5,538 | 447,145
1911 | 115,602 | 9,899,457 || 24.9 | 12,241 | 1,030,481
1912 | 169,342 | 16,514,749 || 32.8 | 24,160 | 2,339,144
1913 | 113,055 | 11,647,898 || 21.9 | 7,460 | 720,245
-------+---------+------------++------------+--------+-----------
An extraordinary drought, which seems to have extended throughout the
Far East, is largely responsible for the decrease in exports during the
last fiscal year, its effect having been felt long after it had passed.
Coconut oil is very extensively used in making high-grade soaps,
and is now also employed in the manufacture of butter and lard
substitutes. Their quality is excellent, they keep well in the
tropics, and being non-animal in their nature are not open to the
æsthetic or religious objections which some people entertain toward
oleomargarine and true lard. Lard made from coconut oil is of course
especially appreciated in Mohammedan countries. There is a steady
demand for the shredded coconut used by confectioners. The press-cake
which remains after the oil has been extracted is a valuable food for
fattening animals. A rich, palatable and nutritious "milk," on which
"cream" rises in a most appetizing manner, is made by wringing out
fresh shredded coconut in water. Whether or not it can be preserved
and utilized as a commercial product remains to be seen, but the
experiment would be worth trying.
Thus far coconut cultivation has been conducted in a very haphazard
way. In fact, the existing groves are hardly cultivated at all. Nuts
or young trees are put into the ground in whatever fashion seems good
to the individual planter, and are invariably set too closely. There
may be a little initial cultivation, but usually nothing is done
except to cut down weeds and brush with a bolo, and often even this
is neglected. The trees, once established, are left to shift for
themselves, and are soon contending with each other for root space
and air. The owner cuts notches in their bark in order to facilitate
climbing. Water gathers in them and starts decay.
If under such circumstances coconut growing is so profitable that
to-day plantations can hardly be bought at any price, what will happen
when carefully selected seed nuts are put out at proper intervals and
growing trees are given high cultivation? In considering the profits
resulting from coconut culture, estimates are sometimes based on
twenty nuts to the tree per year, while forty are considered a very
liberal allowance. This number is even now largely exceeded throughout
extensive areas in the Philippines under the unfavourable conditions
above described. The effect of good cultivation can be determined,
in a measure, by the condition of trees which chance to be so situated
that the ground near them is kept clean. The results of fertilization
can be estimated by observing the condition of trees standing near
native houses. I recently endeavoured to have the nuts on a series
of such trees counted from the ground. This proved impossible. In
fact, it was necessary to cut out a bunch of nuts in order to make
it possible for a climber to scramble over the great masses of fruit,
and get among the leaves. I therefore bought the nuts on several trees
and had them thrown down. The trees were in a little Manobo village,
and the ground around them was cultivated. The two which seemed to be
bearing most heavily could not be climbed, as bees had taken possession
of them. The third best tree had three hundred ninety-seven nuts on it;
the fourth only three hundred twenty-three, but its output had been
reduced by tapping a number of its blossom stalks for tuba. All the
nuts were very large. The meat from an average specimen was carefully
dried and we found that one hundred fifty-six such nuts would make
a picul of copra. A common estimate of the average number of nuts
required for a picul is three hundred.
Of the whole number of nuts on these trees a few would have failed
to develop, owing to lack of room, but it is fair to suppose that
the first would have ripened three hundred fifty nuts and the second
two hundred seventy-five. Actual observation has shown that it takes
nuts two hundred thirty-eight to two hundred fifty-nine days to mature
in Mindanao.
Coconut trees attain a great age, and a producing plantation in the
Agusan valley would be a mine of wealth.
The time required for the trees to come into bearing varies from
five to seven years with differing conditions of soil and climate,
and with the altitude above sea-level. I have seen individual trees
heavily loaded with nuts at four and a half years. The owner of a
coconut plantation must wait for his returns, or grow something else
meanwhile. Quick growing catch crops may at first be raised between
the rows if soil conditions are favourable, but it must be remembered
that coconut trees thrive on soil so sandy that it will produce little
else of value. They require abundant water and plantations should be
well open to the breeze. Such conditions are frequently found along
the seashore, which doubtless explains the belief so common among
natives throughout the tropics that the coconut will not grow where
it cannot "hear" or "see" the sea. The trees do equally well on open
inland plains.
They have few enemies or diseases in the Philippines, the bud rot which
has caused such destruction in other countries being almost unknown
there. They resist wind storms admirably, and even typhoons seldom
uproot them, but violent gales injure the leaves and blow down the
fruits, thus temporarily checking production. While coconut growing
is profitable on suitable soil throughout the islands, it can be
carried on most safely to the south of the typhoon belt.
At present practically all Philippine copra is either sun-dried or
smoked. The latter process hardens the outer layer of the meat before
it is thoroughly dried within, and also causes the deposit of more or
less creosote. The resulting product moulds and decays readily, and
has given Philippine copra an evil name, but this will not seriously
interfere with the sale of a good article from the islands, as its
quality will be readily determinable.
Until within a very short time the crudest and most antiquated hand
machinery has been used in the local manufacture of coconut oil. Soon
after the American occupation a modern oil mill was established at
Manila. It prospered until it burned, which it rather promptly did
for the reason that it was constructed of Oregon pine, which speedily
became soaked with coconut oil, and was ready to flash into flame at
the touch of a lighted match or of a cigarette butt.
A new mill of iron, steel and reënforced concrete has now been
erected. It is equipped with the latest machinery and labour-saving
devices, and is reported to be operating on a wide margin of profit.
The market for coconut oil seems to grow more rapidly than the
supply increases. There is abundant room for more oil mills in the
Philippines, especially as the machinery used in extracting coconut
oil is equally well suited to the milling of castor beans, peanuts
and sesamum, all of which can be produced in any desired quantity.
Modern drying apparatus is just beginning to be imported for copra
making.
Sugar and tobacco are the remaining principal agriculture
products. Both can be very advantageously grown. All that has been said
relative to primitive methods in rice, hemp and coconut production can
be repeated with emphasis in discussing sugar culture. The machinery
and methods employed might almost be called antediluvian, and it is a
wonder that sugar could ever have been produced at a profit under such
conditions as have prevailed. Deep ploughing was unknown. There was
not an irrigated field of cane in the islands. The most modern of the
estates was equipped with a three-roll mill, and with some vacuum pans
which the owner did not know how to use. The soil was never fertilized,
and no sugar grower dreamed of employing a chemist. Forty to sixty
per cent of the sugar in the cane was thrown out in the bagasse,
and that extracted was full of dirt and promptly began to deliquesce.
Philippine sugar could never have competed successfully in the world's
market under such conditions.
Fortunately one modern central has already been established, and
several others are in process of construction. Up-to-date mills could
well afford to grind cane for Filipinos, giving them outright as much
sugar as they had previously been able to extract from it and making
a very handsome profit out of the balance. But as yet most Filipinos
have not learned the benefit of coöperation, and are too suspicious
to contract their crops of cane to a mill. It follows that mill
owners must control, in one way or another, land enough to produce
cane sufficient to keep their mills in profitable operation. As we
have seen advantage has been taken of this fact by unscrupulous sugar
men in the United States who have secured legislation limiting the
amount of land which corporations authorized to engage in agriculture
may own, with the deliberate intention of thus crippling the sugar
industry in the Philippine Islands. It is iniquitous so to handicap
an important industry in a colonial dependency, and this legislation
should be stricken from the statute books.
Fortunately there is no law limiting the right of individuals to
contract their crops, nor is it apparent that such a law could be
enacted. Furthermore, there is no law limiting the amount of land which
an individual may hold, nor is it likely that any will be passed. It
would therefore seem that while vicious legislation may interfere
with the rapid development of the sugar industry in the Philippines,
it cannot destroy it.
The table on the opposite page shows the amount and value of sugar
exports for the past fifteen years.
It is said that the tobacco which now produces the famous Sumatra
wrapper originally came from the Philippines, which now have to
import it. This condition of things is mainly due to lack of system
and care in tobacco growing. Seed selection is almost unknown; worms
are not picked; fertilization is not practiced; the system under which
each labourer settles on the land, plants as much or as little as he
pleases, and manages his crop in his own way, is in vogue, and it is
an eloquent testimonial to the merits of soil and climate that the
tobacco so grown is good for anything.
Sugar
------------------------------++-----------------------------------
|| To United States, including
To All Countries || Hawaii and Porto Rico
-------+---------+------------++------------+---------+------------
| | Value || Percentage | | Value
Fiscal | Tons | in U. S. || of Total | Tons | in U. S.
Years | | Currency || Exports | | Currency
-------+---------+------------++------------+---------+------------
1899 | 57,447 | $2,333,851 || 15.9 | 2,340 | $143,500
1900 | 78,306 | 3,000,501 || 12.3 | 143 | 21,000
1901 | 56,582 | 2,293,058 || 8.6 | 2,153 | 93,472
1902 | 67,795 | 2,761,432 || 10.0 | 5,225 | 293,354
1903 | 111,647 | 3,955,828 || 9.9 | 34,433 | 1,335,826
1904 | 75,161 | 2,668,507 || 7.2 | 11,626 | 354,144
1905 | 113,640 | 4,977,026 || 13.4 | 57,859 | 2,618,487
1906 | 125,794 | 4,863,865 || 14.8 | 7,302 | 260,104
1907 | 120,289 | 3,934,460 || 11.5 | 6,610 | 234,074
1908 | 151,712 | 5,664,666 || 17.2 | 48,476 | 2,036,697
1909 | 112,380 | 4,373,338 || 14.0 | 21,285 | 881,218
1910 | 127,717 | 7,040,690 || 17.6 | 94,156 | 5,495,797
1911 | 149,376 | 8,014,360 || 20.1 | 128,926 | 7,144,755
1912 | 186,016 | 10,400,575 || 20.6 | 161,783 | 9,142,833
1913 | 212,540 | 9,491,540 || 17.8 | 83,951 | 3,989,665
-------+---------+------------++------------+---------+------------
The domestic consumption of tobacco is very large. Practically every
one smokes. Exportations are increasing. The tables on pages nine
hundred and nine hundred one will give an adequate conception of the
recent growth of the tobacco industry.
Bananas form an important part of the food of the people, yet there
is not such a thing as a real banana plantation in the islands. The
average Filipino has a few plants around his house, but with many of
them even this is too much trouble, and they prefer to buy the fruit
at a comparatively high price in the local markets. Good bananas sell
readily in Manila at half a dollar a bunch, and the best varieties
bring even a higher price. The latter may be bought at ten cents
a bunch in the Agusan River valley, where conditions are ideal for
their successful cultivation. I recently measured a series of trunks
there which ran from forty inches to four feet in circumference.
Table showing the Number of Cigars removed from Manufactories for
Domestic Consumption and for Export during the Past Eight Fiscal Years
--------------+--------------------------------------------+-------------
| Cigars Manufactured and |
Fiscal Year +----------------+-------------+-------------+
ended June 30 | Consumed in | Exported | Shipped to | Total
| the Philippine | to Foreign | United |
| Islands | Countries | States |
--------------+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
| Number | Number | Number | Number
1906 | 74,184,537 | 94,110,336 | 231,206 | 168,526,079
1907 | 79,476,459 | 117,684,485 | 82,175 | 197,243,119
1908 | 82,986,278 | 115,738,939 | 29,570 | 198,754,787
1909 | 86,800,520 | 116,981,434 | 867,947 | 204,649,901
1910 | 89,272,890 | 109,006,765 | 87,281,673 | 285,561,328
1911 | 96,115,525 | 104,604,170 | 27,531,596 | 228,251,291
1912 | 109,924,014 | 104,476,781 | 70,518,050 | 284,918,845
1913 | 96,193,811 | 106,563,541 | 102,894,077 | 305,651,429
--------------+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Table showing the Number of Cigarettes removed from Manufactories for
Domestic Consumption and for Export during the Past Eight Fiscal Years
--------------------------+------------------------------+---------------
| Cigarettes Manufactured and |
+----------------+-------------+
Fiscal Year ended June 30 | Consumed in | Exported to | Total
| the Philippine | Foreign |
| Islands | Countries |
--------------------------+----------------+-------------+---------------
| Number | Number | Number
1906 | 3,509,038,750 | 21,062,844 | 3,530,101,594
1907 | 3,509,999,575 | 158,349,812 | 3,668,349,387
1908 | 3,774,303,310 | 72,387,396 | 3,846,690,706
1909 | 4,122,385,209 | 53,250,328 | 4,175,635,537
1910 | 4,138,647,668 | 34,859,581 | 4,173,507,249
1911 | 4,058,603,123 | 35,425,865 | 4,094,028,988
1912 | 4,369,153,048 | 35,776,760 | 4,404,929,808
1913 | 4,449,340,088 | 51,431,838 | 4,500,771,926
--------------------------+----------------+-------------+---------------
Table showing the Quantity of Smoking Tobacco Exported during Each
of the Past Five Fiscal Years
-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------
| Total Exports during the Fiscal Year
Country to +----------+----------+----------+----------+---------
which Exported | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913
-------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------
| Pounds | Pounds | Pounds | Pounds | Pounds
Canary Islands | 33,488 | 18,547 | 21,329 | 28,645 | 59,454
For consumption on | | | | |
high seas | 14,490 | 17,655 | 22,610 | 24,488 | 29,257
France | 4,740 | 6,182 | 11,334 | 3,091 | 11,433
China | 2,233 | 1,586 | 7,938 | 6,077 | 9,569
All others | 5,082 | 5,174 | 25,791 | 4,151 | 7,417
+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------
Total | 60,034 | 49,145 | 89,004 | 66,452 | 117,130
-------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------
Table showing the Quantity of Leaf Tobacco Exported during the Calendar
Years 1909, 1910, 1911 and 1912
-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------
| Calendar Year
+------------+------------+------------+------------
| 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912
-------------------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
| Pounds | Pounds | Pounds | Pounds
Exported in the leaf[182]| | | |
To the United States | 13,503 | 12,269 | 4,946 | 93,928
To other countries | 21,218,588 | 26,469,800 | 28,354,636 | 28,041,374
+------------+------------+------------+------------
Total | 21,232,079 | 26,482,069 | 28,359,582 | 28,136,302
-------------------------+------------+------------+------------+------------
Note.--All figures given above are for unstemmed leaf.
There are numerous varieties of bananas in the Philippines, and some
of them are of unrivalled excellence, but fruit of uniform quality is
unobtainable, if desired in any considerable quantity. In the course
of a brief morning visit to the Zamboanga market I have seen fifteen
to twenty different varieties of bananas on sale there, of which a
considerable proportion were full of tannin and fit only for cooking.
A banana plantation gives returns at the end of a year from the time
of planting, and the fruit ought to be grown on plantation scale for
the markets of Cebú, Iloilo, Manila and Hongkong.
Throughout extensive areas conditions are ideal for rubber production,
and Para, castilloa and ceara trees all thrive. Those of the latter
species reach their most perfect development in Bukidnon, where they
grow at an astonishing rate and produce hemispheres of foliage which
look almost solid. A plantation of these trees should be not only
beautiful to look upon but very profitable.
Conditions in the highlands of Luzón, in the sub-province of Bukidnon,
and in other portions of Mindanao, are admirably adapted to the
production of coffee. Indeed, one of the few known wild varieties
is indigenous to the Philippines. The coffee at present produced is
grown in violation of every accepted principle of coffee culture,
but is nevertheless excellent in quality, and any surplus not required
for local consumption is eagerly bought up for shipment to Spain. In
Bukidnon the opportunity for growing coffee upon a large scale is
excellent.
There is little doubt that tea could be advantageously produced in
the Philippine highlands, especially in northern Luzón.
Throughout extensive regions the soil and climate are ideal for
growing cacao, from which is made the chocolate of commerce. It has
numerous insect enemies, and careful scientific cultivation is needed
to obtain the best results.
A determined and very successful effort is being made by the Bureau
of Education to interest the Filipinos in raising corn, which is a far
better food than is rice. They are being taught how to grind and cook
it for human food, and its use, which has long been common in islands
like Cebú, Negros, Siquijor and Bohol, is rapidly increasing. It can
be grown to good advantage in the Philippines, and at existing prices
its production upon a commercial scale for human consumption would be
profitable, but there is another good use to which it can be put. The
supply of fresh pork is not equal to the demand, and there would be a
ready market, at a high price, for a largely increased amount. Corn-fed
hogs are practically unknown in the islands. They ought not to be.
Both corn and camotes flourish in Bukidnon, where the former often
attains a height of from twelve to eighteen feet and produces one to
four ears to the stalk. Here, as elsewhere, careful seed selection
rapidly increases the crop. Camotes, planted after the first ploughing,
kill out all grass and weeds, but rapidly impoverish the soil. Planting
camotes on a large scale and close subsequent pasturing of the land
with hogs would leave the soil enriched and in excellent condition
for planting with other crops. A little corn would put camote-fed
hogs in splendid condition for the market. In this way it would be
possible to raise them inexpensively and on a large scale.
The Philippines produce citrus fruits in considerable variety. Some of
the native oranges and lemons are excellent. No care has as yet ever
been given to their cultivation. They are never pruned or sprayed,
nor is the ground around them kept clean. The larger Philippine towns
and cities afford a good market for citrus fruits, and any surplus
could be shipped to neighbouring Asiatic cities. Experiments in
budding American varieties on to the native stock are now in progress.
In many parts of the islands climate and soil are perfectly adapted
to the production of pineapples, which at present usually grow
uncared for. One pineapple plantation has already been established,
and a factory for canning the product is under construction. Others
will follow.
Roselle, from the fruit of which is made a jelly equal to currant
jelly in colour, and very similar to it in flavour, grows luxuriantly
and produces heavy crops of fruit. An excellent fermented drink may
be made from its leaves and stems.
Mangos, commonly considered to be the best fruit produced in the
islands, can be successfully canned.
Guavas grow wild over extensive areas, and a properly located factory
could produce guava jelly in large quantity.
Briefly, there is every opportunity for the profitable investment of
brains, capital and energy in agricultural pursuits along a score of
different lines. Such investment would be of immense advantage to
the Filipinos themselves. They are neither original nor naturally
progressive, but they are quick to imitate, and would follow the
example set for them. Their country would readily support eighty
million people, and it has eight million, so there is still room for
a few foreigners.
If rice is the bread of the people, fresh fish is their meat. Twenty
or thirty thousand pounds of fresh fish are sold daily in Manila,
and the supply is inadequate to meet the demand. A similar condition
exists in many of the larger towns throughout the archipelago. Dried
fish is extensively used, and sardines preserved in brine find a
ready sale. They may be taken in immense quantities in the southern
islands at certain seasons. The intelligent application of modern
methods to the taking, preserving and marketing of fish would give
immediate and large returns.
Rinderpest appeared in the islands in 1888, and from that time until
the establishment of civil government under American rule swept through
the archipelago practically unchecked, causing enormous losses to
agriculture. For a time it was impossible to plough anything like
the normal amount of land, because of the lack of draught animals.
Promptly upon their establishment, the Bureau of Science and the
Bureau of Agriculture began a determined campaign against this the
most dangerous pest of cattle. The fight has never ceased up to the
present time. While the disease is not completely stamped out, its
ravages have been reduced to insignificant proportions, and the natural
increase of the surviving animals has rehabilitated agriculture.
Good draught animals still bring abnormally high prices. I well
remember that in Spanish days an ordinary carabao cost $7.50, and an
excellent one could be purchased for $12.50. Similar animals to-day
bring from $50 to $75 each, and in certain districts the best carabaos
sell for $100 each.
There is still a great shortage of beef cattle. Refrigerated meat is
imported in large quantities, but many of the Filipinos do not like it,
and will not buy it unless compelled to do so by the lack of any other.
It has been found impracticable to remedy these conditions by importing
Chinese cattle or carabaos for the reason that cattle disease is
prevalent in the regions from which they would necessarily come,
but a way out of the difficulty has now presented itself. Nellore
cattle, one of the humped breeds of India, belonging to a distinct
race known as zebus, are immune to rinderpest, and do not suffer from
tick fever, which is prevalent throughout the islands. They flourish
in the Philippines, and do especially well in Bukidnon.
They are much larger than the Chinese cattle now in common use, walk
faster, are extremely gentle and make superior draught animals. Their
flesh is excellent. Cattle raising in Mindanao on a large scale is
certainly possible, and offers a most attractive field for investment.
The establishment of a great silk-growing industry is dependent only
upon the necessary capital and initiative. The Bureau of Science has
laid the foundation for it by conclusively demonstrating that silk
worms, and the mulberry trees on the leaves of which they thrive,
flourish here. Worms have now been grown for six years, and have
never suffered from any disease. Filipina women and girls, with their
deft fingers, would make excellent help for silk culture. Indeed,
the opportunity to engage in it would be a great boon to them in many
parts of the islands where they now lack profitable employment.
Manufacturing is as yet in its infancy. There are a number of regions
where very cheap power can be had by hydraulic development. That the
Filipinos make good factory labourers has been abundantly demonstrated
in existing tobacco factories, a hat factory, a match factory and a
couple of small factories for the manufacture of tagal braid, [183]
all in successful operation. With plenty of good labour, cheap power
and abundant raw materials, important manufacturing industries should
be developed.
I will not discuss at length the possibility of engaging profitably
in trade. Such possibility exists wherever commodities are bought and
sold, and here as elsewhere profits or losses largely depend on the
abilities of individuals. But the question of the trade relations,
present and possible, between the Philippines and the United States
is one of very great importance.
In the next chapter I show the enormous increase in the total trade
of the country since the American occupation, and the rapid growth
of trade with the United States.
Next to rice, cotton goods form the most important element in the
consuming markets of the islands, and the rapidity with which the
United States is gaining control of this trade is well illustrated
in the following table, showing by years the value of such goods
imported since 1904:--
Importations of Cotton Cloth
-----------------+------------------+---------------
| United States |
Year | Hawaii and Porto | All Countries
| Rico |
-----------------+------------------+---------------
1904 | $278,106 | $4,919,840
1905 | 764,990 | 6,346,962
1906 | 278,796 | 6,642,329
1907 | 1,056,328 | 8,320,079
1908 | 604,742 | 7,909,395
1909 | 508,229 | 6,862,135
1910 | 2,043,000 | 8,444,453
1911 | 4,110,837 | 10,305,017
1912 | 4,143,067 | 9,246,595
1913 | 6,827,082 | 11,483,638
+------------------+---------------
Total | $20,615,177 | $80,480,443
| +---------------
Annual average | | $8,048,044
-----------------+------------------+---------------
From a proportion of slightly over five per cent of the total trade in
manufactures of cotton in 1904, importations of the American product
have increased until they supply fifty-nine per cent of the present
local demand!
The following table is of especial interest. It shows in the first
column the nature and amount of the total exports from the United
States and in the second the nature and amount of United States
exports to the Philippine Islands.
----------------------------------------------+-----------+---------------
| To All | To Philippine
| Countries | Islands
----------------------------------------------+-----------+---------------
Foodstuffs in crude condition, and food | |
animals | 7.48 | 2.25
Foodstuffs partly or wholly manufactured | 13.19 | 14.39
Crude materials for use in manufacturing | 30.10 | .42
Manufactures for further use in manufacturing | 16.84 | 7.19
Manufactures ready for consumption | 32.04 | 75.73
Miscellaneous | .35 | .02
+-----------+---------------
Total | 100.00 | 100.00
----------------------------------------------+-----------+---------------
The most profitable class of exports is manufactures ready for
consumption. It forms no less than 75.73 per cent of the United
States exports to the Philippines. The least profitable exports are
crude materials for use in manufacturing, which make up but forty-two
hundredths of one per cent of the total exports to the Philippines.
Tropical and sub-tropical products are constantly increasing in
popularity in the United States, which is able to produce them to
so small an extent that although the classes included in this table
comprise nearly forty per cent of the total United States imports
for the year, there are but two on which duty is levied.
The following table shows the amount and value of tropical products
imported into the United States during the year ended June 30, 1913:--
------------------------+--------------------+--------------
Products | Amount | Value
------------------------+--------------------+--------------
| |
Cocoa | 140,039,172 lb. | $17,389,042
Coffee | 863,130,757 lb. | 118,963,209
Fibres | 407,098 T. | 49,075,659
Manufactures of fibres | ---- | 76,972,416
Fruits and nuts | ---- | 42,622,653
Goatskins | 45,729,000 T. | 24,790,417
Gums of various kinds | ---- | 15,138,895
Rubber | 214,000,000 lb. | 101,333,158
Matting | ---- | 1,651,813
Vegetable oils | ---- | 38,112,883
Silk, unmanufactured | ---- | 84,914,717
Spices | 65,225,401 lb. | 6,187,136
Sugar | 4,740,041,488 lb. | 103,639,823
Tea | 94,812,800 lb. | 17,433,688
Leaf tobacco | 67,454,745 lb. | 35,919,079
Manufactured tobacco | ---- | 6,577,403
Cabinet woods | ---- | 8,880,000
Rattans and reeds | ---- | 1,800,000
| +--------------
| | $751,401,991
------------------------+--------------------+--------------
The balance of trade with the more important countries from which we
get these products is heavily against us, as is shown by the following
table in which I have included Switzerland, not because we get tropical
or sub-tropical products from that country, but because it furnishes
us embroideries, etc., which could be very cheaply produced in the
Philippines. The figures are for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913:--
---------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------
| | | Balance against
| U. S. Imports from | U. S. Exports to | U. S.
---------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------
Brazil | $120,155,855 | $42,638,467 | $77,517,388
Cuba | 126,088,173 | 70,581,154 | 55,507,019
British E. I. | 116,178,182 | 15,108,956 | 101,069,226
Japan | 91,633,240 | 57,741,815 | 33,891,425
China | 39,010,800 | 21,326,834 | 17,683,966
Switzerland | 23,260,180 | 826,549 | 22,433,631
Mexico | 77,543,842 | 54,571,584 | 22,972,258
Colombia | 15,992,321 | 7,397,696 | 8,594,625
Venezuela | 10,852,331 | 5,737,118 | 5,115,213
Egypt | 19,907,828 | 1,660,833 | 18,246,995
+--------------------+------------------+-----------------
| $640,622,752 | $277,591,006 | $363,031,746
---------------+--------------------+------------------+-----------------
There is no such relationship with the Philippines, which during 1912
imported $20,770,536 worth of merchandise from the United States to
offset the $21,619,686 worth shipped to that country.
