The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-26
VIEWS OF AN BNGLISHMAN.
Conditions in the Philippines De
scribed by u British Consul.
The Task Undertaken by the United
Stutcs Il Gigantic One-DIficuIties
in the why OF PncIfyInG the ISL
udS-Chnrnctcristi Of Natives

Conditions in the Philippine Islands a s
seen through British eyes are pictured in
a report Of the British Consul at Manila.
which has just reached the Treasury Blu
reau OF Statistics 1t says:
The gigantic nature OF the task before
the United States authorities in these is
lands is probably not understood IN the
United Kingdom The group has an area
Of 1l4Go0 square miles fabout four-tifths
Of that of the United Kingdom). The is
lands are very scattered. the extreme
north and south being about 2.0y9 miles
apart They are about so in number,
though only Il are OF any size or import
ance-
The population IS vaTiOuSly estimated
at from s.e44oo1 to l8UGo00o
'sTo reduce this huge tract of land and
water to subsection the Americans have
at the time Of writing some 5000 troops
and a small naval force The smallueSs
of the latter and the lack Of light draught
vessels make it very hard to watch the.
coasts of the islands. and the natives on
being driven from one are able TO es-
cape 10 another and recOmmenCe opera
tons The natives are in great meas
Urc badly armed and unskiIled in the use
Of firearms. but are sufficiently well led
to avoid general engagements and con-
of communica ton. At the same time they
have a system Of secret agents all over
the archipelago. who manage in various
ways to collect fur Is for their war chest,
Manila itself as recent arrests have
shown. being their best hunting ground.
The confga~atio Of the islands is very
muehiu favor of the guerrilla warfare car
ried on by the natives Steep volcanic
ranges, large sweeps and forests. along
with a deficiency Of roads. all tend to-
make the movement Of troops and sup
plies difficult The climate. too. especial
IS il the rainy season, IS trying In spite
Of the above difficulties the United States
troops have made great progress. Posts
have been established all over the Islands,
from which the troops make constant eX-
petitions against any considerable force
OF natives coming together in their neigh
borhood. with the result of Il very large
and constantly increasing total Of killed
and wounded on the native side al small
cost 10 the American forces Owing, how
ever. to the fact that the peaceful culti-
yatOr Of one day can by digging up his
weapons become the truCulent bandit Of
the next. travelling is not encouraged The
deportation Of leading rebels to Guam. one
of the Ladrone Islands. and especially of
the Manila contingent, who although not
nancing operations. has had a very sa-
lutary effect, especially as deportation was
coupled with confiscatfon Of property
a Federal party has been formed to
propagate pro-Amertcan opinions among
the natives II which the native Judges
and other officials are taking Z leading
| part Native provincial governments are
| N course Of organization in the more pac-
flied districts Whether they VIII be
| success or not IS predetermined Amer
"a q bt-lQ \
the Islands, the staffs 81 which are
brought over from the United States
/ Prices continue high, especially rent
| Few new houses have been built and the
iufi;Ix Of American officials and their fam
HES stiil continues The result Of this is
that the most ordinary style Of house be
comes an object Of keen competition, and
rents have been in many cases quadTu-
/ pied in the past three years The average
| rent OF a small house IN the suburbs suit
able for four or hre persons is now about
| 50. per TnOnSefn.
There are no openings for Europeans
! here except with capital, the number of
destitute and unemployed Europeans and
Americans being constantly on the in
crease. There is no difficulty IN filling Up
I posts Of any sort from the American VOL
1 uEteerS now beng dtsUaHdea here IN large
numbers. many OF them being men Of su-
rerI0r education.
British interests in the Philippines are
much larger than currently supposed at
home There are about twenty British
| firms in Manila Their Importance will,
| perhaps, be best gauged By the fact that
[ two out OF the three banking establish
menIs in the city are branches OF we'll
/ known British corporations They in
clude the largest import and export firms,
| but engineering works, snip repairing,
| stcveC0ring, ana many other industries
ar- a.so represented The larger firms
have branches in most OF the provincial
ports well rice and sugar mills Up
country. The only railway IN the Philip
| pines that from Manila TO DaEup@n. The
J port Of the rice-producing district of the
Z stands the property 81 a BRUSH com
uany, and many undertakings with for
CjEu names are carried on mainly by
British capital and energy Taking into
l account the numerous Insurance, ship
ping. ana other firms for which local
/ firms are agents. it viii be evident that
/ british interests IN the Philippines run
/ into millions
| The scattered nature Of the i=Ia IDS ne
| crssi-aJcs the employment Of q large fleet
/ of coasting steamers and sailing EesselS
/ varyirg IN size from 500 tons downward.
/ They are well handled by native crews
! and seldom meet with accidents six BrIt-
/ ism steamers are at present running reg
I uIarly between Manila and Hougkoug. oc-
/ raSlOnaliy calling at Annoy whence most
! Of the Chinese settled in these islands have
| come Communication with Australia Is
! kept UP bE japanese mail line and TWO
| small British lines owned in HonEkong.
! The British India CompaEy'S steamers
/ call every three weeks on the way from
! Calcutta to Japan. and with the cxCep-
! ton Of the Spanish mail and one or Two
| small German steamers are the only yes
| sells running direct between here and Sin
| EapoTe. The Spanish TranS-AJlantiCa
! Company sail monthly between Manila
! and Liverpool. via Spain, and are the only
| regular line carrying goods 20 England
/ thOut trausshipment- American trans
/ ports run at intervals between Manila and
| san Francisco. and occasionally New
! York. but no regular line has yet been
! started under the American flag between
! The United States and the Philippines 4
| large number OF Golfers are employed
| bringing coal from Moji. Japan. and New
vessels from Newcastle are sailing ships.
hut the majority Of the Coal-laden vessels
entering this port are steamers con-
| siderable trade Is also carried on IN rice
! .vith Saigon. mostly in British bottoms.
Trade in the year 1870 has been at a
/ comparative StandStili IN the early part
! # the year. owing 20 the general anticipa-
I Queut boom III trade large imports were
made by the various firms in the islands.
/ The country still continues disturbed,
rendering retail trade Impossible. with the
result that all importers have lssTS@ stocks
! Or hand. Exports are suffering from the
! -"ntInuance Of waTiike operations Owing
| go the iuss C1vity Of life in ma ny sugar
| producing districts. owners of properties
| have not in many Instances been able to
visit their estates and. therefore plant
! crops the consequence being that - this
/ he Nisay.s districts the arrivals of sugar
! are tTihiHE compared with those OF past
! years
| a casual glance At the receipts Of hemp
/ for 1907 would give thu impression that
/ he production had enormously increased
! The total receipts for the yea being 9t"-p.G
| bales UlI. so tons. Il must De remember
| 90 however that the receipts for tSS5 were
only 1872, I6l bales t6l,59 tons, a large