The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-01
THE LAZY MANS PARADISE.
Natives Only Work When Absolute
 Necessity Compels,

Agana, Guam. Letter in New York Times Between thirty and forty miles long, about ten miles wide, of coral forma- tion, Guam is cne of our most curious possesqions. Perhaps in no other of our new acquisitions are Americans so thor oughly liked. Guam is at present recov- sring from an earthquake: not that these yisitations arc at all unusual in the is land, but in the latter part of September one occurred of unexampled severity, de- stroying buildings that had stood for two centuries. Among these were the cathe- dfai and the principal schools. There are many school buildings but they are at present out of use for the most part swing to lack of funds. In the principal town. Agana. there were four schools Reaching In the English language. All are now closed There are two in Su- mar, also closed for the same reason There are others distributed round the island, those teaching in the Spanish lan- guage being open still. These schools have support which Is wanting in the newer schools. and those children who wish to learn English are using the Pro- testant Sunday school as a means of learning the English language.
 The teachers of the newer schools, while teaching in English, used Spanish as makeshift to explain the lessons to the beginners; although Spanish Is not spok en to any great extent in their homes the people have sufficient knowledge of 1t to enable Spanish speaking person to teach xhen.
 The land is not cultivated to any great extent, the people depending greatly on the cocoanut. banana and orange trees that grow without any care. A little rico is grown by Japanese labor, which is the only available labor for field work.
 Fl.<zx fN loor ITtaer- iish and to adopt sou,e American ways, but not sufficiently to induce them to work for money to pay teachers; they want the United States to pay the bill. While there Is large part of the popu- lation intelligent enough and willing enough to become Amcricanized, their in veterate idleness is an almost insuper- able barrier to thei: improv
 When transport Is expected to ar rive in Guam 1t is necessary for the po- lee to make a raid and corral all the native help needed to unload the ship; if sney did not do so the men would take Q the woods till the transport left. The Government pays them 1 peso (40 cents) per day: under the Spanish rule they were paid about one-third of this price. MT Logan, the Congregational missionary. in Earned ma that he was una 1le to secure sae labor to build or repair his church ..pt that there are no laborers. but that taey did not want to work at anything anti, they were forced by the! uecessi- ties to do SO If one of them wanted any tliny that he could secure only by pay HE hard cash he would work till he earned the money to buy the desired ar licle; then he would leave the job. It was impossible to secure as many as eight men all in the mind to work at the same time.
 Moreover the higher wages now paid serve only to make the worse, for the laborers' wants are no greater than Formerly and they can supply them in shorter space of time. This is the great oostacle to the Americanization of the is.and.
 There is no opposition to American soV- ereigrity on the other hand, we were re- peatedly told to help ourselves to what ever fruit we saw and were told that this courtesy was extended to 'Ameri- < canes. nadie mas" No intoxicating fuuors arc sold in the island. although ere can get the native tuba in the near est hut. There Is no newspaper and very l.ftle news. The field for commerce Is al present non-existent: after tho paop,e have been taught to work and incr caac their wants there might be a small field for American goods. The land Is. how ever. or great richness. almost unculti- Sated. and to a man fresh from the cat tie ranges of Arizona and New Mexico it is a very miracle of fertility.
 There Is a general opinion among all nationalities in the island that only by the introduction of Chinese labor can the island be made productive. The people now in the island are contented so al peace with themselves and all the world and so happily. hopelessly idle that il seems a shame to disturb such a lazy mans paradise.