The Philippines could readily produce all of these products in
quantities sufficient to meet the demands of the United States if
there were proper development of the resources of the islands, which
have rich land, good labour and suitable climate, but lack capital
and competent, skilled supervision.
The situation has been admirably summed up in the following statement
issued some time since by the Manila Merchants' Association:--
"The Philippines will consume of imported commodities what they are
able to pay for. Their purchasing capacity will always be measured
by their production of export commodities. There is nothing that
they produce, or are adapted to produce, that the United States is
not at present under the necessity of buying from foreign countries
whose import trade it does not, and never will, control. Thus it
cannot hope for such advantages in other fields yielding tropical
products as it already possesses in these Islands."
The Philippines should furnish the bulk of the tropical products
imported into the United States. The commerce between the two countries
should in the very near future increase to $100,000,000 per year each
way and should go on increasing more and more rapidly thereafter.
CHAPTER XXXIV
PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Unexampled material prosperity has come to the islands, partly as a
result of the establishment of peace, and the improvement in means
of communication; partly from a very different cause.
Among other dire calamities which he says have befallen the
Philippines Blount includes "tariff-wrought poverty," [184] and he
roundly scores the Congress of the United States for its attitude
toward the suffering Filipino.
As a simple matter of fact, tariff legislation enacted by Congress has
been the commercial salvation of the islands. The tariff law of 1909,
known as the Payne Bill, was passed August 5, 1909, and went into
effect sixty days thereafter. In order to make the effect of this
act more apparent, the figures from July 1, 1909, in the following
statistical tables are printed in bold-faced type. These tables speak
for themselves, very loudly.
Internal-Revenue Statistics
-----------+--------------+----------++-------------+------------+--------------
| Total | || | Total | Increase (+)
Fiscal Year| Collections | Increase || Fiscal Year |Collections | or
| | || | | Decrease (-)
-----------+--------------+----------++-------------+------------+--------------
| | Per Cent || | | Per Cent
1906 [185] | $4,434,364 | -- || 1910 |$7,160,810 | +22
1907 | 4,729,515 | 7 || 1911 | 7,922,787 | +11
1908 | 5,542,022 | 17 || 1912 | 8,389,929 | + 6
1909 | 5,871,267 | 6 || 1913 |9,035,922 | + 8
-----------+--------------+----------++-------------+------------+--------------
Trade with the United States
----------------------+------------------+----------------+----------------
| Imports from the | Exports to the |
Fiscal Year | United States | United States | Total
----------------------+------------------+----------------+----------------
1899 | $1,150,613 | $3,540,894 | $4,691,507
1900 | 1,656,469 | 3,635,160 | 5,291,629
1901 | 2,666,930 | 2,572,021 | 5,238,951
1902 | 4,035,243 | 7,871,743 | 11,906,986
1903 | 3,944,082 | 13,863,059 | 17,807,141
1904 | 4,843,207 | 11,102,860 | 15,946,067
1905 | 5,839,512 | 15,678,875 | 21,518,387
1906 | 4,333,917 | 11,580,569 | 15,914,486
1907 | 5,155,478 | 12,082,364 | 17,237,842
1908 | 5,079,670 | 10,332,116 | 15,411,786
1909 | 4,693,831 | 10,154,087 | 14,847,918
1910 | 10,775,301 | 18,703,083 | 29,478,384
1911 | 19,483,658 | 16,716,956 | 36,200,614
1912 | 20,970,536 | 21,619,686 | 42,390,222
1913 (at the rate of) | 26,264,218 | 23,573,865 | 49,838,083[186]
----------------------+------------------+----------------+----------------
Total Trade, including that with the United States
Column headings: FY: Fiscal Year; ID: Increase (+) or Decrease (-); PC: Per Cent
-----+-------------------+--------------------+-------------+------------------
| | | | Foreign Tonnage
| Imports | Exports | Total | Cleared
FY +-------------+-----+-------------+------+ Customs +-----------+------
| Value | ID | Value | ID | Collections | Amount | ID
-----+-------------+-----+-------------+------+-------------+-----------+------
| | PC | | PC | | | PC
1899 | $13,116,567 | -- | $14,640,162 | -- | $3,106,380 | 336,550 | --
1900 | 20,601,436 | +57 | 19,821,347 | +35 | 5,542,289 | 636,034 | +89
1901 | 30,276,200 | +47 | 23,222,348 | +17 | 8,982,813 | 987,094 | +55
1902 | 32,029,357 | + 6 | 24,544,858 | + 6 | 8,528,938 | 1,104,968 | +12
1903 | 32,978,445 | + 3 | 33,150,120 | +35 | 9,540,706 | 1,542,200 | +40
1904 | 33,221,251 | + 1 | 30,226,127 | - 9 | 8,493,868 | 1,542,138 | --
1905 | 30,879,048 | - 7 | 32,355,865 | + 7 | 8,263,444 | 1,417,396 | - 8
1906 | 25,799,290 | -16 | 31,918,542 | - 1 | 7,553,206 | 1,455,055 | + 3
1907 | 28,786,063 | +12 | 33,721,767 | + 6 | 8,194,708 | 1,293,266 | -11
1908 | 30,918,745 | + 7 | 32,829,816 | - 3 | 8,318,020 | 1,464,448 | +13
1909 | 27,794,482 | -10 | 31,044,458 | - 5 | 8,539,098 | 1,392,333 | - 5
1910 | 37,067,630 | +33 | 39,717,960 | +28 | 8,286,073 | 1,715,268 | +23
1911 | 49,833,722 | +34 | 39,778,629 | +0.2 | 8,678,810 | 1,808,308 | +15
1912 | 54,549,980 | + 9 | 50,319,836 | +26 | 9,363,296 | 1,939,079 | + 7
1913 | 56,327,533 | +11 | 56,683,326 | +17 | 8,246,026 | 1,868,811 | - 4
-----+-------------+-----+-------------+------+-------------+-----------+------
------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------
| Receipts from | Amounts of |
| Percentage | Business on which | Increase (+)
Fiscal Year | Tax on | Percentage Tax | or Decrease (-)
| Business | is Collected |
------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------
| | | Per Cent
1906 | $666,996 | $200,098,983 | --
1907 | 677,847 | 203,354,298 | + 2
1908 | 643,707 | 193,112,160 | - 5
1909 | 631,877 | 189,563,361 | - 2
1910 | 759,718 | 227,915,673 | +20
1911 | 885,804 | 265,741,443 | +17
1912 | 951,775 | 285,532,500 | + 7
1913 | 1,110,000 | 333,000,000 | +17
------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------
The Philippine government collects as internal revenue one-third of
one per cent of the gross business done by merchants and manufacturers
in the islands. The fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, was the last
before the opening of free trade with the United States. The figures
for the four subsequent years therefore show the resulting stimulus
to business.
The gross business on which the percentage tax was collected in
1909 was $190,000,000 (P380,000,000). The increases over that year
have been:--
------+---------------------------------+-------------
| Increases over 1909 |
+------------------+--------------+ Percentage
Year | United States | Philippine | of Increase
| Currency | Currency |
------+------------------+--------------+-------------
1910 | $38,000,000 | P76,000,000 | 20.0
1911 | 76,000,000 | 152,000,000 | 40.0
1912 | 96,000,000 | 192,000,000 | 50.5
1913 | 143,000,000[187]| 286,000,000 | 75.3
+------------------+--------------+-------------
| $353,000,000[187]| P706,000,000 |
------+------------------+--------------+-------------
The gross business increased by a fifth in one year; by two-fifths
in two years; by more than a half in three years; and by more than
three-quarters in four years.
In the year 1909 the total exports and imports of the Philippine
Islands amounted to $59,000,000 (P118,000,000). The increases over
that year have been:--
------+----------------------------------+-------------
| Increases over 1909 |
+-------------------+--------------+ Percentage
Year | United States | Philippine | of Increase
| Currency | Currency |
------+-------------------+--------------+-------------
1910 | $18,000,000 | P36,000,000 | 30.5
1911 | 31,000,000 | 62,000,000 | 52.5
1912 | 46,000,000 | 92,000,000 | 77.9
1913 | 61,000,000[188]| 122,000,000 | 103.4
+-------------------+--------------+-------------
| $156,000,000 | P312,000,000 |
------+-------------------+--------------+-------------
The total trade increased by nearly one-third in one year; by more
than a half in two years; by more than three-quarters in three years;
and more than doubled in four years.
---------------------------------------+---------------+----------------
| United States | Philippine
| Currency | Currency
---------------------------------------+---------------+----------------
Total increase of business as above | $353,000,000 | P706,000,000
Total increase of trade as above | 156,000,000 | 312,000,000
+---------------+----------------
Total increase of business and trade | $509,000,000 | P1,018,000,000
---------------------------------------+---------------+----------------
An attempt has been made to make political capital out of one of the
heavy drops in hemp values. [189]
It is astonishing how fully Providence sometimes squares accounts
with the falsifier. Whatever may be thought of the advisability or
inadvisability of the hemp duty rebate, there is no escape from the
conclusion that it does not determine the price of hemp. While it
is true that there has been a time during the past two years when
the hemp grower received half, or less than half, the price for
his product which he obtained ten years ago, it is also true that
during the latter part of this same period he has received very much
higher prices than either he or any of his ancestors ever before
obtained. This apart from the fact that the price ten years ago was
quite abnormal, due to crop shortage resulting from a bad state of
public order. It is a poor rule that does not work both ways. If the
hemp rebate is responsible for the recent slump in prices, it must
also be responsible for their having later "kicked the beam."
The facts set forth in the following tables are also significant of
improved conditions:--
Banking
-------------+--------------+-----------------
| Total |
Fiscal Year | Resources of | Increase (+)
| Commercial | or Decrease (-)
| Banks |
-------------+--------------+-----------------
| | Per Cent
1906 | $15,351,690 |
1907 | 17,054,358 | +11
1908 | 17,454,214 | + 2
1909 | 18,138,425 | + 4
1910 | 22,856,455 | +26
1911 | 24,557,697 | + 7
1912 | 35,885,728 | +46
1913 | 31,210,177 | -13
-------------+--------------+-----------------
Postal Savings Bank
-------------+---------------------+-----------------------------
| Depositors in the | Total Amount Due Depositors
Fiscal Year | Postal Savings Bank | at Close of Year
+--------+------------+--------------+--------------
| Number | Increase | Amount | Increase
-------------+--------+------------+--------------+--------------
| | Per Cent | | Per Cent
1907 [190] | 2,331 | | $254,731 |
1908 | 5,389 | 131 | 515,997 | 102
1909 | 8,782 | 63 | 724,479 | 40
1910 | 13,102 | 49 | 839,123 | 16
1911 | 28,804 | 120 | 1,049,737 | 25
1912 | 35,802 | 24 | 1,194,493 | 14
1913 [191] | 38,075 | | 1,252,189 |
-------------+--------+------------+--------------+--------------
Coastwise Tonnage Cleared
----------------------+---------------+-----------------
| | Increase (+)
Fiscal Year | Tonnage | or Decrease (-)
----------------------+---------------+-----------------
| | Per Cent
1899 | 237,852 | ----
1900 | 482,685 | +103
1901 | 676,307 | + 40
1902 | 773,243 | + 14
1903 | 832,438 | + 8
1904 | 905,821 | + 9
1905 | 840,504 | - 7
1906 | 774,032 | - 8
1907 | 899,915 | + 16
1908 | 978,968 | + 9
1909 | 1,045,075 | + 7
1910 | 1,053,426 | + 1
1911 | 1,303,606 | + 24
1912 | 1,362,620 | + 5
1913 (at the rate of) | 1,262,136[192]| - 7
----------------------+---------------+-----------------
Importations of Coal (Equal Consumption Very Nearly) [193]
----------------------+-----------------
| Metric Tons
Fiscal Year | (2205 Pounds)
----------------------+-----------------
1899 | 30,812
1900 | 87,238
1901 | 126,732
1902 | 236,332
1903 | 268,650
1904 | 295,716
1905 | 269,666
1906 | 268,577
1907 | 295,684
1908 | 322,928
1909 | 294,902
1910 | 375,518
1911 | 413,735
1912 | 436,687
1913 (at the rate of) | 408,118 [194]
----------------------+-----------------
If possible, let us have more of this same kind of tariff-wrought
poverty and commercial distress! The country needs it.
This extraordinary story of rapid increase in commercial prosperity,
as well as in the volume of commerce between the Philippines and the
United States, is but a faint indication of what would come about
under a fixed policy which assured future adequate protection to life
and property in these islands.
Specific assurance that the United States would not surrender
sovereignty over the archipelago until its inhabitants had demonstrated
both ability and inclination to maintain a stable, just and effective
government would be followed by a steady, healthful commercial
development which would bring in its wake a degree of prosperity
hitherto unknown and undreamed of. The Philippines have the best
tropical climate in the world; soil of unsurpassed richness;
great forest wealth; promising mines; and a constantly growing
population willing to work for a reasonable wage. Give assurance
of a stable government, and prosperity will increase by leaps and
bounds. Turn the country over now, or ten years from now, to the
Filipinos to govern, and the reputable business men, mindful of
Aguinaldo's demand for his share of the war booty when Manila was
taken; of the attempted confiscation of the lands of the religious
orders and of Spanish citizens generally, [195] of the proposal to
tax foreigners [196] as such, and of the torturing of friars, other
Spaniards and Filipinos as well, in order to extort money from them;
of the widespread brigandage, the raping, the officially authorized
and directed murdering and burying alive which prevailed during the
period of undisturbed Filipino rule, will fold their tents like the
Arabs and quietly steal away. There will remain that peculiar class
of business men who, as the Filipinos put it, love to fish in troubled
waters. They will not lack good fishing grounds.
Should we not stimulate the commercial development of the islands
by adopting liberal provisions as to the sale of public lands,
safeguarding the public interest by imposing at the same time severe
conditions as to cultivation? And should not our anti-imperialist
friends cease to rail at those of their countrymen who are willing to
spend the money without which commercial development is impossible? Can
they not grasp the fact that the influx of Americans and American
capital sounds the death knell of slavery and peonage? It was Americans
whose testimony enabled me to prove to the world the existence in
the Philippines of these twin evils, and to bring pressure to bear
which resulted in prohibitive legislation. It is Americans who are
helping the poor Filipinos to become owners of land. It is Americans
who are encouraging them to take contracts for cultivating cane,
so that they have a direct interest in the crop.
Increasing prosperity means more money for the maintenance of
order, for schools, for hospitals, for sanitary work and for public
improvements. The diminution of exports which would promptly follow
any serious disturbance of the peace of the country would result in
the loss of much of the ground already gained.
The average business man is not a sentimentalist. So long as he
can safely carry on his work, and can be sure of just treatment, he
does not worry much over the nationality of the government officials
who maintain such conditions, but he will not invest his money in a
country where it is not reasonably certain that such conditions will
continue to prevail.
The business men of the Philippines know by experience what American
government of the archipelago means. Some of them know, also by
experience, what Filipino rule means. The slump in real estate
values and customs receipts which so promptly followed Mr. Wilson's
expression of hope that the frontiers of the United States might soon
be contracted, conclusively demonstrated their opinion as to the effect
of Philippine independence on the peace and prosperity of the country.
The number of Filipinos who thus far have demonstrated ability
successfully to manage large commercial enterprises is exceedingly
limited. Must not commercial prosperity coexist with political
independence, if the latter is to be stable?
During the visit of the congressional delegation which accompanied
Mr. Taft on his return to the Philippines in 1907, public sessions
were held at which the Filipinos were given opportunity to make
complaints. One fervid orator denounced the collection of customs dues,
internal revenue taxes, the land tax and the cedula tax. A congressman
asked him how he expected to get money to run the government after
all taxes were abolished. He replied, "That is a detail which can be
settled later."
Would it not be well to consider, at this time, one very important
detail, namely, what would be the effect on the insular government
of a marked falling off in the business from the taxes on which
practically all of the insular revenues are at present derived?
CHAPTER XXXV
SOME RESULTS OF AMERICAN RULE
Having set forth at length what seem to me the more essential facts
relative to the American occupation of the Philippines and the results
of American rule, supporting my statements by a rather free use of
documents chiefly drawn from the Insurgent records, I will briefly
summarize some of the more important points which I have endeavoured
to establish, lest my readers should not see the forest for the trees.
Independence was never promised to Aguinaldo or to any other Filipino
leader by any officer of the United States, nor was there ever any
effort to deceive the Filipinos by arousing false hopes that it was
to be conceded.
The Insurgent force never coöperated with that of the United
States. The two had a common enemy and that was practically all that
they did have in common. Each proceeded against that enemy in its
own way. Each ignored requests of the other relative to the manner
in which it should proceed. The Insurgent officers planned from
the outset to utilize United States soldiers in bringing about the
termination of Spanish sovereignty in the Philippines, and then to
attack them if practicable and necessary in order to oust the United
States from the islands. If not, they planned to consider asking us
for a protectorate or for annexation.
The temporary government established by Aguinaldo and his associates
was not, in any sense of the word, a republic, nor was it established
with the consent of the people. It was a military oligarchy pure and
simple, imposed on the people by armed men and maintained, especially
during its latter days, by terrorism and by the very free use of murder
as a governmental agency. The conditions which arose under it were
shocking in the extreme. Property rights were not respected; human
life was cheap indeed; persons aggrieved had no redress, and there
was hardly a semblance of a system for the administration of justice.
There were individual instances in which Insurgents and Insurgent
sympathizers were treated with severity, and even with cruelty, by
officers and soldiers of the army of the United States, but it is
nevertheless undoubtedly true that never before have the officers and
men of any civilized nation conducted so humanely a war carried on
under conditions similar to those which prevailed in the Philippines.
Hostilities were deliberately provoked by the Insurgents, who had
previously prepared an elaborate plan for a simultaneous attack on
the American lines around Manila from within and without, and for the
killing of all Americans, Europeans and American sympathizers among
the Filipinos.
The war ended with a prolonged period of guerilla warfare, deliberately
inaugurated by the Insurgents, which bred crime and struck at the
very roots of good government.
At the earliest possible moment the Filipinos were given a share
in the control of their own affairs when municipal governments were
established, under military rule, by army officers. Many Filipinos who
accepted municipal offices under the Americans paid for their courage
with their lives, and a very large number saved their lives only by
serving two masters. Because of the special conditions which prevailed,
such persons were very leniently dealt with when their double dealing
was discovered, and in the effort to afford adequate protection to
those who had put their confidence in the United States, our armed
forces were divided to an extent probably previously unprecedented
in history, and more than five hundred separate garrisons were
established.
The first Philippine Commission was appointed in the hope of
bringing about a friendly understanding between Insurgent officers
and the representatives of the United States, and for the purpose
of gathering reliable information relative to people and conditions
which might serve as a basis for future legislation for the benefit
of all the inhabitants of the islands. As the result of the breaking
out of hostilities before the commission reached its destination,
its work was necessarily limited to the gathering of information and
to efforts to promote the earliest possible establishment of relations
of friendliness and usefulness between the two peoples.
The second Philippine Commission was endowed with far-reaching
powers. Shortly after its arrival in the islands it became the
legislative body, and proceeded gradually to establish civil government
as rapidly as practicable in a country under military rule, many
parts of which were in active rebellion.
This difficult undertaking was carried out with a minimum of friction
between civil and military authorities. The latter were invariably
consulted by the former before civil government was established in
any given region, and their wishes in the premises were respected. The
commanding general stated that the establishment of civil governments
was a help to him in his work, and in accordance with his desires and
recommendations they were established prematurely in three provinces,
with the result that the temporary restoration of military government
became necessary.
Under American rule there has been brought about in the Philippines
an admirable state of public order, and life and property are to-day
safe throughout practically the whole of an archipelago which, at the
close of Spanish sovereignty, was harried by tulisanes, ladrones and
Moros. There were also very extensive areas in undisputed possession
of wild and savage tribes where governmental control had never been
established, where a man was esteemed in proportion to his success
as a warrior, and where property was likely to find its way into the
hands of men brave enough to seize it and strong enough to hold it.
We have established friendly relations with the very large majority
of the wild people and the numerous changes for the better which we
have brought about in their territory have been effected practically
without bloodshed except in certain portions of the Moro country. By
effective legislation, strictly enforced, we have saved these backward
tribes from the threatened curse of alcoholism.
Good order was established in Filipino territory through the admirable
work of the United States Army, assisted toward the close of military
rule by the second Philippine Commission, which did much toward
securing the coöperation of the better element among the Filipinos.
Under civil control Filipinos and wild men have been utilized as
police officers and soldiers in their respective habitats, and have
been an important factor in bringing about present conditions. The
Philippine Constabulary, recruited in part from Filipinos and in part
from Moros and other non-Christian peoples, has not only proved a
most efficient body for the performance of ordinary police work but
has rendered invaluable assistance to other bureaus of the government;
notably to the Bureau of Health and the Bureau of Agriculture for which
it has effectively performed very important quarantine work. It has
furthermore proved to be a reliable and most useful body in meeting
great public calamities like those caused by the recent eruption of
Tall volcano, and the Cebú typhoon.
Reforms of radical importance in the judicial system have been another
important factor in making life and property safe, and have resulted
in bringing even-handed justice within the reach of many of the poor
and the weak.
We found Manila and numerous provincial towns pestholes of disease,
while the death-rate of the archipelago as a whole was so high that
its climate had gained an evil reputation.
We have given Manila a modern sewer system. We have supplied its people
with comparatively pure drinking water from a mountain watershed in
place of the contaminated water of the Mariquina River which they
were formerly forced to use. We have steadily reduced the death-rate
of the city, which is now a safe and healthful place of residence
for all who will observe a few simple precautions.
In the provinces, some eight hundred and fifty artesian wells have
brought pure water to hundreds of thousands who were previously
compelled to depend on infected wells, springs and streams. By making
many of the previously most unsanitary regions of the archipelago
healthful we have conclusively demonstrated that the lack of necessary
sanitary measures, not the character of the climate, was responsible
for the conditions which formerly prevailed.
The islands were periodically swept by frightful epidemics of
disease. We have eliminated smallpox, previously rightly considered
an almost inevitable disease of childhood, as an important factor in
the death-rate. We have practically stamped out cholera and bubonic
plague. Years have now passed since there has been a wide-spread
epidemic of disease among the inhabitants.
The United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service has
not only thrown its protective line around the archipelago but has
sent its outposts to important neighbouring Asiatic centres for the
dissemination of disease, thus facilitating the exclusion from the
archipelago of dangerous communicable ailments and preventing the
introduction of pneumonic plague, the most fatal of them all. It
would unquestionably have entered the islands had it not been stopped
at quarantine.
We are giving humane care to a considerable number of insane persons
who were previously chained to floors or posts.
The lepers of the islands have been isolated and are being well cared
for. A few have apparently been permanently cured.
The scientific work of the insular government has been coördinated in
such a way as to insure maximum efficiency at minimum cost. Not only
has an immense amount of routine work been economically performed but
there has been a large amount of original investigation, some of which
has resulted in discoveries of far-reaching importance to mankind.
We have found the cause of beri-beri, have eliminated this disease from
government institutions and from among persons subject to governmental
control, and have shown the Filipinos how they may rid their country of
it, and save money at the same time, by a slight change in their food.
We have found a specific for that horribly disfiguring disease
"yaws," and have cured large numbers of persons afflicted with it,
thus earning their lasting gratitude.
We have made pure food and pure drugs purchasable throughout a country
which was formerly a dumping ground for products not allowed to be
sold elsewhere.
We have not only made long strides in the improvement of sanitary
conditions in the provinces but have brought skilled medical and
surgical service within the reach of very large numbers of persons
who formerly had none at all, successfully overcoming the previous
universal prejudice against hospitals, to such an extent that those
of the government are now thronged with Filipinos seeking treatment.
In doing these things we have had to combat almost unbelievable
ignorance and superstition, the remedy for which is to be found,
we hope, in the generalization of education which is rapidly taking
place. The hundred and seventy thousand children, who formerly
took advantage of the meagre educational facilities provided under
the previous régime, consisting chiefly of very defective primary
instruction, usually given amidst most unsanitary surroundings,
and without adequate facilities of any sort, have been replaced
by a happy throng numbering no less than five hundred and thirty
thousand, who receive from well-trained teachers excellent primary
and secondary instruction, both academic and practical. Through the
school system we are generalizing the use of the English language
which is to-day, after a decade and a half of American rule, spoken
far more generally than Spanish was after it had been the official
language of the country for three and a half centuries. In this way
we are overcoming the very grave obstacle in the way of welding the
numerous peoples of the Philippines into one which is presented by
their lack of a common medium of communication.
At the same time we are teaching boys and girls the elements of
good sanitation and right living. Girls are also being taught to
cook, to sew, to embroider and to make lace. Both boys and girls are
receiving instruction in gardening, and boys may learn wood working,
iron working and other useful trades. Opportunities for higher academic
work have been provided in provincial high schools, and at Manila in
the Philippine Normal School and the University of the Philippines,
while the Manila Schools of Commerce and of Arts and Trades afford
ample opportunity for advanced work on industrial and commercial
lines, and the Manila School of Household Industries fits women to
go out into the provinces and start new centres for the manufacture
of laces and embroideries.
We are educating a constantly and rapidly increasing number of highly
trained nurses, physicians and surgeons.
The working forces of certain bureaus of the government have been
utilized for purposes of special instruction in surveying, printing
and binding, and forestry, and even the inmates of penal institutions
are not forgotten, but have good schools provided for them.
Quite as important as the development of the minds of the young is
the development of their bodies through the introduction of athletic
games and sports, which have incidentally promoted intercommunication
and mutual understanding between the several Filipino peoples. In
many regions baseball is emptying the cockpits, and thus aiding the
cause of good order and morality.
Educational work has not been limited to the Filipinos, but has been
carried on among the children of the wilder tribes, many of whom are
proving to be apt pupils and are making extraordinary progress in
industrial work.
By educating the masses we are giving to the Filipinos proper, as
distinguished from the mestizo politicians, the first opportunity
they have ever had to show what is in them.
The means of the government are at present insufficient to educate
all of the eight hundred thousand children who, it is believed,
would attend school voluntarily if given the opportunity. The
insular revenues are derived chiefly from import duties and internal
revenue taxes, so that there is a very direct relationship between
the amount of government receipts and the volume of business of the
country. Careful attention has long been given to stimulating the
development of the vast natural resources of the archipelago in order
to increase the prosperity of the people and that of the government,
which are inseparably united.
Owing to the breaking up of the land area of the country into a very
large number of small units, water transportation plays an unusually
important part in commercial development. More than two-thirds of the
very long coast line has been surveyed, as have the waters adjacent
thereto.
