Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-09-22

hidden. Japanese immigration Is en-
conraged and contractors engaged up
on government work have been send
ing employment agents over to Japan
to obtain labor. notwithstanding the
fact that It was in direct violation Of
the contract labor law The Of
ficials have winked at 1t, because
foreign labor is necessary here and
Japanese are considered valuable cit
liens
What is most needed here. how
ever. Is enterprising Americans with
capital. who are willing to go into the
forests and The mines and invest their
| money in sugar. tobacco. hemp, and
| coffee plantations It cannot be ex-
pected that many will come until they
| are satisfied that there Is no inten-
tion of turning the government over
TO the Filipinos. That Is the prepo-
| sterous bughear that is keeping out
capital There are also many oppor-
tunties for the establishment of man
ufactorles here, The hemp ought to
be turned into cordnge before It Ieav-
es the Islands. and the tobacco should
be made into cigars and cigarettes
before II Ia shipped, Many other In
dustries would pay large profits II
properly managed, but the mines Of
fer the most tempting inducement us
soon as the proposed railways are
laid
The coal treasures of the Philip
pines become n matter Of supreme i'm
portance In the light of recent legis-
lntlon of congress comforting upon
American ships the monopoly OF
American traffic. The local supply Of
coal now comes from Australia and
Japan, and sells at from 81 to ss per
ton. The trans-Pacihc steamers al
ways fill their bunkers at Nagasaki
or Mol. the two westermost ports OF
Japan at cost of from $3.50 to SIS
ton. About 100000 tons a year OF
Japanese coal are consumed by Amer.
lean steamers. and 1t might be sup
piled Just as well from the mines In
the Philippines. which, It is claimed.
can furnish an equally good, II not
superior, quality.
The imports OF coal for the gener-
al market during the past three years
were as follows:
In 1901. anthracite, s23S.995: bit
luminous. s265,o56; coke, $s,s31. In
1902, anthracite. s177.l0s; bitumin-
Gus, s3ls,955: coke, $16.s03. In 1903,
the imports last year: Japan the bal
ance.
Australia furnished so per cent OF
anthracite. s37,5s0; bituminous. $435,-
3l1; coke. s3.117
The above statement does not in
clude $4,000 tons OF coal, costing more
than 100000 for the army. and over
100000 tons valued at 5000. 900 for the
navy The army coal came from jap
an. the navy coal from the Pocahon-
tas mines of Maryland and West Vir-
gina.
The existence Of coal here has been
known to the natives for a Indefinite
period, and the Spaniards have done
more or less mining for two centuries
without energy or method The ex.
perts of the mineral bureau say that:
The history of coal mining by the
Spaniards Is long record OF ignor-
ance. avarice and mistakes. They
attempted to mine coal us IL 1t were a
precious metal. and indeed 1t became
equivalent to IL In some instances.
when measured by the cost of produc-
ton. At one time the government
was so impressed with the value of
this industry that it was made mo-
noDoiy. but as business venture 1t
was not success"
The seams are often four feet in
thickness and some of them are over
eight feet. Tests of samples from
different deposits have frequently
been made with satisfactory results.
Several coasting steamers have been
using local coal exclusively for years,
and until American occupation they
were able to obtain all they wanted
for rs cents to 81 ton. Several COM
panies have been organized to oper-
ate in different localities, many pits
have been sunk, but for one reason or
another. chiefly the lack of labor, very
little has been done
The American government has
adopted liberal mining laws and has
done everything 1t can to encourage
prospecting, but capital, labor and
transportation facilities are absolute
ly necessary for the development of
the coal deposits, as well as every
other resource OF the Philippine Isl.
ands. WILLIAM X. CURTIS.