Evening star., 1900-05-25

| writing. but enforced by usage Tenants .,
'iiis species recently subsisted-and perhans
| still do-in Scotland. Leases for love-
periods were exceptional. and never heard
oi compensation being granted for improve
| ments of Philippine estates"
Dutch Culture System in Lu.or
Inc Dutch culture system itself was re-
produced in Luzon in the cultivation and
saie OF tobacco from 1881 as late as 1Sso
oe'"een which dates the handling of tobac-
co was government monopoly
FOREMAN says: Compulsory labor nas
authorized. and those natives in the north.
erE provinces Of Luzon Island who wished
10 uil the land (the property of the state,-
for title deeds were almost unknown az,
never applied for by the natiyes-were cow
peifed to give preference to tobacco In
TACT, no other crops were allowed tn be
raised Each family was coerced into con-
tractlng with the government to raise 1000
pants per annum. subject to fine in tho
event or failure. The planter had to de-
liver into the state stores all the tobacco
Oh MS crop-not single leaf could he re-
serve Tor his private consumption Lands
left uncultivated could be appropriated by
the government. who put their own nominees
TO work them, and he who had come 10
consider himself owner by mere undisturbed
possession. lost the usufruct and all other
rights for three years. His right to the
land. in fact. was not freehold, but tenure
by villen socage. =
From sunrise to sunset the native grower
was subject to domiciliary search for con-
cealed tobacco-his trunks furniture and
every nook and corner of his dwelling were
ransacked. He and all his family-wife and
daughters-were personally examined.
vaS f,,1Iy-
only such as came under classification were
PAID for to the grower. The rejected bum
dies We're not returned to lin. but burnt
a despairing sacrifice to the toiler,"
The tobacco monopoly was the largest
source of public revenue. the profits be-
ing great, but the system finally broke
down and was abandoned in 1882 because
the Spanish government swindled its COM
pulsory workmen, and did not permit them
to share. as in Java in the material pros
perity which would naturally result from
the system.
Depressing and SwindIing the Natives
Foreman says: "Palpabe injustice too,
was imposed by the government with re-
spect to the payments. The treasury paid
loyalty for many years. but as generation
succeeded generation, and the native grow
ers' families came to feel themselves at
tached to the soil they cultivated, the
treasury, reposng on the security of this
constancy, no longer kept to the compact.
The officials failed to pay with punctual-
ity to the growers the contracted value
Of the deliveries to the state stores. They
required exactitude from the native-the
government set the example of remissness.
The consequence was appalling. Instead Of
money. treasury notes were given them,
and spectators Of the lowest type used to
scour the tobacco-growing districts to buy
up this paper at an enormous discount.
The misery Of the natives Distress
ing. the distrust of the government so
radicate. and the want of means of exist
ence so urgent. that they We're wont to
yield their claims for an insignificant rea-
tive specie value"
Ramon Lala in his work the Philip
pines says: "A native cannot own land.
He may hold 1t under certain conditions.
What these in the tobacco districts
has been stated. The regulations outside
these districts are as follows: He must
plant useful trees suitable to the soil; raise
wheat. rye, maize. vegetables. cotton, pep
per; maintain every species of appropriate
cattle; keep fruit growing in his orchards
and around his house; have at least twelve
hens. one cock and a sucking pig Failing
in these impossible conditions the land may
be confscated at the end of two years"
The land tenure and compulsory labor
of the culture system are suggested by
these descriptions. but the Spaniard ap-
parently begrudged the native the smallest
share of the profits of the system, and as
a consequence bungled clumsily in the prac-
tical application of the Dutch method to
Luzon THEODORE w. MOVES.
(To be continued)