The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-08-10
America in The Philippines
TX. GREAT TURAL RESOURCES
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

the native chief implement Of industry
and instrument of war;
Sugar Is the second crop in the Phil
ippines, hemp ranking first and tobacco
third In Importance. Enough sugar 10
produced In the islands to meet the
home demand. but refined sugar is Inn
ported because of lack of refineries.
A years exports of unrehned sugar
have run to $5.000,00o. There Is no
centrifugal sugar making in the is
lands, The cooking Is done by the old
fashioned ''open kettle" plan, the crude
product Is put into bags made of cane
stalks and exported chiefly to Hong
Kong. The Philippines were made
sugar country by the Crtmean war, as
Bombay became a cotton port because
of the blockade incident to the civil
war. The price of sugar during the
Crimean war suggested the possibility
OF Its being grown profitably in the
Philippines.
In Hawaii sugar mill eats" cane
at the rate of thirty truck loads q
minute, and SO crushes,it that 1t is I'M
mediately disable as fuel. In the Phil
ippines cane is fed into the old-fash-
toned mill by hand, one stalk at a
time, while q carabao saunters leisure
ly along hitched to the END of a. pole
that causes the rollers to revolve. With
the American demand for sugar in
creasing at the rate of 100000 tons a
year, the Philippines will have an OPP
portunity, when modern methods of
production are introduced, to help sup
| ply this market. But the present arch
ale mills, the absence OF rehneries. and
the impoverished condition of the own
ers of the old sugar estates, prevents
the islands from figuring prominently
as sugar producers at present.
In Manila good cigars made from
Philippine tobacco may be bought for
the equivalent OF 8 cents in United
States currency. Tobacco growing has
been one of the major industries of the
islands since Cortez invaded Mexico. In
the sixteenth century tobacco from the
Philippines was introduced into China
where 1t became so popular and over
| indulgence SO common, that the Chi
nese throne forbade its sale upon PEN
| atty of death. Unlike other features OF
the Industrial development of the Phil
| ippines, the Manila tobacco manufac-
tories are modern in equipment. From
| 1871 until 1882 tobacco was govern
| ment monopoly from which Spain en-
| joyed a large revenue.
During the last year of the monopoly
the government sold tobacco in Manila
at $t12, Mexican, per 100 pounds, the
Mexican dollar then being worth about
95 cents gold. In other words tobacco
sold at wholesale in the country that
produced it for more than 81 pound.
| The land was considered the property
of the state, and any native who wish
| ed to farm 1t was compelled to raise
! certain amount Of tobacco and deliver
II to the representative Of the Spanish
| crown. He was not allowed to reserve
any OF his tobacco for his personal use,
and his house was at all times open to
search. Now and then an Infatuated
| ia rmer boloed a Gardiner who insulted
his wife or daughter under the pre-
tense of searching her for concealed
tobacco, The farmer was usually gar
| roted
After selecting the best leaves the
government burned all that did not
| come up to requirements. To guage
the hardship put upon the farmers by
burning the tobacco for which the gov
eminent did not wish to pay the stipu-
| lated price, 1t is only necessary TO re-
| fleet that tobacco Is so much neces-
sity to Filipinos that the prisoners in
Rilibid, both men NAnd women, are now
allowed q certain number of cigarettes
a day at government expense. 1t Is
| estimated by the Philippine Commits
sion that the islands now produce a
suflcient amount of tobacco to supply
the natural increase In the American
| demand for Ave months II a years crop
! were shipped to the American market.
Under improved cultivation this crop
might he materially expanded, al
though good tobacco land, like that for
growing hemp and sugar. is limited.
Tomorrow America in the Philip
pines.