Waterbury Democrat., 1901-05-28
THE AMERICAN SYSTEM.
Defended by the Philippine Commis-
 sion at Iloilo.

Iloilo, April 12.-In brightness and
 mental and physical activity the people
 of the island of Panay are unsurpassed
 by those or any other locality in the
 Philippines. These characteristics
 were especially apparent in the public
 sessions of the Philippine commission
 which ended yesterday with the or
 ganization of the populous and pros
 porous province of Iloilo, the seat of
 the Metropolis of the Visayans and the
 second city of the archipelago. It was
 evident throughout that the Visayans,
 of Panay at least, think and act for
 themselves. The leading men of the
 Pueblos oflIloilo province, present as
 delegates in the convention, gave plen-
 ty of evidence of studied familiarity
 with the new general laws covering the conduct of municipal and provincial
 affairs> and they were not at all back
 ward i'll taking the platform and criti-
 cising what they conceived to be the vulnerable points in those acts.
 For the first time the commission
 CTS found it necessary to defend the American system of land taxation and the wisdom of its application in the Philippines. Senor Paynuendo- Mefr1zu, ex-justice of the supreme court of the Philippines, led an attack i'll question ing the efficiency of real estate yalu-
 ations under the American system and
 the justice of the results in-cases ap- peals. Senor Melliza objected to the
 commissions fixing the rate of taxa
 tion (confning it within maximum and
 minimum limits) on the ad valorem val uation of land. He advised making
 calculations on the earning value rath-
 CT than the quantity of the lands. Much was said by the delegates about incorporating together several of
 the Pueblos, between which there ap-
 peared to be most healthy rivalry, but the commission advised that such questions be decided by vote of the people at some future election.
 The money loaning question is a seri-
 ous one in Iloilo. A great>dea1 of mon- ey is loaned by English here to sugar planters in Panay, but more es- pecially to planters of Negros, the great sugar raising island, at fabulous
 rates of interest Notwithstanding the
 money made in sugar growing, not on | ly the land, but the crops are usually
 mortgaged, largely to Iloilo men. The | latter make contracts under which the | product must be sold to them; then | they habitually pay lower grade prices | for high grade products; and the plant l CT is helpless save when he eludes his | creditors enough to sell to outsiders. | When the interest grievance was pre- sented to the commission the response was that, while, under the Spooner act, | the commission is practically power | less as to authorizing interpretations, it
 would recommend that congress estab- ! fish banks in the Philippines which
 make business of loaning upon agri-
 cultural property al reasonable rates of | interest.
 After a great deal of talk the minor I apprehensions of the Visayans seemed l quite set at rest and an act was passed | apply thee general provincial law to | Iloilo province. The naming as gov ernor by the commission of Delgado-- until January Il last leader of the in- | surrectos, of Panay-seemed at first a
 rather startling appointment. It was immensely popular iwth the natives and was strongly recommended by Gen. | eral Hughes, commander of the depart
 ment of the Visayans, and his staff. The new governor made telling lit tie speech after taking the oath of of | flee. The people here are anything but stolid or indifferent, and their very ac- tivity may cause difficulties of govern
 ment at times, but army officers who have been Intimately associated with | the Panayans for two years speak in warmest terms of their honorable deal-
 ing and patriotic American spirit.