The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-27
OPINION ON The PHILIPPINES
By an American business Man Who Lived
There for Two Years,

Stevens went to Manila from Boston in
1888 for Messrs. Henry w. Peabody &
Co, in the interest of their hemp busi-
ness, and remained two years. His book
is -atner light and gketchy; but he was
evidently shrewd observer, and many OF
his facts and impressions have q present
yague. In his introduction he asks;
NOW that the Philippines are ours DO
we want them? Do We want e group OF
1, 400 islands nearly 5000 miles from QUE
western shores, sweltering in the tropics
swept with typhoons and shaken "i1h
earthQuaSess DO we want to unoertaSe
the responsibility of Protesting 5nose Is
lands from the powers in Europa or the
east and of standing sponsor for the near
" 5000 600 native inhabitants that
sneak a score Of different tongues and live
on anything from rice to stsWed grass
hopuers? Do we want the task Oh oiviliz'
ing this race. of opening up the 1nnRie'
Of setting upozHcials in frontier, ont OF
tina WAY towns, who won't have been
there a month before they will wish to
return?
"Csn we run them? The Philippines
ara hard material wibh which to make
our first colonial experiment and seem 20
demsnd O different sort Of treatmentfrom
that which orr national policy fayors or
has had experience In giving.
besides peaceable natives occupying
the accessible towns the interiors of many
of the islands are filled VITA aboriginal
sxyagas who have never even recognized
the rule 1t Spain, who have never even
heard of Spain and who still think they
are possessors of the soil. Even on the
coast itself aIsAtr{bes Of savages who are
almost as ignorant as their brethren in
the interior, and only 80 mikes from Ma
Mia are races of dwarfs that go without
clothes, wear knee bracefsts of horsehair
and respect nothing save the jungles in
which they live.
ITO the north are the Igorrotes, to the
south tho Moros, and in between scores
of wild tribes that are ready to DISPUTE
possession. And is the UnitedaStates pre-
narsd to MAINTAIN the forces and carry
on the military operations Insttho FEVER
stricken jungies necessary an the marcn
of progress to exfermlnate OF ciYinze SUCH
racssY Have we, like England, for In
stance, the class of troops who could
undertake that sort of work, and do we
fesl called npon to do it, when the same
sxpendisure at home would go So much
further?
"The Philippines nanst be run under n
despotic though kindly form OF govern
aud to deal with the perpaRxfngi questions
aud perplexing difficulties that arise needs
knowledge gained by experiences by hay
ing dealt with other such problems be-
fore. -
Commenting on health conditions, Mr..
Stevens writes:
~ see by the papers that there are at
least TWO cases Of smallpox in Boston,
that everybody is alarmed and hunursas
ara getting yaccir ated. Curious state oi
aGairs, isn't it, when every day out hsrS
you see small Children running around
in this STREETS covered with evidences Of
this disease? Nobody thinks anything
about small pUz in Manila, and on'
ceases a, nut1co 1t if Il Philippine mammi
sits oppuGise yea in the tramcnr holding
in her lap d acanhify clothed child whose
swarthy hiGo is illuminated with thoss
uum iszszssaoia markings. Some weeks
ago Bius,a5 were uygY 4dD deaths q Wesll in
Manila FROM tsis disease alone, and from
she way in which tina afflicted rniZ with
Inc EAtS tI1E EGaSfCy you Cslu Ollly WOu
DER that tEE1Es EeEo lob 4, DO0-
'ABfsides BzsnA pox, fever is about
the greaBssa ensnrs, ard Gel tain typos Of
the u4alarial variety keeIii SO common tha
the sufferers from Them often walk int
the clnR, dYup into chair and say: 'Go
the fever sgSsaiE- Asans another lay OF.
If shey CAR keep GbonE, the old stager
g, never give up, but noyices buy thermom
etecs and cracked ice, and either g
Though terrific siege, like my friene
whose eight weaks' struggls shrunk his
: hes.d so THAI In convaIescenoo his hal
touched his ears or escape with a week
!, imitation. typhoid ssems also common
and there Is generally one member OF the
ooieny, tor wllon the rost are anxious
mac never seen the Philippines.
MANILA fare, like Manila life, Is mo-
unwholesome, but it lacks variety and
ore rather tires now and th en- OF osoup
chicken, beefs .eak and toOthpicks-foul
staples. Our house is a good ons. with
all the comforts Of home. and is sur
rounded by an acre or TWO of land. We
hays stables for our horses and outbuild
ings for the families of our servants. AT
the end of the month all the expenditures
for house rent, food, wages, light and
sundries are posted together and divided
by shree, and with every thing included
my month"; share comes to 80 gold dol
ieIG-less than one OF our american carr
wheels per diem.
"The other morning began the first
resi- storm of the rainy season, and we
cafee very near having a bad typhoon,
bus some one turned the switch and ii
swialed mp the back coast on the Pacific
size and crossed through notch in the
meontains soIue distance to the north OF
Msaila, giving the city only four days of
mcEstrous winds and floods OF rain. The
streets were two feet deep with water in
the business section, and down at our
house by the sea the wind blew SO hard
that 1t carried the tin from our roof of
60 visit the next suburb.
"a month or two later came the real
article one Of the most terrific blowings
/ have eyersfeit Down came all the wires
in the main street, over went half dozen
houses to one side Of Us, and kerplunk
broke off some venerable trees. After
the typhoon came the foods, and the old
Pacig covered the adjacent country. The
water concealed the road to the up town
cluS at Nagtajan under depth of several
fees, and one could without difficulty
row into the billiard room OF play water
polo in the bowling alley. Two of my
friends were nearly drowned by trying to
dive when they should have swum or
gone by boat. Ehe pony walked OF with