Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1903-04-08
RICHES IN PHILIPPINES.
Those Who Have Capital to In
vest in Agriculture.


ist, or go west, small INVESTOR" The
possibilities of money making are sc
great in our new possession that even
small investor will find an embarrass.
ing choice of enterprises awaiting him.
The Philippines are vertitable Edo
RADIO, except that the gold does not
| lie loose to be picked up. It must be
mined, SO to speak, and, though the
process is simple enough, some initial
capital is absolutely necessary, writes
Capt. j. D. Fauntleroy, in the New York
Herald. There are already plenty OF
men in the Philippines-too many, pos
sibly, for the present limited working
capital, as shall try to prove, to real
izs from SO to $50 per cent. on invest.
ments in any one of dozen native in
dustries in the Philippines. It is even
possible to get this return from the
very first. Money is so scarce that
from ten to % per cent. is willingly
paid for loans upon first-class securi.
ties. Such collateral as unincumbered
and prosperous sugar plantations or
well situated private houses and es-
tates is offered as security, yet there is
not money enough to go around
How much, or, rather how little, cap
ltal one may succeed with depends
largely upon ones ambitions. should
place the minimum figure at about ST.
600, though double this figure would
be better. To go with less would mean
to join the ranks of workmen, which
are already full.
I have seen large islands in the Phil
ippines where land has been so pro
ductive after very slight cultivation
that the surplus crops were literally
rotting on the ground At the same
time on neighboring island but &c
miles distant the natives have been
starving for the very products that
were going to waste at their very doors.
This same lack of balance is common
everywhere, merely because there are
practically no means of communica-
ton. line of steamboats,, or even
sailing vessels. which would ply be-
tween these islands would reap i'm
mense profits. Ihave heard of one such
project which paid for itself the first
year, and all the steamboats, which
carry Philippine products are very sue
cessful. Here is one very tempting
field at least for the investor.
Another very inviting chance is the
sugar industry. The sugar lands, am
told by experts, are capable of surpass-
ing those of Hawaii. They are richer
in production and more easily worked
thanin Hawaii, besides being of almost
unlimited extent. The country is I'M
usually rich in water power, while the
island formation of the Philippines
makes it possible to carry products
by water, an important economy in
cost of transportation. Native labor
is cheap and efficient.
Now, a good working Hacienda"
may readily be established for $4,000.
This sum will purchase the land, plenty
of it: erect the sugar factory and build
ings, purchase the machinery and
finance the plant until returns may be
expected. The average sugar planta-
ton in good condition repays from so
to $50 per cent. year on it's cost.
l am quoting conservative figures.
There are many sugar plantations in
the Philippines which cost less and
pay more. There are hundreds of
thousands of acres of the most fertile
sugar lands in the world merely await
ing capitalists to take advantage of
them, while there are some millions of
natives, honest and experienced, who
are only too anxious to cultivate them
Should the new Philippine tariff go
through the conditions Throughout the
islands will be even more inviting
than they are at present. Incidentally,
if labor in the Philippines should ever
prove ins efficient believe that Chinese
immigration, under restrictions, would
prove a very welcome addition The
Chinese could stand the climate.
which in some seasons is too much
for the white man, and they are hard.
effective workers.
The copra crops of the Philippines
also invite the investor. Copra is the
shell of the cocoanut. It sells at a
good price all over the world The de-
mand for it in America alone runs to
thousands of tons every year The
trees on a copra plantation require
seven years after planting to come to
bearing. This may seem long while
to wait, but the future profits are inn
mense. / am merely stating fact
well known in the South seas-that a
copra plantation will pay on an aver
age $50 per cent. year. A great ad-
vantage of the crop is that it requires
absolutely no attention. The cocoa
nut trees grow luxuriantly without
cultivation. They never suffer from
change of climate There are M, "off,'