The Florence tribune., 1898-09-03
MERRITT'S HARD JOB
Difficulties That Await Him in the
 Philippines.
To Conquer and Establish Authority in the Eumc-ouw Islands VIII SoreIy Tax the New Pro-
 visionRl Governor.

Tn the history of this nation no American has eyer been honored with a mission like that assigned to Gen. Merritt and none has ever entered upon a more difficult task. Ii is hard enough to deal with homog race of civilized men. but the r 700G.GoJ people awaiting the advent of Gen. Merritt are as badly mixed as any equally large body of people on earth. The native element predoIninates, though, like the Spaniards, inc Chinese have acquired q very substantial foot hold. and the two widely varying races have largely iItermingled their blood with that of the native inhabitants.
 The mestizos, or mixed races, great ly outnumber the Spaniards and exert a decided influence in the islands. The great majority of the merchants and landed proprietors are the de- scendants of Spanish fathers and na- tive mothers. Although quite exelu- sive, the best Spanish society admits mestizo women in large numbers to its circles. Most of the subordinate officers of the government belong to this class.
 As rule the male natives are good-natured, superstitious and lazy set, but the women manifest much in- dustry and are said to be Gs virtuous as any set of women on earth. The de- scendants of Chinese and native wom- en are much more industrious and en- terprising than the natives of the pure blood.
 When he has conquered the Philip pines Gen. Merritt will find himself in a difficult position and much l1nowl- edge and great tact will be required to manage the heterogeneous mass of people, varying from Malay pirates to accomplished English business men. A radically new system of government will have to be introduced. that at present in vogue being at least cen tury behind the times.
 Spain sent the sword to the West Indies and held the natives in subjec- ton hy brute force She aloptcd q different course with the Philippines h leu of soldiers she sent priests aad in place Of forts erected churches Her priests converted thousands of the natives 2 Christianity and haye in the past controlled them better than a ! large staadiaR aFmy could have done. Often has Spain, when in sad financial straits, appealed to her eastern pos sessions for extra money, and never in vain, the devoted priests always man. aging to raise and forward the sums demanded.
 1t is Q veritable empire that Gen. Merritt goes to take possession Of in the name of the American people. The islands number about 1;4o0 and con tain about 150,00O square miles. ter ritory equal to nearly three-fourths of the entire German empire. TocoBquer and establish authority in such T vast, widely-scattered territory is in itself no trifing task, particularly when it Is remembered that some of the is- lands have never been fully explored mnch less civilized.
 The country must be classed as hilly and mountainous, one peak rising to Q height of 10000 feet, while five are over 8,0C0 feet above the seq level The entire country, from seq to seq, in. cluding hills and mountains, is covered with dense scmitropical vegetation the Philippines occupying about tho same latitude as Cuba. There arc three distinct seasons-cold from No vember to March, hot from March to June and wet from July to October Terrific thunderstorms occur in May and June Coal abounds in immense deposits, the veins, many of them or the coast, running from ten to twenty feet in thickness. Iron ore, the equa of that found in Sweden, exists ingrea' abundance, as also do deposits of cop per. None of these have ever been de veloped to any considerable extent Gold exists in all the islands and ex perts declare that millions could easil. be taken out.