Evening star., 1900-05-25

cultivator; two-sixtieths went to the viii
| lage priest, and twenty-four sixtieths were
| claimed by the sovereign. The representa-
| tive Of the latter could compel the culti-
vator to sell his share of the crop at the
ruling price. Like the share of the crop.
| the quantity of unpaid labor demanded by
! the sovereign varied at different times and
| in different parts of the island but gener-
I ally ranged between fifty and seventy-five
| days in the year.
The Dutch under Marshal Daendel and
later and especially under Gen. Van den
| Bosch after the English interregnum
placed their government squarely in the
, shoes of the native sovereign whom it
displaced. with the same title to the soil
| and the same right to compel unpaid labor.
The sovereign's share of the crop was re-
duced to one-fifth and the period of unpaid
| labor to one-seventh. Through this COM
pulsory labor Java was covered with fine
broad roads by Marshal Daendel. The cul-
ture system as perfected by Gen. Van den
Bosch utilized fully the system of forced
labor, unpaid and paid in a share of the
crop, enforced the requirement of the sale
of the cultivator's share of the crop at
fixed and very low price, made dealing In
the products of the system a government
monopoly, and later through advances OF
capital built up a system of middlemen
to manufacture the raw material, thus
compulsorily furnished, keeping all parts of
the machinery of the system completely
under Its control.
Under this system the island was thor
oughly cultivated the population largely
increased, and cultivator, middleman and
sovereign were prosperous and in FUNDS.
But the underlying principle of the system
was absolute despotism and the cultivators
were in substance well-fed Serfs. So that
gradually public opinion has modified the
system until now all that remains of 1t is
as already described.
The government has ceased to monopoliZe
the trade in the products, the middeman
shifts for himself and has no competitor in
the government, the unpaid labor takes
the shape of a poll-tax with labor for the
public as an alternative, and the sover-
eign's share of the crop becomes land
tax, which, however, with the retention of
title to the land and the plan of annual
allotments, approximates very closely to
the old system, for the land tax Is indirectly
and often directly paid in a share of the
produce. The best results of the old cui-
ture system are the habit of work, the ten
art of scientific cultivation which remain.
While the original Dutch system may
have taken small account of the interests
of the natives, that is not the case today
under the modified culture system which
recognizes that the Dutch and Javanese
welfare and prosperity are inseparable. The
natives are in every way protected: they
are prosperous, too, and not oppressed;
they are used by the Dutch extensively in
civil employment and in the army: but it
remains as of old that the white decides
what is best for the dark-skinned man. and
enforces it, not permitting the latter to de-
eide for himself.
Land Tenure in LuzOn.
For purposes of comparison the tenure Of
land and the labor system in the Philip
pines under Spanish rule may be briefly
considered.
John Foreman, the historian of the Phil
fppines who speaks with more authority
on the subject than any other writer says:
Landed property was underlined. 1t all
nominally belonged to the state, which,
however, granted no titles: squatters took
up lands where they chose without deter
mined limits and the embodiment continues
in a measure to the present day.
The astute ecclesiastics quietly appropri-
ated to themselves the best arabic lands
within easy reach of the capital and the
arsenal of Cavite. About the year
1885 the question was brought forward OF
granting government titles to all who could
establish claims to land. Indeed, for about
a year there was certain enthusiasm dis
played both in the application for and the
concession of 'titulos reales.' But the large
majority of holders-among whom the mo-
fe11ra1-pOnld
only show their title by actual possession.
1t might have been sufficient. but the fact
Is that the clergy favored neither the
granting Of 'titulos reales' nor the estab-
lishment Of the projected real estate regis
tration offices. In September, 1880,
a lawsuit was still pending between the
Dominican corporation and number OF
native residents In Calamba UAaguna) who
disputed the Dominicans claim to lands in
that vicinity so long as the corporation
were unable to exhibit their title. For
this implied monastic indiscriminate
QUESTION of real estate several of the best
native families (some of them personally
known to me) were banshed to the Island
of Mindoro.
-. The conditions Of land tenure un-
der Spanish rule in this colony QSS5) stood
briefly thus: The owners either held the
lands by virtue of undisturbed possession
by absolute freehold under title deeds
granted by the state. The tenants-the ac-
tual tillers-were one degree advanced be-
yond the state of slave cultivators, mas
much as they could accumulate property
and were free to transfer their services.
They corresponded to that class of farmers
known in France as metayers and amongst
the Romans of old as Coloni Partiarii, with
no right in the land. but entitled to one
half its produce. Like the ancients they
had to perform a number of services to the
proprietor which were not specified in