The former scarcity of lighthouses has been remedied. An admirable
weather service gives due warning of the approach of dangerous storms,
and travel and the transportation of freight by sea have thus been
rendered safe.
The previous almost complete lack of good roads has been remedied by
the construction of four thousand four hundred miles of well-built,
admirably maintained highways in the lowlands, supplemented in the
highlands of Luzón and Mindanao and in the lowlands of Mindoro and
Palawan, by some thirteen hundred miles of cart roads and horse
trails. Hundreds of thousands of small farmers, who previously had
no inducement to raise more than their families or their immediate
neighbours could consume, because they were unable to sell their
surplus products, have thus been brought within reach of the market.
The hundred and twenty-two miles of railway which we found in 1898
have been increased to six hundred eleven.
The government has utilized its coast-guard vessels to build up
new trade routes until they became commercially profitable, so that
private companies were willing to take them over.
Agriculture, the main source of the country's wealth, was conducted
in a most primitive manner, modern methods and modern machinery
being practically unknown. Worse yet, it was threatened with complete
prostration, owing to the prevalence of surra among the horses and of
rinderpest among the horned cattle. At a time when great areas were
lying uncultivated because of lack of draft animals, and when the
horses and cattle of the archipelago seemed doomed to extinction,
a vigorous campaign was inaugurated against animal diseases. It
has been carried out in the face of manifold obstacles up to the
present day, and is resulting in the re-stocking of the islands
through natural reproduction and the safeguarding of the young
animals. Strenuous efforts, made through the medium of the public
schools and through demonstration stations, are bringing about a slow
change in the previously existing antiquated agricultural methods,
and the example set by Americans is leading to the gradual introduction
of a considerable amount of modern farm machinery.
The placing of the currency of the country on a gold basis has been
a powerful factor in promoting material prosperity, and together with
the other measures previously enumerated, supplemented by favourable
tariff legislation giving the Philippines a market in the United
States, has led to an era of extraordinary commercial development.
There has been a very rapid increase in the trade between the
Philippines and the United States, the former country purchasing from
us, practically dollar for dollar, as much as it sells to us, and
furnishing us tropical products of a sort which we should otherwise
be obliged to buy from countries with which we have a trade balance
on the wrong side of the ledger.
The Philippines have a potential source of great wealth in their
fifty-four thousand square miles of forest. We have introduced
a conservation system which, if maintained and developed, will
permanently preserve the more important forests while at the same
time facilitating the establishment of a great lumber industry. The
free use of forest products from government lands for other than
commercial purposes has been granted to the people.
In the face of quiet but determined opposition from the cacique class,
material progress has been made in assisting the common people to
become owners of agricultural land, while in spite of the restrictions
imposed by unwise legislation, several modern agricultural estates have
been established. They are not only serving as great demonstration
stations, of far more practical value than any agricultural college
could be at the present stage of development of the Filipinos, but
have materially raised the daily wage of agricultural labourers in
the regions where they are situated.
We have established an efficient civil service in which national
politics have played no part, and appointments and promotion have
depended on merit alone. This rule has been made to apply to Filipinos
as well as to Americans, with the result that the former have for
the most part been compelled to enter the lower grades because of
defective preparation, but with the further consequence that they
have been promoted as rapidly as the result of subsequent careful
training has fitted them for advancement. The proportion of Filipino
employees as compared with Americans has increased from forty-nine
per cent in 1903 to seventy-one per cent in 1913.
We have given to the country religious liberty. We have also given
it free speech and a free press, both of which have been shamelessly
abused. We have created, prematurely in my opinion, a legislature
with an elective lower house composed exclusively of Filipinos and
having equal powers with the upper house in the matter of initiating
and passing legislation.
I reserve for the following chapter a statement of the opportunities
which we have given the Filipinos to participate in the executive
control of their towns and provinces, and of the results of these
experiments.
Never before in the history of the world has a powerful nation assumed
toward a weaker one quite such an attitude as we have adopted toward
the Filipinos. I make this statement without thought of disparaging
the admirable work which Great Britain has done in her colonies,
but on the contrary in the conviction that in some particulars we
ourselves have gone too fast and too far, and as a result are likely
in the end to have forcibly brought home to us the wisdom of making
haste somewhat more slowly, and paying more heed to the experience
of others, when dealing with new problems.
However, it will do those of us who thought that we were infallible,
if such there be, a world of good to learn that this is not the case;
and it will do our Filipino wards good to discover, one of these days,
that we can, if necessary, take away as well as give.
Up to the present time our successes certainly over-balance our
mistakes, and in my opinion we have just cause for pride in the
results of our Philippine stewardship.
CHAPTER XXXVI
IS PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE NOW POSSIBLE?
This question is one of great importance to the people of the United
States, for national honour is involved in finding its true answer.
Both of our great political parties are committed to the policy of
granting independence when the Filipinos are ready for it. Are they
ready now? If so, the promise should be kept. If not, we should be
guilty of an unjust and cowardly act if we withdrew our protection
and control.
I have already called attention to the fact that the Filipinos [197]
are divided into a number of peoples, sometimes called tribes. The
census of 1903 recognizes the following: Visayans, numbering 3,219,030;
Tagálogs, 1,460,695; Ilocanos, 803,942; Bicols, 566,365; Pangasináns,
343,686; Pampangans, 280,984; Cagayans, 159,648; Zambalans, 48,823.
The loose use of the word "tribe" in designating these peoples
is liable to lead to very grave misapprehension. Their leaders
vigorously, and very properly, object to the idea that they have at
present anything resembling a tribal organization. The truth is that
they are the descendants of originally distinct tribes or peoples
which have gradually come to resemble each other more and more,
and to have more and more in common.
The very large majority of them have been brought up in the Catholic
faith. In physical characteristics, dress and customs they resemble
each other quite closely. They are alike in their dignity of bearing,
their sobriety, their genuine hospitality, their kindliness to the
old and the feeble, their love of their children and eagerness to
obtain for them educational advantages which they themselves have
been denied, their fondness for music, their patience in the face
of adversity, and the respect which they show for authority so long
as their passions are not played upon, or their prejudices aroused,
by the unscrupulous. These are admirable characteristics and afford a
good foundation on which to build. Such differences as exist between
these several peoples are steadily diminishing. This is especially
true of the Tagálogs and the numerically comparatively unimportant
peoples lying immediately to the north and west of their territory,
namely, the Pampangans, Pangasináns and Zambalans. The Tagálogs,
Ilocanos, Cagayans, Bicols and Visayans are distinguished by much
more marked differences.
In general, the Tagálogs tend to become the dominating Filipino people
of the islands, and successfully attempt to assert themselves in their
dealings with all the other Christian peoples except the Ilocanos, who
are quite capable of holding their own. The Ilocanos have a reputation
for orderliness and industry which the Tagálogs lack. The Cagayans
are, as a people, notoriously lazy and stupid, although there are of
course numerous conspicuous individual exceptions to this rule. The
Visayans are comparatively docile and law-abiding. Many of the Bicols
are energetic and capable, and they seem to be possessed of a rather
keen sense of humour, which their neighbours lack.
Two things tend to keep the several peoples apart. The first is the
present lack of any common medium of communication. There are more
quite sharply distinct dialects than there are peoples. The Visayans,
for instance, speak Cebuano, Ilongo and Cuyuno. The language difficulty
is of least importance among the peoples immediately north of Manila
where the use of Tagálog is generalized to a considerable extent,
but even here it is serious.
Mr. Justice Johnson of the Philippine Supreme Court tells me that
when he was serving in Zambales as a judge of first instance the
examination of a family of four persons necessitated two interpreters,
one for the father, and another for the mother and two step-children,
while in the trial of seven men charged with a murder it was necessary
to read the complaint in four different dialects.
Taylor cites the following typical instances of practical difficulty
growing out of the multiplicity of dialects:--
"In December, 1898, General Macabulos was the commissioner in Tarlac
Province. At Camiling the orders prescribing how the elections
were to be carried on were read in Spanish and then translated into
Ilocano. General Macabulos next delivered in Tagálog a speech informing
the assemblage of their duties under the new form of government. This
was translated into Ilocano, as the people did not understand Tagálog
any more than they did Spanish. [198] When on July 6, 1898, a junta of
men in favour of the independence of the Philippines met at Gerona,
Tarlac, to elect among themselves the civil officials for the town,
the decrees of Aguinaldo, of June 18 and 20, were read in Ilocano,
in Tagálog, in Pampanga, and Pangasinán, all of which languages were
spoken in the town." [199]
The head of the town of Antipolo, Morong Province, wrote to the
secretary of the interior on October 21, 1898, that his delay in
executing orders had been caused by the fact that they were written
in Tagálog, which he did not understand. He recommended that Spanish
be always used by the central government. [200] Mabini himself at
one time proposed that English be made the official language. The
constitution of the "Republic," while making Tagálog the official
language, provided for instruction in English. [201]
There is no literature worth mentioning written in the native dialects,
nor do they open a way to the fields of science, the arts, history,
or philosophy. Their vocabularies are comparatively poor in words, and
they do not afford satisfactory media of communication, especially as
words of generalization are almost entirely lacking. This latter fact
conclusively demonstrates the stage of mental evolution attained by the
peoples which have developed these several languages. Not long since
I heard a keen student of Philippine affairs remark that the trouble
with the Filipinos was that none of them were more than fourteen
years old! There is truth enough in the statement to make it sting.
The use of Spanish never became common, and knowledge of this language
was limited to the educated few. After fifteen short years English
is far more widely spoken than Spanish ever was. When English comes
into comparatively general use, as it will if the present educational
policy is adhered to, one fundamental difficulty in the way of welding
the Filipinos into "a people" will have been largely done away with.
The second important barrier between the several Filipino peoples
is built up of dislikes and prejudices, in part handed down from
the days when they were tribally distinct and actively hostile; in
part resulting from the well-marked tendency of the Tagálogs and the
Ilocanos to impose their will upon the others. The actual differences
between a Tagálog and a Visayan are not so great. The important thing,
from the American view point, is that every Tagálog and every Visayan
really considers them very great.
There would have been no insurrection of any importance in the Visayas
and Mindanao if the Tagálogs had kept their hands off. We have seen
how they worked their will on the people of the Cagayan valley and the
Visayas, and what bitter animosities they provoked. We have also seen
how on various occasions the Ilocanos opposed the Tagálogs as such,
and even planned to kill them, while the Visayans did kill them on
various occasions. However much politicians may declaim about a united
Filipino people, certain uncomfortable but indisputable facts reduce
such claims to idle vapourings.
At the time when there was great excitement in Manila over the
Jones Bill, and many Filipinos believed that independence was
coming on July 4, 1913, there took place at the house of General
Aguinaldo a very significant gathering of former insurgent generals
and colonels. There was then much interest in the question of who
would be appointed president of the coming Philippine Republic. It
was officially announced that the object of this meeting was to unite
those who attended it in an effort to aid in the maintenance of a good
condition of public order. I learned from a source which I believe to
be thoroughly reliable that one of the conclusions actually reached was
that no Visayan should be allowed to become president of the republic,
and that one of the real objects of the meeting was to crystallize
opposition to the candidacy of Señor Osmeña, the speaker of the
assembly. But the undesirability of giving publicity to such factional
differences at this time was promptly realized and this attitude on
the part of Aguinaldo's supporters was not publicly announced.
Troubles between Ilocanos and Cagayans continue in Cagayan, Isabela
and Nueva Vizcaya up to the present day. Several years since, when
investigating the cause which lay behind a petition from certain
people of the latter province for an increase in the educational
requirement precedent to the exercise of the franchise, I discovered
that the whole thing resolved itself into an effort to disfranchise the
Ilocanos, who always voted together and already controlled elections
in several townships.
Without going further into the differences which separate the several
civilized peoples, I will say emphatically that the great mass of
Filipinos do not constitute "a people" in the sense in which that
word is understood in the United States. They are not comparable in
any way with the American people or the English people. They cannot
be reached as a whole, and they do not respond as a whole. In this
they agree with all other Malays. Colquhoun has truly said: [202]--
"No Malay nation has ever emerged from the hordes of that race,
which has spread over the islands of the Pacific. Wherever they
are found they have certain marked characteristics and of these
the most remarkable is their lack of that spirit which goes to
form a homogeneous people, to weld them together. The Malay is
always a provincial; more, he rarely rises outside the interests
of his own town or village."
More important than the differences which separate the Tagálogs,
Ilocanos, Cagayans, and Visayans as such, are those which separate the
individuals composing these several groups of the population. Very
few of the present political leaders are of anything approaching
pure Malayan blood. To give details in specific cases would be
to give offence, and to wound the feelings of men who certainly
are not to blame for their origin. Suffice it to say that with
rare exceptions, if one follows their ancestry back a very little
way he finds indubitable evidence of the admixture of Spanish,
other European or Chinese blood. The preëminence of these men is
undoubtedly due in large measure to the fact that through the wealth
and influence of their fathers they had educational advantages,
and in many instances enjoyed broadening opportunities for travel,
which were beyond the reach of their less fortunate countrymen. To
what extent their present demonstrated abilities are due to these
facts, and to what extent they are due to white or Mongolian blood,
will never be known until the children of the common people, who are
now enjoying exceptionally good educational opportunities, arrive at
maturity and show what they can do. [203]
Meanwhile there is more or less thinly veiled hostility between
the mestizo class and the great dark mass of the people. For a
time we heard much of Filipinos de cara y corazon, [204] and while
because of political expediency there is less of this talk now than
formerly, the feeling which caused it persists, and will continue to
endure. Throughout the Christian provinces the same condition exists
everywhere. The mestizo element is in control. Until the common
people have learned to assert themselves, and have come to take an
important part in the commercial and political development of their
country, anything but an oligarchical form of independent government
is impossible.
There has been complaint from politicians and others of the mestizo
class that American men are, as a rule, disinclined to increase it
by marrying its women and breeding mestizo children.
Juan Araneta, a very intelligent Visayan of Negros, put the matter
brutally to me by saying that white blood was the only hope for his
people, and that if he had his way he would put in jail every American
soldier who did not leave at least three children behind him.
Blount pretends to find an obstacle to American control in the fact
that American women will not marry Filipinos, and in the further fact
that those American men who do marry Filipinas soon find themselves
out of touch with their former associates. He says that this is not as
it should be. [205] He adds that many Filipinos are sons or grandsons
of Spaniards, and therefore have a very warm place in their hearts
for the people of that nation.
He neglects to mention the fact that the vast majority of the Spanish
mestizo class were born out of wedlock.
I believe that the attitude of American women on this subject is
eminently proper and that American men, who expect ever again to live
in their own country, as a rule make a grave mistake if they marry
native women. Even when they are to remain permanently in the islands,
such a course is in my opinion usually most undesirable. I have known
a limited number of happy mixed marriages of this sort, but in the
large majority of cases which have come under my observation they
have led to the rapid mental, moral and physical degeneration of the
men concerned. While some of the children born of such marriages are
very fair, there are occasional reversions to the ancestral type of
the mothers, and the lot of dark-skinned children is not a happy one,
as even their own mothers are almost sure to dislike them.
The mestizo class is now large enough, and the problems which its
existence presents are grave enough, to render undesirable its further
growth. Finally, while the light-skinned mestiza girl almost always
seeks a white husband, the real typical Filipinos, who are brown,
are quite content to mate with each other, and do not dislike whites
for declining to marry their daughters. The people of this class are
friendly toward Americans, if they have actually come in contact with
them and learned how much they are indebted to them, and are hostile
if their ignorance is so great that they can be led, by unscrupulous
politicians, to believe that Americans are responsible for any ills
from which they happen to be suffering, such as cholera, which they
have often been told is due to our poisoning their wells!
Blount says [206] it is a "verdict of all racial history ... that
wheresoever white men dwell in considerable numbers in the same
country with Asiatics or Africans, the white men will rule."
Certainly Spanish and other European mestizos dwell in considerable
numbers in the Philippines. Are individuals with three-fourths to
thirty-one thirty-seconds white blood white men or Asiatics? They
certainly would determine what form of government should be established
were independence now granted, and it is interesting to determine
what they consider to be the requisites for the establishment of a
government by them. One of these men in an address made at the time
the congressional party visited the islands, with Mr. Taft, put the
case as follows:--
"If the masses of the people are governable, a part must
necessarily be denominated the directing class, for as in the
march of progress, moral or material, nations do not advance at
the same rate, some going forward whilst others fall behind, so
it is with the inhabitants of a country, as observation will prove.
"If the Philippine Archipelago has a governable popular mass
called upon to obey and a directing class charged with the duty of
governing, it is in condition to govern itself. These factors, not
counting incidental ones, are the only two by which to determine
the political capacity of a country; an entity that knows how to
govern, the directing class, and an entity that knows how to obey,
the popular masses."
The conditions portrayed might make a government possible, but it
would assuredly not be a republic. The advocates of this view are
hardly in harmony with the one so eloquently expressed at Rio Janeiro
by Mr. Root:--
"No student of our times can fail to see that not America alone
but the whole civilized world is swinging away from its old
governmental moorings and intrusting the fate of its civilization
to the capacity of the popular mass to govern. By this pathway
mankind is to travel, whithersoever it leads. Upon the success
of this, our great undertaking, the hope of humanity depends."
If what is needed to make a just and stable government possible is
"an entity that knows how to obey, the popular masses" and an entity
that thinks it "knows how to govern, the directing class," then we
might leave the islands at once, if willing to leave the wild tribes
to their fate, but we have work to do before the civilization of the
Filipinos can safely be intrusted to "the capacity of the popular
mass to govern."
Blount has said:--
"Any country that has plenty of good lawyers and plenty of
good soldiers, backed by plenty of good farmers, is capable of
self-government." [207]
Do the Philippines fulfill even these requirements? Filipino lawyers
are ready speakers, but have their peculiarities. When the civil suit
which I brought against certain Filipinos for libel was drawing to its
close, and the prosecution was limited to the submission of evidence
in rebuttal, important new evidence was discovered. To my amazement,
my lawyers put the witness who could give it on the stand. They
asked him his age, his profession and a few equally irrelevant
questions, and then turned him over to the lawyers for the defense,
who promptly extracted from him the very testimony it was desired
to get on record. Their very first question drew a most unjudicial
snort of laughter from the judge, but even this did not stop them.
I was later informed that Filipino lawyers could usually be depended
upon to do this very thing, and that their American colleagues
habitually took advantage of this fact. The truth is that few of the
Filipino lawyers are good, if judged by American standards.
I have elsewhere stated my views as to the excellence of the Filipino
soldier, but no military leaders have as yet arisen who were capable
of successfully carrying on other than guerilla operation.
The farmers of the islands are as a class anything but good. They
are ignorant and superstitious, underfed, and consequently inclined
to indolence, and are a century behind the times in their methods.
There are certain undesirable characteristics which are common
to a large majority of the people correctly designated as
Filipinos. Ignorance and superstition are still to be met at every
turn. At the time of the census of 1903 the percentage of illiteracy
in the Philippines was estimated to be 79.8. More than half of the
persons counted as literate could read and write only some native
dialect, and often did even that badly.
More recent, and therefore more interesting, as showing present
day conditions, are the statistics obtained in connection with the
elections of June 4, 1912. Ability to read and write English or Spanish
entitles a male citizen of the Philippines, who is twenty-three or
more years of age, to vote.
The total number of registered votes was 248,154 only, of whom slightly
less than one-third had the above-mentioned qualifications. In Manila
14 per cent of the voters were illiterate, and in the provinces 70
per cent. This lack of education opened wide the door to fraud and
was one of the chief reasons why there were 240 protested elections
out of a total of 824, made up as follows: municipal, 709; provincial,
34; for delegate to assembly, 81.
The proportion of literate electors to total population in the
territory in question was 1.47 per cent.
One of the easiest kinds of business to start in the Philippines,
and one of the most profitable to conduct, is the establishment of
a new religion.
We have recently had the "colorum," with headquarters on Mt. San
Cristobal, an extinct volcano. People visited this place and paid large
sums in order to persuade the god to talk to them. A big megaphone,
carefully hidden away, was so trained that the voice of the person
using it would carry across a cañon and strike the trail on the other
side. If payments were satisfactorily large the god talked to those
who had made them in a most impressive manner when they reached this
point in their homeward journey.
We have also had the Cabaruan fiasco in Pangasinán, in the course
of which a new town with several thousand inhabitants sprang up in
a short time. There was a place of worship where the devout were
at prayer day and night. There was also a full-fledged holy Trinity
made up of local talent. Unfortunately, some of the principal people
connected with this movement became involved in carabao stealing
and other forms of public disorder, and on a trip to Lingayen I saw
the persons who had impersonated God the Son and the Virgin Mary in
the provincial jail. We have had "Pope Isio" in Negros, who was in
reality the leader of a strong ladrone band, and we have had various
other popes elsewhere who occupied themselves in similar ways.
Hardly a year passes that miraculous healers do not spring into
ephemeral existence in the islands, and the people invariably flock to
them in thousands. Conspicuous among this class of imposters was the
"Queen of Taytay," whose exploits I have already narrated.
The belief of the common people in asuáng and in the black dog which
causes cholera has also already been mentioned. A very large percentage
of them are firmly convinced of the efficacy of charms, collectively
known as anting-anting, supposed to make the bodies of the wearers
proof against bullets or cutting weapons. Within the past year a
bright young man of Parañaque, a town immediately adjacent to Manila,
insisted that a friend should strike him with a bolo in order that
he might demonstrate the virtues of his anting-anting, and received
an injury from which he promptly died. Again and again the hapless
victims of this particular superstition have gone to certain death,
firm in the conviction that they could not be harmed.
The worst of it is that even the native press does not dare to
combat such superstitions, if indeed those who control it do not
still themselves hold to them.
La Vanguardia, commonly considered to be the leading Filipino paper
in the islands, published the following account of the event referred
to above:--
"Basilio Aquino, a native of Parañaque, and Timoteo Kariaga, an
Iloko residing in Manila, made a bet as to which of them had the
better anting-anting, and to settle it Kariaga allowed himself to
be struck twice on the right arm and once on the abdomen, but as
they say,--Miracle of miracles! Although Aquino used all of his
strength and the bolo was extremely sharp, he did not succeed in
making the slightest scratch on Kariaga. In view of that, Aquino
invited his rival to submit him to the same test. Kariaga was
reluctant to do so, for he was sure he would wound Aquino, but the
latter insisted so much that there was nothing to do but please
him, and at the first cut his right arm was almost severed, and
he died from loss of blood two hours later. The wounded man would
not report the occurrence to the authorities, but the relatives
of the victim were compelled to do so in view of his tragic end."
From the report of this occurrence in El Ideal, a paper believed to
be controlled by Speaker Osmeña, I quote the following:--
"The trial was made in the presence of a goodly number of
bystanders, all of them townsmen, connections and friends of
the actors.
"Timoteo Kariaga, that being the name of one of the actors,
an Ilocano resident of Manila, was the first to submit to the
ordeal. His companion and antagonist, named Basilio Aquino, from
Parañaque, bolo in hand, aimed slashes at the former, endeavouring
to wound him in the arms and abdomen, without success, the amulet
of Kariaga offering apparently admirable resistance in the trial,
so that the bolo hardly left a visible mark upon his body."
A very interesting and highly instructive book might be written
on Filipino superstitions, but I must here confine myself to a few
typical illustrations:--
The following extract from a narrative report of the senior
constabulary inspector of the island of Leyte, dated April 3, 1913,
is not without interest. It deals with a murder which it describes
as follows:--
"Basilio Tarli had given the bolo thrust that killed the deceased,
with a small fighting bolo belonging to Pastor Lumantal, who had
given Basilio the bolo for this purpose. The deceased had the
reputation of being a sort of witch doctor, and Pastor thought
that his wife, Maria Subior, who was pregnant, had a dog or
other animal in her womb instead of a child, placed there by the
deceased. For this reason Pastor arranged with Basilio Tarli and
Cecilio Cuenzona to kill the deceased."
Lieutenant George R. F. Cornish, P. C, stationed at Catubig in Samar,
reported on "Pagloon" as follows during August, 1913:--
"Pagloon, a method of overcoming certain weak traits in children,
is practiced by most of the inhabitants of Samar. If, for example,
a father who is not in the military service, shoots a man,
superstition has it that his child will shortly become sick. The
father, to prevent this, uses a method known as 'pagloon,' which,
being interpreted, means 'to vaporize,' 'to make clean.' He places
the stock of the gun that did the shooting, along with a branch of
a cocoanut tree that has been sanctified in incense by the padre of
the Catholic church in a fire. The padre furnishes these incense
leaves only once a year. The hands are dipped in water and then
placed in the smoke. The vaporous healing incense that collects
on the hands, from placing them in the fire, is rubbed on the
child from head to foot. This operation is repeated three nights
in succession and then the child ought to be free from any danger."
Serious trouble was made for men investigating the mineral resources
of the island of Cebú by the circulation of a tale to the effect that
they needed the blood of children to pour into cracks in the ground.
The following is an extract from a narrative report of the senior
constabulary inspector of Pampanga for April, 1913:--
"April 9.--Between 2 and 3 P.M. in the barrio of San Pedro,
Manilan, the two sisters (old women) Maria and Matea Manalili
were cut up with a bolo by Hermogenes Castro of the barrio of
Santa Catalina of the same town, resulting in the instant death
of Matea. Maria, whose right hand was cut off, died on the 21st
instant. Castro gave up and on the 10th instant was remanded to
the Court of First Instance charged with murder. The two sisters
were known in the locality as 'mangcuculan,' or witches, and
were charged by Castro with having cast a spell on him, causing
a stiff neck, which spell the sisters refused to remove."
A number of comparatively reputable Filipino physicians, in the city
of Manila itself, have confessed that they have to pretend to depend,
to some extent, on charms and exorcisms, in order to get and keep
practice.
In this connection I quote the following decision of the Philippine
Supreme Court in the case of the United States vs. Mariano Boston,
rendered November 23, 1908 (10 Philippine Reports, p. 134).
"The accused in this case was convicted in the Court of First
Instance of the Province of Pangasinán of the crime of abortion
as defined and penalized in paragraph 3 of article 410 of the
Penal Code.
