The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-01

Speaking of rebellions reminds me
there hav been seventeen respect
able sized rebellion in the last sixty
years. 1t seems strange that such an
easy, slumbering, happy-go-lucky race
as the natives Of the Philippines should
have such turbulent politics. With al
most any other government over them,
the natives would undoubtedly be
peaceful and contented. OF late years
the rapacity of the Spanish has in
creased, and the poor people are des-
perate. They long for any other gov
erning power than the Spanish. l can't
begin to think now Of all the taxes
and licenses that the people in the ISL
lar pay for their government. All
males over 81 years Of age must Day
an annual poll tax that equals SIS in
our money. All females must pay S14
as a poll tax. A person must get a
license to gather %cocoanuts from his
own trees and sell them. I ave my
self paid hundreds of dollars for Ii
scenses for poor farmers who wished
to harvest their indigo crop and sell
it to me. Every article of furniture
that costs a sum equal to 81 in u
none is taxed. The curtain never
goes up at the theater that $40 is not
paid to the government. No one in the
Philippines may kill his own animals
for market, clip his sheep or cut down
a tree without first paying a fee to
some of the army of collectors that in
fest the country. A couple pay a tax
when they wish to be married, besides
a fee to the padre. The ative owe
-shOwy funerals, n the Spanish de-
.cided a few years 6 that the grave
digger must collect $1.50 for the row
eminent before he can bury yon in
the cemetery. These sums may seem
petty, but it should be considered that
the average native has little opportun-
lty to work for hire. That if he does
succeed in securing employment his
wages are often not more than 5 cent
a day, Inc hat he is usually unable
to dispose of his farm products for cash,
being compelled to exchange them for
other commodities. In addition to these
and other taxes that l do not recall,
there is a tax On beasts of burlen, a
tax for keeping a shop, a tax on cock
fighting. At every turn the poo ma
tive finds himself ace to face with
the dire necessity of paying tribute, and
he frequently spends his life in an in
effectual effort to meet the obligations
thus imposed. The revenue goes to
Spain to pay the soldiers and avy
There is no escape from these taxes.
I have seen women whipped in the rural
oSNouSS IAC Aoo PCAl maps dllC
to get a license before they sold their
annual crop of cocoanuts, or had Sc
creted a cow or a goat so that the tax
collector did not see it in his official
rounds. For the collection of taxes the
Spanish nave revived the plan which
was in use in France before the revolu-
ton of 1889. For each district of 1000
square miles a tax collector is APP
pointed by the governor of the prov
ince. He Is called a gobernadorcillo, and
he is responsible for the estimated
amount which his district should pay
in taxes, so that If collections fall short
he must make them good from his own
pocket. He has under him a number
of deputy collectors, known as cabezas.
each of whom collects the taxes of
from forty to sixty taxpayers, n Is
personally responsible for the amount
expected from each. If they fail to
pay up he distrains their property and
sells it. If the proceeds of the sale
a to cover the Indebtedness the de-
linquent debtors are imprisoned. I once
saw a dozen ragged, hard working men
on the island of Samos that had lost
their houses, cattle, lands n who still
owed sums ranging from 81 to $40. They
were being sent prisoners to the Jail
yard at Punta Chavallas, while their
families were left to shift for them
selves.
"a large book might be written about
the popular revolts that have sprung up
in the Philippines because of these
tyrannical expressions. In 1876 the ma
tives lost 5000 Of their best men in re-
bellion against Spain. In 1882 they lost
several thousand more men, and 600
of their leaders were beheaded and shot
to death in squads at the garrisons at
Cavite as a warning to other sympath-
izing rebels. The present rebellion
broke out last June and was quelled for
a time by Spanish troops. Last jan
uary 500 rebels were shot in the suburbs
of Manila. Suddenly the rebellion broke
out again, and now it seems to be the
most general revolt yet known in the
islands. The intent of this last rebellion
seems to be to rid the Philippines of
the Spanish by any means-Whether by
dynamite, poison or assassination. h
natives hoped for a year or two that
Japan would control of the ISL
:ands and that the hard, cruel hand Of
Spain would be removed. When they
found hat their hopes were ground
less they rose in armed rebellion. Cen
eral Schlatter, who wass sent to the
Philippines by the German government
last August to look into affairs there,
reported that the Japanese are leading
h revolt. There are 10000 Spanish
regulars on guard in the islands. The
insurgents last fall numbered about 49,
900, OF whom 5000 were armed with
good guns. The insurgents have a
few good cannon, cast from melted
church bells and bits Of metal that
they gathered here and there. Manila.
like Havana, has naturally been in
control OF the Spanish troops. and the
insurgents have been carrying on a
warfare forty and sixty miles from
Manila, similar to that Of the Cubans
about Havana.
I'm the summer Of 1896 the order Of