El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-25
No Haste IN Philippines
OLD Railroad Train Out Of Manila
Takes Nine Hours to Go 100 Miles,
With Frequent stops.
-ET frcderIs. j. Hnstzfn

2 AsHINGTON. b. d. ID


road in the islands. The jerk water,
one horse, two by four affair ran 100
miles from Manila northward to Daeu-
pan It belonged to a British concern
with British officers and Filipino
crews. This line is still in operation.
II now belongs to the Speyer syndi-
cate, which also has built several hun
dred miles of road in the Visayan is
lands This original Manila-DagupaE
line is still under British management
100 Miles in Nine Hours.
Inc engines are toy affairs and the
cars OF european style with small com
pdFlmentS- III continues to rival the
famous Arkansas railroad of the joke
book 1t still goes slowly on the
theory of the FilipinOs that they would
not get their moneys worth if they
got TO their destination in say two
hours So the railroad company gives
them four hour trip for their money
The cars continue to be a total
stranger to drinking water towels ana
soap and the trains not infreQuenuIy
have a very original habit of stopping
Tor an hour or more in the midst OF
some tOrrid stretch at the hottest part
Of the day. The journey Of 100 miles
from Manila to DGgupan is made in
nine hours, If everything goes well.
Need More Railroads.
The need of more railroads in LuZon
and of lines for other important is
lands which have none was from the
first realized to be most urgent The
death OF thOusa nds Of carabaO in the
first few years of American occupation
further emphasized the fact il was
useless for the poor Filipino farmer to
so to work and raise more than just
enough for him TO live on when there
was no means OF transporting the sur
plus to other parts. to say nothing OF
trying TO reach foreign markets. 1t
was well understood that railroads
would not Immediately develop the
sparsely inhabited sections Of the is
lands In the same way that they have
SO often done in the United States be-
cause the Filipino prefers to stay at
home and gather moss. Nevertheless,
II was evident that many Of the wei
settled portions of the Islands produce
but an infinitesimal fraction of their
agricultural capacity and thus were
merely scraping along from year 10
year instead OF eNuuing prosperity
from every pore The need was great
but the Philippine government had off
llculJy In inducing American capitalists
40 make railroad investments in the
islands
Railroad Construction Ordered.
However, the government, assisted
Edwards and Gen. Frank Mcintyre
kept hammerinE away. On June u,
1898. proposals for bids for the con-
Strucuon Of railroads on II routes. ag-
gregating MS miles. in the Islands OF
LuZOnr Panay. NegrOSr CeDu, Le}te anu
Samar were advertised in Washington
and Manila. Bids were opened IN
Washington on December 20, 1905. and
they were three in number. These bids
were unsatisfactory and new ones
We're called for. on June 20 1906, the
new bids were opened when IL was
found that there We're but two Compel
itOrs, Messrs- Speyer & company, for the
line In LuZOn- and the lSaEan Synul-
dictate for the line in Negroes. Pauay
and Cebu. The last named company
was composed Of Messrs- William Solo
mon ana company. Cornelius Wander
dir j. g. W hlte and company, OF New
York. Charles n swift. of Detroit with
whom were associated the Internal
tiOnal Banking corporation. II. r. Wis
ton and Heidelbach and company The
DID OF the NlSayan syndicate. being
within the terms of the proposal was
accepted Six months later the syndi-
cate transferred their contract to a
company called the Filipino Railroad
company organized aInder the laws o.
Connecticut The agreement between
the Philippine government and the
company included the following points
T. An agreement to build 2s5 miles o.
railroads in the Islands Of Panay, Ne
GrOs and Cebu on the routes speci-
fled
>. a guaranty by the government Of
four percent on the first mortgage
bonds issued for the construction Of
the railroads, none of which could be
sold below par. the proceeds to be ex-
pended for the equipment and con-
structiOn Of the roads, tie sums, If any,
paid by the government In pursuance
of its guaranty. to be considered a
lien upon the railroad and its equip
ment; the guar anty to cease at th1 end
of thirty years
s. The concession is perpetual
4. Taxation is fixed at - OF one
percent on the gross earnings for 50
years and - percent for so years
After that period the rate of taxation
is to be fixed by the government
Han ian
structiOn and equipment of the rail-
roads to come in free OF duty this was
before the beginning OF free trade be-
tween the United states and the
Philippines in August, 1909.
Speyer Proposition Accepted.
The proposition put up by the Speyer
company for the construction OF two
lines on the island Of LUzOn, one for a
line from DasuDan to the northern
terminal of the then existing Manila
Dagupan railroad, 10 LaOaS, in uOcOs
NCrte province, a distance of lbS miles
ana the second for a line aggresating
$3.50 miles from Manila southeast
through the provinces OF Batangas ana
Tayabas and likewise lines in the
southern peninsula through the pro-
virCes of Ambos Camarines and Albay,
and branch lines from these roads and
from the Manila-Dagupau railway. was
finally accepted after several months
Of negotiation upon the terms that the
company was
thrOug hout the island of LuZon.
.. No guaranty on any part Of the
construction.
3. The acknowledgement railroad
which became the property OF the
Speyer company and all of its
branches. such q there were, withdrew
such claims as il had against the
municipal. provincial or insUlar gov
erhment or the United States govern
mcnt fO- alleged damage sustained
during the insurrectlOn.
&. The concession is q perpetual one,
but the government is at liberty to
grant franchises for competing lines
any time. Taxation is fixed at the rate
Of ID OF one percent for 80 years,
I 1-2 percent for so years and there
after to be fixed by the government
The company also had the right of free
entry FOR materials Speyer and COM
pany then transferred its concession TO
the Manila Railway company. which
had been organized under the laws of
New Jersey
Employ Railroad Expert.
Tn order that the work might be
properly supervised the position OF
supervising railroad expert was Gre
ated at a salary of $4,000 year. r. a
MOlitOr. a well known railroad man 0t
the United States. was appointed to the
post but he held IL only for year.
resigninE because of serious differ