"The guilt of appellant is conclusively established by the
evidence of record, the testimony of the witnesses for the
prosecution leaving no room for reasonable doubt, despite the
fact that there are some inconsistencies and discrepancies in
their statements. Counsel for appellant insists that the evidence
does not conclusively establish the fact that he intentionally
caused the abortion, because there is no evidence in the record
disclosing the character and medicinal qualities of the potion
which the accused gave to the mother whose child was aborted. The
evidence clearly discloses that the child was born three months
in advance of the full period of gestation; that the appellant,
either believing or pretending to believe that the child in the
womb of the woman was a sort of a fish-demon (which he called a
balat), gave to her a potion composed of herbs, for the purpose of
relieving her of this alleged fish-demon; that two hours thereafter
she gave premature birth to a child, having been taken with the
pains of childbirth almost immediately after drinking the herb
potion given her by the appellant; that after the birth of the
child the appellant, still believing or pretending to believe that
the child was a fish-demon which had taken upon itself human form,
with the permission and aid of the husband and the brother of the
infant child, destroyed it by fire in order to prevent its doing
the mischief which the appellant believed or affected to believe
it was capable of doing. These facts constitute, in our opinion,
prima facie proof of the intent of the accused in giving the
herb potion to the mother of the child, and also of the further
fact that the herb potion so administered to her was the cause
of its premature birth. The defence wholly failed to rebut this
testimony of the prosecution, and we are of opinion, therefore,
that the trial court properly found the defendant guilty of the
crime with which he was charged beyond a reasonable doubt.
"The sentence imposed is in strict accord with the penalty provided
by the code, and should be and is hereby affirmed, with the costs
of this instance against the appellant. So ordered."
It is claimed that the Filipinos are a unit in demanding their
independence. As a matter of fact, the bulk of the common people
have little idea what the word really means. In this connection
the following extract from the report of Colonel H. H. Bandholtz,
later director of constabulary, of June 30, 1903, on the bandit Rios,
is of interest:--
"Rios represented himself to be an inspired prophet and found
little difficulty in working on the superstitions of the extremely
ignorant and credulous inhabitants of barrios distant from centres
of population. So well did he succeed that he had organized what
he designated as an 'Exterior Municipal Government' (for revenue
only) with an elaborate equipment of officials. He promoted himself
and his followers in rapid succession, until he finally had with
him one captain-general, one lieutenant-general, twenty-five
major-generals and fifty brigadier-generals and a host of officers
of lower grade. In appreciation of his own abilities he appointed
himself 'Generalissimo' and 'Viceroy' and stated his intention of
having himself crowned 'King of the Philippines.' Titles like these
not proving sufficient, he announced himself as 'The Son of God,'
and dispensed 'anting-antings,' which were guaranteed to make the
wearer invulnerable to attack. Of the ladrones killed during this
period, few were discovered who were not wearing one of these
'anting-antings.'
"The dense ignorance and credulity of the followers of Rios was
clearly shown by the fanatical paraphernalia captured by Captain
Murphy, P. C, on March 8, near Infanta. Among these was a box,
on the cover of which was painted the word 'Independencia,'
and the followers of Rios profoundly believed that when they
had proven themselves worthy the box would be opened and the
mysterious something called independence for which they had so
long been fighting could be secured, and that when attained there
would be no more labour, no taxes, no jails, and no Constabulary
to disturb their ladrone proclivities.
"When this mysterious chest was opened it was found to contain
only some old Spanish gazettes and a few hieroglyphics, among
which appeared the names and rank of the distinguished officials
of the organization."
The affair is typical of an endless series of similar occurrences.
The ordinary Filipino dearly loves mystery, and misses no opportunity
to join a secret society. It matters little to him what its supposed
object may be, and that end is, as frequently as anything else, the
organization of an insurrection. All sorts of fees are collected from
the ignorant poor by the leaders of such movements, who are almost
invariably of the educated and intelligent classes. At the opportune
time they get away with the funds, leaving their ignorant followers to
blunder along until caught and lodged in jail. The American government
has dealt very gently with such poor dupes, most of whom have been
released without any punishment. Within the past few days [208]
I have had an interview with an exceptionally intelligent Filipino
justice of the peace who sometimes gives me interesting information,
in the course of which I asked him what was going on at present. He
laughed and told me that the Filipinos in the vicinity of Manila
believed that Mr. Harrison, the new governor-general, was coming to
give them independence, and that a lot of smart rascals, who pretended
to be organizing the army that would be necessary to maintain it,
were selling officers' commissions at a peso each to any one who
would buy them, and were doing a thriving business.
Until it ceases to be so readily possible to prey on the superstitions,
the credulity and the passions of the common people, efforts on the
part of the Filipinos to establish and maintain unaided a stable
government are not likely to be crowned with very abundant success.
In general it may be said of the Filipino that he is quick to learn,
but needs a teacher; is quick to follow, but needs a leader. He is
ready to do the things he is taught to do. He accepts discipline,
orders, rules. He has a great respect for constituted authority. He
lacks initiative and sound judgment.
Let Americans beware of judging the Filipino peoples by the men with
from one-half to thirty-one thirty-seconds of white blood, who so
often have posed as their representatives.
More important than the interrelations of the several Christian
peoples inter se are those between the several Christian peoples on
the one hand and the non-Christian tribes on the other. This subject
has already been discussed at length, so I will limit myself to a
brief summary statement.
The Filipinos dislike and despise the non-Christians. They take
advantage of their ignorance and helplessness to rob or cheat them of
the fruits of their labour, and often hold them as slaves or peons. The
non-Christians in turn hate them, and the more warlike wild tribes do
not hesitate to take vengeance on them when opportunity offers. The
Filipinos as a whole are afraid of the Moros, and with good reason. The
Moros frankly assert that if a Filipino government were established,
they would resume their long-abandoned conquest of the archipelago,
and this they would certainly do. Although the non-Christians are
numerically few, as compared with the Christians, they are potentially
important because they have the power to make an amount of trouble
wholly disproportionate to their numbers. The Filipinos could not
rule them successfully, and the probable outcome of any attempt on
their part to control them would be the inauguration of a policy of
extermination similar to that which Japan is following with certain
of the hill men of Formosa. Because of the inaccessible nature of the
country inhabited by many of the Philippine wild tribes, they would
be able to hold their own for many years, and there would result a
condition similar to that which has prevailed for so long in Achin,
while the Moros with their ability to take to the sea and suddenly
strike unprotected places would cause endless suffering and loss
of life.
Under the Spanish régime the penalty which followed a too liberal use
of "free speech" was very likely to be a sudden and involuntary trip
to the other world. There was no such thing as a free press. A very
strict censorship was constantly exercised over all the newspapers. The
things that are now said and written daily without attracting much
attention would at that time have cost the liberty or the lives of
those who voiced them.
It is hardly to be wondered at that an Oriental people which had never
had a free press or liberty of speech should have mistaken liberty,
when it finally came, for license, and have gone to extremes which
conclusively demonstrated their initial unfitness properly to utilize
their new privileges.
Governor-General Smith once told a delegation of leading Filipinos
that it was all very well to have freedom of speech and of the press
in a country ruled by the United States government, which was strong
enough to maintain order in the face of manifold difficulties, but that
if the islands ever secured their independence the first official act
of those in power should be to do away with the one and the other,
for the reason that such a government as they would establish could
not exist if either continued.
While the curtailing of freedom of speech or of the press under
American civil rule is almost unthinkable, it is nevertheless true
that the attitude of many of the politicians who do the talking,
and who control the native press, has been poisonous.
A very intelligent student of Philippine affairs has truly said that
nothing more is necessary to demonstrate the present unreadiness of
the country for self-government than a careful study of the attitude
of the native press toward important public questions. From the
beginning until now there has been one long and almost uninterrupted
series of lies, innuendoes, sneers and diabolically ingenious
misrepresentations. Practically every important policy of the
government has been viciously attacked, and the worst of it is
that the people primarily responsible for this are not honest, or
misled. They know perfectly well what they are doing and why they
are doing it. They embitter that portion of the common people who
are reached by newspapers at all, and doubtless many of their dupes
really believe that the established government is a rotten farce,
and that its highest officials are steeped in iniquity.
Certainly no people are more skilful than are the Filipino politicians
in pretending to write one thing with the certainty that another and
very different one will be read between the lines. In the matter of
libel, they are adepts at skating on thin ice. Rare indeed is the
occurrence of a decent attitude on the part of any native newspaper
toward any important public question. [209]
The history of the municipal and provincial governments is worthy of
very careful consideration.
It has been found necessary to exercise close supervision over them
in order to correct a constant tendency on the part of those having
authority to abuse it.
Practically all the time of three lawyers in the executive bureau
is taken up in examining evidence and reports of administrative
investigations of charges against municipal officials and justices of
the peace, of whom about two hundred are found guilty each year. Half
that number are removed from office. One of the commonest charges
against these officers is "abuse of authority," and one of the most
difficult and endless tasks of the American administrative officers
is to impress on the elective native official a sense of obligation
toward his "inferiors," that is, the plain people who elected him.
He expects obsequiousness and even servility, and if they are lacking,
endeavours to get square. [210]
Surely I have given enough illustrations of the ferocious brutality
with which Filipino officials treated the common people in the days
of the "Republic." Such brutality would again be in evidence were
there to be any failure to hold officers strictly accountable.
The following case, called to my attention by a reliable American
woman, illustrates the fact that provincial governors are sometimes
swayed by other than humanitarian motives:--
"In 1902 when I was living at Capiz, a very pretty little fellow, a
child of 7 or 8, often came begging to my house. Finally he ceased
to come and I saw nothing of him for several months. Then I met
him one morning, stone blind, his eyes in frightful condition. I
made inquiry and learned that the people with whom he lived (his
parents were dead) not finding him a remunerative investment had
decided that he must be made more pitiful looking to bring in good
returns as a beggar. So they filled his eyes with lime and held his
head in a tub of water. I took the child to the Governor (the late
Hugo Vidal) to make complaint. The Governor listened to my story,
and then exclaimed, 'You are mistaken. I have known this child for
years and he has been like this all the time.' The local sanitary
chief agreed with him, and I was forced to give up all hope of
having the inhuman wretches that had tortured the child punished."
The attitude of provincial and municipal officials toward very
necessary sanitary measures has often been exceedingly unfortunate.
In 1910 the officials of the town of Bautista, Pangasinán, voted
to have a fiesta, in spite of the fact that the health authorities
had informed them that this could not be done safely, owing to the
existence of cholera in the neighbouring towns. The town council
preferred the merry-making to the protection of the lives of the
people, and voted to disregard the warnings of the Bureau of Health,
with the result that several of the neighbouring municipalities
were infected with cholera, and many lives were needlessly lost. The
governor of the province, himself a Filipino, was lax in attention to
duty in this instance or the town council would have been suspended
before, instead of after, this action on its part.
For a long time municipal policemen were commonly utilized as servants
by the town officials, and were nearly useless for actual police
work. To put firearms into their hands was little better than to
present them outright to the ladrones. At present the constabulary
exercise a considerable amount of control over municipal police,
and there has resulted very material improvement in their appearance,
discipline and effectiveness.
Municipal councils in the majority of cases voted all of the town money
for salaries, leaving nothing for maintenance of public buildings,
roads and public works, with the result that streets in the very
centres of towns became impassable even for foot passengers. They
were often indescribably filthy, cluttered with all sorts of waste
material, and served as a meeting ground for all the horses, cattle,
dogs, pigs, hens and goats of the neighbourhood.
In many instances, the first use made of their newly acquired powers
by provincial governors and municipal presidents was to persecute
in all sorts of petty ways those who had opposed their election,
while the latter displayed marked disinclination to accept the will
of the majority.
It is not to be expected that the Filipino should understand modern
democratic government. Where could he have obtained knowledge of
it? Under Spanish rule he saw officials habitually enriching themselves
at the expense of the communities they were supposed to govern. He saw
a government of privilege where the work of the many benefited the
few. How could he have gained experience in modern and enlightened
administration for the benefit of the people rather than for the
benefit of the administrators? Not only must there be knowledge on the
part of officials that this is the proper way to govern, but there must
be a demand on the part of the people for such a government, and until
the people know and understand that such a government is their right
there will be no such demand. There is not yet a sufficient proportion
of the Filipino people literate to make approval or disapproval felt.
Incidentally it should be remembered that in the Philippine
Islands any provincial or municipal officer may be suspended by the
governor-general, or removed for failure properly to perform his
duties, for disloyalty, or for other causes. The provincial governors
also hold same power over the municipal presidents. Existing conditions
are therefore not comparable with those which would arise without such
control. I would as soon say that an automobile could go without a
driver because it runs fairly well when there is a driver directing
it as that the administration of the municipalities and provinces of
the Philippine Islands would go as well as it now does under a system
which does not provide for strong central control. It is one thing
to administer when you are carefully supervised, and when the power
of removal is held directly over you by a superior officer watching
your every move, and another to administer equally well when the
reins are not firmly held.
Serious consideration must be given to another group of facts in
considering the fitness of the Filipinos for independence. It is
undeniably true that they have progressed much further in civilization
than has any other group of peoples of Malayan origin. It is just as
indubitable that their development has not been a natural evolution,
but has resulted from steady pressure brought to bear during three and
a half centuries by Spain, and during the last decade and a half by
the United States. What would happen were this pressure removed? One
may judge, within limits, from what has happened where it has been
removed. Take, for instance, Cagayancillo; which is an isolated town on
a small island southwest of Panay. Here the Spanish friar was the sole
representative of governmental authority in bygone days. Cagayancillo
was then a thriving town, with a strong stone fort for defense against
the Moros, a beautiful, large church with splendid wood carvings
ornamenting its interior, and a fine masonry convento of most original
architecture, with long rows of giant clam shells embedded in its outer
walls. There were a good municipal building and a stone schoolhouse,
also excellent for their day. I first visited the place shortly after
Palawan was made a province under civil rule. No priest had been there
for three years. The town and its inhabitants reeked with filth. The
wits of the two or three exceptionally intelligent men of the place
were befogged with opium. The church and convento were falling into
ruin. The fort had already gone to the bad. The presidencia [211]
was a wreck, and so was the schoolhouse. There were no teachers for
the children. The people were rapidly lapsing into barbarism.
In 1910 I visited the town of Malaueg, situated in the province of
Cagayan. It was one of the first mission stations in northern Luzón. I
found there the walls of an immense church and convento. These walls
were approximately forty inches thick, and were intact, though
roofs and floors had disappeared, in part from decay and in part
from the stealing of the boards. Over the door of the church was a
thick hardwood beam on which were carved in raised letters Spanish
words signifying that the church was rebuilt in 1650. The walls of
Manila were built about 1590. When was this church constructed to
require rebuilding sixty years later? And what must then have been
the size of the town which furnished the necessary hands to erect
such a huge structure?
The Spanish friar in charge had left during the revolution against
Spain some time subsequent to 1896, and as a result the town had gone
to pieces after so many centuries of life. Nothing remained but a small
collection of grass huts. The men had reverted to the breechclout,
and were again adopting the head-axe. Many of them had already taken
to the mountains.
The Spaniards compelled Filipinos to live in towns, or at least to
have houses there. Under our form of government we allow them to do
as they please, with the result that in provinces like Palawan our
utmost efforts do not avail to keep them from forsaking settlements
and scattering out through inaccessible mountain regions, where they
are rapidly gravitating back to the state of barbarism from which they
originally emerged. I might multiply instances of this sort of thing.
In the early days of civil government the commission in many instances
combined municipalities which lay immediately adjacent to each other
and could readily enough be administered from a common governmental
centre. This action was taken in the interest of economy, and in the
belief that the resulting saving in salaries would make possible the
employment of more school-teachers, and the construction of better
school buildings.
In many, if not most, cases such fusion of municipalities proved
a mistake. The town which happened to become the new seat of
government prospered. There were spent the taxes collected in the
other formerly independent centres of population, which, deprived
of their autoridades, [212] promptly became insanitary, disorderly
and unprogressive.
I am firmly convinced that the Filipinos are where they are to-day
only because they have been pushed into line, and that if outside
pressure were relaxed they would steadily and rapidly deteriorate.
It is not necessary that there should be much retrogression to cause
serious trouble. I have discussed the character and attitude of the
present Filipino legislative body. I have shown indubitably what sort
of a government the Filipinos themselves established while they had a
free hand. I agree absolutely with Blount's contention that they would
again establish precisely the same sort of a government if left to
their own devices. There would follow, first aggression against the
property of foreigners, and then attacks upon their persons, which
would not only excuse, but would necessitate, intervention by other
governments to protect their citizens. Some of the more intelligent
Filipino leaders would set their faces against such conduct as firmly
as they did during the rule of the so-called Insurgent government,
but now, as then, would be powerless to restrain either the more
unprincipled among the intelligent, or the great body of the ignorant
rank and file, and nothing more than a fairly plausible excuse would
be needed to start the ball of foreign intervention rolling.
Many Americans may, in their present deep ignorance of the value
of their most recently acquired possessions, agree with that
distinguished representative who announced on the floor of the House
of Representatives that the Philippines were "a lemon," but agents
and spies of Japan have worked throughout the entire archipelago and
she knows better. England and Germany have had their business men in
the islands for many years, and they know better also.
The Filipinos are not yet fit to govern themselves, much less to govern
the Moros and other non-Christian tribes, even if let alone, and they
would not be let alone should we turn their country over to them.
Philippine independence is not a present possibility, nor will it
be possible for at least two generations. Indeed, if by the end of a
century we have welded into a people the descendants of the composite
and complex group of human beings who to-day inhabit the islands,
we shall have no cause to feel ashamed of our success.
CHAPTER XXXVII
WHAT THEN?
It has been urged by one class of our citizens that we abandon the
islands because they are a source of military weakness, and that we
guarantee their independence, which in plain English means that we
hold ourselves ready to fight for them! They insist that with our
Caucasian origin and our years of hard-earned experience, we are not
fit to govern them, but that their Filipino inhabitants, who are the
Malayan savages of the sixteenth century, plus what Spain has taught
them, plus what they have so recently learned from us, are fit to
govern themselves and must be allowed to do so under our protection.
In other words, having brought up a child who is at present rather
badly spoiled, we are to say to the family of nations: "Here is a
boy who must be allowed to join you. We have found that we are unfit
to control him, but we hope that he will be good. You must not spank
him unless you want to fight us."
It has been suggested that we get other nations to agree to the
neutralization of the islands. Why should they? Are we prepared
to offer them any tangible inducements, or do we believe that the
millennium has arrived and that they are actuated by purely altruistic
motives in such matters?
Blount quotes with approval the following statement of Secretary
William Jennings Bryan:--
"There is a wide difference, it is true, between the general
intelligence of the educated Filipino and the labourer on
the street and in the field, but this is not a barrier to
self-government. Intelligence controls in every government,
except where it is suppressed by military force. Nine-tenths of
the Japanese have no part in the law-making. In Mexico, the gap
between the educated classes and the peons is fully as great as,
if not greater than, the gap between the extremes of Filipino
society. Those who question the capacity of the Filipinos for
self-government forget that patriotism raises up persons fitted
for the work that needs to be done." [213]
This sounds well, but will it bear analysis? We are now being furnished
a practical demonstration of the results achieved by people like the
Mexicans when they attempt to conduct a so-called republic. Whether
the gap between the extremes of Mexican society is as great as that
between the extremes of Filipino society depends on what one includes
under the latter term. If one limits it to the Christianized natives,
the statement quoted is true. If one includes the non-Christians
which constitute an eighth of the population, it is not true.
Would the United States care to assume responsibility for conditions
in Mexico without any power to exercise control over the government
of that country? Those who demand that we guarantee the independence
of the Philippines are advocating a thing precisely similar to this,
except that torture and burying alive do not seem to be in vogue in
Mexico, and would be practised in the Philippines again, as they have
been in the recent past.
Can any one fail to grasp the fact that the following statements of
Bishop Brent embody solid common sense?
"Finally it must be recognized that the Philippine problem
cannot be settled without reference to its international
bearing. Neutralization has been proposed. But can American or
any other diplomacy secure the neutrality of the Powers? Would it
mean anything if promises of neutrality were made? Is it not so,
that though no existing military power, East or West, would fight
America in order to secure possession of the Philippines, there are
at least two nations which would seize the first opportunity for
interference if American sovereignty ceased? Can America afford
to protect a government halfway round the world, which she does
not actually and constructively control?
She has found it difficult enough with one near at hand. It
appears to me that it would be a measure of quixotry beyond the
most altruistic administration, to stand sponsor for the order
of an experimental government of more than doubtful stability
ten thousand miles from our coasts. When the Philippines achieve
independence they must swallow the bitter with the sweet, and
accept the perils as well as the joys of walking alone. There are
national risks involved even in a limited protectorate to which
I trust America will never expose herself."
We stoutly asserted in 1899 that the Filipinos were not fit to govern
their own country, and this was certainly then true. If in the short
space of fifteen years, with leaders who have so recently committed
almost incredible barbarities still in the saddle, we had rendered them
fit, we should have performed the most wonderful political miracle
that the world has ever seen. But the age of miracles has long since
passed. While the Filipinos have advanced more in the last fifteen
years than during any previous century of their history, what they
have gained is by no means ingrained in their character, and they
yet have far to go. It is our duty and our privilege to guide and
help them on their way. We should hold steadily onward disregarding
the hostility and the murmurings of selfish politicians, and looking
hopefully to the future for substantial results from the broad and
generous policy which we have thus far followed.
Many of the politicians want independence under a United States
protectorate, by which they mean that their country shall be turned
over to them to do with as they please, with a fleet of American
warships lying conveniently near to see that they are not interfered
with while thus engaged. It would be the height of folly for us to
enter into any such arrangement.
We must help the Filipinos to attain for their country commercial
prosperity, so that its revenues may be more adequate for the support
of government. Before commercial prosperity can exist, the people must
learn to employ modern agricultural methods and modern machinery in
bringing considerable portions of the present enormous uncultivated
areas of fertile land to a state of productivity.
We must set right standards and insist that they be lived up to. The
way to stimulate healthful development of the Filipinos is to let
the apples hang high and make them climb for them, not to tell them
to hold their hats and shake the tree.
This policy of setting right standards has already been very
successfully pursued in the education of Filipino doctors, Filipino
nurses, Filipino surveyors, Filipino printers and Filipino teachers.
A Filipino should never be appointed to public office merely
because he is a Filipino, the clamour of politicians to the contrary
notwithstanding. He should be appointed only if, and because, he is
fit. Such a policy, unswervingly followed, will do more to promote
the real interests of the civilized inhabitants than will all the
concessions that could be made in a thousand years.
And what have we ever gained by concessions to Filipino
politicians? Can any one point out a single instance in which they have
aroused that feeling of gratitude, or even that sense of obligation,
which may fully justify the adoption of measures that would otherwise
be of doubtful utility? No!
This fact is well illustrated by the attitude of the politicians
toward the Jones Bill providing for the establishment of the Philippine
republic on July 4, 1913 and independence in 1920.
Hardly were its terms known in Manila when various politicians
announced that the Filipinos did not want to wait until 1920, they
wanted independence right then!
An editorial in the number of Speaker Osmeña's paper, El Ideal,
for March 19, 1913, contains the following significant sentence:--
"We accept the test to which the Jones Bill subjects us, because
we have full confidence in ourselves. Afterward, we shall do what
is most expedient for us." [214]
Gratitude does not enter into the make-up of the average Filipino
politician, and we must learn not to expect it. We must do what ought
to be done because it ought to be done, and not look for appreciation
to a small but very noisy body of men who curse us for standing between
them and their prey, as we have stood from the day when Dewey first
forbade Aguinaldo to steal cattle until now.
It is just as easy to win the gratitude and the affection of the common
people of the lowlands as it has proved to be in the case of the wild
men of the hills, but if we are to do this there must be a radical
departure from the present policy, and we must deal with them directly.
In this connection it is instructive to study the career of James
R. Fugate, Lieutenant-Governor, by appointment, of the sub-province of
Siquijor. In spite of wretched health, he has done work of which he and
his country have just cause to be proud. No one can fully appreciate
it who does not know conditions as they were when he went there and
as they are to-day. Siquijor has been converted into a checkerboard by
good roads and trails where formerly there did not exist decent means
of communication. Dysentery and typhoid fever ravaged the island during
each recurring dry season when drinking water was almost unobtainable
in many places, and what could be found was really unfit for human
use. There are now fine public baths in the towns. Beautiful drinking
fountains for men and animals are to be seen, not only in the larger
centres of population, but along many of the principal highways.
Municipal officials have been taught their duties and perform them
well. A complete telephone system connects the lieutenant-governor's
office with all parts of the island. Siquijor was formerly completely
isolated from the outside world, but now has cable communication. Fine
schools have been established, and swarm with children. The man who has
brought about all this is beloved by the people whom he has helped and
protected. They cannot bear the thought of his leaving them. What is
the explanation of this phenomenon, when the inhabitants of many parts
of the islands seem to remain unmoved by the many advantages which
they now enjoy, and murmur against those to whom they are indebted for
them? The answer is simple. Mr. Fugate speaks Visayan about as well
as he does English, and there have been no intermediaries between him
and his people, who consequently understand that they owe to him the
benefits which they have received.
Certain evil politicians of Negros Occidental, whom he robbed of
their spoils, attacked him with characteristic persistency and
ingenuity. A young man of clean life, he was accused of adultery
and of seduction of minors. Although he could at any time have had a
better position at higher compensation; although he gave much of his
inadequate salary to the poor and defenceless; although he carried
on public works at a fraction of the cost of similar undertakings in
neighbouring provinces, he was charged with profiting by government
contracts and with the malversation of funds of the sub-province. All
of these attacks failed miserably. His real offence was that he had
stayed the hand of the oppressor, and let the people go free.
In many, if not in most, of the Christian provinces we have utilized
the services of Filipino politicians who are openly opposed to the
policy which we are endeavouring to carry out, and have thus placed
between ourselves and the people a screen of shrewd and hostile
men who can communicate with them as we cannot, who play upon their
ignorance and their prejudices as we would not if we could, who keep
them firm in the belief that all their troubles are due to the "mucho
malo gobierno Americano," [215] and that all the advantages which
they enjoy have been wrung from the unwilling and unjust Americans
by the courage and political ingenuity of the local politicos. For
this condition of things we have ourselves to thank, and these are
the men who would be governors under "self-government."
