RCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES By dean C. WORCESTER nr US- UI I q.A5S. »p6W. -^ Pate. ESS Source. EDDY N. SMITH CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3J924 072 741 758 '^umm "pmufY YiYir DEC 1 M'j GAYLOHD PRIMTED IN USA. COKIMELL UNT/ERSITY Xn-f ACA, K, Y. 14aS3 ■ - >c %'l John M. i -5 CoJiection on Soii'.ii;- .:± Asia KROGi 'U .ILARY COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES BY [dean Ci'WORCESTERi SECKETAKT OF THE INTERIOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 1901-1913 MEMBER OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION, 1900-1913 AnXHOR OP "the PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE " Reprinted from " The Philippines Past and Present" Coptrioht, 1914, BY The Macmillan Company q2 f-D a_ CO Weto gork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1914 All rights reserved "There is nothing -which Americans can bring — I do not even except education or a free form of government — which can do more for the civilization and elevation of the Filipinos than the investment of Ameri- can capital in the development of the Islands." — Ex-President William Howard Taft, in WIS. " Here is a climate particularly favorable for some classes of products and capable of yielding vast returns to honest and intelligent expendi- ture of effort." — W. Cameron Fories, Governor-General of the Philippines, in 1909. " Every legitimate business enterprise should and will receive the pro- tection of the insular government." — Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison, in 191S. " The sun shines not on a spot on the face of the earth where so much can be done and so much remains to be done, with such vast opportuni- ties to do pioneer work." — Hon. Clarence B. Miller, Minnesota, in 191S. "If the American people are willing to employ part of their great savings in loans to any country that can give the necessary security and are prepared to invest their capital in any part of the world where it can be usefully and profitably employed, the expansion of America's export trade will be limited only by the amount of money she has available for investment in other lands. "I see no reason why the American people — manufacturers and pro- ducers of all kinds — should not nearly double their exports of merchan- dise. But it is of great importance that they should recognize that if they are to accomplish this they must be willing to do what England, France, and Germany do when engaged in the pursuit of commerce — they must be willing to invest part of their new savings in the securi- ties of other lands." — Sir George Paish, Editor of London "Statist," December, 1914. "Export trade must likewise be predicated upon something of reci- procity ; reciprocity to the extent of an investment of some of our money in the development of the resources of foreign countries ; reciprocity as expressed in a willingness to buy from them the products they have to sell, as an offset to the products which we ask them to buy from us." — Harry A . Wheeler, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, in 191S. " We have, in process of building, an empire at the gateway of the Orient that secures to us an important advantage in the trade of China and the Far East ; that will enable us to increase our foreign trade along profitable lines ; that promises to relieve us of the burden of an unfavor- able balance of trade that now exists in our commerce with the countries that supply our tropical products and make us largely independent of foreign sources ; and last but not least, that will, without question, give us the power to exercise complete control over the Pacific." — Harold M. Pitt, President, Manila, P. I., Merchants' Association, in 1914. VITAL FACTS ABOUT COCONUTS Wondrous Growth of the Coconut Industry. — The value of the world's output for the year 1913 is estimated to exceed $ 343,000,000. This is $ 93,000,000 more than the value of the output of rubber for the same period and only $ 70,000,000 less than that of gold. Coconut Oil a Staple in the United States. — The imports of coconut oil to the United States for eleven months ending May, 1914, were 69,197,432 lbs., valued at $ 6,260,722 — an increase of 54 per cent in quantity, and of 14 per cent in price per pound, over the previous year. Coconut Oil the Basis of Common Household Necessities. — Few people realize that coconut oil forms the basis of the better grades of soap, and that from it excellent "butter" and "lard "are now made. Coconut butter and lard make excellent substitutes for the corresponding animal products, over which they have great advantages, being cheaper, more readily digested, capable of sterili- zation, and naturally free from the disease germs of animals. There are two hundred millions of Mohammedans in the world. Their religion forbids the use of hog products, and they will welcome coconut lard. With the cost of living increasing the world over, the price of animal fats steadily rising, the demand for coconut oil because of its use in soapmaking alone, has increased more rapidly than the supply and is bound to grow even more rapidly in the future, together with an increased price. Rapid Progress of the Coconut Pood Products Industry. — A single British com- pany which manufactures a butter known as "Maple Nut Margarine " produces a thousand tons per week. The factories of Marseilles alone make 75,00O tons of coconut butter per year. The industry is in its infancy in the United States and has tremendous possibilities here, along with coconut lard. Still Greater Development at Hand. — That we are only on the fringe of great development in the industry is shown by the fact that the existence of the above- mentioned food articles is as yet hardly known. Probably