Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-06-06
IN SPANS PHILIPPINES.
RULE A CURSE TO
FERTILE ISLANDS.
HER

the tropics, feacnlng at the south TO
within four and q half degrees of the
equator, writes Dean q. Worcester, of
the University of Michigan in the New
York Independent. Big and little, they
number some six hundred, varying i'll
size from Luzon, with its 40, 900 square
miles, to tiny islets hardly worthy of
the name. Destructive eruptions have
occurred within recent times, while
earthquakes are frequent and often OF
great violence.
The climate is intensely hot, and IL
many of the islands very unhealthy for
Europeans. There are four months of
rain, four of sun, with intense heat,
and two months of variable weather at
each change of the monsoons.
The tropical scenery in the forests of
this archipelago is of unsurpassed
splendor, the heat and moisture COM
bining to produce vegetation of mag
niticence which beggars description.
Gigantic trees, towering to height OF
200 or 300 feet, are festooned with
graceful rattaas, beautiful ferns, and
exquisite orchids, while underneath
splendid tree ferns rear their lovely
heads thirty Or forty feet into air.
The population of the islands is es-
tlmated at from eight to ten millions.
Excluding foreigners for the moment,
we find the natives divided into some
thing like two hundred tribes, each
with its peculiar dialect and customs.
With the single exception of the Ne
gritos, these tribes are of Malay ex-
traction. The Negritos are race of
dwartish blacks, confined at present to
a few of the loftiest mountain ranges.
They are commonly believed to be the
aborigines of the islands. They are
puny, sickly race, and are rapid
ly becoming extinct.
The tribes of Malay origin vary in
their development from state of alb
solute savagery to civilization.
Extreme poverty is the rule among
the civilized natives. and its cause is
found in the heavy burden of taxation
imposed upon them by their Spanish
masters. Every person over eighteen
years of age is required to procure
annually a credula personal, or docu-
ment of identification, the charge for
which varies from $3.50 to S25, ac-
cordin9 to the means of the applicant.
Should these sums seem insignificant
it must be remembered that the aver
age native has little or no opportunity
to work for hire; that if he does sue
ceed in securing employment his wages
are often not more than five cents per
day and that he is usually unable to
dispose of his farm products for cash,
being compelled to exchange them for
other commodities. In addition to
this personal tax there is tax on CO.
coanut trees, tax on beasts of bur-
den, tax on killing animals for food,
tax for keeping shop, tax on
mills or oil presses, tax on weights
and measures, tax on cock fighting,
and so on to the end of the chapter.
At every turn the poor native finds
himself face to face with the dire ne
cessity of paying tribute; and he fire.
quently spends his life in an ineffect-
ual effort to meet the obligations thus
imposed.
Delinquent taxpayers are treated
with the utmost severity. The first
step is usually to strip them to the
waist, tie them to bench or post, and
beat them numerically. Women are
subjected to this treatment. Should
none of these methods prove effective
deportation follows, with confscation
of property and the leaving of women
and children to shift for themselves.
1 once saw forty-four men deported
from Siquiior because they owed taxes
varying in amount from two to forty
dollars. L was informed that they
would be allowed to return to
their families, if they could find
them, after working out the amount
of their several debts. The wages
allowed them were to be six cents per
day. Board was to be furnished them
at cost of five cents per day, and
they were to clothe and shelter them
selvesl In other words, their SEN
tence amounted to deportation for
life.
Should a native manage to get
abroad and secure some little educa-
ton, he is likely to be invited on
board gunboat some evening and not
heard from thereafter, the reason for
his disappearance being that he knew
90 much.
The Governor General is surround
ed by numerous corps of officials to
nd him in the performance of his du-
ties, while the islands are divided
into provinces, over each of which
presides a Governor and horde of
minor officials. The Whole Admins
ration is rotten from skin to core.
With few exceptions, these officials
have come from Spain with the delib-
crate and frankly expressed intention
of improving their pecuniary status.
A few years ago it used to be said
that the Governor of province who
failed to become wealthy in two years
was fool.
Hostility toward foreigners is in
tense. The extensive export and i'm
MORT tro1e of the is,on1a ia in the