Arizona republican., 1898-05-04
IN THE PHILIPPINES.

IN THE PHILIPPINES.
 Something About the Islands Which
 May Soon be Uncle Sam's.
 Even Cuba, with all it's abomina- tions, scarcely affords so remarkable picture of Spanish oppression. mis- called government, as may be seen in the Philippines. It is only the re- moteness and isolation of these un- 1 happy islands that has prevented the atrocities there perpetrated from arousing the indignation of the whole world. The purpose of this article, however, is not to detail the shock ing barbarities practiced in times of disorder; facts of this sort are already only too familiar.
 The Philippines are extremely inter esting in themselves, but are seldom visited by tourists, partly in conse- quence of their lying out of the ordi- nary lines of travel, and partly because of the policy of Chinese seclusion cul- tivated by the government. The cli- mate, too, is unhealthy even beyond what is usual in the tropics, and the unsettled state of the country, swarm ing with exasperated savages and ban dits of the worst description, makes excursions beyond the limits of the principal cities very perilous. About six hundred islands are included in the group, and the total area is con 1 siderable some 150,000 square miles, three or four times that of Cuba. Ex- act data, however, are difficult to ob- tain. There are a multitude of insig- nificant islets hardly known except upon the charts of navigators; but Luzon almost equals Cuba in extent and its chief city, Manila, has a popI ulation estimated at O,OOO-greater than that of Havana. Altogether the islands probably contain not less than S,OOO,OO souls; so that Spanish cruel ty finds plenty of raw material to work upon. G II And most of it is raw to the last de- gree-a medley of diverse and hos tile races, ranging from. the puny and dying remnant of the Negritos, who live like wild beasts in the highlands, subsisting upon roots which they claw out of the ground, to the fierce and un- subdued Mohammedan tribes that still keep up the bloody war creeds which ragged in Spain itself for SO many cen- turfes. These latter are chiefly of Malay origin, and many of them are professional head hunters, while qualified to retort Spanish outrages in kind. There are also Chinese in large numbers, and half-casters of all va rietfes. The population of Europeans Is small, even in the cities. The resi- dent Spaniards are all soldiers or off, cials of some sort, and are there sim ply for what. they can make by ex- tortion and corrupt practices.
 But, indeed, pillage of the wretched natives is the almost open aim of the government-the sole end from which 1t is organizd and maintained. It is the old Roman provincial system, de- nounced by Cicero two thousand years ago. but in Spain unforgotten and un- improved. Here the detestable Wey- Ter is said to have accumulated a for tune of several millions of dollars in three years-more than twenty times the whole amount of his salary!
 The methods employed in this legal ized system of robbery are mediaeval in character, but often highly ingen- ious. One of them is the "credula personal" a sort of passport. Every person in the islands, over IS years oi age and accessible to the authorities is required to take out one of these documents; even the women are not exempt. The cedu1a must be renewed annually, and the cost is from a dol lar and half to $25, according to cir cumstances-the chier circumstance being the victims ability to pay.
 But the cedula is only one device out of many for extracting gold from the refractory ore of poverty. A hungry native cannot kill his own hog or buffalo for meat without a special per mit-which, of course, must be paid for. He is not allowed to press out a pint of cocoanut oil from the fruit of his own orchard until he has ob- tained a license, and this also has its price. The orchard itself is taxed everything is taxed in the Philip pines.
 The resident Chinese are further subjected to a special tax-whethe1 for existing or for not being something else is not stated They are not pop ular, and are tr7ated with the most shameless injustice.
 Taxes are imposed for improve ments," but no improvements are per mitted even when backed by foreign capital The roads remain impossible canals of mud, education is a farce the introduction of machinery is drowned upon, and progress is oh- structed.
 The natural resources of the Philip pines are very great, and under civ ilized administration these islands would be rich and prosperous
 THE GREATER includes the less Hoods Sarsaparilla cures hip disease and scrofula sores and it may be de- pended upon to cure boils and pimples and humors of all kinds.
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