not one person in a hundred has even heard of them. It is the consensus of belief, justified on medi- cal, sanitary, and economic grounds, that it is only a question of time before butter made from vegetable fats will largely supersede that made from animal fats. No Danger of Over-Prodnction. — All European countries owning tropical colo- nies have been pushing coconut planting for years, yet the supply has never overtaken the demand, and the rapidly growing importance of the coconut food products industry only serves to widen the gap. Coconut Growing as a Permanent Investment. — With reasonable care coconut trees bear for from sixty to eighty years. They are commonly called "the Con- sols of the Kast." Continuous Production. — Coconut growing has one very remarkable advantage : under proper climatic conditions production is continuous. There is no special harvest season bringing its rush of work and its peculiar risks. Laborers can be kept steadily employed, thus avoiding " lost motion " and maintaining a high average of income. Safety of Coconut Growing. — There is practically only one way in which a coconut grove can be destroyed and that is by cutting down the trees individually. A grove once established may be neglected for years and still be productive. And it can be restored to high productivity by renewed cultivation. A coconut grove is on a wholly different basis, as regards risk, from a sugar plantation, on which the cane may be destroyed by fire in two or three days during the dry season. Profitableness of the Investment. — Coconut growing was profitable with copra selling at f 50 per ton. The price has nearly trebled m the last few years, while the cost of production has decreased owing to the introduction of improved machinery and up-to-date methods of cultivation. Present profits are so large as to excite the incredulity of the uninformed. The Opinion of Sir William H. Lever, England's great Captain of Industry and founder of the largest soap-manufacturing plant in the world, consuming vast quantities of coconut oil. — In " Coconuts, the Consols of the East," the most com- prehensive book ever published on the subject, of which he wrote the " foreword," he says : " I know of no field of tropical agriculture that is so promising at the present moment as coconut planting, and I do not think in the whole world there is a promise of so lucrative an investment of time and money as in this industry." The above statements by Dean C. Worcester are based on his own knowledge and experience, or on authority believed to be competent. 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 ^ government of the PhiUppines is highly effective and the state of public order leaves Uttle to be desired. Doubt has been expressed as to the stabiUty of the existing regime, 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 oc- casional 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 Unes of sea travel have been carefully surveyed. The islands have many beautiful harbors and, as we have seen, at Manila, Cebu and Hollo extensive harbour improvements have already been made. There are no ' Oct. 1, 1913. 884 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924072741758 COMMEECIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 885 special difficulties attendant upon the loading or unloading of ships anywhere in the archipelago. The rapid exten- sion of highways, and the construction of additional rail- ways, are facilitating and cheapening land transportation. The natural resources of the country are unquestion- ably vast. I have already devoted a chapter to the dis- cussion 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 lig- nite, 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 Luz6n, and there are other gold placer fields in the islands which are worthy of care- ful 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 diffi- cult, 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 hy- draulic 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 low- lands may be found conditions of soil and climate favour- able to the growing of all important tropical products. Owing to the position of the islands with reference to the VOL. n — 2 c 886 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT northeast and southwest monsoons, practically any de- sired 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 through- out 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 con- stantly adding to its present store of knowledge. Father Jos6 Algue, its distinguished director, can always be de- pended upon to furnish any obtainable information. But this is not all. We are not confined to tropical products. In the highlands of Luz6n 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 malnu- trition. 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 wilhng 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, ^ and adds that shippers would ' " Of course, the writer did not meation 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 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 887 not take to unloading cargo there before finally discharg- ing it on the mainland of Asia. With singular inconsistency he also says that Manila could never succeed Hongkong as the gateway to Asia.i 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 re- hearsal, 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 ! finally disoliarging cargo on the mainland of Asia, where the name of the Ultimate Consumer is legion." — • Blount, p. 49. ' " . . . 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 unload- ing on the mainland ; . . . " — Blount, p. 44. 