Daily camera., 1898-08-03
MERRITT'S HARD JOB
Difficulties That Await Him In the
Philippines. :.
To Conquer and Establish Authority
in the Numerous Islands Will
Sorely Tax the New Pro-
visiOnal Governor.

upon a more difficult task. 1t is hard
enough to deal with homogeneous
race of civilized men, but the II, 900 ,00t
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 foot,
hold, and the two widely varying races
have largely intermingled 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 he'merchants
and landed proprietors are the de-
scendants of Spanish fathers and ma
tive mothers. Although quite exclu
sive, the best Spanish society admits
mestizo women in large numbers to
it's 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 in.
dustry and are said to be as virtuous
as any set of women on earth. The de-
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
difficult position and much knowl'
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 by brute force. She adopted a
different course with the Philippines.
In lieu of soldiers she sent priests and
in place of forts erected churches. Her
priests converted thousands of the
natives to Christianity and have in 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 pos
sessions for extra money, and never in
vain, the devoted priests always man.
aging to raise and forward the sums
demanded.
1t is veritable empire that Gen.
Merritt goes to take possession OF in
the name of the American people. The
islands number about 1,4OO and con-
tain about 100000 square miles ter
ritory equal to nearly three-fourths OF
the entire German empire. Toconquer
and establish authority in such vast,
widelyscattered territory is in itself
no trifling task. particularly when it
is remembered that some of the is
lands have never been fully explored,
much less civilized.
The country must be classed as hilly
and mountainous, one peak rising to
height of 10000 feet, while five are
over 5000 feet above the sea level The
| entire country, from sea to sea, in
cluding hills and mountains is covered
with dense semitropical vegetation,
the Philippines occupying about the
same latitude as Cuba. There are
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 on
the coast, running from ten to twenty
feet in thickness. Iron ore, the equal
| of that found in Sweden, exists in great
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 easily
be taken out.
Animal life is very generally diff
fused; everything on earth that walks,
runs, flies or ,swims inhabiting these
islands. The fora is remarkable there
being 4,479 distinct species of flowers.
The products include almost every
kind of fruit and grain. coffee. sugar,
tea, rice, potatoes, European vegeta-
bles. hundred kinds of bamboo and
the famous Manila hemp that has be-
come such necessity in American
manufactures. A difficult task has
been laid out for Gen. Merritt. but a
rich empire awaits his subsection.
No one doubts that he will prove
equal to the task though he will en-
counter great difficulties and suffer
serious disappointments. He is a
thorough American and has been
farmer, lawyer, soldier and practical
ly military governor on our Ameri-
can frontier, where he has come in
contact with Indians, more fierce
and unruly race than he is likely to
encounter in the Philippines In the
meantime no one will dispute that
these islands are well worth possess
ing.-Chicago Chronicle.
He Is No Judge.
"The war began the very day we
were married" said Honeymoon at the
clut