Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-03
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to a height of forty feet, her skirts being
gathered about her waist and short
black pipe held between her teeth She
will stand in the water up to her waist
and pound the clothes she is washing
against a wooden tray which floats on the
surface OF the river. These women can
walk great distances. They are well
formed and have beautiful black hair. or
our naval governors.
When We took possession of Guam We
found the people exceedingly lazy. Wages
under the Spanish had been almost MOTH
ing and there was no incentive to work.
Beggars We're many and Migrants were
common. One Of the first edicts of Gov.
Leary was that every ihhabitant should
be self-supporting. II he had no trade
or occupation he must at once plant some
corn, rice, coffee, sweet potatoes or other
things sufficient to give him asliving,S and
that he must have at least twelve hens.
one cock and one sow. The governor
gave lands to some such men. but the
big wages offered by the officials have
brought the natives generally into the
employ Of the government.
And this brings me to serious con-
dition which will likely confront Guam In
the near future. The public works which
Uncle Sam has been carrying on during
the past nine years have brought
great deal of money into the island. Dur
ing that time the imports have exceeded
the exports by more than a half million
dollars and the greater part OF this
money has come from the wages paid to
the natives for the labor on the public
works.
AS a result the people have had more
cash than ever before. and the prices OF
living have risen one or two thousand
per cent. The wants of the people have
also increased. Formerly they lived for
the most part on the taro. vans and
bananas which they raised themselves.
They have now become accustomed to the
timed meats and vegetables brought In
from Japan and America.
All this has been paid for with labor.
But now the most of the public work has
been done The island is well equipped
with roads. Its harbors have been i'm
proved and the public buildings have been
erected. The big jobs must soon stop.
and the people must then go back to the
land where they cannot make anything
like what they have done while labor1ng
for Uncle Sam. How this may be brought
about without trouble remains to be seen.
The government will have to encourage
agriculture and arrange for the exports.
One of the possibilities will be i'm cocoa
nut raising. This has not been pushed
on account of the labor market. but am
told the island could be turned into
great cocoanut plantation. The experts
say it might annually yield 200 600 tons
of copra, which could be sold at a profit
of $40 ton. That alone would bring In
$1,000, 600 per annum.
The higher lands Of the island are suit
able for coffee and the lower portions will
grow sugar. There are also 100 square
miles of forest, the timber Of which at
present prices is worth about $20O0,0 900.
Another possible crop is vanilla, another
cacao and a third rubber, for 1t is said
that the india rubber tree can be grown
there. The rice fields may be also in
creased. They are rudely farmed, and
with Japanese methods Of culture might
produce ten times much as they now
do All of these varios crops will be ex-
perimented with and the island will even
tually be great tropical garden.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.