“ Under this handicap the islands never were a self-supporting, much less an income-yielding, dependency. They were always a burden upon the treasury of New Spain. Their principal trade was with China and was in the hands of the Chinese. The vast majority of the pueblos were simple self-supporting communities of farmers and small artisans.
Secluded from the outside world, the domestic history of the Philippines is distinctively parochial in its character. There is little progressive political or economic evolution from generation to generation. ”

“ The coffee of Luzon and Mindanao is of excellent quality, comparing favorably with Java, but the crop has declined on account of insect enemies. Rice is grown everywhere, and is the great food staple of the common people. It was formerly exported to China, but for years the supply has been short of the home demand, and large quantities are imported from Cochin-China. Maize thrives throughout the archipelago and is grown especially on land that is not fitted for rice. While its use as food is increasing, many natives do not eat it. ”

“ Though agriculture is the most important source of wealth, it is in a very backward condition. Farming implements are of the most primitive sort. The cultivator, farm roller, and many other implements were never seen in the Philippines till the United States authorities opened the Government experimental farm. The natives do not understand the use of fertilizers, and know so little about forage crops that all the fodder for the horses and mules in the Government service has been imported. ”

“ The timarau, a small buffalo living in the jungles of Mindoro, has never been tamed; it often attacks and kills the larger carabao. A small humped variety of cattle are raised in large numbers for beef on some of the islands. Goats are common and are utilized both for milk and flesh. There are several species of deer, and both wild and domesticated hogs are very abundant. The larger horse as known in America and Europe, does not thrive, but the Philippine pony, originally from Spain, is an excellent saddle horse, and useful in teams as a carriage horse, but not strong enough for heavy work. ”

“ This favored tobacco region supplies most of the leaf sent to foreign lands or manufactured in Manila. The inferior, though good, tobacco grown in the more southern islands is chiefly consumed at home, but the leaf of North Luzon is famous throughout Southeastern Asia and many Western countries. Sugar-cane, grown in all the islands, is of great importance, and though it is cultivated with little intelligence, and raw sugar is produced by the crudest methods, its value for export is second only to that of hemp. ”

“ Cyclones are most frequent in July, August, September, and October, when these whirling winds from the Pacific occasionally sweep the whole archipelago north of Mindanao. The most terrific of these storms recorded in the Philippines struck Manila in 1882, traveling at a velocity of 140 miles an hour.
The danger from epidemic diseases is not great except for the occasional visitations of cholera, which is difficult to control, as has been proved since the United States acquired the islands. Smallpox is always prevalent, but very seldom attains wide-spread development. ”

“ The more advanced tribes rear a variety of small horse that is tough and serviceable; but the chief domestic animal is the carabao or water bullalu, which is largely used for turning water wheels for irrigation and as a draught-animal for plowing or hauling. Native transportation was originally by means of the buffalo, and rude water craft. Even before the coming of the Spaniards, the Chinese and the Japanese carried on a brisk trade with Manila and introduced their vehicles and money. ”

“ The indolence of the natives has also been unfavorable to large agricultural development. Nearly all the tilled lands are between sea level and 700 feet above the sea. The staple products in order of importance are Manila hemp (abaca) , tobacco, sugar, coffee, and rice. Hemp is produced chiefly in the provinces of Luzon south of Manila, in the islands of Samar and Leyte, and on a smaller scale in the other islands north of Mindanao, and on the north coast of Mindanao. The bast, or fibrous outer leaf, yields the coarse, strong fibre which is the best material for sailcloth and cordage. ”

“ As the islands lack railroads and have very few roads of any description, they are dependent upon this large coasting trade for the distribution of their domestic commerce or for the dispatch to or receipt from foreign countries of articles in the foreign trade. Thus the leading ports are the forwarding and distributing points for the entire over-sea commerce. There are, for example, about thirty local ports at which the Manila hemp crop is collected for shipment to Manila, Iloilo, and Cebú, where it is transferred to vessels in the foreign trade. ”

“ The act of July 1, 1902, defined the citizenship of the Philippines as including all the inhabitants of the islands who were citizens of Spain at the date of the ratification of the treaty with Spain, February 6, 1899, and declared that as such they should be entitled to the protection of the United States. The substance of the bill of rights of the Federal Constitution, except the right of maintaining a militia and the right of trial by jury, was extended to the Philippines. ”

