The daily sentinel., 1910-05-16

Z
I his sustenanCe,
When laborers are taken from one
/ place to work at another place dol
lar or two must be advanced to leave
with his family. II any get sick, they
must be fed; and. in spite of the most
rigid rules to the contrary, there will
| be some who are in debt This is
I true OF any plantation or other in
! dustrial enterprise remote from the
/ big cities. in which there is always
! q surplus OF workmen
Right here is where the trouble
! comes under our present laws. Most
| of the laborers know that they can
not be held in bondage for their
4 debts, and many OF them who become
/ dissatisfied with conditions or are
/ naturally dishonest. escape. Very
! few planters that have not lost hun
&. dreds and some of them have lost
! thousands of dollars in this manner
I Southeastern Mindanao Is proha-
/ bly, the best hemp-growing district in
/ the world II Is sparsely Inhabited
region; but a number OF Americans
! went in there and planted large
I tracts OF hemp. When the time came
I for harvesting the crop, the planters
L = hiAt " AAlA ilol AA4tl II lNldlh1 70 Auul
4 lahorers. They gave good induce
I ments and were at great expense in
| chartering vessels for the transporta-
tion OF their people.
Upon arrival, many OF the would
/ be worllmen walked away and re-
fused to work. after having gotten
advances for their families and their
/ own expenses paid. The government
was appealed to. but IL was powcrless
/ to make the men work However. il
I put a Coast-Euard vessel at the dis
posal of the planters to facilitate in
getting lahorers. Even that did not
prove successful and some of the
planters have had their crops ruined.
In my part Of the country / am
fortunate in living in a populous dis
trict. I have been studying this la
Dor problem harder than ever stud
/ led algebraic problems at school with
the result that I am near the head
/ of the class, but ! am not vet
. through the book.
Where there are 81 many hundreds
Of thousands Of iaborcrs; where the
] Fertility Of the soil. the climate and
! natural resources are matChless and
/ where so much could be accomplished
| by their labor, there ought to be some
way to make the combination 1T
CAN BE MADE.
/ One good thing: the panEg OF hun
| ger and the desire Tor a little money
to gamble in cock-fghtinE compels
most of the laborers to work some of
the time; BUT WITH THE RIGHT
KIND OF HANDLING, MOST OF
! THEM WILL WO! x MOST OF THE
TIME.
! Conditions here re as peculiar to
Americans as the Filipinos' traits are
to our race. To 81 cessfully employ
these people, orc must understand
these conditions nd know their
traits
The lines up-n which to success
| fully handle FIJI lno labor have SO
many ramifiCations that volume
would not con.& = them; but the
| principal ones are to get the busi-
ness near the populous districts and
| furnish the people with houses or to
assist them in building. Insist on
the men bringing their families with
them; then provide them with some
kind of shelter,
A 'Filipino has the trait of cat
I ter how lowly, there is no place like
home is as applicable to him as to
anyone on earth. If once a mans
family be established in shack. he
is quite a permanent fixture. and,
with proper treatment, viii be regu-
lar in his work.
Few, If any, read books and pa
pers. All must have some kind OF
i Ia afr4I
/ gossip. card playing and cock fight
ing.
The women like to go to church
IN Sunday and take delight in march
| ing in the professions on festive oc-
! sasions.
Like most ignorant people. they
are extremely superstitious, which
sometimes interferes with work.
Their penchant for gambling seems
to be a mania.
When | first commenced opera
tions in Cadiz, before | had estab-
| ished any business relations with
the merchants, used to pay the
men part of their wages in cash any
time during the week, so they could
buy food for themselves and families.
As result, some would not get to
the store with the money. but would
lose 1t at some gambling joint on
the way. For the protection of the
men and their families, the practice
had to be abandoned and non-trans-
ferrable orders given on the stores.
They are quick to appreciate sym
pathy, and seem to instinctively feel
when an employer has their interests
at heart.
In addition to knowing the labor
ers' language, customs, desires, am
bitions( p, traits and idiosyncracies,
one should know what to do. when
and how to doit; then SEE THAT 1T
is DONE.
Your affectionate brother,
CLAYTE.
Have that suit cleaned and pressed