The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-14
SLAVES Of
AMERICA
Sale of Human Beings
in Philippines.
F. c. CARPENTER WRITES
Twelve Year Old Girl Worth SIS
Stories of Bondage Allied :
to Love,

DAVAo, Island of Mindanao, June
Is. 1901 was offered four slaves here
to-day for fifty gold dollars. They
were owned by a woman who claims
she is Christian, and not by one of
the Mohammedan Moros. / went into
the woman's house and chatted with
her for some time about the human
flesh on sale, and later on persuaded
her to bring the slaves out in the yard
that 1 might make photograph of
them. Three of them were boys, rang
ing in age from 16 to g. The other was
a girl of 12, the age at which girls are
sometimes married down here on the
edge of the equator. The smallest boy
had nothing on but shirt, which bare
ly reached to his waist, and the other
two wore only coarse pantaloons ex-
tending from the waist to the knees.
The girl was half naked, her only gar
ment being a wide strip of dirty cotton
cloth wrapped about her waist and
fastened there in a knot. had a pho
tograph made with myself standing be-
side her. and she reached just TO my
| shoulder. AS 1 stood thus the slave
owner evidently thought L wanted the
girl and said "Mucho bueno," or very
/ good, and told me that if 1 bought on
! ly her she would have to charge me
more in proportion than she asked for
the job lot. She said the little girl
should be worth at least SIS, and SEEM
ed surprised when 1 did not jump at
the bargain.
! 1 askesi her where the slaves came
from.
She replied that they had been
brought in from the mountains, having
been captured by one of the savage
tribes in a recent war with its neigh
bors. She said they were Aetas, or
Mindanao Negritoes, and as l looked at
their black skins, thick noses and SEN
suous eyes l could see traces of Afri-
can blood. / talked with the slaves.
through an interpreter, but could not
get any evidence of their having been
i'll used. but they seemed Indifferent as
to whether they were to be sold or not
and evidently had no idea that they
could possibly object. Had / bought
them / am told / would have had, ac-
cOrding to the custom which prevails
in the country about here. power Of
life and death over them, and that
could have killed them without risk o.
a criminal investigation.
a LAND OF SLAVES.
! Slavery is common among the peopl
of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago
, and 1 am led to believe that there is ;
form of debt slavery in some of the isl
ands farther north. Here in Mindana
! there are not only debt slaves. bu
j slaves by birth and by conquest.
: have been told at every place 1 hav
. stopped that slavery is common, an
$ that women especially are bought an
$ sold. All of the Moro dattos hav
e numerous slaves, and the richer Of thei
: subjects have as many as they can sup
port.
The Visayans of this island, at leas
have slaves, although 1T is nominall
against the Spanish law. Still huma
beings are bought and sold, and eve
the officials have been accustomed t
= own them. / met this afternoon the ex
lpresident of the town of Davao. He
a rich Visayan, who has large farI
u not far from here. He owns a numbe
of slaves and keeps several in his fam
lily for servants. / have been told ths
the Christians seldom sell slaves, a
though they buy them, and that Ii
common for a man to purchase child
= rem to bring them up for work abor
IT the house.
II SLAVERY AMONG THE SAVAGE:
> Nearly all of the savages, of whol
there are many, have their slaves caI
II tured in war. 1t is not an uncommo
thing to kill the men captives and
u make slaves Of the women and child
L., r. "a.
3 mountains near here slaves are said I
= be used for human sacrifices. Thes
II tribes are the Bagobas, Aetas, GUAR
&c gas and Tagacolas, who live on or nes
the slopes of Mount Apo. / have see
much of the Bagobas and the Guiar
gas in Davao and will describe thel
Ie more fully hereafter.
The Chinese merchants who do II
'e most of the business of the small,
- towns OF the Philippines usually ow
u one or more women whom they ha,
bought They do not marry them, bi
treat them well as wives, taking goc
care of their children.
- SLAVERY AMONG THE MOROS.
,r The chief slave owners, however. al
D. the Moros. They have the right
re slaves by their religion and have he
them for centuries. In the past the
le have carried on a great business in ki'
Is mapping men, women and childre
g. and taking them to Borneo and els
e. where for sale. There are white ms
still living who have been Moro slave
having been captured by the Moros
To- their wars with the Spaniards. A
a cording to the Moro laws the father HI
ty. the right TO sell his children. He c.