When the Federal Party was formed, a large number of conservative
Filipinos came out into the open and risked their lives to aid in
the termination of war and brigandage, and the establishment of
peace and tranquillity. At the outset we rewarded many of those who
escaped assassination by appointing them to public offices which they
seemed fit to fill. In a few instances we even helped the families
of those who sacrificed their lives to the cause of law and order. A
little later, anxious to show that we were willing to let bygones be
bygones, political offices, so far as they were within the gift of the
government, were distributed practically without regard to the previous
political records of the recipients. In taking this high attitude we
assumed that the generous treatment thus accorded our late enemies
would be appreciated by them and would win us their confidence and
coöperation. We showed our ignorance of the men with whom we were
dealing when we allowed ourselves to expect such a result. They
interpreted our generosity as an evidence of fear, and each new
concession has served only to whet their appetites. For years we gave
profitable government advertising to vicious publications which never
for a moment ceased to attack us. If there is any one lesson which
should have been brought home to us by our experience it is that in the
Philippine Islands this sort of thing does not work as yet. In this,
as in most other countries, there are just two political parties, to
wit, the "ins" and the "outs." Public office is ardently desired by a
large percentage of the educated Filipinos who dearly love to exercise
authority, and will do without scruple what seems necessary to get it.
We have gone too fast and too far in conferring on the people power
to elect their officers. A larger percentage of the public offices
should have remained appointive, and should have been filled either
with Americans or with Filipinos of recognized ability who were really
in favour of the policy which the government was carrying out. Open
and active opposition to that policy should have been made ground for
prompt removal from office. The men who risked their lives to help
us were entitled to recognition and reward, and to the protection
which the knowledge that such recognition is being accorded gives
in a country like the Philippines. Left out in the cold, they turned
against us when they saw our political enemies filling fat offices,
and why not? Such a course was safer and more popular, and they
thought that we might then be willing to buy their allegiance,
judging by our dealings with others!
It has been claimed that the intelligent, highly educated class are
a unit for independence. Nothing could be further from the truth,
but it would be uncommonly hard at present to prove this fact.
Some time since, I sat beside a very distinguished Filipino at a public
banquet. He made a speech in which he expressed the conviction that
independence in the near future would be a most desirable thing. When
he sat down I said to him, "What would you do if you got it?" His
reply was, "Be still! I would take the first steamer for Hongkong!" His
attitude is typical of that of a large group of opportunists.
There is a considerable body of intelligent, conservative Filipinos
who believe, as do the vast majority of well-informed Americans,
that independence at this time would be an unmitigated curse in that
it would necessarily be temporary, would result in grave disturbances
of public order, would bring foreign intervention and the occupation
of the islands by some nation with purposes far less altruistic than
ours, and would put the possibility of real, permanent independence
off until a time so remote as to be far beyond the range of our
present vision. These men will state their attitude freely in private
conversation with those in whom they have confidence, but hardly one
of them has the courage to go on record. Why should they? We have seen
that in the old days those who opposed the views of Aguinaldo and his
associates were given short shrift and that thousands of them were
murdered in cold blood, while those who actively opposed the American
military and civil governments were without exception freely pardoned
when further opposition became impossible, unless guilty of crimes
of the gravest character. Nay, more. Under the amnesty proclamation
there were turned loose from Bilibid Prison hundreds of murderers,
some of whom had taken the lives of scores of human beings. Little
attention has been paid at any time to the violation, by Filipinos,
of their oaths of allegiance to the United States, and now, when
we discover one of the periodic incipient insurrections frequently
organized by intelligent natives for the sole purpose of wringing
hard-earned pesos from the peasant class, we seldom punish severely
even the vicious leaders. It is idle to suppose that these facts are
lost upon the conservative Filipinos. They know that if independence
does not come no punishment will be meted out to them for remaining
neutral, or even for actively advocating it, but that if it does come,
and they have opposed it, vengeance swift, sure and dire will smite
them. They are afraid, and they have the best of reasons to be afraid,
because we have announced no definite policy. Let it be authoritatively
stated that American sovereignty will be maintained in these islands
for a long period and those who actually believe that there is not
a strong element among the Filipinos who favour such a course will
get a real surprise.
At present, however, our ears are deafened by the clamour of the
noisy politicians, who claim to represent "the Filipino people." In
this connection Bishop Brent has pertinently observed:--
"If desire implied ability, the clamor for independence on the
part of the Filipinos, which just now is more widespread then at
any time in their history, would be the signal for our withdrawal,
but only their achievements can determine their ability."
Before we can safely declare the Filipinos ready to try the great
experiment of self-government we must bring them to the place where
they no longer regard bandit leaders as popular heroes but are able
and determined to maintain a state of public order such that life and
property will be safe. We must wean them from their present hostility
toward legitimate foreign business interests. We must teach them
that agriculture comes before art; that a public office is a public
trust; that the enormous potential wealth of their forests is worth
preserving; that the poor Filipino must be encouraged to own and till
his own land, not held as a slave or peon. We must go on training
physicians, surgeons and sanitarians so that the public health may
be adequately protected and individual suffering relieved. We must
be sure that our wards have developed the understanding and courage
necessary successfully to oppose the great waves of epidemic disease
which constantly threaten their country from without. We must train up
Filipino engineers, to-day almost completely lacking, in sufficient
numbers to make possible the construction of the public works needed
in future and the maintenance of those which already exist.
There must be chemists and bacteriologists to do the routine work of
the government, to make the investigations necessary to safeguard the
lives of the people, and to facilitate the development of the resources
of the country. Finally, there must be a sufficiency of just judges, of
honourable lawyers, of able administrators, and of legislators unswayed
by the childish motives which so often influence those of to-day.
Most important of all, we must bring the Filipino people to the place
where they can go on properly teaching their children and their youths.
The day when all this will have been done of necessity lies far in the
future, and if, when contemplating this fact, we sometimes grow weary,
we should remember that the task, though a mighty and unprecedented
one, is well worthy of the best energies of a great nation. It can
never be accomplished through partisan politics.
In considering our duty to the Filipinos let us not forget the fate
of him "who putteth his hand to the plough and turneth back." The old,
old rule applies to nations as well as to individuals.
We are giving the Filipinos a fair chance to develop every latent
ability which they possess. In the very nature of the case, their
future lies, and must lie, wholly with them. There is no royal road
to real independence, much less is there any short cut. Our Filipino
wards must tread the same long, weary path that has been trodden by
every nation that has heretofore attained to good government.
The case has been admirably stated by that distinguished gentleman
who to-day occupies the highest post within the gift of the American
people. He has said:--
"There is profound truth in Sir Henry Maine's remark that the men
who colonized America and made its governments, to the admiration
of the world, could never have thus masterfully taken charge
of their own affairs and combined stability with liberty in the
process of absolute self-government if they had not sprung of a
race habituated to submit to law and authority, if their fathers
had not been subjects of kings, if the stock of which they came
had not served the long apprenticeship of political childhood
during which law was law without choice of their own.
"Self-government is not a mere form of institutions, to be
had when desired, if only proper pains be taken. It is a form
of character. It follows upon the long discipline which gives
a people self-possession, self-mastery, the habit of order and
peace and common counsel, and a reverence for law which will not
fail when they themselves become the makers of law; the steadiness
and self-control of political maturity. And these things cannot
be had without long discipline.
"The distinction is of vital concern to us in respect of
practical choices of policy which we must make, and make very
soon. We have dependencies to deal with and must deal with them
in the true spirit of our own institutions. We can give the
Filipinos constitutional government, a government which they may
count upon to be just, a government based upon some clear and
equitable understanding, intended for their good and not for our
aggrandizement; but we must ourselves for the present supply that
government. It would, it is true, be an unprecedented operation,
reversing the process of Runnymede, but America has before this
shown the world enlightened processes of politics that were
without precedent. It would have been within the choice of John
to summon his barons to Runnymede and of his own initiative enter
into a constitutional understanding with them; and it is within
our choice to do a similar thing, at once wise and generous,
in the government of the Philippine Islands. But we cannot give
them self-government. Self-government is not a thing that can be
'given' to any people, because it is a form of character and not
a form of constitution. No people can be 'given' the self-control
of maturity. Only a long apprenticeship of obedience can secure
them the precious possession, a thing no more to be bought than
given. They cannot he presented with the character of a community,
but it may confidently be hoped that they will become a community
under the wholesome and salutary influences of just laws and a
sympathetic administration; that they will after a while understand
and master themselves, if in the meantime they are understood
and served in good conscience by those set over them in authority.
"We of all people in the world should know these fundamental
things and should act upon them, if only to illustrate the
mastery in politics which belongs to us of hereditary right. To
ignore them would be not only to fail and fail miserably, but to
fail ridiculously and belie ourselves. Having ourselves gained
self-government by a definite process which can have no substitute,
let us put the peoples dependent upon us in the right way to gain
it also." [216]
These views will be indorsed by every intelligent American who knows
the Filipino, and has some adequate conception of the problems
presented by the presence, in the same country with him, of the
Ifugao, the Igorot, the Manobo, the Bukidnon, and the Moro. They are
the views of Professor Wilson, historian and political philosopher,
at a time when he was unswayed by party prejudices and untrammelled by
party policy. Let us hope that President Wilson, the titular leader
of the Democratic party and the dispenser of political patronage,
has not entirely abandoned them, and that in embarking so boldly,
not to say so rashly, as he has done, on the policy of suddenly
giving to the Filipinos a radical increase in the control which
they are allowed to have over their own affairs, and of leaving them
subsequently to demonstrate their fitness or unfitness to exercise it,
he will at least be bound by the actual results of an experiment which,
as every one familiar with local conditions in the islands well knows,
is fraught with the gravest danger.
After all is said and done, the real Philippine question is not what
path they shall take. That has been determined, for all nations alike,
by a Divine Providence that is all-seeing, all-wise and inexorable. It
is not whether they shall travel the old, old road a little faster,
or a little more slowly. That will ultimately be settled, for them and
for us, by the unanswerable logic of events, and we need not worry over
it. The real question is, shall they make their long and adventurous
journey, guided, helped and protected by the strong and kindly hand
of the United States of America, or shall they be left to stagger
along alone, blind in their own conceit, under the keen and watchful
eye of another powerful nation, hungrily awaiting their first misstep?
APPENDIX
INSTRUCTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE FIRST PHILIPPINE COMMISSION
"Department of State,
"Washington, January 21, 1899.
"My Dear Sir: I inclose herewith a copy of the instructions which
the President has drawn up for the guidance of yourself and your
associates as commissioners to the Philippines.
"I am, with great respect, sincerely yours,
"John Hay."
"Honourable Jacob G. Schurman,
"The Arlington."
"Executive Mansion, "Washington, January 20, 1899.
"The Secretary of State:
"My communication to the Secretary of War, dated December 21,
1898, declares the necessity of extending the actual occupation and
administration of the city, harbour, and bay of Manila to the whole
of the territory which by the treaty of Paris, signed on December 10,
1898, passed from the sovereignty of Spain to the sovereignty of the
United States, and the consequent establishment of military government
throughout the entire group of the Philippine Islands. While the treaty
has not yet been ratified, it is believed that it will be by the time
of the arrival at Manila of the commissioners named below. In order
to facilitate the most humane, pacific, and effective extension of
authority throughout these islands, and to secure, with the least
possible delay, the benefits of a wise and generous protection of
life and property to the inhabitants, I have named Jacob G. Schurman,
Rear-Admiral George Dewey, Major-General Elwell S. Otis, Charles
Denby, and Dean C. Worcester to constitute a commission to aid in
the accomplishment of these results.
"In the performance of this duty, the commissioners are enjoined
to meet at the earliest possible day in the city of Manila and to
announce, by a public proclamation, their presence and the mission
intrusted to them, carefully setting forth that, while the military
government already proclaimed is to be maintained and continued so
long as necessity may require, efforts will be made to alleviate the
burden of taxation, to establish industrial and commercial prosperity,
and to provide for the safety of persons and of property by such
means as may be found conducive to these ends.
"The commissioners will endeavour, without interference with the
military authorities of the United States now in control of the
Philippines, to ascertain what amelioration in the condition of the
inhabitants and what improvements in public order may be practicable,
and for this purpose they will study attentively the existing social
and political state of the various populations, particularly as regards
the forms of local government, the administration of justice, the
collection of customs and other taxes, the means of transportation,
and the need of public improvements. They will report through the
Department of State, according to the forms customary or hereafter
prescribed for transmitting and preserving such communications, the
results of their observations and reflections, and will recommend such
executive action as may from time to time seem to them wise and useful.
"The commissioners are hereby authorized to confer authoritatively
with any persons resident in the islands from whom they may believe
themselves able to derive information or suggestions valuable for
the purposes of their commission, or whom they may choose to employ
as agents, as may be necessary for this purpose.
"The temporary government of the islands is intrusted to the
military authorities, as already provided for by my instructions to
the Secretary of War of December 21, 1898, and will continue until
Congress shall determine otherwise. The commission may render valuable
services by examining with special care the legislative needs of the
various groups of inhabitants, and by reporting, with recommendations,
the measures which should be instituted for the maintenance of order,
peace, and public welfare, either as temporary steps to be taken
immediately for the perfection of present administration, or as
suggestions for future legislation.
"In so far as immediate personal changes in the civil administration
may seem to be advisable, the commissioners are empowered to recommend
suitable persons for appointment to these offices from among the
inhabitants of the islands who have previously acknowledged their
allegiance to this Government.
"It is my desire that in all their relations with the inhabitants
of the islands the commissioners exercise due respect for all the
ideals, customs, and institutions of the tribes which compose the
population, emphasizing upon all occasions the just and beneficent
intentions of the Government of the United States. It is also my wish
and expectation that the commissioners may be received in a manner
due to the honoured and authorized representatives of the American
Republic, duly commissioned on account of their knowledge, skill,
and integrity as bearers of the good will, the protection, and the
richest blessings of a liberating rather than a conquering nation.
"William McKinley."
PROCLAMATION OF THE FIRST PHILIPPINE COMMISSION
To the people of the Philippine Islands:
The treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, ratified
several weeks ago by the former, having on March 20 been ratified
by the latter, the cession to the United States, as stipulated by
the treaty, of the sovereignty which Spain possessed and exercised
over the Philippine Islands has now, in accordance with the laws of
nations, received a complete and indefeasible consummation.
In order that the high responsibilities and obligations with which the
United States has thus become definitively charged may be fulfilled
in a way calculated to promote the best interests of the inhabitants
of the Philippine Islands, his Excellency the President of the United
States has appointed the undersigned a civil commission on Philippine
affairs, clothing them with all the powers necessary for the exercise
of that office.
The commission desire to assure the people of the Philippine Islands
of the cordial good will and fraternal feeling which is entertained
for them by his Excellency the President of the United States and by
the American people. The aim and object of the American Government,
apart from the fulfilment of the solemn obligations it has assumed
toward the family of nations by the acceptance of sovereignty over
the Philippine Islands, is the well being, the prosperity, and the
happiness of the Philippine people and their elevation and advancement
to a position among the most civilized peoples of the world.
His Excellency the President of the United States believes that
this felicity and perfection of the Philippine people is to be
brought about by the assurance of peace and order; by the guaranty of
civil and religious liberty; by the establishment of justice; by the
cultivation of letters, science and the liberal and practical arts; by
the enlargement of intercourse with foreign nations; by the expansion
of industrial pursuits, trade and commerce; by the multiplication and
improvement of the means of internal communication; by the development,
with the aid of modern mechanical inventions, of the great natural
resources of the archipelago; and, in a word, by the uninterrupted
devotion of the people to the pursuit of those useful objects and
the realization of those noble ideals which constitute the higher
civilization of mankind.
Unfortunately, the pure aims and purposes of the American Government
and people have been misinterpreted to some of the inhabitants of
certain of the islands. As a consequence, the friendly American forces
have, without provocation or cause, been openly attacked.
And why these hostilities? What do the best Filipinos desire? Can it
be more than the United States is ready to give? They are patriots and
want liberty, it is said. The commission emphatically asserts that
the United States is not only willing, but anxious, to establish in
the Philippine Islands an enlightened system of government under which
the Philippine people may enjoy the largest measure of home rule and
the amplest liberty consonant with the supreme ends of government
and compatible with those obligations which the United States has
assumed toward the civilized nations of the world.
The United States striving earnestly for the welfare and advancement
of the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, there can be no real
conflict between American sovereignty and the rights and liberties of
the Philippine people. For, just as the United States stands ready to
furnish armies, navies and all the infinite resources of a great and
powerful nation to maintain and support its rightful supremacy over the
Philippine Islands, so it is even more solicitous to spread peace and
happiness among the Philippine people; to guarantee them a rightful
freedom; to protect them in their just privileges and immunities; to
accustom them to free self-government in an ever-increasing measure;
and to encourage them in those democratic aspirations, sentiments
and ideals which are the promise and potency of a fruitful national
development.
It is the expectation of the commission to visit the Philippine
peoples in their respective provinces, both for the purpose of
cultivating a more intimate mutual acquaintance and also with a
view to ascertaining from enlightened native opinion what form or
forms of government seem best adapted to the Philippine peoples,
most apt to conduce to their highest welfare, and most conformable
to their customs, traditions, sentiments and cherished ideals. Both
in the establishment and maintenance of government in the Philippine
Islands it will be the policy of the United States to consult the
views and wishes, and to secure the advice, coöperation and aid,
of the Philippine people themselves.
In the meantime the attention of the Philippine people is invited
to certain regulative principles by which the United States will
be guided in its relations with them. The following are deemed of
cardinal importance:--
1. The supremacy of the United States must and will be enforced
throughout every part of the archipelago, and those who resist
it can accomplish no end other than their own ruin.
2. The most ample liberty of self-government will be granted to
the Philippine people which is reconcilable with the maintenance
of a wise, just, stable, effective and economical administration of
public affairs, and compatible with the sovereign and international
rights and obligations of the United States.
3. The civil rights of the Philippine people will be guaranteed
and protected to the fullest extent; religious freedom assured,
and all persons shall have an equal standing before the law.
4. Honour, justice and friendship forbid the use of the Philippine
people or islands as an object or means of exploitation. The
purpose of the American Government is the welfare and advancement
of the Philippine people.
5. There shall be guaranteed to the Philippine people an honest
and effective civil service, in which, to the fullest extent
practicable, natives shall be employed.
6. The collection and application of taxes and revenues will be
put upon a sound, honest and economical basis. Public funds,
raised justly and collected honestly, will be applied only in
defraying the regular and proper expenses incurred by and for the
establishment and maintenance of the Philippine government, and for
such general improvements as public interests may demand. Local
funds, collected for local purposes, shall not be diverted to
other ends. With such a prudent and honest fiscal administration,
it is believed that the needs of the government will in a short
time become compatible with a considerable reduction in taxation.
7. A pure, speedy and effective administration of justice will
be established, whereby the evils of delay, corruption and
exploitation will be effectually eradicated.
8. The construction of roads, railroads and other means of
communication and transportation, as well as other public works
of manifest advantage to the Philippine people, will be promoted.
9. Domestic and foreign trade and commerce, agriculture and other
industrial pursuits, and the general development of the country
in the interest of its inhabitants will be constant objects of
solicitude and fostering care.
10. Effective provision will be made for the establishment of
elementary schools in which the children of the people shall
be educated. Appropriate facilities will also be provided for
higher education.
11. Reforms in all departments of the government, in all branches
of the public service and in all corporations closely touching
the common life of the people must be undertaken without delay
and effected, conformably to right and justice, in a way that
will satisfy the well-founded demands and the highest sentiments
and aspirations of the Philippine people.
Such is the spirit in which the United States comes to the people of
the Philippine Islands. His Excellency, the President, has instructed
the commission to make it publicly known. And in obeying this behest
the commission desire to join with his Excellency, the President, in
expressing their own good will toward the Philippine people, and to
extend to their leading and representative men a cordial invitation
to meet them for personal acquaintance and for the exchange of views
and opinions.
Manila, April 4, 1899.
Jacob Gould Schurman,
President of Commission.
George Dewey,
Admiral U. S. N.
Elwell S. Otis,
Major-General U. S. Volunteers.
Charles Denby.
Dean C. Worcester.
John R. MacArthur,
Secretary of Commission.
INSTRUCTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE SECOND PHILIPPINE COMMISSION
War Department,
Washington, April 7, 1900.
Sir: I transmit to you herewith the instructions of the President for
the guidance of yourself and your associates as commissioners to the
Philippine Islands.
Very respectfully,
Elihu Root,
Secretary of War.
Hon. William H. Taft,
President Board of Commissioners to the Philippine Islands
Executive Mansion, April 7, 1900.
The Secretary of War,
Washington.
Sir: In the message transmitted to the Congress on the 5th of
December, 1899, I said, speaking of the Philippine Islands: "As long
as the insurrection continues the military arm must necessarily be
supreme. But there is no reason why steps should not be taken from
time to time to inaugurate governments essentially popular in their
form as fast as territory is held and controlled by our troops. To this
end I am considering the advisability of the return of the commission,
or such of the members thereof as can be secured, to aid the existing
authorities and facilitate this work throughout the islands."
To give effect to the intention thus expressed I have appointed
Hon. William H. Taft, of Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan;
Hon. Luke E. Wright, of Tennessee; Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and
Prof. Bernard Moses, of California, commissioners to the Philippine
Islands to continue and perfect the work of organizing and establishing
civil government already commenced by the military authorities,
subject in all respects to any laws which Congress may hereafter enact.
The commissioners named will meet and act as a board, and the
Hon. William H. Taft is designated as president of the board. It is
probable that the transfer of authority from military commanders
to civil officers will be gradual and will occupy a considerable
period. Its successful accomplishment and the maintenance of peace
and order in the meantime will require the most perfect coöperation
between the civil and military authorities in the island, and both
should be directed during the transition period by the same Executive
Department. The commission will therefore report to the secretary of
war, and all their action will be subject to your approval and control.
You will instruct the commission to proceed to the city of Manila,
where they will make their principal office, and to communicate with
the military governor of the Philippine Islands, whom you will at
the same time direct to render to them every assistance within his
power in the performance of their duties. Without hampering them
by too specific instructions, they should in general be enjoined,
after making themselves familiar with the conditions and needs of
the country, to devote their attention in the first instance to the
establishment of municipal governments, in which the natives of the
islands, both in the cities and in the rural communities, shall be
afforded the opportunity to manage their own local affairs to the
fullest extent of which they are capable, and subject to the least
degree of supervision and control which a careful study of their
capacities and observation of the workings of native control show to
be consistent with the maintenance of law, order and loyalty.
The next subject in order of importance should be the organization
of government in the larger administrative divisions corresponding to
counties, departments or provinces, in which the common interests of
many or several municipalities falling within the same tribal lines,
or the same natural geographical limits, may best be subserved by
a common administration. Whenever the commission is of the opinion
that the condition of affairs in the islands is such that the
central administration may safely be transferred from military to
civil control, they will report that conclusion to you, with their
recommendations as to the form of central government to be established
for the purpose of taking over the control.
Beginning with the 1st day of September, 1900, the authority to
exercise, subject to my approval, through the secretary of war,
that part of the power of government in the Philippine Islands
which is of a legislative nature is to be transferred from the
military governor of the islands to this commission, to be thereafter
exercised by them in the place and stead of the military governor,
under such rules and regulations as you shall prescribe, until
the establishment of the civil central government for the islands
contemplated in the last foregoing paragraph, or until Congress
shall otherwise provide. Exercise of this legislative authority will
include the making of rules and orders, having the effect of law,
for the raising of revenue by taxes, customs duties and imposts;
the appropriation and expenditure of public funds of the islands;
the establishment of an educational system throughout the islands;
the establishment of a system to secure an efficient civil service;
the organization and establishment of courts; the organization and
establishment of municipal and departmental governments, and all
other matters of a civil nature for which the military governor is
now competent to provide by rules or orders of a legislative character.
The commission will also have power during the same period to
appoint to office such officers under the judicial, educational
and civil-service systems and in the municipal and departmental
governments as shall be provided for. Until the complete transfer of
control the military governor will remain the chief executive head
of the government of the islands, and will exercise the executive
authority now possessed by him and not herein expressly assigned to
the commission, subject, however, to the rules and orders enacted by
the commission in the exercise of the legislative powers conferred
upon them. In the meantime the municipal and departmental governments
will continue to report to the military governor and be subject to his
administrative supervision and control, under your direction, but that
supervision and control will be confined within the narrowest limits
consistent with the requirement that the powers of government in the
municipalities and departments shall be honestly and effectively
exercised and that law and order and individual freedom shall be
maintained.
All legislative rules and orders, establishments of government, and
appointments to office by the commission will take effect immediately,
or at such times as they shall designate, subject to your approval
and action upon the coming in of the commission's reports, which are
to be made from time to time as their action is taken. Wherever civil
governments are constituted under the direction of the commission,
such military posts, garrisons and forces will be continued for the
suppression of insurrection and brigandage, and the maintenance of
law and order, as the military commander shall deem requisite, and
the military forces shall be at all times subject under his orders
to the call of the civil authorities for the maintenance of law and
order and the enforcement of their authority.
In the establishment of municipal governments the commission will take
as the basis of their work the governments established by the military
governor under his order of August 8, 1899, and under the report of
the board constituted by the military governor by his order of January
29, 1900, to formulate and report a plan of municipal government,
of which his honour Cayetano Arellano, president of the audiencia,
was chairman, and they will give to the conclusions of that board the
weight and consideration which the high character and distinguished
abilities of its members justify.
In the constitution of departmental or provincial governments, they
will give especial attention to the existing government of the island
of Negros, constituted, with the approval of the people of that island,
under the order of the military governor of July 22, 1899, and after
verifying, so far as may be practicable, the reports of the successful
working of that government, they will be guided by the experience thus
acquired, so far as it may be applicable to the condition existing
in other portions of the Philippines. They will avail themselves,
to the fullest degree practicable, of the conclusions reached by the
previous commission to the Philippines.
In the distribution of powers among the governments organized by the
commission, the presumption is always to be in favour of the smaller
subdivision, so that all the powers which can properly be exercised
by the municipal government shall be vested in that government, and
all the powers of a more general character which can be exercised
by the departmental government shall be vested in that government,
and so that in the governmental system, which is the result of the
process, the central government of the islands, following the example
of the distribution of the powers between the states and the national
government of the United States, shall have no direct administration
except of matters of purely general concern, and shall have only such
supervision and control over local governments as may be necessary
to secure and enforce faithful and efficient administration by local
officers.
The many different degrees of civilization and varieties of custom
and capacity among the people of the different islands preclude very
definite instruction as to the part which the people shall take in
the selection of their own officers; but these general rules are to
be observed: That in all cases the municipal officers, who administer
the local affairs of the people, are to be selected by the people,
and that wherever officers of more extended jurisdiction are to be
selected in any way, natives of the islands are to be preferred,
and if they can be found competent and willing to perform the duties,
they are to receive the offices in preference to any others.
