Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-25

time ago how Uncle Sam might make
big profit by treating the expansion policy
as real estate speculation. for by the
treaty of Paris he acquired more than So
On0.jUJ worth of valuable city real estate
appraised at It's auction value. And If you
will look around over here you will soon
be convinced that he got a great deal more
for his money.
A native poet has described the Philip
pines as "a magnificent rosary of glowing
islands that nature has hung upon the
heaving bosom OF the warm Pacific" Meas
ured by figures the Philippines have 12S,OOO
square miles of available public land. and
are 1890 square miles larger than the unit
ed kingdom and about the same area as
Spain Luzon alone is equal to Denmark
Belgium and Holland combined. Compared
with the United States the Philippines are
as large as New York, New Jersey PennSyl-
vaniA and Delaware combined and nearly
twice as large as all New England Our
jurisdiction extends over more than 'ooOO
square miles of water. which. by the way,
is very deep. II that Is any advantage.
Within the three-mile limit of some of the
Islands the water Is 1000 and some places
1900 feet deep. But that Is nothing to
brag of. nor is II an available asset
The Forests.
The most valuable source of wealth is
found in the forests. which cover an area
of 81 ,537. 243 acres. according to the official
Spanish statistics. and about 50.OO0,OOO
acres belonged to the crown of Spain and
became the property of the United States
by the treaty Of Paris. The annual growth
of pine, cedar. mahogany and hundreds or
other varieties OF hard wood is estimated
at /. i&o.00DOGO cubic feet which is about
three times the annual cut of the United
States. Ninety-nine per cent of this annual
growth is going to waste because there Is
one to cut it or use it, and no transport
tation facilities by which it can be taken
to market.
1t is actually cheaper to bring pine from
Oregon to build Fort William Mckinley
than to cut 1t in forests within sight or
the post. That is one reason why railroads
are needed over here. and some OF the Lines
that have been surveyed will make this
timber accessible. Within a few years,
doubtless. you will find saw mills scattered
all over the archipelago, but foresters say
that il will take 1000 years at the present
extraVagant rate of consumption in the
United States to exhaust the supply to be
found here without considering possibilities
of renewing the forests as they are cut
down.
The destruction of our forests at home
has been the cause of much concern 10
economists, and the measures that have
been taken to protect and preserve them
were begun none too early, and 1t Is a
satisfaction to know where we can get more
lumber and timber and cabinet woods when
we need them. The Island of Mndanao Is
almost entirely covered with forests Inc
population is living along the coast. The
interior has never been explored. but 1t IS
safe to say that there are not less IMAM
10 100000 acres of virgin forest there. anu
every tree will yield commercial lumber III
the southwestern islands Ii Is estimated
that there are more than 100000 acres OF
virgin forest extending from the sea Deacn
TO the summit of the mountains. Much OF
f. Is nara" the Philippine mahogany. and
''calantas" the Philippine cedar. two OF the
most valuable varieties of timber for buiio-
ing and cabinet work known to botanlsts
The trees grow to enormous size Win
trunks clear for eighty feet up to the frst
limb and from four to eight rect In DIAM
eter AS straight and regular as the pilla'
of the Parthenon. The officials or the Tor
estry bureau tell me that they have lstea
G65 species of native trees. including Ho OF
which they know nothing more than their
names.
Testing Native Woods
They have established timber laboratory
,rbsre the native woods to the number OF
900 species are now being tested by various
met holds In order to ascertain their strength
durability adaptabil!ty for various pur-
poses and the very important question oi
their ability TO resist the ravages or the
white ants that eat up everything In these
Islands Cabinet-makers from the Cnlted
States are in charge of the laboratory with
native assistants, including several expert
carvers and woodworkers VINO are laHiiai
with the different classes OF timber ana the
uses which have already been found for
them.
The Pullman Palace Car Company sent
an expert down here from Chicago TO make
an investigation, who took home with MN
at no little expense forty eight logs OF as
many different varieties of timber. Al
though no formal report has yet been re-
ceived from him, private letters intimate
that the collection contained some of the
best varieties of cabinet woods that We're
ever brought into the Pullman shops.
Very little cutting is being done. Very
little has ever been done. Neither the
Spaniards nor the natives ever had enter
prise enough to develop the timber indus
try Their logging operations were limited
to the fringes OF the forests lying aiohe
the coasts. to supply the limited local de-
mand Experts declare that 1t would be
greatly to the advantage of the forests and
improve the quality of the timber II they
could be cleared of about one-third of the
trees and liberal inducements are offered
lumbermen to come in with saVmills: but
they cannot be expected to do so until rail-
ways some other means of transporta-
tor are afforded them.
The timber laws are intended to be rigid
enough to prohibit speculation. and long
rs they are properly observed there Is no
danger OF repeating the folly and wicked
ness that have attended the industry In
the United States Licenses to cut out tim
Der on government land may be obtained
upon application. and tracts of 300 acres
OF timber ldnu may De purchased outright.
but the purchaser is not permitted to trans
fer the property to any other person with
In term of five years. i have no doubt
that lumber men might find methods of
evad!ng these restrictions IL they desired
20 do so. but with at least 10000 900 acres of
virgin forest and altogether 81 900 900 acres
of public land available for numbering or
cultivation there Is no immediate danger
of monopolies here.
Estimated Amount of Timber.
The foresters estimate $500 cubic feet of
merchantable timber on each of those
40,000,0O0 acres The government charges
an average OF cents per cubic foot stump
age. BY simple mathematical calculation
you will discover that. according to this
estimate. the government forests of the
Philippines contain 1+00000O0.0OO cubic
feet of timber. and IL 1t could all be dis
posed of at the prevailing rate Uncle Sam
would realize $1,000 100000 for stumpage
alone, which is the item / referred to when
said that no got something more than city
real estate for his money when he bought
thls archipelago of the naughty dons
The standing timber Is worth an average
OF SlVo an acre, and by clearing out under
proper regulations the great mass of ma
lure ana overmature trees the EXPERTS de-
clare that It's value will be doubled and
that the remaining woodland ought TO he
worth more than $500 gold an acre
Anar