The Washington times., 1911-02-18

wrongdoing on the part of Mr.. Wor-
cester. Secretary of the Interior; Cap
tain Sleeper, Director of Public Lands
and Mr.. Carpenter, Executive secretary
Speculation BY Carpenter.
Mr.. Carpenter became fired with the
ambition to make money in the Philip
pines. an ambition fostered and fur
thered by Captain Sleeper and sanction
ed and approved by his superior officers.
There existed an estate, at its nearest
point eight miles from the boundaries
of Manila, having upon parts of 1t more
than a thousand persons, and adjoining
another estate lying betwIt'' it and
| Manila, upon which there were over
! 2,0CO. This estate, called Tala, was f. r
the most part unoccupieG, and Mr..
/ Carpenter determined to acquire it.
The roads to the estate were in bad
! condition. Mr.. Carpenters associates,
| therefore, promised him. If he would
take ii, they would be placed in good
condition, and the Government has eX-
| pended upon such roads and approaches,
approximately, as nearly as the testi-
mony shows, as much money as Mr..
| Carpenter was 10 pay for the estate he
| hnally took, or agreed to take.
The conditions in the neighborhoOd
as to order were not good. The facile
Government agreed to furnish all pO-
ice protection needed.
The people in the neighborhood were
not rich and stood IN need, as II vas
believed, of money with which 10 pur-
chase carabaos and other things need
full for its successful cultivation. There
upon the loan fund for that purpose,
which had not, heretofore, been in
tended to affect the Tala estate, was
extended to it within a few months
after Carpenters contract was made.
The Congressional act permitted
leasing of friar lands for hree years,
the Tala estate being of this character.
The Government, looking with peculiar
favor upon one of its pets, undertook
10 change the laws so that Mr.. Carpen-
ter might not only lease, but on easy
terms become the owner in fee simple.
Laws Changed for His Benefit.
Under these circumstances Mr.. Car
penter agreed to lease, with the right
to purchase upon a change of the laws.
The laws were changed so far as the
commission could do so, the conditions
as to protection and road and bridge
building were met, and Mr.. Carpenter is
now on the highway to become the
owner of 4.2S5 acres of productive land,
at its nearest point. within a short dis
tance from Manila, and approximately
four miles from the railway station OF
Polo, running north from that city.
The conditions of terms of payment 1,
deserve special attention. 1t appears !
from Mr.. Carpenters testimony that he |
does not expect himself to pay any por-
ton of this sum, but to make the same !
out of his tenants. This is certainly the |
meaning of his answer to questions
90. Do you expect the returns
ton NJ
ments for the land, this without any |
material advance by you?
A: do not expect the returns from /
my tenants, /. E., any share in the |
crop which may pertain to me, to
meet my payments for the land dur
ing the lease period, t. e., three
years. l do expect that beginning
with the fourth year the produce OF
my tree plantations, the increase Of
my cattle, and my share of crops
raised by tenants will meet the an
nual payments on the lands which
should purchase under the terms of
my contract with the Government
and the expenses generally of the
plantation as a whole" "
In the case of Mr.. Carpenter, Mr. Raj
ston sees danger of the establishment Of |
a feudal system of landlord and tenant
On this point he makes the following
observation:
Landlord and Tenant System.
The net result, therefore, of this pro-
ceeding is that through the kindness
Of the Philippine government in all the
particulars we have enumerated.
kindness which does not appear to have
been extended to another person in the
land, American or Filipino, Mr. Car
penter at the end of twenty wears.
will find himself in the possession Of a
property originally valued at about
g 900 pesos. paid for by the labor of his
Filipino tenants, increased in value by
the expenditures of the public money, II
literally promised and literally made
by the government OF the island, and,
so far as he is concerned, he will have
'urthered the creation Of a landlord
and tenant system in the Philippine
turning the Filipino from being
contributor to the wealth of a member
IF an alien race.
''All this is done under the guise of
ender consideration for the welfare of
he Filipinos.
Like Governor Forbes. like Secretary I
Worcester, 1t seems never to have oc-
urred to Mr.. Carpenter that in specu- :
atfT& in the natural wealth of the {
property as to which he was an ad- I
and not proprietor in his
wn right. :
"A haunting fear of public comment .
Ipon this transaction seems. neverthe- \
ess, to have possessed the Philippine
fficials, for never, till June 10, 1910, was
n official report made on the subject, 7
While with the utmost de1iberation, Cap
ain Sleeper twice, in his report for the :
ear ending June 80, 1909, speaks of the
Intention to place the Tala estates on
ale although he had, when he wrote
he lines, contracted to sell the re-
of the estate to Carpenter.
Captain Sleeper, so far as his testi- a
nony and the records in the case show, I