It will be necessary to fill some offices for the present with
Americans which after a time may well be filled by natives of the
islands. As soon as practicable a system for ascertaining the merit
and fitness of candidates for civil office should be put in force. An
indispensable qualification for all offices and positions of trust and
authority in the islands must be absolute and unconditional loyalty to
the United States, and absolute and unhampered authority and power to
remove and punish any officer deviating from that standard must at all
times be retained in the hands of the central authority of the islands.
In all the forms of government and administrative provisions in
which they are authorized to prescribe, the commission should bear
in mind that the government which they are establishing is designed
not for our satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical
views, but for the happiness, peace and prosperity of the people of
the Philippine Islands, and the measures adopted should be made to
conform to their customs, their habits and even their prejudices,
to the fullest extent consistent with the accomplishment of the
indispensable requisites of just and effective government.
At the same time the commission should bear in mind, and the people
of the islands should be made plainly to understand, that there are
certain great principles of government which have been made the basis
of our governmental system which we deem essential to the rule of law
and the maintenance of individual freedom, and of which they have,
unfortunately, been denied the experience possessed by us; that there
are also certain practical rules of government which we have found to
be essential to the preservation of these great principles of liberty
and law, and that these principles and these rules of government
must be established and maintained in their islands for the sake of
their liberty and happiness, however much they may conflict with the
customs or laws of procedure with which they are familiar.
It is evident that the most enlightened thought of the Philippine
Islands fully appreciates the importance of these principles and
rules, and they will inevitably within a short time command universal
assent. Upon every division and branch of the government of the
Philippines, therefore, must be imposed these inviolable rules:
That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without
due process of law; that private property shall not be taken for public
use without just compensation; that in all criminal prosecutions
the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,
to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be
confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the assistance of
counsel for his defence; that excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted;
that no person shall be put twice in jeopardy for the same offence, or
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; that
the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall
not be violated; that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall
exist except as a punishment for crime; that no bill of attainder,
or ex-post-facto law shall be passed; that no law shall be passed
abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the rights of
the people to peaceably assemble and petition the Government for
a redress of grievances; that no law shall be made respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,
and that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed.
It will be the duty of the commission to make a thorough investigation
into the titles to the large tracts of land held or claimed by
individuals or by religious orders; into the justice of the claims and
complaints made against such landholders by the people of the island
or any part of the people, and to seek by wise and peaceable measure,
a just settlement of the controversies and redress of wrongs which
have caused strife and bloodshed in the past. In the performance
of this duty the commission is enjoined to see that no injustice is
done; to have regard for substantial rights and equity, disregarding
technicalities so far as substantial right permits, and to observe
the following rules:
That the provision of the Treaty of Paris, pledging the United States
to the protection of all rights of property in the islands, and as
well the principle of our own Government which prohibits the taking of
private property without due process of law, shall not be violated;
that the welfare of the people of the islands, which should be a
paramount consideration, shall be attained consistently with this rule
of property right; that if it becomes necessary for the public interest
of the people of the islands to dispose of claims to property which
the commission finds to be not lawfully acquired and held disposition
shall be made thereof by due legal procedure, in which there shall be
full opportunity for fair and impartial hearing and judgment; that if
the same public interests require the extinguishment of property rights
lawfully acquired and held due compensation shall be made out of the
public treasury therefor; that no form of religion and no minister of
religion shall be forced upon any community or upon any citizen of
the islands; that upon the other hand no minister of religion shall
be interfered with or molested in following his calling, and that the
separation between state and church shall be real, entire and absolute.
It will be the duty of the commission to promote and extend, and,
as they find occasion, to improve, the system of education already
inaugurated by the military authorities. In doing this they should
regard as of first importance the extension of a system of primary
education which shall be free to all, and which shall tend to fit the
people for the duties of citizenship and for the ordinary avocations
of a civilized community. This instruction should be given in the first
instance in every part of the islands in the language of the people. In
view of the great number of languages spoken by the different tribes,
it is especially important to the prosperity of the islands that a
common medium of communication may be established, and it is obviously
desirable that this medium should be the English language. Especial
attention should be at once given to affording full opportunity to all
the people of the islands to acquire the use of the English language.
It may be well that the main changes which should be made in the system
of taxation and in the body of the laws under which the people are
governed, except such changes as have already been made by the military
government, should be relegated to the civil government which is to be
established under the auspices of the commission. It will, however,
be the duty of the commission to inquire diligently as to whether
there are any further changes which ought not be delayed; and if so,
they are authorized to make such changes, subject to your approval. In
doing so they are to bear in mind that taxes which tend to penalize
or repress industry and enterprise are to be avoided; that provisions
for taxation should be simple, so that they may be understood by the
people; that they should affect the fewest practicable subjects of
taxation which will serve for the general distribution of the burden.
The main body of the laws which regulate the rights and obligations
of the people should be maintained with as little interference as
possible. Changes made should be mainly in procedure, and in the
criminal laws to secure speedy and impartial trials, and at the same
time effective administration and respect for individual rights.
In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the islands the commission
should adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting
the tribes of our North American Indians to maintain their tribal
organization and government, and under which many of those tribes are
now living in peace and contentment, surrounded by a civilization to
which they are unable or unwilling to conform. Such tribal governments
should, however, be subjected to wise and firm regulation; and,
without undue or petty interference, constant and active effort
should be exercised to prevent barbarous practices and introduce
civilized customs.
Upon all officers and employees of the United States, both civil
and military, should be impressed a sense of the duty to observe not
merely the material but the personal and social rights of the people
of the islands, and to treat them with the same courtesy and respect
for their personal dignity which the people of the United States are
accustomed to require from each other.
The articles of capitulation of the city of Manila on the 13th of
August, 1898, concluded with these words:
"This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship,
its educational establishments, and its private property of all
descriptions, are placed under the special safeguard of the faith
and honour of the American army."
I believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept. As high and sacred
an obligation rests upon the Government of the United States to give
protection for property and life, civil and religious freedom, and
wise, firm and unselfish guidance in the paths of peace and prosperity
to all the people of the Philippine Islands. I charge this commission
to labour for the full performance of this obligation which concerns
the honour and conscience of their country, in the firm hope that
through their labours all the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands
may come to look back with gratitude to the day when God gave victory
to American arms at Manila and set their land under the sovereignty
and the protection of the people of the United States.
William McKinley.
THE PAST AND PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF THE COURTS OF THE PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS [217]
During the last years of Spanish sovereignty the courts in the
Philippine Islands consisted of superior courts, which were the
audiencia territorial de Manila, the audiencia de lo criminal de
Cebú, and the audiencia de lo criminal de Vigan; the courts of first
instance, and justice of the peace courts.
The audiencia territorial de Manila exercised jurisdiction in civil
matters over the entire Philippine archipelago; in criminal matters
it exercised jurisdiction over the central and southern provinces of
Luzón and over the islands of Catanduanes, Mindoro, Burias, Masbate
and Ticao.
Its legal personnel consisted of a president of the court; two
presidents of branches, one of the civil, and the other of the
criminal; nine justices (magistrados); four associate justices
(magistrados suplentes); one fiscal; one lieutenant-fiscal, and
three fiscal attorneys; five secretaries and four law clerks who were
assistant secretaries.
The audiencia de lo criminal of Vigan and that of Cebu had only
criminal jurisdiction, the former over the northern part of Luzón
and the Batanes Islands and the latter over the Visayan Islands and
Mindanao. Each of these courts had a president, two justices, two
associate justices, one fiscal, one lieutenant-fiscal, a secretary
and one law clerk who was assistant secretary.
There was at least one court of first instance in each province. In
some, like Batangas, Ambos Camarines, Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Negros,
there were two. In Iloílo there were three and in Manila four. These
courts were divided into three classes designated as follows: de
entrada; de ascenso; and de termino.
Subject to the jurisdiction of the audiencia territorial de Manila,
there were eight jusgados de termino; five jusgados de ascenso, and
fourteen jusgados de entrada. Under the criminal jurisdiction of the
audiencia territorial of Vigan there were three jusgados de termino,
one jusgado de ascenso and sixteen jusgados de entrada. Under the
audiencia territorial of Cebu there were two jusgados de termino and
thirty jusgados de ascenso.
In each court of first instance there was a prosecuting attorney
(promotor fiscal). In each pueblo there was a justice of the peace
subject in his criminal and civil jurisdiction to the judge of first
instance of the province. In criminal matters the justice of the
peace courts as well as the courts of first instance were subject to
the audiencia territorial of Manila.
At the present time the courts of justice of the islands consist
of a supreme court, courts of first instance and justice of the
peace courts.
The supreme court, which is composed of one chief justice and six
associate justices, has civil and criminal jurisdiction over all
the islands.
In each province there is a court of first instance. Several such
courts are usually united to constitute a judicial district, but this
does not hold for the court of first instance of the city of Manila,
which is presided over by three judges, each in his own court room,
nor for the court of first instance of Iloílo, which constitutes
a district by itself. The remaining courts are divided between
seventeen districts.
The courts of the thirteenth and fourteenth districts have concurrent
jurisdiction over all actions arising within the district of Lanao
of the Moro province, but the court first acquiring jurisdiction in
any cause has exclusive jurisdiction in the same.
There are four judges at large, without territorial jurisdiction of
their own, any one of whom may be assigned by the secretary of finance
and justice to act in any district. He then has the same jurisdiction
as its judge. The services of judges at large are necessary when
the judge of any district is absent, or has vacated his position,
or when the business of a court requires the aid of an assistant judge.
There further exists the court of land registration, with one judge
and five auxiliary judges. It has exclusive jurisdiction over all
applications for the registration of title to land or buildings or
an interest therein. It also has jurisdiction to confirm the titles
of persons who under the Spanish régime acquired imperfect titles to
public lands, provided that such persons fulfill the requirements of
law for their perfection.
There is now a justice of the peace court in each municipality and by
resolution of the Philippine Commission there have been created justice
of the peace courts in townships and other centres of population
which have not been organized either as townships or municipalities.
In the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Mindoro, Palawan, Agusan and in
the Mountain province, all of which are organized under the special
provincial government act, the provincial governor, the provincial
secretary, the provincial treasurer, the provincial supervisor [218]
and the deputy clerk of the court of first instance are justices of
the peace ex officio with jurisdiction throughout their respective
provinces.
In the Moro province, which is divided into five districts, called
Joló, Zamboanga, Lanao, Cotabato and Davao, there are tribal ward
courts which consider and decide minor civil and criminal actions in
which the parties in interest, or any of them, are Moros or members
of other non-Christian tribes. These tribal ward courts have with
regard to these actions the same jurisdiction as is vested by law in
justice of the peace courts, but the legislative council of the Moro
province may in its discretion vest in such courts jurisdiction in
other actions, civil or criminal but not capital, which is at present
vested in courts of first instance. In each district the governor and
secretary are justices of tribal ward courts and there are as many
auxiliary justices as may be needed. The sentences of the tribal ward
courts, from which no appeal is taken to the court of first instance,
may be modified or remitted by the provincial governor after a review
of the case.
In addition to these tribal ward courts there exist justice of the
peace courts in each municipality and the governor-general may with
the advice and approval of the commission appoint justices of the peace
for towns or places in the Moro province which have not been organized
into municipalities or which, although included within the limits of an
organized municipality, are distant from or have no convenient means
of access to centres of population. The jurisdiction of the justices
of the peace for the municipalities in which such towns or places are
situated, and of the justices of the peace appointed for such towns or
places, are concurrent over cases arising within the municipality. The
several justices of the peace in any district of the Moro province
exercise concurrent jurisdiction over cases arising within the
district but without the limits of an organized municipality, but
the justice of the peace first acquiring jurisdiction over any case
has exclusive jurisdiction over it. The justices of the peace in the
Moro province have no jurisdiction to try civil and criminal actions
in which original jurisdiction is vested in tribal ward courts.
Under the present organization there exists a bureau of justice with
the following legal personnel: attorney-general, solicitor-general,
assistant attorney-general, and eleven assistant attorneys. There is
a provincial fiscal in each province with the exception of the Moro
province, in which there are an attorney and an assistant attorney. The
city of Manila has, besides the city attorney and assistant attorney,
a prosecuting attorney with four assistants.
Under the Spanish legislation, justices of the peace had jurisdiction
to try civil actions where the value of the thing in litigation did not
exceed five hundred pesetas ($50), and actions for unlawful detainer
where the action was based on one of the following grounds. The
completion of the term stipulated in the contract; the expiration of
the time within which notice had to be given for the conclusion of the
contract, in accordance with law; the stipulations made or the general
custom in each pueblo; and the failure to pay the price stipulated,
provided that in neither of these three cases the object of the action
was dispossession of a mercantile or manufacturing establishment, or
of a rural property the annual rental whereof exceeded two thousand
five hundred pesetas ($250). They also had jurisdiction to try faltas,
which are criminal offences penalized with a fine not exceeding five
hundred pesetas ($50) or with aresto menor, which is imprisonment not
exceeding thirty days, and to conduct the preliminary proceedings in
crimes the jurisdiction over which was vested in the courts of first
instance. Judges of first instance had original jurisdiction in all
civil actions except those in which original jurisdiction was vested
in justices of the peace and in actions for crime (delitos). The
sentences of judges of first instance could be carried in appeal to
the audiencia territorial of Manila, and in the majority of cases
the supreme court of Spain could be petitioned for the cassation of
the sentences of the said audiencia territorial. The judges of first
instance also had appellate jurisdiction in cases of appeal against
the decisions rendered by justices of the peace in actions in which
the latter had original jurisdiction. All the sentences of the courts
of first instance in criminal cases, regardless of whether they were
sentences of conviction or of acquittal, had to be submitted for
review to the proper audiencia, the decision of the former not being
final without the approval of the latter. From the decisions of the
audiencia appeal lay in all cases to the supreme court of Spain.
It naturally followed that legal proceedings were interminable, and one
of the worst things which could befall an individual or a corporation
in the Spanish days was to become involved in a lawsuit. It is an
unpleasant thing to say, but the plain truth is that the character
of the judges in not a few instances left much to be desired.
Contrast with the endless complications of the above arrangement the
simplicity of that which prevails to-day. Justices of the peace have
exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions arising in their
municipalities which are not exclusively cognizable by the courts
of first instance, when the value of the subject-matter or amount
of the demand does not exceed $100, exclusive of interest and costs;
and where such value or demand exceeds $100, but is less than $300,
the justices of the peace have jurisdiction concurrent with the courts
of first instance. They also have original jurisdiction in forcible
entry and detainer proceedings. They have no jurisdiction to adjudicate
questions of title to real estate or any interest therein, or in civil
actions in which the subject of litigation is not capable of pecuniary
estimation, except in forcible entry and detainer cases, or in those
which involve the legality of any tax, impost, or assessment, or in
actions involving admiralty or marine jurisdiction, or in matters of
probate, the appointment of guardians, trustees, or receivers, or in
actions for annulment of marriage. Justices of the peace, except in
the city of Manila, have original jurisdiction to try persons charged
with misdemeanors, offences and infractions of municipal ordinances,
arising within the municipality, in which the penalty provided by law
does not exceed six months imprisonment or a fine of $100, or both such
imprisonment and fine. In the city of Manila the justice of the peace
does not have this jurisdiction; there it is left to a municipal judge,
who has jurisdiction to try all the infractions of ordinances and has
a more ample jurisdiction to try misdemeanors and crimes against the
general laws of the islands. Justices of the peace, except in the city
of Manila, also have jurisdiction to conduct preliminary proceedings
in all crimes and misdemeanors supposed to have been committed within
their municipalities and cognizable by the courts of first instance.
The jurisdiction of courts of first instance is of two kinds, original
and appellate. Courts of first instance have original jurisdiction: in
all civil actions in which the subject of litigation is not capable
of pecuniary estimation; in all civil actions which involve the
title to or possession of real property, or any interest therein,
or the legality of any tax, impost, or assessment, except actions
of forcible entry into or detainer of lands or buildings; in all
cases in which the demand, exclusive of the interest or the value
of the property in controversy, amounts to $100 or more; in all
actions in admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, irrespective of the
value of the property in controversy and the amount of the demand;
in all matters of probate, both of testate and intestate estates,
appointment of guardians, trustees, and receivers, in all actions for
annulment of marriage, and in all such special cases and proceedings
as are not otherwise provided for; in all criminal cases in which
a penalty of more than six months imprisonment or a fine exceeding
$100 may be imposed; in all crimes and offences committed on the
high seas or beyond the jurisdiction of any country, or within any
of the navigable waters of the Philippine Islands, on board a ship
or water craft of any kind registered or licensed in the Philippine
Islands in accordance with the laws thereof. This jurisdiction may
be exercised by the court of first instance in any province into
which the ship or water craft upon which the crime or offence was
committed may come after the commission thereof, but the court first
lawfully taking cognizance thereof has jurisdiction of the same to
the exclusion of all other courts in the Philippine Islands. Lastly,
courts of first instance have power to issue writs of injunction,
mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto, and habeas corpus in
their respective provinces and districts, in the manner provided in
the code of civil procedure. Courts of first instance have appellate
jurisdiction over all causes arising in justices' and other inferior
courts in their respective provinces.
The supreme court of the Philippine Islands has original jurisdiction
to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, habeas corpus,
and quo warranto in the cases and in the manner prescribed in the
code of civil procedure, and to hear and determine the controversies
thus brought before it, and in other cases provided by law.
The supreme court of the United States, according to the Philippine
bill, has jurisdiction to review, revise, reverse, modify, or
affirm the final judgments and decrees of the supreme court of the
Philippine Islands in all actions, cases, causes, and proceedings
pending therein in which the constitution or any statute, treaty,
title, right or privilege of the United States is involved, or in
causes in which the value in controversy exceeds $25,000.
Probably not more than ten Filipinos held judicial or fiscal positions,
except that of justice of the peace, under Spanish rule. To-day,
three of the seven justices of the supreme court, ten of the twenty
judges of districts, two of the four judges at large, and three of
the six judges of the court of land registration are Filipinos. In the
bureau of justice the attorney-general and seven assistant attorneys
are Filipinos. All of the provincial fiscals are Filipinos with the
exception of the fiscal of the Moro province and the prosecuting
attorney and the city attorney of Manila. All of the justices of
the peace except those who serve ex officio are Filipinos, and the
secretary of finance and justice is a Filipino as well.
Under the Spanish régime justices of the peace did not receive
salaries, nor was there any appropriation for the payment of necessary
clerical assistance, for office supplies, or for rental of their court
rooms. The fees which the law allowed them to charge were their only
compensation. These were fifty cents for each civil case tried and
twenty-five cents when no trial was held on account of failure to
appear on the part of either the plaintiff or defendant or of both.
In criminal cases the fees were seventy-five cents for each case tried,
but they could be collected only if the defendant was adjudged to
pay the costs and was solvent.
The compensation of justices of the peace was in practice limited
to the paltry fees in civil cases, which in many municipalities
amounted to almost nothing owing to the small number of such cases
tried. Justices of the peace were burdened with orders from the
courts of first instance for the service of process, and for this no
compensation was given them.
The only appropriations for office, personnel and supplies of the
courts of first instance were the following: two Chinese interpreters
and sixteen bailiffs, drawing a yearly salary of $48 for the four
courts at Manila; interpreters drawing the following ridiculous
salaries: $48 per annum in some courts, $36 in others and in still
others $24; amanuenses whose salaries in some courts were $48 and in
others $36 per annum, while in yet other courts there was no amount
appropriated for their salaries. No appropriation was made for clerks,
officers, messengers or bailiffs of the courts, for necessary office
supplies or for court-houses. The clerks of courts had to pay all
subordinate employees. They also had to pay for the building of a
court-house out of the money collected as fees from litigants, and
in many instances they were compelled to pay for the dwelling place
of the judge, who ordinarily lived in the court-house.
The salaries of judicial officers and fiscals were also very
meager. The prosecuting attorney of a court de entrada was paid $750
per annum; the judge of a court of first instance de entrada, the
prosecuting attorney de ascenso, and the secretaries of the audiencia
de lo criminal, all of whom had the same rank, drew salaries of $937.50
per annum. The judge of first instance de ascenso, the prosecuting
attorney de termino and the secretaries of the audiencia territorial
de Manila were paid $1125 per annum. The judges of courts of first
instance de termino and the attorneys of the audiencia territorial of
Manila and the assistant attorneys of the audiencias de lo criminal
of Vigan and Cebu drew a salary of $1375 per annum. The assistant
fiscal of the audiencia territorial of Manila and the justices of the
audiencias de lo criminal of Vigan and Cebu, $1750. The justices of
the audiencia territorial of Manila and the presidents and fiscals of
the audiencias de lo criminal of Vigan and Cebu received $2125 per
annum. The president of the audiencia territorial of Manila and the
presidents of the departments of said court and its fiscal received
$25 per annum. The president of the audiencia territorial of Manila had
an additional allowance of $750, and the presidents of the departments
and fiscal of said court had $250 each for entertainment expenses.
At present, justices of the peace in first, second, third, and fourth
class municipalities receive yearly salaries of $480, $420, $360
and $300, respectively. The justice of the peace of Manila receives
$1800. The justices of the peace of Iloilo and Cebu receive $1200 each;
those of the provincial capitals of Albay, Ambos Camarines, Batangas,
Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, Occidental Negros, Pampanga, Pangasinán and
Tayabas, $900 each; those of Cagayan, Capiz, Cavite, Ilocos Norte,
Laguna, Rizal, Samar and Sorsogon, $750 each; those of the remaining
provincial capitals and of any municipalities considered as capitals
of provinces organized under the provincial government act, $600 each.
Every municipality is required to provide the justice of the peace
with an adequate court room and the necessary office furniture, light,
and janitor service. Office supplies, such as stationery, stamps,
printed forms, books, etc., are furnished by the bureau of justice
and paid for from the appropriation for said bureau.
Clerks and other subordinate employees of the courts of first instance
now have regular salaries prescribed by law, and the salaries of
judges are sufficient to allow them to live comfortably and with the
independence and decorum which befit their official positions. Judges
at large and some district judges receive $4500 per annum; other
district judges, $5000 per annum; judges in the city of Manila,
$5500. The judge of the court of land registration receives $5000
and the assistant judges are paid $4000 each with promotion to $4500
after two years of service. The chief justice and associate justices
of the supreme court receive $10,000 each.
THE NON-CHRISTIAN POPULATION
The following table gives the present accepted estimate of the
non-Christian population of the provinces as now organized, together
with the census estimate:--
-------------------+----------+-----------
| | Present
Province or | Census | Accepted
Sub-province | Estimate | Estimate
-------------------+----------+-----------
Abra | 14,037 | 14,037
Agusan | ---- | 85,000
Albay | 892 | 892
Amburayan | ---- | 10,191
Ambos Camarines | 5,933 | 5,933
Apayao | ---- | 20,000
Antique | 2,921 | 2,921
Bataan | 1,621 | 1,621
Batanes | ---- | 000
Batangas | 000 | 000
Benguet | 21,828 | 28,449
Bohol | 000 | 000
Bontoc | ---- | 62,000
Bulacan | 415 | 415
Cagayan | 13,414 | 15,000
Capiz | 5,629 | 5,629
Catanduanes | ---- | 000
Cavite | 000 | 000
Cebu | 000 | 000
Ilocos Norte | 2,210 | 2,210
Ilocos Sur | 13,611 | 13,611
Iloilo | 6,383 | 6,383
Ifugao | ---- | 125,000
Isabela | 7,638 | 7,638
Kalinga | ---- | 76,000
La Laguna | 000 | (?)
La Union | 10,050 | 000
Lepanto | ---- | 31,194
(Lepanto-Bontoc) | 70,283 | ----
Leyte | 000 | 000
Marinduque | 000 | 000
Masbate | 000 | 000
Mindoro | 7,264 | 15,000
Misamis | 40,210 | 000
Moro Province | 316,664 | 486,316
Negros Occidental | 4,612 | 4,612
Negros Oriental | 16,605 | 16,605
Nueva Ecija | 1,148 | 862
Nueva Vizcaya | 46,515 | 6,000
Palawan | 6,844 | 20,000
Pampanga | 1,098 | 1,098
Pangasinán | 3,386 | 3,386
Rizal | 2,421 | 2,421
Romblon | 000 | 50
Samar | 688 | 1,390
Siquijor | ---- | 000
Sorsogon | 41 | 41
Surigao | 15,814 | (?)
Tarlac | 1,594 | 1,594
Tayabas | 2,803 | 2,803
Zambales | 3,168 | 3,168
+----------+-----------
Total | 647,740 | 1,071,832
-------------------+----------+-----------
Certain of the items in this table require brief explanation. In
it the name of each province or sub-province for which the census
estimate has been departed from is italicized.
Agusan. This province did not exist when the census was taken. It
has since been carved out of the territory which formerly belonged
to Surigao and Misamis. The figures given, based largely on actual
enumeration, are approximately correct.
Amburayan. This sub-province formed a part of South Ilocos at the
time of the census enumeration. It does not appear that any account
was taken of its non-Christian population.
Apayao. The territory of this sub-province was a part of the province
of Cagayan at the time of the census enumeration. The estimate is
that of its present lieutenant-governor. Lieutenant-Governor Villamor
estimated its population at 53,000, but this figure was undoubtedly
too high.
Antique. The non-Christian population of this province is probably
given too low by the census, but I have allowed the census figures
to stand.
Batanes. This province did not exist at the time the census was taken.
Benguet. The present figures are based on an accurate enumeration.
Bontoc. The territory included within this sub-province has been
greatly changed since the census was taken. The present figures are
based on a recent enumeration.
Cagayan. The present figures were furnished me by Governor Antonio
Carag on April 16, 1913. They represent only the supposed Negrito
population of the eastern cordillera. There are other non-Christians
in the province, but their number is not known.
Ilocos Norte. The census estimate is undoubtedly too low, but is
nevertheless adopted, in fault of new and more reliable information.
Ifugao. No such political subdivision existed when the census was
taken. This territory then formed a part of Nueva Vizcaya. A recent
fairly accurate enumeration has shown the original estimate of the
population of Nueva Vizcaya to be grossly in error.
Isabela. This province has lost a part of its non-Christian population
to Ifugao and a part to Kalinga. There remain some Kalingas and
numerous Negritos east of the Cagayan River, but I have no reasonably
accurate estimate of their numbers. The figures given are probably
too low.
