Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-05
THEIR BRIGHT FUTURE
How the Philippines Will Be
Developed.
THE TIM E Is RIP
MANY CHANCES TO MAKE MONEY
IN THE ISLANDS.
Sugar Plantations and Rice Lands
Rich in Timber-Gold, Cop
per and Iron.

Copyright. 1902. by Frank G. Carpenter)
Written for The Evening Star.
Since my return from Asia l have re-
ceived many requests for special informa-
ton about the Philippine Islands. Most Of
them are from young men who wish to try
their fortunes and not few are from small
capitalists with money to invest. It seems
to me the time is ripe for such men. Until
now there has been little chance to go
about from place to place without soldiers,
but the islands gradually settling down,
and within a year prospectors should be
able to travel anywhere. Within the past
month big syndicate has been formed to
develop Mndanao. The syndicate is COM
posed of millionaires living at New York
and San Francisco, and its plan is to col
onize the island and open it up to settle
ment. 1t has an authorized capital of
100000, with the possibility of increas-
ing 1t Indefinitely.
Mindanao is one of the least developed
of our islands. 1t is as big as the state of
Ohio. and its soil is rich as that of Java.
1t will raise coffee, cinchona and rubber
and excellent cattle. l saw fine stock at
Zamboanga and about Cottabato. Near
Davao in the eastern end of the island, 1
visited enormous hemp plantations, and in
the west saw bananas and coffee luXuriant-
ly growing. The country is susceptible OF
great agricultural development. The most
of 1T is covered with forests of the finest
hard woods, and it is so watered that the
timber be easily fioated down to the
coast. After the lands are cleared they
will make good sugar plantations. We
have government farm at Zamboanga
where sugar is grown, which has at times
brought in as much as 500, 900 per year to
the Spaniards.
The Timber of the Philippines.
This new syndicate will open up the tim
Der lands. These belong to the govern
ment, for it practically controls the for
ests of the Philippines. 1t has, it is csti-
mated, about fifty million acres of virgin
timber, including trees from one to two
hundred feet high and over four feet in
diameter In Manila / frequently saw ia
bles whose tops were made of q single
board of nara or Filipino mahogany which
measured four and five feet IN diameter.
The floors of the principal buildings were
of this same wood, laid in boards foot
and a half wide and twenty or more feet
long | asked where the lumber yards
were, and was shown one on the banks of
the Pasig river. 1t was operated by Chi
nese, the logs being sawed into boards by
hand with crosscut saws. 1 understand
that there are but two steam saw mills in
all the islands, and that so far the forests
are practically untouched. Some timber
has been cut out by Indians under the SUI
perntendence of Germans and English and
shipped to Hong Kong and Shanghai, but
as rule the Spanish government objected
to such exploitation and levied taxes which
prevented 1t.
One of the troubles the timber merchants
complain of is that they cannot get the
Indians to work without advancing about
a years wages, and this capital is sunk
in the business After the first advance
the workmen will labor to pay II out, then
expect more, but they always keep from
$50 to 500 In debt. One timber man of
Manila says that his wood cutters now owe