Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-10-16
AMERICAS CONSULATE AT MANILA.

AMERICAS CONSULATE At MANILA.
thing has happened very often before
Both the English and the American ma
tions owe their supremacy to somewhat
similar combination of circumstances.
Naturally this new and strong class
gradually assumed control Of the business
OF the country. They became the planters
who cultivated by means of native labor
extensive plantations on which sugar
hemp and tobacco were grown. They be
came the manufacturers, brokers, commits
sion merchants and storekoopcrs Every
thing was open to- them but the control of
their own government, and that was in
the hands of the Spaniards who for over
300 years have been sent from Madrid to
rule the islands.
As an Indication of the way the mcst-
EOS compare in point of numbers with
the Spaniards, it may be stated that of the
1870, 600 population of Manila, the capital
city of the Philippines only r. 600 are
Spanish, while the rest are mestizos,
Malays, Chinese and foreign business men.
But the Spaniards have not failed to
make themselves felt While they have
produced nothing and added not bit to
the prosperity of the islands, they have
been very Industrious in devising ingeni-
Gus methods of taxation. The system
which they have prepared for squeezing an
income from the thrifty Islanders is II most
elaborate one. The Cedua personal, or
poll tax, is levied upon every man, woman
and child whom the tax collector can find.
For 16-ycar-old boy it is 20 cents and in
creases as he grows Older until at u it is
So. IS. After that he is made to pay as
much as possible Every person who en-
cages in business has to pay so much
ytar for the privilege 4 man who runs
small drug store in Manila pays 5000 II
year for his business license The planters
are also heavily loaded with taxes. Every
district, for instance is compelled to raise
so much tobacco annually, and the tobacco
raiscrs are made to pay for producing their
crops while they are obliged to sell their
products to the government, which holds
IA monopoly on tobacco
There is also "a complicated code of gov
eminent regulations concerning business
transactions exporting and importing par
ticularlv, and when any of these are VIC
lated, even technically, the offending mer-
chant is subject To a heavy fine. Inasmuch
as the fines are the pcrquisites of the reVo-
nue. officials. they are invariably assessed
and collected When a mesIizos happens
to be the ransgressoi, the slightest excuse
- llittht "a liNAAAA Al q Ills lAA
erty and throwing him into jail.
For years the islanders stood this treat
ment, but thcy have finally riseu. The
mestizos are, of course, the leaders In tho
revolt, ana were 10 NOT for the Tact that tho
Spanish possess the advantages of arms
and fortified sUonglolds the question
would ho speedily settled. As 10 is, spain
has very slender hold on the lands.
While their number Us small. there arc
a few American citizens i'm thC Philip
pines, MOST ol thcm being engaged in
business. They have suffered from spanish
tyranny witH she resto. tha tore.suer-. We
have consul there who is said to Dee the
right man for the present sltma.n. His
name is ELLIOTT Consul Elliott is hnudi-
capped, however, by having no United
States warship at hand To back up his de-
mands, and ho has been forced to submit
tamely TO several instances of high handed
Interference ON the part OF the Spanish au-
thorties. The United States consulate at
| Manila, in which he resides, is stout old
building surrounded by a high iron fence,
behind which he could withstand quite n
siege. s. X. MACDONALD.