888 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT Let us now consider more in detail the resources of the Phihppines. The first thing that impresses one who studies their agriculture is the extremely primitive state of develop- ment 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 be- cause 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 in- verted 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 ^ is usually winnowed in the wind, although crude fanning mills are sometimes em- ' Unhusked rice. COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 889 ployed for this purpose. The threshing takes much time, and while it is in progress great loss results from the dep- redations 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 Impoets Fiscal Years Tons (Metric) Vaute 1899 58,389 109,911 178,232 216,403 307,191 329,825 255,502 138,052 112,749 162,174 137,678 184,620 203,083 260,250 179,205 $1,939,122 3,113,423 5,490,958 6,578,481 10,061,323 11,548,814 7,456,738 4,375,500 3,662,493 5,861,256 4,260,223 5,321,962 6,560,630 10,569,949 7,940,857 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 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 890 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT 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 modem 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 FiUpinos had been accustomed that they thought that there must be a deposito of grain hidden away somewhere within the machine, and insisted on sticldng their heads into it in search of this supposed som-ce of supply ! Many small, mechanically driven hulUng machines are now in use and the number of regular rice naills, with up- to-date machinery for huUing 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 FiHpino depends directly on rainfall for irriga- tion 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 govern- ment 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 disadvan- tages. There is no possible doubt as to the opportunity which Ues 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, COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 891 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, modem harvesters and threshers can be employed to good ad- vantage. 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. Abacd, 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 fur- nish the longest and strongest cordage fibre in the world. The Phihppines have practically a monopoly on its pro- duction. Abacd culture is carried on in a very primitive way. The plants require well-drained soil and for this reason the Fihpino often puts them out on steep moun- tain 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 occa- sional chopping down of weeds. Fortunately the shade in an abaca plantation is so deep that it materially im- pedes 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 phys- ical exertion to which the average Filipino is disinclined, and serious losses often result from inability to get the crop seasonably stripped. Stripping is greatly facihtated 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 892 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT worthless stuff is chiefly a matter of good or bad stripping. Abac4 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 kiU the plants outright. Experience has shown that it richly repays real cultiva- tion. 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 transport- ing 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 estabMshed in regions like that along the lower Agusan River, where cHmate and soil are ideal and water transportation is always available. A reasonable number of such plants in suc- cessful 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 abaca 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 be- come 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. COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 893 Hemp Exports To All CoTrNTRiBS To United States, iNOLtrDiNo Hawaii AND POETO RiCO Fisnal Years Tons Value in U. S. Cuirency Percentage Total Exporta Tons Value in U. S. Currency 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 59,840 76,709 112,215 109,969 132,242 131,818 116,733 112,165 114,701 115,829 149,992 170,789 165,650 154,047 144,576 $6,185,293 11,393,883 14,453,110 15,841,316 21,701,576 21,749,960 22,146,241 19,446,769 21,085,081 17,311,808 15,833,677 17,404,922 16,141,340 16,283,510 23,044,744 45.1 52.6 34.6 58.3 54.7 58.8 59.6 59.5 61.7 52.7 51.0 43.6 40.5 32.3 43.3 23,066 25,764 18,158 45,527 71,664 61,887 73,351 62,045 68,389 48,814 79,210 99,305 66,545 69,574 63,715 $2,436,169 3,446,141 2,402,867 7,261,459 12,314,312 10,631,591 12,964,515 11,168,226 11,326,864 7,684,000 8,534,288 10,399,397 7,410,373 7,751,489 11,613,943 Copra Exports To All Countries To United States including Hawaii AND Porto Rico Fiscal Years Tons Value in U. S. Currency Percentage of Total Exports Tons Value in U. S. Currency 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 14,047 37,081 52,530 19,687 97,630 54,133 37,557 66,158 49,082 76,420 105,565 116,285 115,602 169,342 113,055 $ 666,870 1,690,897 2,648,306 1,001,656 4,472,679 2,527,019 2,096,352 4,043,116 4,053,193 > 5,461,680 6,657,740 9,153,951 9,899,457 16,514,749 11,647,898 4.7 7.8 10.0 3.6 11.2 7.0 5.6 12.3 11.8 16.6 21.1 22.9 24.9 32.8 21.9 103 61 174 205 1,110 2,968 4,714 5,538 12,241 24,160 7,460 4,450 9,173 9,231 14,425 108,086 228,565 287,484 447,145 1,030,481 2,339,144 720,245 894 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT An extraordinary drought, which seems to have ex- tended 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 manufac- ture of butter and lard substitutes. Their quaUty is excellent, they keep well in the tropics, and being non- animal in their nature are not open to the aesthetic 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 nu- tritious "milk, " on which "cream" rises in a most appetiz- ing manner, is made by wringing out fresh shredded co- conut 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 maybe a Httle 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 estab- lished, are left to shift for themselves, and are soon con- tending with each other for root space and air. The owner cuts notches in their bark in order to facihtate 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 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OP THE PHILIPPINES 895 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 culti- vated. The two which seemed to be bearing most heavily could not be cUmbed, 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. 