The Washington weekly post., 1900-04-17
ALL FEAR ACTION OF CONGRESS
Belief that the Natives VIII Be Placed i'm
Power, with Americans In small Detach-
ments Located Over the Island Then
some Day Another Uprising and Mas.a-
cre-Business Chances for Man with a
sharp Eye for the Main Chance.
From the Naur yark S~n

Veil" he said. you vas a damned
| nuisance, but | fries him this time. Whi:h
side nit Ter eggs do you want fried first p
l laughed.
Now, the Hull bill made ''non-coms" of
all the Dutch cooks Men have oeen
known to talk back TO corps commanders
and escape with their lives. But the man
who laughs at a non-commissioned Dutch
cook had better ask Cor a transfer. Starv-
alton stares him in the face.
In recent letter | said that the talk
about self-government for these FilipinOs
was all tommyrot. Well. they've tried it
right here on NegrOs. and tommyrot IL is.
There isn't primary school in America
that isn't better fitted for self-govern-
ment than these people Why. give 4
local presidential free rem and he'd exc
cute half the inha abitants of his village in
week. And steali Give native the
job of tax gatherer and a squad of SOL
diers to back him and he'd own the island
in a month.
To Illustrate: All our ratiOns are brought
up the river in canoes from Binalbagan.
When word came that our Tations were
at Binalbagan our detachment command
er used TO send for the presidential, full
blooded Filipino. give him round sum OF
IiOutSs anu lGll ulDl u lllIt DOdlS ditu
boatmen TO bring up the rations. Twice
in succession the ratiOns arrived all right.
The third time no boats or boatmen were
forthcoming. After d couple of days de-
lay the presidential announced that the
boats were all busy and supplied cariboL
carts instead. Twice the rations were
brought Up in this way, and then no more
| caribou carts could be secured.
H.
thought ii time to investigate The presi-
dentia had paid neither the canoe men nor
oartmen one red dukkO. He had calmly
pocketed the coin, and told the native toll
ers that ''the Americanos had no mas
dinero." According to him, your Uncle
Samuel had gone broke" and couldn't
pay his drayage. And when that presi-
Gentia was confronted with the evidence
in the case, he just lifted his eyebrows.
shrugged his shoulders, and sugges,e ed
that, as the canOemen and cartmen all
had remote relations with the Papiecios,
it would be good idea to execute them in
a batch d la Espagnol. That presidential
was fairly and squarely elected by pop
ular vote. and would be reelected to-m0r-
row. If there is to be any governing over
here, Americans must do it.
Waiting for News.
The American soldiers in the Philippines
ere watching the Manila dailies for news
from Congress with fear and trembling.
If it were not for the fact that President
( ItcKinley has the veto power, there would
he big, black terror before the eyes OF
every American soldier on these islands.
The regular has no confidence in the wis
dom and craftsmanship of the average
American leOiSlatnr h.
of 4 thirty years service man and ask
MIN for history of army legislation from
his point of view. When he gets through
/ telling 1t Congress will look like a Iunatic
asylum. The young soldiers take their
views from the old-timers. And this is
what the old-timers expect now:
They look for some compromise self
government that, to use their words, will
put us under the niggers." They expect to
be scattered over all the islands, lust as
on Negros, in detachments of from four to
forty. They expect jumbled-up native
civil government, superior to the military
/ and checking 1t at every turn. They ex-
pect native army, superior to them in
numbers, and fully armed and equipped
And some day, before the American
tIccps have warning and tine to mobilize
they expect to see all the small detach-
ments massacred- That's what the regu-
iol NAptNAo SOIts LtSS 10 90 LOT MIN. AND
When he talks 1t over he ends by saying:
| why, even Dewey armed these Malays
| against US. 1t Is a good thing Mckinley
vas once soldier and has a veto"
On the other hand, if Congress will do
the right thing and colOniZe these islands
with American Office-hoIders, in a genera
ton this will all be truly American terri
tory. The tuba tax alone will support a
million local officials. 1t is $50 year on
every cocoanut tree. and even AZ that a
shell of tIIha costs hfIt Un TrL.
plantations would soon go into the hands
OF Americans. The present Spanish and
mestiZO owners will sell cheap Moreover
there are thousands OF acres of fine land
unOccupied- Before American capital in
vests in land over here, a straiehtenine
out of titles will be necessary. MANY OF
| the existing titles are mighty gauzy.
Many holders do not really claim the
for the courts. And native courts would
De farce The highest bidder would win
every time.
Only Three Banks.
Meanwhile. If Congress does the rtpht
thing, 1t will open up big field for Amer
lean capital Take banking There are
! only three banks on the island. All are
at Manila. Two are English and one
Spanish. The English banks do a strictly
exchange business, handling exports and
imports, They do not accommodate local
or interisland business. Not because there
isn't money in IL, but because their char
ters forbid IL. They do not encourage
local deposits but regard them as a nui-
sance- They are not permitted 10 make
loans on them. Neither are they permit
ted to make loans on real estate or local
securities Of any sort
The Spanish bank does a local business
but does not make a hole in the field.
American capital would be welcomed and
would reap big profits. Under a stable
government a safe business could be done
leaving out real estate until titles are set
tied. All the larger islands would sup
port small exchange bank right now
The haciehda owner on Negros. who owes
l,Oc) pesos al Iloilo. Panay, has to pack
the money there to pay IT. Why. with 800
and Manila correspondent. | could do
paying business right here at isabella
You SEE. the paymaster comes no farther
than Binalbagan and turns our pay over
10 our detachment commander. We can
make deposits. but get no chance 10 buy
paymaster's checks with which 10 make
remittances. There f. no post-office-just
the military mail carrier The men al
ways want goods from Manila. but have
no way 10 remit j could charge p per
cent. for exchange and get IL from the
mission men 70 the hacienda nnen here
would enable me 20 avoid shipments
Money i'm Hardwood.
The man who hasn't been here and
looked the ground over cannot grasp the
possibilities. The only stumbling block
will be the failure OF Uncle Sam % as
sumo complete and absolute control OF
every governmental function. Take the
hardwood business. There's the maklag
0f hundred rnillionsi,es In that These
Islands are covered with forests of the
finest hardwood timber in the world. rrac-
iicaily untouched. In ali the islands there
are but three sawmllls. The bulk OF the
cutting = done by hand. There are d0z-
ems Of beautiful hardwoods that take
high polish Among them are noiare
scie and amiga, resembling black walnut:
tlndale. resembling cherry. and calenias.
resembling eeGar; but all hard. The Chino
hand woodwoFkerz make some crude
curios from these woods. ! have round
section Of polished nolare an inea thick