The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-25

network mats of palm leaves and are tied
with strips of rattan, so that the cost of
ties and sacking is practically nothing. l
asked the proprietor of the warehouse |
WHY he did not put in machinery and save I
the employment of so many men. He re- /
plied that it would be cheaper for him
10 do So but that his insurance would be I
thereby increased, and he preferred to
work by the old method, which has been
in vogue here since the beginning.
A HEMP TRUST
There is danger that there will be a
hemp trust organized, which may con-
troll the production and marketing of all
the hemp produced in the islands, and the
conditions would seem to be favorable for
such an organization | met before l left
Manila an American who was just start
ing for New York for this purpose. The
facts in favor of the success of such a
trust are that hemp can be raised no.
where outside the Philippines, and also
that the business is already in such few
hands that it might easily be consolidated
or so manipulated that the exporters
could be forced into the combination.
This man told me that many of the hemp
planters are in debt, and he seemed to
have little doubt of his success in the or
ganization of possible syndicate. AS to
4 the facts, however, i am not sure, and
/ the large amount of undeveloped terri
tory would lend to the supposition that
such a trust might be a failure in the de-
/ velopment which will probably come
through the American occupation. At
present no systematic combination of
hemp planters has been organized The
business Is almost entirely in the hands
of the natives and the Spaniards, very few
of the estates being owned by the friars.
! Hemp raising is not like sugar raising
in that it needs large capital. A man
must, it is true, have enough to support
himself for the three years required to
bring the plants into bearing, but after
I that an outlay of a few dollars will fur
nish him with all the machinery he needs
and he can. as have said as far as labor
is concerned, run his plantation on shares.
Even If he pays for his labor he will not
give his hands more than Is or 20 cents a
day. In Manila. where wages are at their
top notch. the manager of the largest
hemp warehouse told me he was paying
amounts equal to 25 to 40 cents gold, and
/, he evidently thought these rates exceed
! ingly high.
PROFITS IN HEMP RAISING.
II seems to me that hemp raising will,
after matters are settled, form one of the
best openings for American capital. 1t is
estimated that about 720 plants can be set
, out to the acre i am told the plants can
! be bought for about l cent apiece. Each
) plant should produce about ten ounces OF
fiber, and if scientifically treated it might
, be made to produce more. Two men can,
1t is said harvest about 300 pounds in a
E week, and this at present rates would be
! worth about $50 (silver). l cannot give
the details, but I have been told by q
T number of planters that from % to 80 pei
n cent is not an uncommon profit, and that
n if care is used in gathering the crop the
g profits might be still larger.
& At present a great deal of the hemI
Ct mt If r5Idt
s machinery used in its extraction, but 81
d far all attempts to improve upon th'
: present methods have been failures. Their
n have been numerous machines invented
Ii but all have either torn the fiber, o
IS stained it, and there is still good chance
l. for Yankee ingenuity.
d 1t is said that the English who have at
n tempted hemp raising have failed be
IS cause they have not been able to handl
n the workmen, and that only the native
IS or the Spaniarus can use the Filipinos' la
IS Dor with profit. 1t might be the sam
n with American planters. AS to our peo
il pie working the crop themselves, 1 doub
in whether they do successfully i
this climate. AS for me, L grow tire
very quickly, and l find that most Amer
ics3ns must keep in out of the sun dur
m ing great part of the day.
&c THE QUESTION OF TITLES
at AS to the prices of hemp lands, this de
81 ponds largely upon the location, the own
it ers and the title. In Mindanao the mos
re of the lands still belong to the govern
I'd ment only a strip here and there abou
d. the coast being under cultivation. In tn
I'd province of Davao, which is bigger tina
a New Jersey, there is not, l venture, a
Mt much cultivated land you will find i
a any one of Ohio's lightweight counties
,h The rest all belongs to the United State
es Government. There are Governmer
Ian de on of of tSI.,,
I'd among them wild lands, which could /
in cleared for hemp.
ry The most serious question as to q
v. lands, however, is that of titles. / ha
100 a chat at Zamboanga with Major Morr
son. the Judge Advocate, who has bee
es locking into such matters. He tells II
"a that in the fight which the insurrectt
g. of Mindanao had with the Spaniards a
is, the records were destroyed before II
or Americans came and that the evidenc,
of title in most cases have been lost. +
says, however, that all notares We're r,
quired to report the deeds they execute
he to Manila, and that from the Manila re,
$. ords many of the disputed titles can l
re established. / find that the records haN
De been destroyed in the island of Pana
eo and in other places, and the vice pres
Ell dente here tells that but little of II
$ land in this part of Mindanao is legal
NJ owned. Even in the town of Dayao IL
q
hg The Spaniards did not question the
rights as long they paid the take
is and it has been the same with lands tai
'Vo en- up in the country. 1t is a questic
er who really owns the big hemp plant;
te ton which l visited. 1 am told that ii
an Chinese merchants have in H. nas+ O.
zig months been lawns, cIaip, .o a,.ar,,tb;r
he In their reach ar Cottahato Qua o,h
IL places. SO that much of the land no
"a supposed to have proprietors will need
40 go into the courts before it's ownersh
OF can be definitely established
IS. FRANK G. CARPENTER !.
CHI