896 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT Coconut trees attain a great age, and a producing plan- tation 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 fotu- and a half years. The owner of a coconut plantation must wait for his retiu-ns, or grow something else meanwhile. Quick growing catch crops may at first be raised between the rows if soil conditions are favoiurable, but it must be remembered that coconut trees thrive on soil so sandy that it will produce Kttle 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 beUef so com- mon among natives throughout the tropics that the coco- nut 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 Phihppines, the bud rot which has caused such destruction in other countries being almost unknown there. They resist wind storms admirably, and even typhoons seldom up- root 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 PhiUppine 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 creo- sote. 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 quaUty will be readily determinable. Until within a very short time the crudest and most COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 897 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 reenforced concrete has now been erected. It is equipped with the latest ma- chinery 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 ma- chinery 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 im- ported for copra making. Sugar and tobacco are the remaining principal agricul- ture 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 machin- ery and methods employed might almost be called ante- diluvian, 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 fertiUzed, 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. 898 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT Philippine sugar could never have competed success- fully in the world's market under such conditions. Fortunately one modern central has already been estabUshed, and several others are in process of construc- tion. Up-to-date mills could well afford to grind cane for FiUpinos, 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 cooperation, and are too suspicious to contract their crops of cane to a miU. 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 legis- lation limiting the amount of land which corporations authorized to engage in agriculture may own, with the deliberate intention of thus crippUng the sugar industry in the Phihppine Islands. It is iniquitous so to handi- cap an important industry in a colonial dependency, and this legislation should be stricken from the statute books. Fortunately there is no law Hmiting the right of in- dividuals 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 inter- fere with the rapid development of the sugar industry in the PhiUppines, 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 Phil- ippines, which now have to import it. This condition of things is mainly due to lack of system and care in to- bacco growing. Seed selection is almost unknown; COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 899 StJGAB To All Countries To United States, includinq Hawaii AND PoBTO Rico Fiscal Quantity Value in U. S. Percentage Quantity Value in U. S. Years (metric tons) Currency Exports iCmetric tons) Currency 1899 57,447 $2,333,851 15.9 2,340 $143,500 1900 78,306 3,000,601 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 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 cHmate that the tobacco so grown is good for anything. The domestic consumption of tobacco is very large. Practically every one smokes. Exportations are increas- ing. The tables on pages nine hundred and nine him- dred 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 vsdth 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, 900 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT Table showing the Numbbk op Cigabs removed from Manu- factories FOR Domestic Consumption and for Export dur- ing the Past Eight Fiscal Years ClQABS MANUFAOrnKED AND FiSOAli Yeab ENDiaj June 30 Consumed in the Philippine Islands Emorted to Foreign Countries Shipped to United States TOTAI, 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Number 74,184,537 79,476,459 82,986,278 86,800,520 89,272,890 96,115,525 109,924,014 96,193,811 Number 94,110,336 117,684,485 115,738,939 116,981,434 109,006,765 104,604,170 104.476,781 106,563,541 Number 231,206 82,175 29,570 867,947 87,281,673 27,531,596 70,518,050 102,894,077 Number 168,526,079 197,243,119 198,754,787 204,649,901 285,561,328 228,251,291 284,918,845 305,651,429 Table showing the Number of Cigarettes removed from Man- ufactories FOR Domestic Consumption and for Export dur- ing the Past Eight Fiscal Years Cigarettes Manufactured and FisoAL Yeab ended June 30 Consumed in the Philippine Islands Exported to Foreign Countries Total 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Number 3,509,038,750 3,509,999,575 3,774,303,310 4,122,385,209 4,138,647,668 4,058,603,123 4,369,153,048 4,449,340,088 Number 21,062,844 158,349,812 72,387,396 53,250,328 34,859,581 35,425,865 