The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-10-22
CAN THE PHILIPPINE ISLES EVER PAY?
Fertility OF Their Soil
and the Glass Of
Products,

MANILA-Will the Philippines ever
pay interest on the millions the Amer
lean government has invested in them?
Aside from any sentimental consider
alton, is there any reason to believe
that our enormous expenditure here
will ever bring a commensurate re-
turn? The average authority assures
us that there is none. The general
opinion has been that the United State
acquired a full grown white elephant
when it came into possession of these
islands situated 1000 miles from our
mainland. But we are not so certain
that this is true In raising the ISSUE
to see if a favorable case can be made,
let us dwell briefly upon the history
of our other expansions, and allow our
imaginations little play before we
arrive at conclusions
First, the United States has never
made a territorial expansion that was
not ably and earnestly opposed, yet we
have never made one that did not
eventually pay for itself. This does
not argue that we cannot make mis-
take but it shows conclusively that
great men occasionally get on the
wrong side of a question; that the Phil
ippines are not necessarily worthless
because men of prominence and ability
decry their commercial value. The
records of Congress TEEN with declara-
tions against the advisability of pur-
chasing Texas. California and Alaska,
yet look at the millions now being de-
rived from the cotton and fruit and
gold of these rich members Of the
Union.
FACTS WORTH THINKING ABOUT.
1t seems that there are more visible
signs of wealth in the Philippines than
there were in either of the above men
toned territories when their posses
sion was attained. The exports of
these islands are now millions in ex-
cess of what either of these territories
produced for many years after we
secured them. There was also more
1awlessness and disorder in all of
them for years after the American flag
was raised over them than there are in
the Philippines at this time. These are
facts worth thinking about.
The great objection to the Philip
pines has been their vast distance from
the mainland. but their location is now
coming to be regarded as the best
point in their favor This is true for
strategic reasons, which will be dis
cussed futher on, and because of their
remote situation. which makes their |
products altogether different from
those of the temperate zone, thus add |
ing to the variety and value of our |
resources.
The principal wealth of the archipel- |
ago lies in the richness of its soil. 1t |
has a mononoly of one of the worlds |
great staples-hemp. The great i'm |
portance of this product is shown by |
the fact that its sales for the year 1904 |
amounted to almost s22, 0O0, 900. and |
the output from the area now under |
cultivation will be increased at least |
a third by the introduction of modern
machinery which will do away with the |
wastefulness of old methods. Enor-
nous areas of good hemp land are yet
untouched Considering that a mar
ket awaits every pound that can be
produced it is not too sanguinary to
saw that million-dollar
hemp crop may one day be produced
here.
HUNDRED USES FOR COCOANUTS-
The culture of cocoanuts is one of
the inviting industries Of the Philip
pines. Science has discovered nearly
a hundred distinct uses to which the
substance of this wonderful tree may
be put, and it's propa gation has had
such a boom that the farmers of the
islands are now deriving as much rev
enue from it as the combined total
of the tobacco and sugar crops. The
Philippines undoubtedly contain one
of the best cocoanut belts in the world.
Although the groves in existence here
have been planted in haphazard
manner and allowed to shift for them
selves, their profit averages with those
of Ceylon. our only formidable COM
petitor.
Only a small fraction of the cocoa
nut region has been utilized. There are
hundreds of square miles IN dlHereht
portions of the archipelago where the