The San Francisco call., 1899-08-03

PRIVATE W. c. STUART, Company A
I suppose you might call the Philippines
we'll populated; there are plenty Of mig
gers" there. There is plenty of land, too,
and there is no reason why it should not
be easily obtained for agricultural pur-
poses. although I do not know what the
opportunities are in this respect Of
course most of the land is owned by the
church So far as crops are concerned,
YOU can raise anything there from tur-
nips to cattle The land is rich and al
most anything will grow there. Amer1-
cans cannot do heavy labor in the ISL
ands: that is out of the question. The
work in the fields IS all done by the Chi
nese and natives. I think the islands
could be made of great benefit to this
country II our labor laws were enforced
there and the contract labor system abol-
ished. I cannot say that l am in favor
of admitting the natives to equal privt-
leges with US as citizens of the United
States.
PRIVATE f. ROMMEL, Company A
There are plenty of people on the island
Of Luzon, but they are congregated In
small cities and towns. The land is
owned principally by the church or by
wealthy capitalists, and the natives work
It on shares IN small patches. There are
no opportunities now for obtaining land
for agricultural purposes, and Of course
I cannot say what the chances will be
in tn future The land is rich and good;
corn rice and other cereals, as we'll as
tobacco and hemp are raised there. l do
not know whether wheat could be sue
cesstully grown or not. Americans can
not work at hard labor there; that is pos
tive Chinese coolies do practically all
the labor. and although some is done by
the Fiiipinos, the natives generally are
engaged in lighter employment, such as
household servants, coachmen, etc.
think the islands will be profitable TO
this country if our labor laws are en-
forced there and the contract labor sys-
TEN now in vogue Is abolished. l think
the FiIipinos would make excellent citi-
zens They are clean, intelligent and
moral: far superior to either the Chinese
OF japanese
SERGEANT ]. II. BLACK, Company I
The islands seem to be pretty well popu-
lated. I cannot say what the opportuni-
ties for obtaining land for agricultural
purposes are. as l I'D not inquire into the
subject great deal of corn is raised
on the island of Luzon. but l do not know
whether other cereals, such as barley.
wheat. oats. etc, could be raised. OF
course the natives and Chinese stand the
climate best and do most Of the hard work
now, especially the Chinese. 1t is pretty
hard TO say whether the islands could be
contract-labOr system were abolished and
our labor laws enforced there. The cli-
mate Is very enervating, and a white man
cannot live there and retain his energy
unimpaired. / am emphatically of the
opinion that the natives should be made
citizens Of the United States. with equal
privileges with ours.
PRIVATE J. X. COTTINGEN. Com
pany Al am of the opinion that the Phil
ippines. judging from what | saw in the
island Of Luzon. are pretty well popu-
lated While there is plenty of land I
cannot say what the opportunities are
for getting possession Of il for agricul-
tural purposes, as that is a matter 1 am
entirely unfamiliar with. a great variety
of crops can be raised there undoubtedly.
Corn is produced in large quantities. as
are other cereals. Up in the foothills is
A great grazing country. and big herds OF
cattle and hogs are raised. Americans
cannot work there-that is. out of doors.
All the hard work is done by the Chinese
coolies and the natives / think our labor
laws might be enforced there to advan-
tage OF course the Americans cannot
compete with the Chinese under the pres
ent contract-labor system. The climate is
very enervating TO Europeans and Ameri-
cans, who cannot live there unless they
exercise care in their manner of living
and refrain from undue exertion. There is
no doubt, in my opinion, that the Filfpinos