35,776,760 51,431,838 Number 3,530,101,594 3,668,349,387 3,846,690,706 4,175,635,537 4,173,507,249 4,094,028,988 4,404,929,808 4,500,771,926 COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 901 Table showing the Quantity of Smoking Tobacco Exported DURING Each of the Past Five Fiscal Years Total Expobts ddrinq the Fiscal Yeah 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Canary Islands .... For consumption on high seas France China All others Pounds 33,488 14,490 4,740 2,233 6,082 Pounds 18,547 17,656 6,182 1,586 5,174 Pounds 21,329 22,610 11,334 7,938 26,791 Pounds 28,645 24,488 3,091 6,077 4,151 Pounds 59,454 29,257 11,433 9,569 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 Exported in the leaf To the United States To other countries Pounds 13,503 21,218,588 Pounds 12,269 26,469,800 Pounds 4,946 28,354,636 Pounds 93,928 28,041,374 Total .... 21,232,079 26,482,069 28,359,582 28,136,302 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 success- ful cultivation. I recently measured a series of tnmks there which ran from forty inches to four feet in circum- ference. ' There were also exported 423,877 pounds of cuttings, clippings and waste during 1910, and 914,630 pounds of the same materials during 1912. Note. — AU figures given above are for unstemmed leaf. VOL. II — 2d 902 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT There are numerous varieties of bananas in the Phil- ippines, 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 Cebii, 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 per- fect development in Bukidnon, where they grow at an astonishing rate and produce hemispheres of foUage which look almost solid. A plantation of these trees should be not only beautiful to look upon but very profitable. Conditions ia the highlands of Luz6n, 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 cul- ture, but is nevertheless excellent in quality, and any sur- plus 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 Phihppine highlands, especially in north- ern Luz6n. Throughout extensive regions the soil and climate are ideal for growing cacao, from which is made the chocolate of conmierce. It has numerous insect enemies, and care- ful scientific cultivation is needed to obtain the best results. COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OP THE PHILIPPINES 903 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 hmnan food, and its use, which has long been common in islands like Cebii, 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 else- where, 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 condi- tion 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 ex- cellent. No care has as yet ever been given to their cul- tivation. 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 per- fectly adapted to the production of pineapples, which at 904 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT present usually grow uncared for. One pineapple planta- tion 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 Unes. Such invest- ment would be of immense advantage to the Filipinos themselves. They are neither original nor natiu-ally 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 appHcation 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 estabhshment of civil government under American rule swept through the archipelago practically unchecked, causing enormous losses to ag- COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 905 riculture. For a time it was impossible to plough anything hke 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 jfight has never ceased up to the present time. While the disease is not completely stamped out, its rav- ages have been reduced to insignificant proportions, and the natural increase of the surviving animals has re- habiUtated agriculture. Good draught animals still bring abnormally high prices. I well remember that in Spanish days an or- dinary 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 cara- baos sell for $100 each. There is still a great shortage of beef cattle. Refrig- erated meat is imported in large quantities, but many of the Filipinos do not like it, and will not buy it unless com- pelled to do so by the lack of any other. It has been found impracticable to remedy these con- ditions 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 itseK. 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 PhiUppines, and do es- pecially weU 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 906 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT 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 mul- berry 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. Fihpina women and girls, with their deft fingers, would make excellent help for silk culture. Indeed, the opportunity to en- gage 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 hydrauUc development. That the Fihpinos 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,^ 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 possibiUty of engaging profitably in trade. Such possibiHty exists wherever commodities are bought and sold, and here as elsewhere profits or losses largely depend on the abihties of individ- uals. 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: — ' Made of Manila hemp, and used for sewing into hats. COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 907 Importations of Cotton Cloth Yeah 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Total. . . . Annual average United States Hawaii and Porto Rico $278,106 764,990 278,796 1,056,328 604,742 508,229 2,043,000 4,110,837 4,143,067 6,827,082 ),615,177 All Coonthies $4,919,840 6,346,962 6,642,329 8,320,079 7,909,395 6,862,135 8,444,453 10,305,017 9,246,596 11,483,638 $80,480,443 $8,048,044 From a proportion of slightly over five per cent of the total trade in manufactures of cotton in 1904, importa- tions 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 Phil- ippine Islands. To All Cootjteies To Philippine Islands Foodstuffs in crude condition, and food animals . 