Kalinga. This sub-province did not exist at the time of the census
enumeration. The figures given are quite accurate.
La Union. This province has lost all of its non-Christian population
by transfer to Benguet and Amburayan.
Lepanto. The figures now given for Lepanto are accurate.
Lepanto-Bontoc. Carried in the first column, but no entry made in
the second because a direct comparison between the territory which
was included in this province and the corresponding portions of the
existing Mountain Province is not practicable.
Mindoro. No accurate count of the Mangyans of Mindoro has ever been
made, but since the census enumeration the island has been crossed
in a number of places and the estimate now given is believed to be
reasonably conservative.
Misamis. This province has lost its non-Christian population to the
sub-province of Bukidnon.
The Moro Province, as at present constituted, corresponds to the former
districts of Basilan, Cotabato, Dapitan, Davao, Joló, Siasi, Tawi Tawi
and Zamboanga, so that a direct comparison between the census estimate
and the present estimate is possible. The figures given were recently
furnished me by the secretary of the province. They are admittedly
inaccurate, but are believed to be approximately correct.
Nueva Ecija. This province has lost its Ilongot population to Nueva
Vizcaya.
Nueva Vizcaya. Nueva Vizcaya has lost its Ifugao population to the
Mountain Province, but has gained those Ilongots formerly credited
to Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinán, the net result being
a heavy loss in non-Christian population.
Palawan. The province of Palawan corresponds closely to the territory
included in Paragua Norte and Paragua Sur at the time of the census
enumeration so that a direct comparison is possible. There was no real
attempt to enumerate the non-Christian inhabitants of this province
for the census. Of Moros alone there are some five thousand. There
are said to be approximately ten thousand Tagbanuas in the country
tributary to the region along the banks of the Iwahig River, which
empties into Coral Bay. It is further claimed that there are some
five thousand more back of Bonabóna Point. This does not take into
account the Tagbanua population on the west coast, nor that of the
other Iwahig valley near Puerto Princesa; nor does it include the
Tagbanuas inhabiting the islands of Dumaran, Dinapahan, Bulalacao,
Peñon de Coron, Culion and Busuanga. I here place the non-Christian
population of the province at twenty thousand, but believe this figure
rather low.
Romblon. There are some fifty non-Christians in this sub-province,
survivors of a much larger number who formerly lived in Tablas and
Sibuyan.
Samar. The figures here given are those of a recent estimate by the
lieutenant-governor of the hill people of that island. Most of the
hill people are rated as Filipinos.
Surigao. Surigao has lost most of its non-Christian population to
the sub-province of Butuan, but still has a considerable number of
Manobos and Negritos and the figures given are far too low.
NOTES
[1] Blair and Robertson, Vol. 45, p. 184.
[2] Ibid., Vol. 45, p. 186.
[3] Ibid., Vol. 45, p. 222.
[4] Blair and Robertson, Vol. 45, p. 175.
[5] Ibid., Vol. 45, pp. 213-265.
[6] Census of the Philippines, Vol. III, pp. 578-590.
[7] Ibid., Vol. III, p. 591.
[8] Ibid., Vol. III, pp. 579-580.
[9] Report of Director of Education, 1911-1912.
[10] Barrios are small outlying villages.
[11] Sleeping mats.
[12] Literally, "little lawyers." This designation is commonly applied
to pettifoggers.
[13] An organization which long vigorously combated the cock-pits,
but failed to bring about their abolition.
[14] A hectare is equivalent to two and a half acres.
[15] End of fiscal year 1913.
[16] A fermented alcoholic beverage made from rice.
[17] Cañao is the word commonly used by the northern Luzón wild men
in designating a feast or ceremony. In Ahayao it is also used as an
adjective to designate a place which may not be approached, being
then equivalent to "taboo."
[18] Lieutenant Gilmore, U.S.N., was captured at Baler in the summer
of 1899, and held a prisoner for many months.
[19] The only tribes of which I have not seen representatives inhabit
the region of the gulf of Davao in Mindanao. It is doubtful whether
they are really tribally distinct from the Bagobos, Bilanes and other
tribes living near the coast.
[20] Equivalent to one dollar.
[21] Nearly all our trails are on steep mountain sides.
[22] An untranslatable term of respect and affection given by the
fighting men of northern Luzón to rulers whom they like.
[23] A designation applied to a political division of less importance
than a province, governed by a military officer.
[24] This statement proved to be untrue. They number about twenty-five
thousand.
[25] Not so serious a matter as it may seem, when houses are made of
grass and can be speedily rebuilt.
[26] Bronze timbrels.
[27] The words ladrones and tulisanes are used indiscriminately in
the Philippines to designate armed robbers and brigands.
[28] A fighting knife of deadly effectiveness.
[29] A governor of a province may, with the approval of the Secretary
of the Interior, require members of a non-Christian tribe to take
up their residence on land reserved for such purpose if he deems
such a course to be in the interest of public order. The object of
this provision is to make it possible to compel lawless persons to
live in reasonably accessible places. In only three instances has
it been necessary to exercise this authority. Tumay and his people
were outlaws and were living in a nipa swamp where it would have been
almost impossible to attack them successfully.
[30] One of the most influential of the Palawan Moro chiefs.
[31] Blount, p. 543.
[32] Ibid., p. 573.
[33] "The Philippine Islands and Their People," by Dean C. Worcester,
p. 480.
[34] Blount, p. 580.
[35] Blount, p. 581.
[36] Blount.
[37] Ibid., pp. 581-582.
[38] Blount, p. 576.
[39] William F. Pack, governor of the Mountain Province.
[40] Blount, p. 577.
[41] Blount, pp. 567-568.
[42] Sub-province of Tayabas.
[43] Exclusive of sub-province of Marinduque.
[44] Page 999.
[45] Blount, pp. 231-232.
[46] Blount, p. 232.
[47] Blount, pp. 583-584.
[48] The Philippine Islands and Their People, by Dean C. Worcester,
p. 481.
[49] See p. 639.
[50] Blount, p. 230.
[51] Men who have taken a solemn oath to die killing Christians.
[52] Blount, p. 584.
[53] Delivered October 10, 1910.
[54] Blount, p. 577.
[55] In Nueva Vizcaya.
[56] Blount, p. 577.
[57] P. I. R., 150. 4.
[58] Ibid.
[59] Page 542.
[60] Evil spirits.
[61] This is only too true!
[62] Rizal's 1890 edition of Morga's "Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas,"
p. 297, et seq.
[63] "Sucesos," p. 300.
[64] Ibid., p. 305.
[65] "The Filipino People," Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 15, September, 1913.
[66] On July 15, 1913, I published an official report, as secretary of
the interior, on "Slavery and Peonage in the Philippine Islands." It is
hereinafter referred to in foot-notes under the title of "Slavery and
Peonage." Beginning on p. 84 of this document will be found extracts
from court records showing convictions obtained under this act,
which is quoted in full on p. 83 of the same document.
[67] For the full text of this interesting and important report see
"Slavery and Peonage," p. 85.
[68] This valley includes the Provinces of Cagayan and Isabela.
[69] For the full text of this document see "Slavery and Peonage,"
pp. 12-14.
[70] 1913.
[71] For the full text of this document see "Slavery and Peonage,"
pp. 23-25.
[72] "Respectfully returned to the Honourable the Governor-General
of the Philippine Islands, with the following opinion:
"The acts given in the attached letter of the Provincial Governor of
Nueva Vizcaya, dated September 14, 1905, in so far as they refer to the
purchase and sale of human beings, are not provided for or punished
under the existing Penal Code; but such actions are punishable under
that Code when they constitute either the kidnapping of a minor,
illegal detention or serious threats, according to sections 481,
484 and 494 thereof.
"Therefore, in accordance with the fourth paragraph of the letter of
the said Provincial Governor, I am of the opinion that not only the
Igorrotes who stole the Igorrote boy, but also those who received
and sold him, as well as the woman who bought him for forty pesos,
are guilty of illegal detention. The latter is furthermore guilty
of grave threats, inasmuch as she threatened to kill the purchased
Igorrote if he tried to escape from her service.
"With reference to paragraphs 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the attached letter,
I believe that those who stole the little Igorrote and also the woman
Antonia, who sold him when knowing him to have been kidnapped, are
guilty of the offence of illegal detention.
"If the boy who was stolen and sold, referred to in paragraphs 9, 10,
11, 12 and 13 of the enclosed letter, was under seven years of age,
then those who stole him are guilty of the offence of kidnapping
a minor, and the Igorrote woman, Antonia, and the wife of Señor
Arriola, the Clerk of the Court, are accomplices in the crime. But
if the child was over seven years old, then the offence would be
illegal detention. The same may be said of the case recounted in
paragraphs 14 and 15 of this communication. The parties who stole,
sold and bought the little Igorrote are guilty of kidnapping a minor
or of illegal detention according to the age of the victim.
"The acts committed by Captain Vicente Tomang, referred to in paragraph
16 of this letter, are punishable both as a serious threat and as
illegal detention, because he unlawfully deprived the two Igorrote
women of their liberty when they desired to leave his service, for
which purpose he threatened to kill them.
"Although not asked for in the indorsement to which this is a reply,
I venture to suggest that the Igorrotes who armed themselves and formed
a band for the purpose of kidnapping persons for subsequent sale, be
punished under Act 1121, which penalizes as bandolerismo the abduction
of persons for any purpose, even though there may be no extortion or
ransom demanded, if the abduction be done by an armed band.
(Signed) "L. R. Wilfley,
"Attorney-General."
[73] Also written "Jamaya."
[74] Republished in "Slavery and Peonage," pp. 37-39.
[75] "Slavery and Peonage," pp. 14-15.
[76] Ibid., p. 21.
[77] Ibid., pp. 23-25.
[78] Ibid., pp. 17-19.
[79] "The Filipino People," Vol. II, No. 1, p. 15, September, 1913.
[80] November 1, 1913.
[81] Speaker of the Assembly.
[82] P. I. R., 206. 1.
[83] Dukut means secret assassination.
[84] "I was informed that some Spanish prisoners have succeeded in
escaping. It is necessary to redouble vigilance upon them, especially
upon the officers of rank and upon the friars, because said prisoners
might be of great use to us later on. They should, however, be
well treated, but without giving them liberty, and confined within
prison walls. If the country requires that they should be killed,
you should do so. If you deem it wise, you should secretly issue
an order to kill the friars that they may capture. They should be
frightened."--P. I. R., 471. 4.
[85] Taylor, Ex. 833. Spanish A. L. S. 32-2.
[86] Taylor, 46 AJ.
[87] Ibid., 15 HS.
[88] "To Chiefs of the Philippine Guerillas:
"The undersigned, Chief of the General Staff in the office of
the Captain General, recommends that all chiefs of guerillas,
provided that, in their judgment, there is no obstacle in the way,
should kindly order their subordinates, down to the lowest, to
learn the verb 'Dukutar,' so as to put it immediately in practice.
"It is the most efficacious specific against every kind of
evil-doer, and most salutary for our country.
"Simeon S. Villa.
"Kagayan Valley, November 15, 1900."
Extract from letter-sent book in Spanish of E. Aguinaldo, captured
with him.--P. I. R., 368-3.
[89] Dukutar means to assassinate.
[90] P. I. R., 1281 and 368. 3.
[91] P. I. R., 1199-1.
[92] "1. The presidentes of all towns who subscribe to and recognize
American sovereignty, shall be pursued by all the revolutionists
without mercy and when captured shall be sent to these Headquarters
for a most summary trial and execution as traitors to the country.
"2. All Filipino citizens, including the wealthy, of the towns,
are subject to the preceding regulation.
"3. It shall be the duty of the revolutionary armies with regard to the
towns which shall recognize or intend to recognize such sovereignty,
to destroy the town or towns and without any consideration whatsoever
to kill all males, even the poorest, and set fire to all the houses,
without respecting any property excepting that of foreigners. And
in order that hereafter such misfortunes may not occur, as chief of
this province, I warn all the presidentes and wealthy people of each
town to help us as Filipinos as we are your brothers fighting here
in the field to give liberty to our mother country and woe to the
traitor who falls into the hands of this revolutionary government,
which will strictly carry out all the prescriptions above-mentioned.
"As the government which the invaders are endeavoring to establish is
always provisional, if all the inhabitants of this province are true
Filipinos, they can easily and simply answer that we are subject to
the will of the Honorable President Señor Emilio Aguinaldo, whom we
follow and recognize in this new born Republic as the President of
the Nation."
[93] Taylor, 80 HS.
[94] "January, 1900.
"To the Local Presidente, Tigbauan (Iloílo).
"It is with profound regret that I have to state to you that in
accordance with reliable information this military delegation has
heard that you and various residents of that town have as electors
already taken an oath recognizing the American sovereignty. If this
news is true, you still have time to retract the oath, as otherwise
we will raze that town to the ground without any hesitation whatever,
and you and your companions who have taken the oath shall be considered
as proscribed, and consequently deserving of the terrible penalties
prescribed by the laws of the revolution. This is not a threat: it
is loyal and sincere advice for your own good and that of the town
in general.
"May God keep you many years.
"Pio Claveria,
"Delegate of the Military Government.
"31st, 1900." --P. I. R., 1054-8.
[95] "April 3, 1900.
"To the local chiefs mentioned in the margin.
"I have heard with great sorrow that some of the towns of the
southern district of this province have taken out the certificates of
citizenship issued by the North American enemy, and have also complied
with all the orders issued by them; this is exactly opposed to the
conduct of the northern district of the province and shows little love
for the country and an implied assent to the Government established
by them, for which reason I see myself obliged to impose the severest
punishment which is a sentence of death and confiscation of property
of all those who shall submit to said Government, from the Chief
and his local Cabinet to the lowest citizen, and annihilating their
towns. For this purpose I have ordered the Commanders of Zones to watch
in their respective districts the towns which may show weakness before
said Government, and to impose the punishment which I have mentioned
above. This circular is to be published three consecutive nights for
general information of all, a report that this has been done being
made to these Headquarters. Send it by the fastest couriers from one
town to the other, the last one returning it with the endorsements
of the preceding ones.
"Headquarters of Tierra Alta, April 3, 1900.
"Leandro Fullón,
"General and P. M. Governor."
--P. I. R., 1047. 2.
[96] P. I. R., 1047. 2.
[97] Ibid., 824. 1.
[98] Ibid., 1204. 3.
[99] P. I. R., 981. 5.
[100] "You and Captain Antonio must take the field this week without
any pretext whatsoever, and must follow out my instructions very
carefully. We have had patience enough, and now it becomes necessary
for us to assert our authority.
"It is advisable to punish by decapitation all those who go with the
Americans; but it is necessary first to ascertain the existence of the
crime, and if it should appear that they are real spies of the enemy,
they must be beheaded immediately without any pretext whatsoever
against it (being accepted).
"You, Captain Antonio and Judge Cornello must perfectly understand what
this order says: when the wealthy are Americanistas, you must seize all
their money, clothing and other property belonging to them, immediately
making an inventory of the property seized, and you may remain in the
place where the seizure is made as long as may be necessary to make
said inventory, even though a great amount is spent for maintenance.
"Know furthermore that if the soldiers take any of the property
seized, they will speedily be put to death and will surely go to hell;
therefore when it becomes necessary to enter a town to make a seizure,
you must direct the soldiers not to touch the goods seized, even the
most insignificant, in order to avoid consequence of character.
"I have heard, Rufo, that Judge Cornello is opposed to your
father-in-law, and I want you to know that Judge Cornello is of my
blood; therefore, tell your father-in-law to be very careful because
he will have me to treat with shortly, and will be made to pay for
those threats which he is making against the people without good cause.
"You will publish this order in the town hall, in order that the
evil-minded may see it.
"You, Captain Antonio and Judge Cornello, who are the three comrades
who are to take the field, will acquire some happiness if you comply
with this order.
"Health and Fraternity.
"Dionisio Papa.
"Calibon, May 19, 1900."
--P. I. R., 970. 4.
[101] "Make it evident in that circular that the towns which do not
rise up in arms on the day fixed, shall be reduced to ashes and all
their inhabitants killed, men and women, children and old people.
"The circular is to emanate from me, and you will sign it only by
my order.
"Communicate also to the presidents of Cagayán and other towns that
they collect the taxes of their respective towns, as soon as possible;
and a president who shall not have collected the taxes on my arrival in
the respective town, shall be hung without any hesitation whatsoever.
"I desire that the Presidents meet there soon and await my arrival."
--P. I. R., 970. 5.
[102] P. I. R., 1102. 7.
[103] Ibid., 970. 11.
[104] "March 20, 1900.
"Manuel Tinio y Bubdloc,
"Brigadier General and Commander in Chief of operations in the region
of Ilocos.
"Considering that a sufficient time has passed and various means of
having been employed as benignant as humanity counsels, to inculcate in
the minds of many misguided Filipinos the idea of the country and to
check in the beginning those unworthy acts which many of them commit,
and which not only redound to the prejudice of the troops but also
to the cause they defend, and having observed that such action does
not produce any favourable result on this date, in accordance with
the powers vested in me, I have deemed proper to issue the following:--
"PROCLAMATION
"First and last article. The following shall be tried at a most
summary trial, and be sentenced to death:
"1. All local presidentes and other civil authorities, of the
towns as well as of the barrios, rancherias and sitios of their
respective districts, who as soon as they find out any plan,
direction of the movement or number of the enemy shall not give
notice thereof to the nearest camp.
"2. Those who give information to the enemy of the location
of the camp, stopping places, movements and direction of the
revolutionists, whatever be the age or sex of the former.
"3. Those who voluntarily offer to serve the enemy as guides,
excepting if it be with the purpose of misleading them from the
right road, and
"4. Those who, of their own free will or otherwise, capture
revolutionary soldiers who are alone, or who should intimidate
them into surrendering to the enemy.
"Issued at General Headquarters on March 20, 1900.
(Signed) "Manuel Tinio."
--P. I. R., 353. 8.
[105] Guardias de Honor.
[106] "So then dear brothers, be like those of Bacnotan who have not
allowed their honour to be sullied, for when they saw the Guards
of Honour enter their town they drove them off at once with blows
[of bolos?--Tr.] and cudgels and to the end that you may not have
cause to repent of what without doubt I shall be obliged to do,
comply with this order, listen to the following:
"First. Whenever the Presidente of the town, Cabezas and Cabezillas
of barrios shall have knowledge of the presence in their barrios
of Guards of Honour, be they many or few, and do not cause their
disappearance or death, they will be immediately shot or beheaded.
"Second. Every barrio or residence of the Guards of Honour where
they are going about persuading the inhabitants to follow them in
their noxious work--that we may be slaves forever--will be burned
and all their property together with their houses; and their sons,
their fathers, mothers and their wives will be shot or beheaded to
pay for their treason.
"Third and last. All the grown men in the barrios, territorial
militiamen or those called 'sandatahan' (bolomen), corporals, sergeants
and privates, and everybody who is a Filipino will go immediately
to help in the fight against the Guards of Honour and our enemy,
the Americans; and those who pay no heed to this or hide themselves
will incur the penalty of being shot or beheaded.
"This proclamation will be read in the barrios and will be passed
from hand to hand so that it may be copied to the end that nobody
may have an excuse when the time comes to put into execution what
has been set forth."--P. I. R., 168. 9.
[107] Taylor, Exhibit 1083.
[108] P. I. R., 509. 2.
[109] "September 11, 1900.
"To the local Presidents of Malolos, Bulacan, Guiguinto, Bigaa,
Bocaue, Marilao, Meycauayan, Polo, Obando, Santa Maria, San José,
Angat, Norzagaray, Bustos, San Rafael, Baliuag, Pulilan, Quingua,
Santa Isabel, Barasoain, Paombong, Hagonoy, Calumpit, and the military
commanders Pablo Tecson, Bonifacio Morales, Maximo Angeles and Colonel
Simon Tecson Libuano, Colonel Rosendo Simon, and also Major Dongon.
"Circular
"As the American Civil Commission has taken charge of the
government of the archipelago from the first of the present month
and from that date will proceed to establish municipal government
in the pueblos to take the place of the municipal councils which
at present rule them; in order to duly execute the orders of
the Commanding General of the Centre of Luzon, I give you the
following instructions:--
"1st. You will arrest and send to these headquarters with the
proper precautions to prevent escape, all inhabitants of these
pueblos who accept offices in the municipal governments about
to be established by the Americans, as they have been declared
traitors to the country by the order I have referred to as issued
by these headquarters.
"2d. You will employ the same method of procedure with those
who favour the establishment of municipal government by the
Americans. You will not show them the slightest consideration, even
if they are your brothers. You are responsible under the severest
penalties for the performance of this. God keep you many years.
"Malolos, September 11, 1900.
"I. Torres,
General."
--P. I. R., Books C-3.
[110] P. I. R., 341. 9.
[111] "Two weeks ago a court-martial was held at these headquarters
presided over by Colonel Aréjola, on you, Tuason, and other civil
authorities of this capital, the decision being that you will be shot
when we get there, which will be very soon.
"You as well as Tuason and Santachia, after having been shot, will
be hung on the cathedral tower to be seen by the inhabitants in order
that you may serve as a lesson.... I tell you this only as a companion
and nothing more. Your obedient servant, who kisses your hand.
"El Montero."
--P. I. R., 2007. 1.
[112] P. I. R., 716. 2.
[113] P. I. R., 716. 5.
[114] Taylor, 35 HS.
[115] P. I. R., 650. 8.
[116] "PROCLAMATIONS
"March 3, 1899.
"For general information, since it concerns everybody, we publish the
two important proclamations lately issued by the Chief of Military
Operations of Manila.
"Antonio Luna y Novicio, General of Division of the Army of the
Philippine Republic and General-in-Chief of Military Operations
about Manila.
"In order to prevent any act opposed to the military plans of these
headquarters and consequently to the ideals of the Filipino Republic,
I order and command (only one article). From this day any person or
individual whatever who either directly or indirectly refuses to
give aid to these Headquarters in the prosecution of any military
plans, or who in any manner whatever interferes with the execution
of orders dictated for that purpose by the General in Chief,
commanding operations upon Manila will be immediately shot without
trial. Communicate and publish this order.
"Given at the General Headquarters of Polo on the 3rd of March, 1899.
"Antonio Luna,
"General-in-Chief of Operations."
--P. I. R., 214-2.
[117] That is, Luna.
[118] "March 6, 1899.
"Señor Presidente: Many complaints have been received here on account
of the abuses committed by General Luna. It is said that he has
lately published a decree in which he warned the people that those
who disobey his orders shall be shot to death without summary trial,
and he made his decree cover the whole province of Pampanga.
"To be shot to death without summary trial is a punishment which can
be inflicted on soldiers; but a chief cannot enforce it in a civilized
community, except among savages. Besides, he has only jurisdiction
over Polo, where the General Headquarters is, and over the towns of
the zones of Manila.
"I am very much surprised that these things are not well understood
by General Luna. He has no executive power over Bulacán and Pampanga;
he must have issued his orders through the military chiefs thereof.
"During such time as he is the commander-in-chief of operations of
Manila he is not the director of war, and even if he is, he has no
power other than to conduct his office and to take the place of the
secretary in his absence.
"If an educated man can hardly understand his duties, how will the
uneducated one understand his?
"Please make him acquainted with all of this in order to prevent
any encroachment.
"I am at your orders.
(Signed) "Ap. Mabini.
"P.S.--It would be better, I think, to remove him from his post.
"A. M."
--P. I. R., 512a-2.
[119] "April 6, 1901.
"Cailles Brigade. Flying column of Rizal and Nagcarlan.
"In conjunction with Captain Macario Dorado, I believed it my duty to
attack the town of Nagcarlan, for the principal purpose of killing
the American local presidente, as was done during the procession
last Holy Thursday. The Presidente was killed and one of his sons,
and two residents were wounded, probably by stray bullets, while
taking part in the procession.
"Which I have the honor to communicate to you for your information
and consequent effects.
"God preserve you many years.
"Nagcarlan, April 6, 1901."
(Illegible signature.)
"To the General in Chief and Superior Politico-Military Commander of
This Province."--P. I. R., 1142. 8.
[120] The Insurgent leaders did not hesitate officially to report
the commission of this ghastly crime. The following is such a report:--
"June 24, 1900.
In Margin, stamp: "Headquarters First Column, Laguna. No. 144.
"I have the honor to transmit to you the enclosed letter from a
resident of the town of Pila who had just returned from Manila, in
which he gives me news of our present political situation, and as
such news are satisfactory to our cause I send you said letter for
your information.
"It is known from very trustworthy information that General del Pilar
is under arrest in Manila and he has been substituted in the command
of his forces by Colonel Macanca, who was his second in command,
and is at the present time repressing with a firm hand the bandits
who swarm about the outskirts of the zone under his command, as one
of the celebrated bandits named Major Eusebio de Rateros, who had
previously been in Pagsanján was buried alive in the cemetery of
Taguig by Captain Simplicio Tolentino who is at the present time a
member of that brigade.
"The news is also confirmed of the execution of Major Espada ordered
by General del Pilar. I send you this news for your information.
"God preserve you many years.
"Headquarters, June 24, 1900.
--P. I. R., 605. 4.
"Julio Herrera,
"Lieutenant Colonel, Commanding 4th Column.
"To the General and Politico-Military Commander and of Operations of
This Province, General Camp."--P. I. R., 605. 4.
[121] "A commissioner of the Katipúnan society at Ibung, Nueva Vizcaya
Province, compelled the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance
to that organization, and issued orders that all who should refuse
to follow the dictates of the same should suffer death; and, in
pursuance of such orders, was proved to have had, in February, 1901,
two men beaten to death, one man buried alive, and two women burnt
alive."--Taylor, 38 HS.
[122] At the time of this event he was a judge of first instance.
[123] Taylor, 35-36 HS.
[124] P. I. R., 653. 10.
[125] P. I. R., 332. 9.
[126] Ibid., Books A-1.
[127] Blount, p. 203.
[128] Ibid.
[129] Ibid., p. 244.
[130] "June 5, 1900.
"Sr. Local Presidente of Katibug:
"I send you a little of the poison known as 'dita' that you may
put it on the points of the 'balatik' and 'sura' (spears and traps)
admonishing you to take care that none of our people are wounded with
the said poison, and if by misfortune any one is wounded, immediately
apply the stem of the 'Badian' mixed with that of the 'lingaton' in
the wound, as this is the most efficacious means of neutralizing and
removing the effect of said poison. Be active and place many of the
spears, etc., in all the roads and trails where the enemy must pass,
and as soon as you know of his next expedition, inform me immediately
by despatch, both by day and night.
