Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-25
WILL BOOM BUSINESS.
Substitution of Civil for Military Rule
In Philippines.

Q
| this Correspondence is published in the
| United States civil government will have
succeeded military control throughout the
| Philippines The islands still excepted from
! peaceful civil rule will be few and remote.
/ The only large ones. Mindoro and Paragua
are in a qJriescent rather than rebelhous
condition. According to all calculations the
surrender capture of Lucban and the be-
ginning, at least. of the pacification of Sa-
mar will have been accomplished within
| few weeks. so that the organization of mu-
nicipal and provincial governments in that
Stubbornly inSurgent island Will not De
much longer delayed
The inauguration of the purely civil gov
eminent is expected to give a considerable
impetus TO business. Although the amend
ments attached by Congress to the Speoner
act prohibit granting of public franchises
disposals of public land and mining
rights. and although no authority has been
conferred for the organization of corpora
lions. still the individual American business
man is naturally optimistic over the pros
poets of the era of commercial success pre-
dicted for the near future. The war, while
ii caused adversely in the provinces, has all
along brought prosperity to Manila and the
English, German and American business
men have been and are making money.
Now, with the coming of peace, trade with
the provinces is beginning to boom, and it
is quite apparent that the trade of Manila,
Iloilo and Cebu with continental Asia is
likely TO greatly SurpaSS the expectations
of Americans in general.
Interview With Mr.. Hull.
In a recent conversation with the Asso-
hull Of Iowa said
The business development of the Philip
pines was set back a year by the refusal OF
Congress to permit granting of franchises.
The new Congress must, of course, at its
coming session, legislate for the islands,
and if are going to insist that no fran
chises be granted for the promotion Of
large business enterprises, we virtually say
that we are opposed, or, at least, fndiffer-
ent, to the development Of the Philippines"
Mr.. Hull, in common with all the more
intelligent Americans who come to the
philippines in these days, believes the bust
ness future of the islands, and of Manila
in particular, Is bright with promise.
Mr.. Hull and his associates in numbering
enterprises have recently had practical
demonstration of the fact that Philippine
lumber viii sell in the American market
An agent of the Pullman company who
has just been negotiating here for Philip
pine woods. named price at which his
company would take all the Philippine ma
hOgany in the log, delivered at any Philip
pine seaport. This offer, which was de-
cIIned, tended to increase the assurance
generally felt here that the beautiful fin
Using woods of the Philippines are hence
forth to be much In demand.
Several great agricultural enterprises are
awaiting the chance to acquire titles to
government lands before beginning onera-
tons. Various companies and individuals
are looking to the great. fertile and largely
savage island of Mindanao as the scene Of
operations in sugar culture on tremend-
Gus scale. provided the coveted grants of
public lands can be obtained.
Rich Sugar Country.
In occidental Negroes lies the richest
sugar country developed under Spanish
rule but it is now claimed that the soil of
several other southern islands can be made
to produce equally good results
The great drawback to the Spanish and
Mestizo owners of the Negroes sugar plan
tatlons has been and is the exorbitant
rates of interest charged for money Up to
the present the current rates of interest on
loans charged by the British and German
bankers of Iloilo is 80 per cent per annl1m.
ana 30 per cent is usually charged for
4oah Ior shorter periods than year. Be
sides this, mortgages are generally taken
on the crops. well as on the land and
the planter often agrees to sell to the
money lender. As a consequence the man
w.-O produces the sugar is very ant to baI.a
nlgh-grade products classed and paid for
as only medium.
4 people of Negroes contend STRONGLY for
the establishment of banks whose sneciaI
function shall be loanng on acricnIturai
lands at legally regulated, reasonable rates
The Philippine commission favors this idea
and will encourage the establishment Of
such institutions
Similar conditions apply to tobacco Gull
ture, but the tobacco industry is merging
INTO the hands of big Manila corporations.
AS to hemp. former conditions stilI Iarga-
ly prevail, both in the gathering and nren-
aratlon of the product and the financial
handling thereof. Generally the crops are
bought in advance by agents of the British
syndicates, who virtually control the nro
I a of a live
at short range instead of by telegraph
The establishment of American national
ana savings banks is discussed a. possible
in the future.
OF all the industries of the PbiIinnipes
the one which appeals most strongly to the
average hurry-an get-rich American is
Scld mining. For two years past experts
and small scatterings of adventurous have
been camping about the gold fields of e.
panto, Bentoc and Benguet provinces
Northern Luzon, getting a little Of the pre-
cious metal in primitive ways and hoping
for a time when they can ACQUIRE rights re
mining claims. The surface indications in
that region are very promising but the
miners are holding off from mourning any
expense Till they are assured that Congress
will permit the acquisition of claims II is
dawning forcibly on the rank and file Of
young Americans here that gold mining in
the Philippines IS a far more favorable
proposition than IN countries where the
weather precludes labor a considerable nor
ton of the year And as the Indications
point to at least fairly rich Yields there is
bound to be rush soon as claims can
be secured.
The signs Of richness in minerals are NOT
confined to the Benguet region Greater or
lesser indications of copper and gold abound
in all the islands.
AS to commercial business. it seems ap-
parent speaking conservatively, that no
body in business here is losing any money
A young pioneer American general mer-
chant In the city of Cebu told the cor
respondent that during his first half year
In business, ending in April he had sold
900 American bicycles. many of them high
grade, for spot cash, at what In the United
States would be considered high prices.