The San Francisco call., 1899-08-03

| toned. Barley might grow there, but rot
| with that degree of success as in our own
| country. Cattle and hogs seem to do well.
| I really hardly think the Americans could
| labor in the fields and stand the climate.
| The Chinese do all the heavy work and
| seem to endure the climate better than
/ the Filpinos. I doubt whether the en-
/ forcement Of our labor laws in the Islands
would do this country any good, as they
| are bad enough right at home. The cli-
mate of the Philippines is peculiar. One
man will go down there snd get fat while
! ten men will die. 1t is good enough for a
/ Spanard but not for a white man. 1t
might be all right for white man if he
! could lie around and have the natives do
/ his work But of course he will have to
have money to enjoy that luxury. The
people of that country are q set of ours,
/ and would not want to even think Of the
/ possibility of their becoming citizens OF
/ this country; no, not in thousand years.
PRIVATE EDWARD DENNY. Com
pany M-The islands are not lacking in
population The opportunities for getting
/ possession of. the country for agricultural
| purposes and for business in every branch
are extremely good. Had the revolt CT
the Filipinos not occurred, to my mind
/ there could be no better place for new
comers than the islands. The soil is adapt
ed to the raising of all kinds of products
I In the districts where tobacco Is raised
/ white men can work without danger OF
! sickness. The Tagalic race stands the heat
much better than the other races in the
! islands. and do the hardest work. Under
our laws the islands can be made profit
able to this country. l believe in abolish
| ing the system of contract labor there and
in our own country. Although it is pretty
severe there in winter l think the whites
can stand it. I believe the Philippines
should be ruled by civil not military
power. AS to granting the natives the
right to become citizens am not prepared
to answer at this time but do not think
they should be allowed to become citizens.
PRIVATE SAVAGE. Company M-Pop-
ulation is the least thing that troubles
the Philippines. There seems to be a sur
felt of it. The land is almost entirely in
the hands of the church. and it will be
difficult to gain possession of it. The
| country is excellent for farming and for
| the raising of cattle Nearly all products
| now raised in our country could be cultt-
waited there. The hard work is done by
| the Filipinos. It will be difficult matter
to introduce our laws into that country.
Once the natives become familiar with
them and appreciate their Importance
they will live up to the rules of procedure
now in force in the United States. The
climate is not the best in the world. but
l think white people can live through it
if they take proper care of themselves.
The question of citizenship is an import
| ant one and I not ready to say
/ whether the natives should ever have the
privilege of becoming equal to Americans
| in that sphere.
PRIVATE T. r. HERRIN. Company
1.-The Philippine Islands are densely pop
ulated with Cinnamon, Fflipinos and Ia
galos. All the territory seems to be owned
by the church. and it would seem to me it
| will have to be decided by law whether
Americans can gain DOSSeSSiOn of land.
1 think any product that rs raised in this
| country can be cultivated there. The land
/ seems adapted to 1t. People best adapted
to tropical countries can endure the cli-
| mate. The inhabitants of the islands will
| have to be educated to our labor laws be-
fore they can be carried out as in this
| country. The natives are too independent,
in my opinion, to be governed by such
rules The climate is all right in all sea-
sons of the year. 1 firmly believe that the
United States will never be able to make
citizens out of the inhabitants of that
country Then again, we don't want
them to be placed on the same footing
an American citizen. 1 do not think it
would be for the best interests of our
country to accept them as such.
PRIVATE L. F. CHASE. Company H
/ There are lots of people in the Philip
pines but room for more. The opportuni-
! ties for obtaining land for agricultural
]
! fghting is over although none can be OBJ
| tained now. I see no reason why Ameri-
| can agriculture could not be introduced
there 1t is a fine cattle country. and al
| most anything will grow there The work
| in the fields and in fact. almost all the
| hard labor is done by the Chinese coolies.
and it would be almost impossible for
| white people to compete with them. The
| Chinese work too cheap and the whites
| could not stand the climate think that
! if our labor laws could be introduced
! there and made effective the islands
! might be made a source of profit to this
| country. but it would be a difficult mat
| ter to enforce them where there are so
| MANY coolies. The climate is not suited
| to Caucasians. Even If they do not get
| sick the vitality is sapped and they can
not do anything approaching hard work.
! The Filipinos in my opinion should not be
made citizens. As soon as they obtain a
! little education they develop a tyranntcal
disposition and they are natural thieves.
PRIVATE o. E. ROBERTS. Company
! C-There are plenty of people in the Phil
! innines AS for the facilities for obtain
| ing land for agriculture at the present
! time ] am unable to answer think
! American agriculture could be introduced
| there They raise a great deal of corn
now and the foothills and mountain dis
| tricts are fine cattle country. Ameri-
cans. however, cannot labor in the fields:
| all the work of that character is done
bv the natives and Chinese coolies. With
out the present system of contract labor
1 doubt if the islands can ever be made
profitable to this country. The climate
is enervating and saps the vitality of
whites. The Filipinos will not be suffi-
ciently civilized to entitle them TO Amert-
can citizenship for several generations
PRIVATE ]. n. LINDSAY, Company c
| The Philippines are pretty well popu-
lated, as far as 1 had opportunities of
iudging. L don't know what the oppor-
tunities for getting land for agricultural
purposes are. They raise a good number
| of cattle in the foothills and great guam
titles of corn. 1 suppose other crops, such
as wheat, barley, etc, would also thrive
| IT would be impossible for Americans to
labor there, as they could not stand the
| climate. All the work in the fields is
done by the Chinese coolies and the ma
tive Filipinos. The country never could
1 ha made profit BILE under our system of