Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-26

IL continues 10 rival the famous Arkansas
railroad of the joke book. 1t still goes
| slowly on the theory Of the F'ilipinos that
| they would not get their moneys worth
| II 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 and soap and
the trains not infreQuently have a very
original habit of stopping for 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 Dag
upan Is made in nine hours, if every
| thing goes we'll.
The need OF more railroads in Luzon
and of lines for other important islands
which h a " e none
More Railroads was from the first
Need Of Islands. urgent The death
Of thousands of carabao in the first few
years of American occupation further en-
phasized the fact It was useless for
the poor Filipino farmer to go to work
and raise more than just enough for him
to live on when there was no means of
transporting the surplus to other parts,
to say nothing Of trying to reach for
eign markets 1t was we'll understood
that railroads would not Immediately
develop the sparsely inhabited sections of
the islands in the same way that they
have so often done in the United States,
because the Filipino prefers to stay at,
home and gather moss Nevertheless it
was evident that many of the well set
| tied portions of the islands produced but
an infinitesimal fraction of their agri-
| scraping along from year to year instead
| of exuding prosperity from every pore
! The need was great but the Philippine
government had difficulty in inducing
American capitalists to make railroad
| investments in the islands
However, the government, assisted by
| Secretary Taft. Gen. Clarence r. Ed
| wards and Gen. Frank Mcintyre, kept
| hammering away. On June Il, 1909. pro-
posals for bids for the construction of
railroads on eleven routes, aggregating
LIB miles in the Islands of Luzon.
Panay. Negroes. Cebu, Leyte and Samar
| were advertised in Washington and
| Manila. Bids were opened in Washington
| December 20, 1905, and they were three
| in number. These bids were unsatis-
| factory and new ones were called for.
June 90 1905, the new bids were opened,
| when II was found that there were but
two competitors. Messrs. Speyer & Co. for
| the line in Luzon, and the Visayan Syn
| dictate for the line in Negros. Panay and
| Cebu. The last named company was
| composed of Messrs. William Solomon 4
| Co., cornelius Vanderbilt, J. G. White IL
| Co. of New York, Charles n. Swift of
| Detroit with whom were associated the
| International Banking Corporation; H.
r. Wiston and Heidelbach & Co.
y
The bid Of the Visayan syndicate being
| within the terms of the proposal was &C
| cepted. Six months
Points Embraced later the syndicate
:. transferred it's con-
IN the contract. tract to a company
| called the Filipino Railroad Company, or
ganized under the laws of Connecticut.
| The agreement between the Philippine
government and the company included
| the following points:
/. An agreement to build 90 miles of
railroads in the Islands of Panay, Negroes
and Cebu on the routes specified.
g A guaranty by the government of 4
per cent on the first mortgage bonds is
sued for the construction of the rail-
| roads. none of which could be sold below
par, the proceeds to be expended for
| the equipment and construction of the
roads; the sums, If any. paid by the gov
eminent in pursuance of its guaranty to
| be considered lien upon the railroad and
| it's equipment; the guaranty to cease at
the end of thirty years.
3. The concession is perpetual.
4. Taxation is fixed at " of | per cent
| on the gross earnings for thirty years
and w per cent for fifty years After
| that period the rate Of taxation Is to be
| fixed by the government
3. All material necessary for the con-
| struction and equipment of the railroads
| to come in free of duty; this was before
| the beginning of free trade between the
| United States and the Philippines in
August, 1909.
The proposition put up by the Speyer
| company for the construction of two lines
| on the Island Of
Speyer Company Luzon. one for
Bids for Two Lines. su nas IRON to p the
northern terminal Of the then existing
| Manila-Dagupan railroad to Laoag, in
| Ilocos Norte province, a distance of
] 1888 miles, and the second for a line ag-
| gregating 800 miles from Manila south
east through the provinces of Batangas
and Tayabas, and likewise lines in the
| southern peninsula through the prov
inces of Ambos Camarines and Albay
| and branch lines from these roads and
from the Manila-Dagupan railway
was finally accepted after several
| months of negotiation upon the terms
| that the company was:
/. To build 42S miles of railroads
! throughout the Island of Luzon.
2. No guaranty on any part of the
| construction.
3. The Manila -Dagupan railroad which
| became the property of the Speyer com
pany, and all of its branches, such as
| there were. withdrew such claims as it
| had against the municipal, provincial or
| insular government or the United States
government for alleged damage sustained
during the Instruction
4. The concession is a perpetual one,
but the government is at liberty to grant
| franchises for competing lines any time.
Taxation is fixed at the rate of half of
l per cent for thirty years, IL per cent
| for fifty years, and thereafter to be fixed
| by the government The company also
| had the right of free entry for materials.
Speyer & Co, then transferred it's con-
cession to the Manila Railway Company,
which had been organized under the laws
| of New Jersey.
In order that the work might be prop
erly supervised, the position of super
vising railroad expert was created at a
| salary of $4,000 a year. F. A. Molitor,
| a well known railroad man OF the United
| States was appointed to the post, but he
held it only for year, resigning because
| of serious differences between him and
| the Philippine Railroad Company over
| the matter of grades, in which the gov
| ernor general sustained the railroad peo-
| pie. Mr.. Molieor returned to the United