The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-05-21
Recent Information Which Will be Found
of Value at the Present Juncture-Brutal
and Incompetent Government of the
Spaniards Bearing its Natural Fruit.

'ieiue Is III the ntlndS OF English, Spanish,
and German houses, who advance money
to the natives on their crops, taking
their profits, which are said to be i'm
mense, after the product is marketed.
Inc land Is fertile and productive, and
lacks only intelligent cultivation. One
or the chief sources of the wealth Of
the archipelago is abaca manila hernp),
winch Is grown to the same perfection
nowhere else in the world. The culture
OF the sugar cane has not of late yielded
satisfactory returns, partly owing to the
competition of beet sugar. but partly,
also' to the ignorance Of the planters.
me average annual sugar production of
the islands is 175, 1877 tons, being not more
IMAM one-fourth Of the production of
Cuba under peaceful conditions. The Gull
t1Vation of tobacco Is capable of much
greater development, though it is al
ready an important branch of production.
The latest annual returns show a tobacco
export equal to 1887 tons, in addition
to 140,080,000 cigars. The native coffee
is chiefly used in SPAIN and is said to
be of fine quality. There Is an abu,d-
ance of cocoa trees, from whose fruit is
obtained the oil used for lighting houses
and streets. The high quality of the ma
tive indigo Is recognized throughout the
world Among the few Industries Of the
Islands are cotton spinning and bamboo
work.
M. Plauchut's analysis Of the causes of
the insurrectior is full of Interesting
matter He says that in regard to these
there has been a conspiracy of silence
between the Spanish civil authorities and
the religious corporations which. though
not tolerated in Spain, swarm In her COL
onies. Having lived in the islands for
ten years, beth among the aborigines and
the Spanish settlements, he Is able to
throw some clear light on the affairs of
a country which for centuries governors.
tiJ md poCtio nv1n -i,o, F1v.
their cwn profit, enveloped in the dark
ress Of ignorance and of absolutism.
Rendering passing tribute of admira-
ton to the heroic efforts which Spain
has made to preserve the two most beau
tiful and the last jewels of her colonial
c, own, M. Plauchet proceeds TO give his
impre ssicns of the causes and conduct
of the insurrection. Briefly enumera ted,
these causes are. first, oppression; second,
greed; third, clerical immortality, and
fourth, the crushing rate OF taxation AS
to the first, the liberty of the Individual
is absolutely unknown in the Philippines.
Hundreds of persons have been sent to
penal settlements with hardly the shadow
of trial, and for no worse offense than
BEING members Of a Masonic lodge To
such an extent has the power, OF arrest
ard Imprisonment been abused by the
colonial authorities, that it was deemed
striking concession on their part to an
nounce that any prisoner whose guilt
was not established after forty eight
heuCs of detention should be set at lib
eTty.
The rapacity of Spanish officials is an
old story in the Philippines, as in Cuba.
1t has long been notorious in Spain that
one needed only to become troublesome
and dangerous critic of a personal favor
ite Of some of the ministers to be sent to,
the colonies to make or mend his fortune.
If the appointce returned to his native
la nd he n riches nf
portion to any income he could honestly
earn, nobody asked any indiscree,t ques-
tions. One ministry might succeed an
other, but this system Of levying spoils
on the colonies was common to them all.
Every change of the dominant party at
Madrid excited terror in the Philippines
because it was known that the only re-
suit would be the liberation Of a new
fight Of birds of prey whose appetites the
islanders had to satisfy. Thus it has
happened that from century to century
the hatred of the natives of the Philip
pines toward every Spanaird charged
with any official duty Whatever has gone
on increasing. This hatred is the more
natural and applicable that every kind of
government employment on the Islands
IS reserved for appointees Of the ministry
or court.
M. Plauchut brings very serious in
dictment aaginst the members of the re-
ligious orders, who have long enjoyed an
unusual amount of wealth and power in
the Philippines. He says that they are In
possession of immense hac!endas or
farms. which yield them handsome reve-
nues in sugar and rice. Added to these
ere fees and perquisites on a scale far
exceeding that known to the richest par
lshes Of Europe. In certain provinces of
the archipelago there are Dominican.
Augustine, Franciscan and Jesuit monks
$4,000 Here the priest not only lives BY
the altar, but he carefully lays away the
treasures which it yields him. Tnesc
reverend fathers it seems have the best
of everything, the best Of horses, the
finest wines, the choicest cigars, the
largest and the most airy Of dwellings
If the establishment of the natives of
the Philippines as to the character OF
their religious teachers has largely con-
tributed 10 the transformation OF the do
cile convent into a spoiler of sanctuaries
and an IL cendiary of converts, the brutal
harshness of the Spanish system of tax
alton has finished the process. Not all OF
the native tribes, by any means pay the
poll tax, but those who do are bound to
ray for every female, without property or
occupation, the annual sum of 81 The
poll tax on every male native is the same,
but he must pay 81 more If he cannot
or will not work fifteen days each year
at roadmaking. There is supplement
tary tax on every man or woman having
any kind of handicraft, profession, or
business, and a business is literally con-
strued to include the sale Of a few betel
nuts, bunch Of bananas. or q basket
of mangoes. Country people who come
to town to sell poultry, fish, or any arti-
Gle of food whatever have also to pay an
extra tax. The native farmer. whether
he owns a rice field, a few acres of sugar
cane, or raises any other kind of agricul-
tural product, sells his crop as 1t stands
to some half-breed Chinaman. who In
turn sells it to the representative of one
of the European houses who hardle the
commerce Of the islands. From the prod
uct of the fields the native retains little
more than is necessary for bare sub
sistence; what little superiority lie may
have is employed in satisfying his passion
for cock fights, and his fondness for pa
rading, candle in hand in religious pro-
cessions.
The organization Of the Philippine in
surrection is very curious study. It
!. began with the Masonic lodges which
were introduced into the islands by the
socialists who were banished to Manila
after the outbreak at Carthagena- These
exiles at first kept their Masonic broth
erhood to themselves. but the screolea and