The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-08-27
MERRIrr.s HARp rAsk.
What Lies Before the Governor Of the
Philippines.

Philippines.
In the history Of this nation no
american has ever been honored with q |
mission like that assigned to Gen. Mer-
rltt and none has ever entered upon a
more difficult task It is hard enough
70 deal with homogeneous race of civ !
lii2ed men, but the 170O0O00 people
awaiting the advent of Gen. Merritt are
as badly mixed as any equally large
body of people on earth. The native
element predominates, though, like the
spaniards, the Chinese have acquired
very substantial foothold, and the two
widely varying races have largely in
termingled their blood with that of the
native inhabitants. The mestizos, or
mixed races, greatly outnumber the
SDaniards and exert decided influence
IN the islands. The great majority Of
the merchants and landed proprietors
are the descendants of Spanish fathers
and native mothers. Although quite
exclusive, the best Spanish society adj
mits mestizo women in large numbers
to Its circles Most of the subordinate
officers of the government belong to
this class. AS a rule the male natives
are a good-natured, superstitious and
lazy set, but the women manifest much
industry and are said to be as vtrtuous
as any set of women on earth. The
descendants of Chinese and native
women are much more industrious and
enterprising than the natives Of the
pure blood. When he has conquered
the Philippines Gen. Merritt will find
himself in difficult position and much
knowledge and great tact will be re-
quired to- manage the heterogeneous
mass of people, varying from Malay
pirates to accomplished English BUSH
ness men. A radically new system of
| government will have to be introduced,
that at present in vogue being at least
a century behind the times. Spain sent
the sword to the West Indies and held
the natives in subsection by brute force.
/ She adopted different course with the
| Philippines. In lieu OF soldiers she
sent priests and in place of forts erect
ed churches. Her priests converted
thousands of the natives to Christianity
and have ia the past controlled them
better than a large standing army
/ could have done. Often has Spain, when
! in sad financial straits, appealed to her
/ eastern possessions for extra money,
! and never in vain, the devoted priests
! always managing to raise and forward
| the sums demanded 1t is a veritabIe
! empire that Gen. Merritt goes to take
! possession of in the name of the Ameri-
! can people. The islands number about
! 1,400 and contain about $50, 900 square
miles, territory equal to nearly three
fourths of the entire German empire
To conquer and establish authority in
such a vast, widely scattered territory
is in itself no trifiing task, particularly
when it is remembered that some OF
the islands have never been fully ex-
plored, much less civilized. The coun-
try must be classed as billy and noun
famous, one peak rising to a height OF
10000 feet, while five are over 5000
feet above the sea level. The entire
country, from sea to sea, including hills
and mountains, is covered with dense
semitropical vegetation, the Philip
pines occupying about the same lati-
tude as Cuba. There are three distinct
seasons-cold from November tc
March, hot from March to June and wet
from July to October. Terrific thun-
derstorms occur in May and June. Coal
abounds in immense deposits, the
veins, many of them on the coast, run
ming from ten to twenty feet in thick
ness. Iron ore, the equal of tina. found
in Sweden, exists in great abundance
as also do deposits of copper. None OF
these have ever been developed to any
considerable extent Gold exists in all
the islands and experts declare that
millions could easily be taken out. Ami.
NAL life is very generally diffused; ev-
erything on earth that walks, runs, flies
or swims inhabiting these islands The
fora is remarkable, there being 4,479
distinct species of flowers. The prod
ucts include almost every kind of fruit
and grain, coffee, sugar, tea, rice, pota-
toes, European vegetables, a hundred
kinds of bamboo and the famous Ma
| Mia hemp that has become such ne
cessity in American manufactures. A
difficult task has been laid out for Gen
Merritt, but rich empire awaits his
subsection No one doubts that he will
prove equal to the task, though he will
encounter great difficulties and suffer
serious disappointments. He is a thor,
ough American and has been a farmer
lawyer, soldier and practically a mill
tary governor on our American from
tier, where he has come in contact with
Indians a more fierce and unruly race