The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-11-16
THE PHILIPPINES
AND THEIR FUTURE
INTERESTING RESUME OF THE
ISLANDS CONDITION.
Great Racial Diversities, Abundant
Natural Possibilities, Mineral
Wealth, q Good Climate and Bright
Prospects Under Honest and Co
pable Observation-Disclosures by
the United States Inevitable.
From the Quarterly Review.


and not knowing where the stuff in
their clotheslines came from. If most
Americans thought of the Philippines
as a group of islands floating around
in the South Sea somewhere between
Fiji and Patagonia" we can vouch for
the fact that before the war 1t was not
uncommon to find highly educated
Englishmen happy in the belief that
Manila is situated in the West Indies.
Not long ago, in a magazine article
n writer pointed out that there Is a
fashion in exploration as in everything
else, and that, just as certain securi-
ties are from time to time specially
brought forward TO be dealt in oy
financiers and spectators, so this or
that country engages the attention or
travellers to the comparative exclu-
sion of all others until such time as
It is In turn supplanted by its success
sor. The pendulum of fashion has, in
deed, swung often enough of late years
between the Equator and the Arctic.
Most of Africa has been mapped out
like an English county, and since Nam
sens exploit we have almost learnt TO
speak disrespectfully of the North
Pole; but the regularity of the swing
has never been broken by any deflec-
ton towards the Philippines. Though
nearly four centuries have passed since
Magellan first crossed the Pacific and
took possession of the group for his
master, Charles ", the interior of
some of the islands is still practically
unknown, the very coast lines are in
places but vaguely charted, and there
must still be tribes which have never
seen a white man. A very large pro-
portion of what has been termed the
leisure class can claim the mild dis
tinction of having been round the
world and if we have not crossed
Africa ourselves, most OF us probably
number among our acquaintance some
more adventurous spirit who has per-
formed this feat. Put even though
alive to the impropriety of the second
in Manila, and with every confidence
in the geographical position of that
city, how many are there Of us who
have visited it, or could give off-hand
the names of half-a-doZen other towns
in the archipelago?
1t is easy to understand then, why
the photography Of the islands is 50
limited. All, or almost all, of those
who have published accounts of the
group can be classed under two heads:
professed naturalists or collectors, and
persons engaged in commerce in Ma
nila. Few places are more hopelessly
"side-tracked:" vet If we turn leaf
and look into the coming century we
see a brighter future. Lessep's great
scheme--the scheme of the cid Spanish
explorers three centuries and half be-
fore him-will then he an accomplished
fact; the ships of the western world
will pour through the canal and across
the Pacific to China, and history will
repeat itself in the revival of the old
trade route of the Acapulco galleons
. Then Manila, "the moth-eaten capital
of the East" as one of our authors
terms her, will wake to find herself nc
longer "side tracked" but the CHIEF
port on one of the greatest of tho
worlds highways.
AN INTERESTING JOURNEY.
At present, it must be admitted, there
are few signs of this. The traveller II
the remote East who desires to visit
Magellan's Islands of st. Lazarus vii
not, perhaps, find them as inaccessibl,
as the Eadrones, but he will wish tha
steamers were more frequent, and tha
they were little better found. AS h,
passes Corregidor Island, and wonders
ignorant of the Spaniard why Admira
Dewey was permitted to enter so quiet
ly, he will greet the magnificent eX
panse of Manila Bay with a pleasur,
even beyond that evoked by it's natura
beauty, for the passage from Hons
Kong, 1t is safe to say, has been rough
and the cuisine not entirely satisfac
tory. Leaving CaVite. the Portsmouth
of Spain in the Fast, on the starboart
side, a short hours steam brings hin
to his destination, and, stepping into ;
boat, he is rowed up the yellow strean
of the Pasig to disembark at tn
Puente de Espana.
Perhaps. of all the sights that NEE
his eyes, the most unexpected will b
the signs of busy life that everywher
surround him. He has not conceived
of the city as so populous, albeit tn
Oldest European settlement in the Eas
after Goa; and. its three hundred thou
sand inhabitants astonish him. Tn
bridge leads from Old Manila, Legas
pts fortified town. to the modern cit
across it is pouring a crowd which, {
those acquainted only with the trit
seaports of the East, wears an unfa
miliar aspect. The visitor may not
astonished at the cortege of the go
bernador Captain General" with II
whistling outriders commanding an ar
rest of traffic, but he will turn roun
10 stare at the carriage with the fou
milk white steeds which bears tn
archbishop-Nozaleda, most hated G
all hated ecclesiastics in the land. PEI
haps 1t is a fiesta-nestas are eve
more numerous than Sundays in tn
philippines-and the elaborate proces
zion of long-robed friars which is max
Ing its way up the Escolta, while re
viying mental pictures OF like scenes |
Seville or Cadiz, look novel in It's mile
of strangely clad natives and-the tropI
cal air which pervades everything. A
one passes along the densely thronge
uuays. Chinese are chatting 1
groups, but the Spanish which fall
from their lips seems out OF it's lat
.ude. To the trained eye the Malay tyr
is strong, yet few sarong- and baju
clad natives are here: 1t Is a land {
shirt and trousers and Of straw hat
Yet the effect produced is scarcely $
commonplace as it sounds, for the FL
iplno has not yet learned TO tuck /
the former garment, and is not withol
the love OF his race for bright colo
The women's dress is more character
tstic than that OF the men. The wivt
OF the Spanish officials, no doubt al
no less interested in the Parish fash
tons than are their sisters at HON
but for the lower class native, the me-
tiza, or even the higher-born Filipin
the hautes nouveautes can mean litt