"It is very necessary that the people detailed to place the poison on
the points carry always the 'badian' and 'lingaton' so that in case
of mishap some one may apply the remedy to neutralize the destructive
ingredients of the poison at once.
"Headquarters of Matuguinao, 5th of June, 1900.
(Signed) "Lukban, General.
(Seal) "Military Headquarters of Samar."--P. I. R., 502. 7.
[131] P. I. R., 2035. 3.
[132] The following issued by Col. R. F. Santos in Albay Province is
a sample:--
"October 14, 1900.
"In view of the present exceptional state of affairs in our beloved
mother country, the Philippines, considering the straits we are in,
and in compliance with the order of the General of Division and Chief
of Operations for his campaign plans, I trust that upon receipt of the
present communication you will kindly order the captains of territorial
militia of that barrio, Apud, Pantao and Macabugos, to have all the
soldiers of their respective companies provide themselves with at least
fifty arrows apiece and a sufficient quantity of the well-known poison
called dita to apply to the points of the arrows, and to have their
bolos well sharpened. I must remind you that as repeated practice
is essential in order to secure the best results in the use of these
weapons, you will endeavour to have at least twice a week, according
to the convenience of the residents, said exercises take place in
secluded spots, far from all danger of being surprised by the enemy.
"For the purpose indicated above you will likewise order that all
the residents of your respective barrios have ready in a safe place
a supply of the fruit commonly called Ydioc, putting it in water to
decay, and to also have in readiness a squirt gun, that is to say,
a 'Sumpit,' in order to use it in case of any invasion or attack of
the enemy."--P. I. R., Books B, No. 113.
[133] The following is a sample report:--
"February 4, 1900.
"Lieutenant-colonel C. Tinio:
"My Dear and Esteemed Uncle:
"I am now carrying out a scheme here in this town for the purpose of
killing some American sentries, whose bodies will be buried in the
woods near the town, where they cannot be traced and found by their
comrades, in order to avoid any investigation by them. They will
believe that these soldiers have deserted. I have just sent to Gerona
for a supply of wine, which, mixed with a strong, sickening stuff,
will be sold to them; once they drink of it, the effect will soon
tell on them, and then we will seize their rifles.
"I feel that I should advise you of this matter, in order that you
may know the reason if, perchance, it should happen that we lose
the confidence of the inhabitants of the town on account of this
scheme. However, we will be satisfied if we can seize some rifles
without resorting to violent means or to a scandal.
"This is the purpose of your devoted nephew, who always prays God
for your health and life, and who sends you his kindest regards.
"San Juan (Tarlac Province?), February 4, 1900.
(Signed) "Leoncio Alarilla,
"Captain of Guerillas."
--P. I. R., 480. 5.
[134] The following is a sample report. It will be noted that its
author was a civilian, not a soldier:--
"January 19, 1900.
"Sr. Lieut. Col. A. Tecson:
"With due respect I address you to inform you that yesterday at 10
A.M., I was in the barrio of Bagonbaulat and I saw one of the enemy's
soldiers who was lagging behind his companions, and what I did was to
order the man in charge of that place and three men to be called whom I
ordered to capture the said soldier, and when a prisoner I ordered him
to be led to the woods and there they killed him and buried the body;
the rifle he carried and ninety cartridges I left with the people and
continued my march to San Isidro; on my return when I was to get the
rifle mentioned I could not find it and they told me they had sent
it to Major Manolo. I inform you of this in compliance with the order.
"God guard you many years.
"Entablado, 19th January, 1900.
(Signed) "Roman I. Torres,
"Commissioner."
--P. I. R., 573. 2.
[135] "At page 1890 of the same volume, Captain J. R. M. Taylor,
14th U. S. Infantry, a gallant soldier and an accomplished scholar,
who was in charge in 1901 of the captured insurgent records at Manila,
states that he was 'informed' that the document was originally 'signed
by Sandico, then Secretary of the Interior' of the revolutionary
government. Captain Taylor made an attempt to run the matter down,
but obtained no evidence convincing to him. A like investigation by
General MacArthur in 1901 had a like result."--Blount, p. 200.
[136] "Luna's Order:
"'Malolos, February 7, 1899.
"'To The Field Officers of the Territorial Militia:
"'By virtue of the barbarous attack made upon our army on the
fourth day of February without this being preceded by any strained
relations whatever between the two armies, it is necessary for
the Filipinos to show that they know how to avenge themselves of
treachery and deceit of those who, working upon our friendship,
now seek to enslave us.
"'In order to carry out the complete destruction of that accursed
army of drunkards and thieves, it is indispensable that we all
work in unison, and that orders issued from this war office be
faithfully carried out.
"'As soon as you receive this circular, measures will be taken
for strict compliance with the following orders:
"'(1) Such measures will be taken that at 8 o'clock at night the
members of the territorial militia under orders will be ready to
go into the street with their arms and ammunition to occupy San
Pedro street and such cross streets as open into it.
"'(2) The defenders of the Philippines under your orders will
attack the Zorilla barracks and the Bilibid guard, and liberate
all the prisoners, arming them in the most practical manner in
order that they may aid their brethren and work out our revenge;
to this end the following address shall be made to them:
"'Brethren: The Americans have insulted us and we must revenge
ourselves upon them by annihilating them.
"'This is the only means for obtaining justice, for the many
outrages and infamies of which we have been the object. All the
Filipinos in Manila will second us. May the blood of the traitors
run in torrents! Long live the independence of the Philippines!
"'(3) The servants of the houses occupied by the Americans and
Spaniards shall burn the buildings in which their masters live
in such a manner that the conflagration shall be simultaneous in
all part of the city.
"'The signals for carrying this into effect--shall be to send
up two red paper balloons and the firing of rockets with lights
and firecrackers.
"'(4) The lives of the Filipinos only shall be respected, and
they shall not be molested, with the exception of those who have
been pointed out as traitors.
"'All others of whatsoever race they may be shall be given
no quarter and shall be exterminated, thus proving to foreign
countries that America is not capable of maintaining order or
defending any of the interests which she has undertaken to defend.
"'(5) The sharpshooters of Tondo and Santa Ana shall be the
first to open fire and those on the outside of the Manila lines
shall second their attack, and thus the American forces will find
themselves between two fires. The militia of Trozo, Binondo, Kyapo
(Quiapo), and Sampalok shall follow up the attack. All must go
into the streets and perform their duties.
"'The militiamen of Paco, Ermita, Malate, Santa Cruz, and San
Miguel shall attack when firing has become general everywhere,
which will be approximately about 12 o'clock at night; but if they
see that their comrades are in danger before that time they shall
give them the proper assistance and go into the streets whenever
it becomes necessary.
"'The Spanish militia enlisted as volunteers in our army shall
go out at 3 o'clock in the morning and attack Fort Santiago.
"'Brethren, the country is in danger and we must rise to save
it. Europe sees that we are feeble, but we will demonstrate that
we know how to do as should be done, shedding our blood for the
salvation of our outraged country. Death to the tyrant! War without
quarter to the false Americans who wish to enslave us! Independence
or death!
"'A. Luna.
"'Malolos, February 7, 1899.
"'Colonel José: By order of General Luna, have several copies of
this made, in order that these instructions may be communicated
to all.'"--Senate Document 331, part 2, p. 1912, Fifty-seventh
Congress, First Session.
[137] Major F. S. Bourns.
[138] Dr. Manuel Xerez Burgos.
[139] This is the "note by compiler on exhibit 816," which is Luna's
order.
[140] Taylor, 96 FZ.
[141] Taylor, 99 FZ.
[142] Ibid., 44 HS.
[143] Blount, p. 313.
[144] Taylor, 70 HS.
[145] "In December, 1900, the people of the town of Santa Cruz, Ilocos
Sur, seized the guerilla commander of the town because he had raped
some women, and then burnt their acts of adhesion to the insurgent
government. They declared themselves adherents of the Americans,
proceeded to give them all possible aid and assistance, and captured
and delivered to them all the guerillas who dared enter the place
(P. I. R., Books C-13)."--Taylor, 45 HS.
[146] P. I. R., Books A-9, No. 39.
[147] Taylor, 37 HS.
[148] Taylor, 28-29 HS.
[149] The essential part of the resolution reads as follows:--
"Whereas since the completion and publication of said census there
have been no serious disturbances of the public order save and except
those caused by the noted outlaws and bandit chieftains Felizardo
and Montalón, and their followers in the Provinces of Cavite and
Batangas, and those caused in the Provinces of Samar and Leyte by
the non-Christian and fanatical pulajanes resident in the mountain
districts of the said provinces and the barrios contiguous thereto; and
"Whereas the overwhelming majority of the people of the said Provinces
of Cavite, Batangas, Samar, and Leyte have not taken part in said
disturbances and have not aided nor abetted the lawless acts of said
bandits and pulajanes; and
"Whereas the great mass and body of the Filipino people have, during
said period of two years, continued to be law-abiding, peaceful,
and loyal to the United States, and have continued to recognize and
do now recognize the authority and sovereignty of the United States
in the territory of said Philippine Islands: Now, therefore, be it
"Resolved by the Philippine Commission in formal session duly
assembled, That it, said Philippine Commission, do certify, and it
does hereby certify, to the President of the United States that for
a period of two years after the completion and publication of the
census a condition of general and complete peace, with recognition of
the authority of the United States, has continued to exist and now
exists in the territory of said Philippine Islands not inhabited by
Moros or other non-Christian tribes; and be it further
"Resolved by said Philippine Commission, That the President of the
United States be requested, and is hereby requested, to direct said
Philippine Commission to call a general election for the choice of
delegates to a popular assembly of the people of said territory in the
Philippine Islands, which assembly shall be known as the Philippine
Assembly."--Journal of the Commission, Vol. I, pp. 8-9.
[150] A designation applied by the Spaniards to people who had taken
to the hills to avoid paying taxes or to escape abuses, or punishment
for crimes.
[151] A Tagálog designation applied to the common people, and
especially to field labourers.
[152] See p. 699 et seq.
[153] Mabini's "True Decalogue," published as a part of his
constitutional programme for the Philippine Republic (P. I. R.,
40. 10) contains the following among other remarkable provisions:--
"Elementary instructions shall comprise reading, speaking and
writing correctly the official language which is Tagálog, and the
rudimentary principles of English and of the exact physical and
natural sciences, together with a slight knowledge of the duties of
man and citizenship."--Taylor, 19 MG.
Also the following:--
"Whenever the English language is sufficiently diffused through
the whole Philippine Archipelago it shall be declared the official
language."--Taylor, 20 MG.
Of this language matter Taylor says:--
"Mabini's plan of having English the language of the state is odd. He
wanted independence and he wanted the recognition of the right and of
the ability of the natives to govern themselves; and yet he wanted them
to adopt a foreign language. By the time this pamphlet was published,
or shortly afterwards, Tagálog had been tried and found wanting. The
people of the non-Tagálog provinces did not know it and showed no
desire to learn it, and indeed protested against its use. Spanish,
and all things Spanish, Mabini was weary of, and would sweep them
all away. Yet, when he wrote this he did not know English."
[154] Brigandage.
[155] 8-3/4 miles.
[156] Lady of the night.
[157] Carabao is the Filipino name for water buffalo.
[158] Of the endless cases which might be given I cite the following
as a fair sample:--
"Personally appeared before me the undersigned ----, this 24th day
of July, 1913, W. A. Northrop, who first being duly sworn, deposes
and says:--
"'1. That he is a duly appointed Public Land Inspector of the Bureau
of Lands of the Government of the Philippine Islands and that acting
in such capacity on the 3d day of June, 1913, he visited the sitio of
Buyon, barrio of Maddelaro, Municipality of Camalaniugan, province of
Cagayan and there investigated the complaint of homestead entrymen
Pascual Valdez and Tomas Valdez whose applications for land in the
said sitio of Buyon under provision of Act No. 926 as amended had
been entered by the Director of Lands under No. 9253 and No. 9254
respectively, that they were prevented from occupying said homesteads
and deriving the benefits therefrom by certain persons living in the
barrio of Maddelaro:
"'2. That while so investigating the claim of the said entrymen and
their opponents he was told by Placido Rosal, one of the opponents to
the homestead entrys, that "it was immaterial to him what decision was
made by the Director of Lands concerning the land as, if he (Rosal)
lost the land he and others would burn the houses of the entrymen and
if necessary kill them"; this in the Spanish language with which he
is familiar.
"'3. That at that time he was accompanied by Mr. Blas Talosig of the
barrio of Buyag, who was acting as his interpreter in speaking in the
Iloco language and that these threats were made in his hearing and that
he, W. A. Northrop, was informed by said interpreter that he not only
heard them but that he heard similar threats made in the Iloco language
by various other persons, henchmen of Placido Rosal and his family.
"'4. That on the 9th day of June, 1913, said entrymen came to him
in the City of Aparri and reported that on the night on the 7th day
of June the granary of Eduardo Baclig, resident in the said sitio
of Buyon and a son-in-law of Tomas Valdez had been burned and an
attempt made to burn his house and that while the entrymen were not
in position to prove that said Placido Rosal or his henchmen had
started the fires they were sure they were of incendiary origin, as
due to the direction of the wind the fires could not have originated
from sparks from kitchen fires.'
"Further deponent sayeth not.
(Signed) "W. A. Northrop.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 24th day of July, 1913, in
Tuguegarao, Cagayan, Philippine Islands, the affiant first having
exhibited his cedula, No. 1516, issued in Manila, January 3, 1913.
(Signed) "Primitivo Villanueva
"Notario Publico,
"Mi nombramiento expira el
"31 de Diciembre de 1913."
"Extract from a report of H. O. Bauman, chief of Bureau of Lands
survey party No. 27. Report dated June 30, 1913:
"In 1905 the applicant (Fernando Asirit) entered an application for
homestead and proceeded to clear the remainder of the land not already
cleared. Sometime during the following year or two, this Catalino
Sagon began to clear a piece of land included in the homestead
application. When Fernando Asirit saw the man cleaning the land, he
told the man that that particular land was included in the homestead
and that the work he was doing was useless. Catalino admitted this to
me personally. However, the applicant to show his good faith, paid
Catalino a sum of ten pesos for the small area that he had cleaned
and took a receipt therefor and Catalino left the land. Now when the
private surveyor came in 1910, this Catalino appears and claims this
land despite the fact that he never cultivated nor occupied the land
and that he received payment in full for the work that he had done
in clearing an acre of the land. When the land was surveyed in 1910,
Catalino at the request of a politician of Ilagan, made a protest
against the land and between the two they frightened the applicant
into letting this Catalino have possession of the land. Since 1910,
Catalino has not cultivated the land but loaned it out to another
person, Frederico Mayer by name. Personally, Catalino did not ever
cultivate or live on the land. The politician who has been stirring
up this trouble is Gabriel Maramag, third member of the Provincial
board. The applicant is an old man seventy years old and this Maramag
had the old man fined P125.80 for refusing to let these two have his
land. They also told him that if he persisted in refusing to let them
have the land, they would fine him P500. As the old man has no such
amount and being thoroughly bulldozed by these cheap politicians,
he had no other course to pursue. The co-partner of the third member
is the Sheriff Joaquin Ortega against whom the people are very bitter
on account of his shady dealings. It might be noted here that these
men are under investigation by the Constabulary now for accepting
money illegally. Furthermore this Maramag has the plans of the land
of a great many men in his house and thus has a hold on them and they
cannot do anything without his consent."
[159] The best evidence of what the average Filipino cultivates is
found in the free patents. Of the 15,885 free patents applied for
the average area is declared to be 7-3/4 acres; 4,025 Free Patents
have been actually surveyed; their average area is only 5 acres.
[160] Frequently and wrongly called rosewood.
[161] Damar.
[162] An extensive open region covered with cógon is called a cogonál.
[163] First year for which statistics are available.
[164] Twice the actual figures for the first half of the year:
$3,942,647; $194,296; $123,339.
[165] First year after Payne Tariff Bill took effect.
[166] On March 1, 1913.
[167] On January 1, 1913; increase of six months only.
[168] Only railroad line in operation prior to 1907 was 122 miles of
the main line of the Manila Railroad Company.
[169] First year of operation.
[170] On February 1, 1913; increase of six months only.
[171] The Philippine Railway Company has recently changed its
accounting from the basis of the Government fiscal year (beginning
July 1) to a calendar year basis. Figures are not therefore available
for a complete twelve months subsequent to June 30, 1912. The figure
for the first year on the new basis (ending December 31, 1912, and
duplicating part of the last amount given above) is $376,512.
[172] No accurate statistics before 1907 and 1910, respectively.
[173] Increase due to change in definition.
[174] On January 1, 1913.
[175] Increase of six months only.
[176] No accurate statistics before 1907.
[177] Literally "disillusion."
[178] Oct. 1, 1913.
[179] "Of course, the writer did not mention that Manila is an
out-of-the-way place, so far as regards the main-travelled routes
across the Pacific Ocean, and also forgot that, as has been suggested
once before, the carrying trade of the world, and the shippers on which
it depends, in the contest of the nations for the markets of Asia,
would never take to the practice of unloading at Manila by way of
rehearsal, before finally discharging cargo on the mainland of Asia,
where the name of the Ultimate Consumer is legion."--Blount, p. 49.
[180] "... Manila, being quite away from the mainland of Asia,
could never supersede Hongkong as the gateway to the markets of Asia,
since neither shippers nor the carrying trade of the world will ever
see their way to unload cargo at Manila by way of rehearsal before
unloading on the mainland;..."--Blount, p. 44.
[181] Unhusked rice.
[182] There were also exported 423,877 pounds of cuttings, clippings
and waste during 1910, and 914,630 pounds of the same materials
during 1912.
[183] Made of Manila hemp, and used for sewing into hats.
[184] Blount, p. 571.
[185] First year for which statistics are available.
[186] Twelve-sevenths of the actual figures for the first seven months
of the year: $15,320,794; $13,751,421; $29,072,215.
[187] Estimate based on collections to March, 1913.
[188] Estimate made pro rata on the basis of the figures for the
first seven months.
[189] "It is precisely these Americans, and their business associates
in the United States, who have gotten through Congress the legislation
which enables them to give the Filipino just half of what he got ten
years ago for his hemp, and other like legislation, and the Filipinos
know it."--Blount, p. 118.
Also the following:--
"Apparently, Messrs. Roosevelt and Taft thought, in 1907, that
granting the Filipinos a little debating society solemnly called
a legislative body, but wholly without any real power, was ample
compensation for deserted tobacco and cane plantations, and for
the price of hemp being beaten down below the cost of production by
manipulation through an Act of Congress passed for the benefit of
American hemp manufacturers. If we had had a Cleveland in the White
House about that time, he would have written an essay on taxation
without representation, with the hemp infamy of this Philippine Tariff
Act of 1902 as a text, and sent it to Congress as a message demanding
the repeal of the Act. But the good-will of the Hemp Trust is an asset
for the policy of Benevolent Assimilation. The Filipino cannot vote,
and the cordage manufacturer in the United States can. No conceivable
state of economic desolation to which we might reduce the people
of the Philippine Islands being other than a blessing in disguise
compared with permitting them to attend to their own affairs after
their own quaint and mutually considerate fashion, the Hemp Trust's
rope, tied into a slip-knot by the Act of 1902, must not be removed
from their throats. By judicious manipulation of sufficient hemp rope,
you can corral much support for Benevolent Assimilation. Therefore,
to this good hour, the substance of the hemp part of the Philippine
Tariff Act of March 8, 1902, remains upon the statute books of the
United States, to the shame of the nation."--Blount, pp. 614-615.
[190] First year of operation.
[191] On December 31, 1912; increase of six months only.
[192] Twelve-sevenths of the actual figure for the first seven months
of the year: 736,246 tons.
[193] The figures for coal importations are exclusive of the quantities
imported from the United States by the federal government. These
are excluded because they have been for the most part made in large
quantities in alternate years, and would, therefore, while considerably
increasing the average total amounts imported, give a false idea of
the rate of increase of the more strictly domestic consumption.
[194] Twice the actual figure for the first half of the year:
204,094 tons.
[195] There were several different plans for the confiscation of the
friar lands. The following shows the action taken in one instance,
relative to the property of Spanish prisoners:--
"On February 2, 1899, the secretary of the treasury informed the
governor of the province of Isabela that the property of all Spanish
prisoners should be confiscated as booty of war."--P. I. R., 1302. 6.
[196] The following telegram was sent to the cabinet by the director
of diplomacy, Manila:--
"December 21, 1898, P.M.
"Missed the train on account of government business. Beg of you to
pardon my absence, and bear in mind my suggestion to look up an easy
method of abolishing the law imposing a tax of 100 to 5000 pesos
on foreigners, as not only unjust but impolitic at this time, when
we seek the sympathy of the powers. I represent to the cabinet that
such step is very urgent, because I have ascertained that members of
the chamber of commerce have reported this tax to their respective
governments in order to formulate a protest."--P. I. R., 849.
[197] This name is properly applicable to the civilized peoples only.
[198] P. I. R., 1097. 2.
[199] Ibid., 1157. 8.
[200] Ibid., 1018. 1.
[201] Title X.--Of Public Instruction.
124....
Elementary instruction shall comprise reading, speaking and
writing correctly the official language which is Tagálog, and the
rudimentary principles of English and of the exact, physical and
natural sciences, together with a slight knowledge of the duties of
man and citizen.--Taylor, 19 MG.
[202] "The Mastery of the Pacific," p. 122, A. R. Colquhoun, Macmillan,
1902.
[203] In this connection Bishop Brent has said, "The recognized
leaders in the Philippines to-day, so far as racial qualifications are
concerned, would have at least equal right to claim citizenship in
Spain, China or England. Thus far, it is the men of mixed blood who
are the politicians. The degree of capacity in the Filipino will not
be revealed until the schoolboys of to-day are in active public life."
[204] Literally, "Filipinos of face and heart." The expression means
Filipinos in appearance and in sympathies.
[205] "But there is no doubt that many of the Filipinos after all have
a very warm place in their hearts for the Spanish people. How could it
be otherwise when so many of the Filipinos are sons and grandsons of
Spaniards? Much of like and dislike in life's journey is determined
prenatally. On the other hand, the American women in the Philippines
maintain an attitude toward the natives quite like that of their
British sisters in Hongkong toward the Chinese, and in Calcutta toward
the natives there. The social status of an American woman who marries
a native--I myself have never heard of but one case--is like that
of a Pacific coast girl who marries a Jap.... But look at the other
side of the picture. When an American man marries a native woman,
he thereafter finds himself more in touch with his native 'in-laws'
it is true, but correspondingly, and ever increasingly out of touch
with his former associations. This is not as it should be. But it is a
most unpleasant and inexorable fact of the present situation."--Blount,
pp. 554-555.
[206] "We should either stop the clamour or stop the American capital
and energy from going to the Islands. After an American goes out to the
Islands, invests his money there, and casts his fortunes there, unless
he is a renegade, he sticks to his own people out there. Then the Taft
policy steps in and bullyrags him into what he calls 'knuckling to
the Filipinos,' every time he shows any contumacious dissent from the
Taft decision reversing the verdict of all racial history--which has
been up to date, that wheresoever white men dwell in any considerable
numbers in the same country with Asiatics or Africans, the white man
will rule."--Blount, pp. 438-439.
[207] Blount, p. 105.
[208] Written September 15, 1913.
[209] The editor of an American newspaper published at Zamboanga has
accurately described the attitude of the native press as follows:--
"We have often referred to the great opportunity prevailing for the
native press of the Philippines to aid the material and political
uplift of the inhabitants. Conditions of race and dialect naturally
conduce to facilitate this work for the native journalist. With few
exceptions, however, the native press has persistently obstructed
every effort toward general amelioration of the condition of the
masses. Conspicuous efficiency in good government has furnished a
target for its denunciation. Truth has been garbled, motives maligned,
race hatred kindled, falsehood fabricated and sedition practised,
encouraged and lauded. The public school system, the intrinsic
foundation to free institutions, instituted under the military régime
and constantly expanded under the civil régime, has been interpreted
by the native press as a pernicious effort to oppress the masses by
the enforcement of a foreign language upon them. The efforts to stamp
out cattle disease and for the restoration of draft animals have been
maligned as being oppressive to personal liberty. The sanitary measures
which have so renovated the very atmosphere of the archipelago have
ever been the mark of derision and violent attack. When cholera and
plague have claimed their hundreds daily, efforts at prevention have
persistently met with opposition from the native press. Officials
with the most unselfish motives have been persistently insulted,
slandered and maligned. The American flag, which is the only emblem
giving assurance of safety in the home, peace from abroad, liberty
of opportunity, and equality and justice before the law, has been
constantly smeared with the opprobrium of a malignant, filthy native
press. Progress of the Philippine people as a whole is retarded."
[210] On March 15, 1913, the Assistant Executive Secretary had occasion
to write the following letter to the Governor of Capiz:--
"My Dear Governor Altavás: I have to acknowledge receipt of your
communication of the 28th ultimo, complaining against the Justices
of the Peace of Jamindan and Tapaz for failing 'to salute' you when
visiting said towns, although your visits were frequently announced
in advance, and the Justices of the Peace were in town at the time.
"The theoretical principles of democracy prevailing under this
government do not require such courtesies as a matter of law. It may
be that, as your letter intimates, the Justice of the Peace should,
as a matter of courtesy, call on you when you are in his town,
but failure to do so in no wise constitutes ground for complaint,
and were we to take your complaint seriously and cause it to be
investigated, we would be indeed in serious danger of receiving a
lecture on democracy from either the Judge of the Court of First
Instance or the Justice of the Peace himself.
"I believe that, under the circumstances, the best course to be taken
in the matter would be for you to withdraw the complaint, for even
if the Justices concerned admit the charges, no administrative action
against them would be possible.
"Very sincerely,
(Signed) "Thomas Cary Welch
(Active Executive Secretary)"
[211] Municipal building.
[212] Literally "authorities," by which is meant municipal officials.
[213] Blount, pp. 296-297.
[214] This is a rather open threat to fight.
[215] Corrupt Spanish for "very bad American Government."
[216] "Constitutional Government in the United States," by Woodrow
Wilson, Ph. D., LL. D., pp. 52-53.
[217] I am indebted to the Honourable Gregorio Araneta, secretary of
finance and justice, for a summary statement of the judicial reforms
effected since the American occupation, on which this statement is
largely based.--D. C. W.
[218] The engineer officer of the province.
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