Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-16
FILIPINO AS LAD0RER
Difference Of Opinion as Re-
CARDS His Capacity.
PROBLEM IN HIMSELF
THAT BE Is DIFF1-
CULT TO GET ALONG WITH.
of Employers-Judge Taft
Believed in Utilizing Philippine
Instead of Chinese Labor.

Instead OF Cn1nSS6 A0DOI.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
MANILA. June Is. 1904.
There is a decided difference Of opinion as
to the capacity and value OF the native Fill
pino as a laborer He is a problem In HIM
self, and many who have lived here long
time confess that they have never been able
to solve him. This Is a very serious matter
for it involves the development of the re-
sources of the country and the construction
of the public improvements which are con-
templated. If the Filipino will not work.
somebody must be brought into the coun-
try who will
AS to the immediate or probable necessity
of importing labor the officials and the
public are divided. The members of the
commission are of the opinion that 1t Is
wiser to handle each case on its merits as
it may arise. When railroad building be-
gins, and miners are needed to dig for coal.
and other enterprises are undertaken. the
members of the commission say that the
managers may apply for the privilege OF
importing coolies. If 1t is demonstrated
that sufficient native labor cannot be OBJ
mits will be granted for the admission of
given number Of Chinese for a certain
length of time with bond guaranteeing
that they will be sent out of the country
as soon their services can be dispensed
with. This is the program unOfficially intf-
mated to gentlemen who have been inclined
to accept concessions for railways. mines
and other propositions. and before they In
vest any time or money want to know
where they going to get labor. Such
treatment Of the case will give temporary
relief, Of course. but 1t does not solve the
problem.
Difficult to Get Along With.
Whatever may be the differences Of opin-
ion concerning the amount and competency
Of native labor, everybody agrees that the
Filipino is difficult person to get along
with. and in order to get any work out OF
him he must be handled very gingerly and
petted like a child 1t Is also admitted that
he has comparatively little muscular vigor.
You need only look at his hollow chest.
slender neck and diminutive stature to
recognize that fact. He has no back, no
hips comparatively little energy and a
very uncertain temper. One white man will
do as much manual labor as six F'ilipinos
out; at the same time. everybody says that
in clerical duties the F1lipnos are proficient
Only short time ago I sent you an in
terview with Mr. Swift, who is building the
trolley railway here. In which he gave his
experiences with our little brown brother"
as laborer. Appeal to his pride. vanity
magination or love Of novelty and you can
handle him all right said Mr.. Swift He
is whimsical, childish person, fond of
music and motion and novelty. easily ap-
preached and handled If you rub him the
right way but If you rub him the wrong
way he Is as stubborn and obstreperous as
a mule" Mr.. Swift and the street car peo-
pie were able to get all the laborers they
needed by offering them n dinner in the
middle of the day In addition to their
wages. This appealed to the native love Of
novelty. for such thing had never hap
pened before In Manila. and the net result
was that the street car company gave its
track layers. about fifteen hundred In num-
Der. daily dinner that cost 1t less than
five cents per capita, and got half an hour $
additional work out of them.
Over at MariveleS, where the government
has established quarantine station. It was
found impossible to secure labor. 1t Is
small town, there Is no local population to
not be induced to go across the bay for any
wages until the contractors set up some
cafes chantants, or music halls, as we would
call them. and established some free cock
since had no trouble in securing all the
help they want. The cafes chantants and
the cockpits did the business
Immense Works at Olongapo.
The Navy Department is building a sta
ton at Olongapo. on Subig bay. sixty-fve
miles from Manila, where Is the finest har-
Dor on the coast. 1t Is now a bare and
open place, but has fine soil. good water.
plenty of building stone. no mosquitoes a
dry. sandy slope. and the government in
tends to spend several millions Of dollars
building dry docks, machine shops. ware
houses, barracks, arSenalS and armOries.
and making one of the finest navy yards
IN the world 1t Is expected to surpass
Hongkong and be the naval station of the
Pacific. The plans contemplate the perma-
nent employment of from 5000 to 5000
men, and evidently. or at least 50 far as I
can learn. the Navy Department has not
taken into consideration the dtfhcuity or
securing that number of reliable employees
out here. and people who are familiar with
the native character insist that they can
not be obtained.
At Cavte Is a retired captain of the Span
ish navy, who has property in the nelgh-
borhoOd and preferred to remain there al
ter the American occupat ton. He has since
become very friendly with the Yankees. and
has given them much valuable Information
and many suggestions OF Importance lie
says that the Spanards planned similar
naval station but were compelled to give
il up because they found that they could
not obtain labor without building churches.
theaters. cafes. music halls cockpits and
other places of entertainment Tor the men,
And he insists that the Americans will be
compelled to provide all these things be-
fore they can induce Filipino laborers to so
to Olongapo. He says too, that our army
and navy officers make a great mistake
when they think they can obtain reliable
labor by paying big wages. for they will
learn by short experience that the more
wages they pay the more unreliable their
labor will be, because as soon as a native
gets a little money ahead he will stop
work and loaf and gamble as long as 1t
lasts. The larger his wages the oftener he
will take a vacation.
Irregular Native Employees.
Our people, who are accustomed to regu-
lar and reliable labor have evidently not
taken these peculiarities Of the native races
into consideration. The English and other
Europeans who have colonies In the East
Indies have learned this at tremendous
cost but their experience Is of no value to
u.s. for our officials pay no attention to 1t.
The officers at the Cavite navy yard are be-
ginning to learn by vexatious Incidents
that are occurring over there every day.
The native employees are SO irregular that
the heads of the different departments
never Know how many men they will have
at work in the morning. The Filipino has
a most aggravating habit Of staying at
home. or going to a cock fight, or to some
religious fiesta, without giving notice OF
his intentions. He observes all the reli-