The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1900-01-13

foreign commerce amour ed 10 $3.50
735 300 Th- Uuited olates secured
lo-s than - pr cent. Of it. China
las upv hu, 80 miles # railway. Ia
30 .ea.s she would have $1,000 Mills.
Am riaa should commend this traIa.
AS ihe Philippines commanded the
commercial situation of the entire
East. Manila was nearer to Hong
kong than was Washington to la
vaDa.
RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES.
M. Beverdge then took up the
resources of the islands themselves
ami "a d:
no laud surpasses in fertility the
plains aid valleys of LuzOn. Rice
and coffee, sugar and cocoanuts, ,hemp
and tobacco grow in many section
If the archipelago. The forests o.
Negros, Mindanao. Mindora, Palusn
and parts of LuzOn are invaluable
The wood of the Philippines can sup
ply the furniture of the world for h
century to come. Forty miles OF
Cebu's mountain chain are practical
IL mountains of coal. Snip captains,
who have used it, told me that 1t Is
better steamer fuel than the best coal
Of Japan.
have nugget of pure gold picked
up in It's present form on the banks
of Philippine creek.
la one Of the islands great deposits
Of copper exist untouched. The
mineral wealth Of this empire of the
ocean will one day surprise the world.
Aud the mineral wealth is but a small
fraction of the agricultural wealth OF
these island.
Spain's export and import trade,
with the islands undeyeloped, was
Sl2 l75. $40 annually. oar trade
with the islands developed will be
Sl25. 900 600 annually. Luzon is
larger and richer than New York,
Pennsylvania, Illinois or Ohio. Min
danao is larger aud richer than all
New England. MAuila, IS port OF
call and exchange, will, in the time
of men now living, far surpass Liver
pool. Behold the exhaustless mar
kots they command.
CLIMATE AND NATIVES.
The Senator declared the climate
of the Philippines to be especially
conducive TO health. Even in the
hottest season and under the seyerest
conditions he found the weather
tolerable and often delightful He
denied emphatic lily that the island
constituted a steamiug, miasmstlc
swamp.
OF the natives be said;
They are a barbarous race, modl-
fed by three centuries Of contact
with decadeat race. 1t is barely
possible that 900 men in all the
archipelago are capable Of self'gov.
eminent in The Auglo-Saxon sense
There are only three commanding
inielects aud characters-Arellauo,
VI .bni and AgulnaldO Aguinaldo
ia clever popular lesdor, able, brave,
resourceful, cunning, ambitious, un-
scsupulous and maslerful.
TALKS WITH ISLANDERS.
Mr.. b verdge at this point paused
in his address to read extracts from
lsrce number Of natives and mer'
chants in the Philippines, the pur'
nose being 10 corroborate his own
conclusions, on the incapscity of
natives to govern themselves, on the
climate, on the wealth of the islands
ard on the future growth of com
merce. One sentiment, reiterated
time and again in these interviews,
and especially emphasized by the
speaker, can best be shown by g
quotation from sn interview with
"a large planter" Here 1t is:
The common people do not know
what they want Are they capable
of self-government, of voting in
telligently7 What difference does
that mskeq They would vote just
exactly as the better classes say. |
employ several hundred men; well, |
expect aud would see to it that they
have the same opinions | have.
Humphl 1t would be impossible
otherwise"
MUST HOLD THE ARCHIPELAGO.
The reading concluded, Mr.. Bev-
eridge resumed his speech by declsr.
Il