The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-04-10

faithful.
In the government printing Office
/ nearly nine-tenths Of he employees ale
natives Cand the proportion - IN
/ c~reasiugD. and Mr.. Lecch. the pubilc
/ printer. Informed me that they readily
learned the work and we're able to run
the typesetting machines and presses.
90 the book binding and stereotyping
! and other skilled work connected Wlth
the office. The newspaper Offices Of
/ the CITY also employ native labor, and
| need not remind my readers that
the members of the various
graphical unions of the United states
arc among the most intelligent Of our
| skilled labOrers. We visited the Iafg-
est tobacco factory in Manila, the Ger
minal. and found between 100 and
1900 men and women making cigars
and cigarettes by hand and by ma
chine There are several smaller fac
| tories and all are operated by native
labor.
one of the leading furniture manu-
facturers of Manila is authority for the
statement that in wood carving the
| Filipino soon becomes the equal Of the
/ japanese artisan. The p~nlHpp1ne
islands are SO near the equator that
the heat of the sun during the middle
Of the day and the almost L months
OF eummer must be taken into consid-
Grafton. When due allowance is made
for climatic conditions ana for the
fact that the inhabitants Of the tropics
lacks the spur of necessity which ever
urges on the dWeller in higher lati-
tudes, one is inclined to excuse any
seeming lack of industry. Sure it is
that those who come here from Amer
lea and Europe do not, as q rule, do
enough manual labor to nable a COM
parison to be drawn between them and
the natives.
Besides those who work in the
|l l. - FL 800 % - I'D So f1a fDa-
tories. there is an army of fishermen
and bcatmen. Fish forms a consid-
cradle part Of the food supply of tn"
island, and there as brought from the
ocean. from the rivers and from the
lakes by n hardy and active people.
Much Of the is carried by
water, and the boats are manned by
natives. Except where the Chinese
! have m~onopOlizcd the mercantile bus
mess, the stores are kept by Filipinos,
the men and the women sharing the
labor. as they do in France.
And speaking of the Women it
must be remembered that woman oc-
cupies a much higher place in the
PHILIPPINES than in any other part OF
the orient. The Filipinos contend that
ever before Spanish influence made
itself felt in the islands woman was
accorded an equal place with man and
divided With him both the hOnOrS and
the responsibilities of the home. How
ever this may be, it cannot be doubted
that at present the rights of woman
and her position in the family and in
| society are respected fully as much as
in continental Europe. Her influence
is felt in industrial and political life,
as we'll as in the church. At one re-
ception a lady law student delivered
an excellent address.
Under Spanish rule education was
| pG0hnpd 70 n taW In ia nt n of he
indictments brought against the friars
by the natives was that educational ia
~cilities We're denied to the masses.
This, too. brought the Jesuits, the
friends Of education, into conflict With
the frlarS. But Comparatively few of
the people enjoyed the advantages of
higher education, and these were q
controlling influence in their respec-
tive communities. As in Mexico and
in Cuba, the cultured men and women
of the Philippines are thoroughly re-
fined and polished in tanner.
The American government has had
no difficulty in finding men competent
to fill the offices which have been as
signed to the natives, three Of the
seven members of the commission and
Judges being ~Filipinos. The governors
and mayors are nearly all Filipinos, as
are most Of the judges of the lower
courts
As there is no satisfactory service
by private boats, the commission fur
nlshed us q cOaSt-guard steamer for q
tour of the islands, the passengers pay
ing the cost of subsistence, and we
were thus enabled to visit the princi-
pal cities. At all of these places We
found a group of intellectual and pub
lic-spirited men. At IliOliO. Bacolod
Cebu and santa Barbara there were
addresses Of welcome and public re-
ceptions, and the views of the residents
We're prese1 I'd in clear and Well
chosen language. At MalolOs, the first
capital of the A~guinaldo government,
which We visited as the guests of a
committee Of prominent F%ilipinos. sim
llar speeches were delivered. which
met with the approval of the assem-
bled crowd.
At Manila a public dinner was given
by a number of representative FiIipi-
nos. headed by Mayor Roxas. at which
speeches We're made by Filipinos dis
tinguished in official and professional
life. The addresses delivered on these
several occasions would cOmDar ia
Vorably With speeches delivered under
similar circumstances in the United
States. While some of the persons who
took part in these meetings showed
traces of Spanish blood, others were
Enthusiastically Filipino. but the racial
difference could not be distinguished
by the manner IN which they nor-
formed their parts.
While at Manila / met Gen. Agui-
naldo, first at the reception rendered
US by the Elks and. later. at his own
nome III CaNlte. Since his capture he
has been living in retirement and has
himself in such a manner a.
TO win the appreciation of the Ameri-
can officials. He is small Of stature ,
modest IN department and manifests
deep interest in the welfare of his nao-
pie. lie has twice appealed to the gov
fhmen TO establish an agricultural
bank for the relief of the farmers cali
ing to the scarcity of money
and to the high rate of interest (some- I
uneS 40 or 50 per cent? charged the !
armers on short loans. The agricul-
turai bank was referred to by several
~peakerS during our stay on the island ,
and 1t IS certain that, from an indns-
lrlal the government could
90 nothing which would he more
pie. 49,
Dr. Apaclble. the head of the Hanr-