The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-06-05
Y TAKING POSITION TO REpEL THE AMERICAN INVASION

months in the year. Some patios are
beautif1ed by palms, beds Of flowers,
and arbOrs Of vines. The commercial
buildings are all old, too. The show
windows are little, cheap affairs, and
there is none of the modern convent
ences in any Of the best stores in the
whole city. A unique feature Of all
homes and offices in Manila is the use
of tiny square panes of translucent
oyster shell instead Of glass. A win
dow six feet long and four wide will
contain 26O Of these oyster shell panes.
They temper the fierce glare Of the sun
in the. buildings, and in country
where many people go blind from the
constant sunshine this is a precaution
to be taken.
"Spaniards seldom remain longer than
five years in the Phiiippines-indeed,
If so long. AS fast as they depart for
their native land, newcomers arrive to
take their places. The islands have
been for generations a region in which
people of influence at Madrid might
come and recover their financial losses,
and where young Spaniards might in
few years make a fortune There are,
however, several Spanish families who
have made Manila their home for years.
They are immensely wealthy and live
in beautiful old palaces in Binodo-a
pretty residence suburb Of Manila. A
genuine census has never been taken
in the Philippines, but of total popu-
lation of about 100000 in Manila, about
5000 are Spanish. The troops are re-
lieved here once in two years, but the
rebellions have been so many in the ISL
ands during the past few years that
the soldiers have been kept on duty at
Cavite and other garrisons longer than
usual Speaking Of rebellions reminds
me that there have been seventeen re-
spectacle sized rebellions 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 almost any other government
over them, the natives could undoubt-
eddy be peaceful and contented. Of late
years the rapacity of the Spanish has
increased, and the poor people are des-
perate. They long for any other gov
erning power than the Spanish. I can't
begin to think now of all the taxes and
licenses that the people in the islands
pay for their government All males
over twenty-one years of age must pay
an annual poll tax that equals SIS in
our money. All females must pay s14
a
license to gather cocoanuts from his
own trees and sell them I have myself
| paid hundreds of dollars for licenses for
poor farmers who wished to harvest
their indigo crop and sell it to me-
Every article Of furniture that costs &
sum equal to 81 in our money is taxed
The curtain never goes up al the thea
ter that $40 is not paid to the govern
ment. No one in the Philippines NAV
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 infest the country. A
couple pay a tax when they wish to be
| married besides fee to the padre
The natives love snowy funerals, anG
the Spanish decided few years ago
that the gravedfgger must collect 81. 90
for the government before he can bury
any one in any cemetery.
These sums may seem petty. but it
| should be considered that the average
| native has little opportunity to work
| for hire, that if he does succeed in Sc
| curing employment his wages are often
not more than cents day, and that
he Is usually unable to dispose of his
farm products for cash, being compelled
| to exchange them for other commodi-
| ties. In addition to these and other
| taxes that 1 do not recall, there is a
| tax on beasts Of burden, tax for keep
| ing a shop, tax on mills or oil
| presses, a tax on weights ard measures
and tax on cockfighting. At every.
| turn the poor native finds himself fac
| to face with the dire necessity of pay
| ing tribute, and he frequently spends
| his life in an Intellectual effort to meet
| the obligation thus imposed. The reve-