The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-11
THE ISLANDS DEWEY TOOK.
AN OLD SHIP MASTERS YARN ABOUT
THE PHILIPPINES.

Tribes of the neutrality-suspicious.
ties for Yankee HustIing-A Tale
of Fighting Hummins Birds.
From the New York Sun
when Unche sam comes 10 look into the
conditions of government now existing in
the Philippine Islands with view 10 al
terlng them to suit Yankee notions, he is
going to be everlastngly surprised In the
first place, he is going to find that the
Chinese are the real masters instead Of the
late lamented Dons, just as they are to-
| day virtually in control of nearly all the
islands of Malaysia. In the second place,
he is going to find that the dissatisfaction
of the revolving natives is directed as
much against these same Chinese as
against the Spanish, and that the cry
against the cheap Chinese labor rings out
as wildly at Manila and elsewhere in the
islands as il did in this country prior to
the restriction Of Chinese immigration"
After this declaration Capt John W.
Merritt of San Francisco paused to take
breath and to stroke a monumental meer-
schaum. He is a retired shipmaster who
has seen forty-fye years of gales and
Gains on the bosom of the Pacific and was
spinning yarns for the entertainment of
a group of friends.
THE population of the Philippines" he
! continued, lis the most heterogeneous to
! be met with in all the Kanaka Islands.
They say 1t numbers 100000 souls, 1 was
! going to say, but, bless you, most of them
are just the commonest kind of black or
brown bodies meandering around at the
/ dictates of 10 mus al L Of
pulses and instincts. The mountains are
| filled with wild tribes of diverse origin,
Few of which have ever been conquered
or subdued by the Spanish. They are as
ferocious as Cerberus and as black as his
master. Among them are the negritos-
little niggers, that means translated.
! They are wiry, tough and bad little giants,
who yield only to such civilization as is
! introduced by powder and ball. These
! fierce tribes swarm all over the 1900 islands
| in the group, and 1 venture to say that
not One-haf of them have ever been un-
! der the Spanish yoke.
THE Tagals, who live on the larger is
| lands, like LuZon and Alndanao, are rather
peaceful people and do little farming be-
tween cock fights, Then comes the Bis
ayans, who are great fishermen and live
on the water between the islands. They
! carry on desultory sort of commerce and
]
! the majority of the population under Span
ish rule, with the Papuans a good second
| Native whites and Europeans are about
! 100000 strong, while the Chinese and the
balf-castes of India, who have been drift
ing into the Philippines for ages, number,
| collectively, about 125 600. SO, you see, the
| Caucasian, Monaghan, and Ethiopian di-
visions of the human family have all con-
| tributed a share to the islands.
| 10 10. ~, rla
! tive degree. It's that way In all the Kama
ka Islands, and the generous way an which
! good Mother Nature has provided for them
is enough excuse their shiftlessness. GO
! out and lie down under the first tree at
night and enjoy sleep. In the morning
| roll over on your back, shy your boot up
into the tree and down comes breakfast
| That's their way of reasoning it out and
most of them. practice it, Their laziness
and general improvidence the Chinese have
| been quick to seize upon and turn to ad-
| Vantage-no opportunity ever escaped a
Chinaman. He Is active, capable and I'M
ceasing in his efforts when he turns his
! hand to labor OF mechanics. In commerce
| he is the most astute merchant on the face
of the globe. In finance he is without a SUI
perior. So the Chinese have become the
mechanics, clerks, traders, shopl1eepers and
bankers of the islands, and therefore the
real power. Their energy and capacity
! made them Indispensable to the Dons. In
! return for their faithful offices and the
handsome presents they bestowed upon the
| Spanish officials, the Chinese were allow
ed to have civil regulations and a police
of their own. Ostensibly they acknowledged
the rule of the Spanish governor general,
his ministry and advisory juntas and bow
! ed down before it in humble self-abnega-
ton; but in their wide sleeves they snick-
| cred and sneered at it,
Hated, despised, but wholly envied by
the natives, the Chinese have never sought
to placate their enemies, but have aided
the Spanish government in maintaining
taat balance of opposing interests on
i which the Dons relied for the support of
their own institutions. Thus they have
gone on for years fattenng on the great
wealth of the Philippines. giving large
sums to the Spanish rulers for concessions
worth ten times what they have paid, and
stripping the natives of lands, products
and labor until conditions became un-
bearabe even for the easy-going tribes,
and the rebellions followed The ultimate
triumph of the insurgents would mean
the humiliation of the Chinese, for like
all Malays the natives are supine and in
active in peace, but unrelenting and tire
less when bent on revenge
IF the United States will hold on to
Manila or take possession of the entire
Philippine group they will confer I'M
bounced benefit upon the American mer-
chants engaged in the Pacific trade and
add considerable to the revenues Of our
country. Besides the cost of the war
could soon be repaid into our treasury
from the tax on imports and exports i'm
posed at Manila alone. l don't pretend 60
discuss the vast advantages that port of
fers as a coaling station and general gov
ernmental depot in the far East which is
a subject for the consideration Of states
men, but l argue from the point and expe-
rlence of an Old trader with an eye to bus
mess. There is no calculating the wealth
of the islands Most of the products
brought to this country are coffee, indigo
sugar cane, tobacco Ca government monop-
oly), spices pepper, pima linen made from
the pineapple fiber. hats, and cordage. But
locked up in the. many mountains OF the
islands are millions of tons OF iron, copper,
coal and sulphur. AS for the timber. there
is nothing to equal its quality and guam
tity. The Spanish have never been able
TO develop the Islands, and the Chinese
had not sufficient means to put their full
productiveness to the test. There is some
gold TO be found in the sands OF the hun