The San Francisco call., 1899-08-03

would make excellent citizens. They are
intelligent race, and If given chance
will soon prove themselves capable Of
governing themselves.
PRIVATE D. W. HOLGATE, Company
A-The Philippines are well populated or
at least the island Of LuzOn is. There is
a lot of land there which is owned by
wealthy Filipinos, Spaniards and the
church and is rented or leased in small
tracts to the Chinese and poorer natives,
who plant and raise the crops What the
opportunities now are for obtaining land
for agricultural purposes by Americans
I do not know. but I do not think it would
be possible to obtain any at this time So
far as hard work is concerned, Americans
could not stand it for a moment. All the
work in the fields is done by the Chinese
and the natives. If the present contract
labor system could be abolished and our
own labor laws enforced i think the ISL
ands could be made a source of profit to
the United States. The climate is ener-
waiting and impairs the energies OF peo-
ple of our race I am in favor of admit
ting the Filipinos to the privileges of Am
erican citizenship. They are intelligent
and observing and far superior to other
Oriental races.
i D.
A-There is no lack of population in the
Philippines so far as my observation
went The country districts do not appear
to be thickly settled, but there are great
number of cities ranging from 700 to 40
900 population scattered throughout the
island of Luzon, and the fact that the
land is largely in the hands of the church
is one of the principal reasons why oppor-
tlInities are poor for obtaining it for ag-
Good
doubtedly be raised there, especially corn,
hemp. tobacco, rice and sugar. ] have no
doubt that wheat and other cereals can
also be successfully raised, although L
do not think these crops are raised in
quantities at present. Americans cannot
labor there at any kind of out-of-door
work. The cultivation of the fields is en-
tirely in the hands of the Chinese and the
natives, chiefly the former. The islands
could probably be made profitable to this
country if our labor laws were subSu-
tuted for the present contract system, put
the climate is not suited to people of our
race. 1t is too enervating, and a short
residence in the islands impairs the en-
ergy Of the most robust. The F1ltplnos
are a much superior people TO the Japa-
nese. with whom they are often com
pared. They are more intelligent and far
more moral They are extremely anxious
TO far1iliariZe themselves with the Amer
lean language and everything else Amer
lean. l think they would make goo0
citizens and am in favor Of their being
accorded equal privileges with the rest OF
us.
PRIVATE w A. MELLINGER. Com
pany A-They do not need any more peo-
pie in the Philippines, as the country is
pretty we'll populated as it is. L do not
think the opportunities for obtaining land
for agricultural purposes at the present
time are very good. Most of the land is
owned by the church and hard to get hold
of for that reason. 1 think American
agriculture can be introduced there, Sucn
as raising wheat, corn, barley, oats, rye,
etc, and raising cattle and hogs. In
fact a great deal of corn is already raised
and big herds of cattle and hogs. Ameri-
cans cannot labor there in any capacity
of agricultural employment, as they can
not stand the climate. The Chinese ap-
pear to endure the climate best and they
do most of the hard work, although some
is also done by the natives. The islands
could be made profitable undoubtedly If
our labor laws could be enforced there to
the exclusion of the present contract labor
system The climate is entirely unsuited
to our people, and short residence i'm
pairs their energy to a perceptible de-
gree. 1 am heartily in favor of making
the natives of the islands citizens OF the
United States. They are intelligent and
capable of self-government with a little