7.48 13.19 30.10 16.84 32.04 .35 2.25 Foodstuffs partly or wholly manufactured . Crude materials for use in manufacturing . Manufactures for further use in manufac- turing 14.39 .42 7.19 Manufactures ready for consumption . . Miscellaneous 75.73 .02 Total 100.00 100.00 908 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT 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 Phihppines. 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 Phihppines. Tropical and sub-tropical products are constantly in- creasing 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 : — Pbodtjcts Amount Value Cocoa Coffee Fibres Manufactures of fibres Fruits and nuts . . Goatskins .... Gums of various kinds Rubber Matting Vegetable oils . . . Silk, unmanufactured Spices Sugar Tea Leaf tobacco . . . Manufactured tobacco Cabinet woods . . . Rattans and reeds . . 140,039,172 lb. 863,130,757 lb. 407,098 T. 45,729,000 T. 214,000,000 lb. 65,225,401 lb. 4,740,041,488 lb. 94,812,800 lb. 67,454,745 lb. $17,389,042 118,963,209 49,075,659 76,972,416 42,622,653 24,790,417 15,138,895 101,333,158 1,651,813 38,112,883 84,914,717 6,187,136 103,639,823 17,433,688 35,919,079 6,577,403 8,880,000 1,800,000 $751,401,991 The balance of trade with the more important coun- tries from which we get these products is heavily against COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OP THE PHILIPPINES 909 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 fur- nishes us embroideries, etc., which could be very cheaply produced in the Philippines. The figures are for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913 : — U. S. Imports FROM U. S. Exports to Balance against U.S. Brazil . . Cuba . . British E. I Japan . . China . . Switzerland Mexico . . Colombia . Venezuela . Egypt . . $120,155,855 126,088,173 116,178,182 91,633,240 39,010,800 23,260,180 77,543,842 15,992,321 10,852,331 19,907,828 $640,622,752 $42,638,467 70,581,154 15,108,956 57,741,815 21,326,834 826,549 54,571,584 7,397,696 5,737,118 1,660,833 $277,591,006 $77,517,388 55,507,019 101,069,226 33,891,425 17,683,966 22,433,631 22,972,258 8,594,625 5,115,213 18,246,995 $363,031,746 There is no such relationship with the PhiUppines, which during 1912 imported $20,770,536 worth of mer- chandise from the United States to offset the $21,619,686 worth shipped to that country. The PhiUppines 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, 910 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT 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 advan- tages 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. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES The Philippines, Past and Present By the Hon. DEAN C. WORCESTER Secretary of the Interior, Philippine Insular Government, 1901-1913 Author of " The Philippine Islands and Their People," etc. New edition, with new matter. Decorated cloth, 8vo, illustrated, 2 vols., $6,00 net OPINIONS OF LEADING REVIEWERS " An authoritative work. . . . History makers are rarely history writers, but when a man combines both forms of ability a work is produced which is an inval- uable addition to the world's knowledge. In 'The Philippines, Past and Present,' the.author is the one man on earth who knows most about the subject. . . . Books and articles have been written about the islands full of errors which could almost be classed as atrocious. Mr. Worcester's main task, and hardest one, has been to establish the true and destroy the false by a superabundance of extracts from doc- umentary evidence. . . . His revelations will come as a shock which should have been administered years ago." — Lieut.-Col. Charles E. Woodruff in the New York Times. "Just the kind of book that is needed. . . . Thoughtful and unbiased readers will credit the author with having rendered a national service of no slight proportions in this presentation of facts concerning our insular possessions in the Asian seas. . . . The establishment of justice, the enlargement of popular rights, the extension of education, the conquering of disease, the promotion of prosperity, the execution of great public works, and all the manifold achievements of the de- voted bearers of the 'white man's burden,' compose one of the most creditable chapters not only in American history but in the whole world's record of the deal- ings of the strong with the weak." — New York Tribune. ' "The clear, exhaustive data assembled by Mr. Worcester are of large public utility. They constitute a valuable and exclusive arsenal of fact, quite independ- ent of conclusions drawn from them. . . . He has left nothing out and nothing amended nor misstated. His book belongs, essentially, to the library of modern American history." — Philadelphia North American. "It may be said without mental reservation that seldom has there been a timelier publication on a subject of greatest international interest than these two handsome volumes by the former secretary of the interior of the Philippine Is- lands. . . . Light is thrown on the intricate things political. . . . There is the best available estimate of the real economic value of the islands from the points of view of native population and incredible natural soil productivity. . . . It's good reading. . . . The reader is directed to the account of the natural resources of the Philippines and the islands' commercial possibilities. Finally, in the author's mature estimation, the Filipinos are not yet ready for self-government." — St. Louis Globe-Democrat. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York m