The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-11-06

lsAduuS WH6Te the Hdme u fAS uiAe&Auo
is nothing but name and people Won
der why they should be stirred up to
fight against this new government that
has ceased to- Cypress them and it is to
this that the success Of the American
forces will be due. II all the islanders
were against us the chance of bringing
them under subsection would be ex-
tremely remote. but as 1t is we have
more friends than foes among our new
colonists, and as the supporters of the
revolutionary party are drawn almost
solely from the more savage Of the ma
tives it Is not too much for us to hope
that we shall be able to do in q few
months what the Spaniards were un-
able to accomplish in hundreds OF
years.
There are few places in the Philip
pines where the authority Of the Unit
ed States Government has been re-
ceived with more favor than in the
Sulu archipelago, and, strangely
enough, this was the spot where Spain
had the least success in making her
power felt. Long ago Sulu was made
an open port but as the people were
SO intractable that the home govern
ment was unable to enforce her GUS
tom regulations the port was soon al
most deserted and commerce was
turned to Zamboanga, a port about one
hundred and twenty miles away. The
inhabitants Of the Sulu Islands are
chiefly Moslem Malays who have
steadily refused to recognize the rule
of any power other than that of their
own Sultan, and as no amount of Span
tsh brutality could. force them into
subsection they were left practically
to themselves, the only exercise of
military authority being at the regu-
larly garrisoned station. That the
United States may have trouble with
these people is not beyond bounds of
possibility, but it will be just as easy
to keep peace with them. To do this
it will only be necessary for us to rec
ognize their Sultan as a great and
powerful ruler and to let them have
their own way to great extent. To
do this will not detract in the least
from the dignity of the United States
and these islands will be a power when
it comes to diffusion of the better UNI
derstanding of the purposes and char
acter of our government.
Zamboanga has always been a rather
peaceful spot. It's inhabitants are
largely the descendants of slaves and
Spain found them a quiet and a sub
mlssive people. 1t was for this reason
that the attempt was made to turn the
trade from Sulu to this port but it was
SO far out of the way that vessels found
1t inconvenient to stop there for clear
ance. AS the result it's commercial in
terests are small, for while it might
have been a popular stopping place for
vessels engaged in the Australian trade
the Spanish custom restrictions were
so vexatious that few calls were made
In spite of this the town shows indica-
lions Of prosperity far beyond what
one would anticipate. It's streets are
wide and are we'll kept up and it's
houses are substantially built and at
tractive. In addition it has we'll kept
pier that extends far out into deep wa
ter and this will be of great assistance
in the building up of trade that is al
most certain to be turned this way in
the future.
OF course the largest islands of the
philippines have first attracted the at
tention of the government, but those
who have studied the conditions that
prevail here at present are of the opin-
ion that the progress of the most i'm
mediate future will far from restrict
itself to Luzon and Mindanao, for it is
in these islands that most of the rev.
olutionary spirit is displayed. In size
as we'll as for fertility and other nat
ural advantages Luzon is one of the
finest islands in the tropical world. It
consists Of about $1,000 square miles
and is divided into two peninsulas-
one at the north, the other at the south
and the range Of mountains that ex-
tend from the extremity of one arm to
the end of the other gives the island
a most mountainous appearance Be
tween these mountainous ranges, how
ever, there are many fertile valleys adj
mirably adapted to all agricultural
pursuits. It's mineral products have
also been found to be of sufficient
quantities to be mined with profit and
yet up to the present time little has
been done along these lines
The climate of Luzon is varied. as it
must necessarily be, the difference OF
latitude between the northern and
southern extremities of the island ex-
ceeding' six degrees At Manila the
drops below 20 degrees, but these fig
ures do not apply to the other por-
lions of the island, where almost any
climatic conditions may be found.
The inhabitants of Luzon consist of
practically three races of people. the
civilized and the uncivilized Malays.
and the Negrito. OF the Malays the
better class form the mass of the pop
ulation and occupy the coast towns
and the fertile valleys, while the un-
civilized tribes make their homes in
the mountains of the interior. While
the former are good agriculturfsts in
their primitive way the latter live
chiefly by hunting and fishing and are
not a pleasant people to come in con-
tact with.
The second largest island, Mindanao,
Is one OF the most attractive and
healthful Of the group It's climate Is
saiubrious, its vegetation is profuse
and varied and its internal resources
are as great as those of any other ISL
and in the archipelago. In addition TO
this, 1T is free from typhoons and would
be an ideal place to live if its inhah-
itants We're of more civilized class
AS IL is, however, they are savages
pure and simple. and no amount OF
spanish effort was sufficient to bring
them under control. OF course the
natives who live near the coast are
OF a better class than the warlike tribes
that infest the mountains, but that is
not saying much, and at the present
moment there are parts of this beauti-
tui island that would be somewhat un-
safe places for an American TO take