“ Malaria is prevalent in some islands, especially Mindoro, Balabac, and parts of Palawan, Luzon, and Mindanao, but large districts are entirely free from it. Malarial fevers and digestive troubles are the chief diseases. On the whole the health of the natives is fairly good, but the climatic conditions, except in some districts, are not favorable to long residence by Americans or Europeans. It is fortunate that some places among the mountains afford health resorts to which white persons may go for recuperation. ”

“ Great Britain leads in the foreign trade with the Philippines, chiefly on account of its large purchases of Manila hemp and its surpassing sales of cotton cloth. The United States supplies more foodstuffs, excepting rice, which comes from Cochin-China, than any other country; and its sales of iron manufactures to the islands in 1902 amounted to $957,342. In the same year the imported foodstuffs amounted to over $14,000,000, or about two-fifths of the total imports. ”

“ Third and last came the Islamitic or Moro invasion, occurring in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries of our era, and brought to an end by Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. At present the brown Malay is mixing with white and yellow peoples. The yellow or Mongoloid type exists in the Philippines partly as pure-blooded Chinese, Japanese, Siamese, and Cambodians, but principally in mixtures of various sorts. The Chinese held sway in Luzon for centuries, and after their rule was thrown off trade continued between them and the natives. ”

“ The vegetable life is rich and varied, with very few distinctive species, but some plants that are transitional between the flora of Formosa on the north and Borneo on the south. Sixty species of large trees afford the most valuable hard woods for the use of the ship-builders and cabinet-makers. Many other trees are so hard that they cannot be cut by the ordinary circular saw. The bamboo grows in numerous varieties, and, as in other parts of the Malayan Archipelago, is indispensable to the natives. ”

“ Controversy exists here also in regard to the attitude of the native population toward the friars. Some assert that they are obnoxious to a large part of the people, owing to the onerous contributions they are said to have levied for the support of the Church, and the large areas of tillable land they acquired, much of it, it is asserted, by dispossessing the owners on the pretext of exacting the Church's dues. The apologists of the friars, on the other hand, vigorously assert that their unpopularity is only with a faction of the natives, and springs largely from political motives. ”

“ Narrow plains occur between the mountains and wider ones where the river valleys broaden near the coast, and are enriched with alluvial deposits. Mountains are the backbone of all the islands, though in Leyte there are no mountains of special prominence. Three ranges in Luzon and four in Mindanao are the dominating features in the topography of those largest islands. The wider plains are in the basins of the larger rivers of Mindanao and Luzon. Owing to the predominance of mountains, the area of tillable lands is not believed to be one-third of the total area. ”

“ Marine fish are far more important than fresh-water fish and form the largest part of animal food, the natives also eating many varieties of ‘shell fish.’ The pearl oyster, yielding a considerable quantity of shell and jewels, is fished in the Sulu Archipelago. Crocodiles and snakes are abundant. Swarms of locusts sometimes devastate the fields, and rice and tobacco have other insect enemies.
FISHES OF THE PHILIPPINES
Geology and Mineral Resources. ”

“ Other palms are very numerous. The banyan is common and grows to enormous dimensions, and the cinnamon, clove, and pepper are found wild in the southern islands. About 1200 genera and 5000 species of plants have thus far been recognized by botanists. Economically the most valuable of the wild plants is Manila hemp, the fibre of a wild plantain (Musa texilis) . The plant closely resembles the edible banana in appearance and grows best on shaded hillsides at moderate elevations. The export crop is raised on plantations, which yield, when carefully managed, an annual return of 30 per cent. ”

“ The Malay or brown Filipinos are of dark chocolate color and average 1.50 meters (59 inches) in stature. Some are meagre in body, but most of them are sturdy.
Culture among the Filipinos extends from the low savagery of the Negrito tribes to a form of civilization fairly comparable with that of the countries on the continent adjacent. The industrial life of the Filipinos is partly agricultural and mechanical, partly maritime. The outrigger canoe is in evidence about all the islands. ”

“ Better transportation facilities and more capital and labor will be required to develop these sources of wealth. True coal has not been found, but the highly carbonized lignite of Tertiary age which takes its place is supposed to be the chief mineral product. It is a fairly satisfactory fuel for steamers, and is widely distributed over the archipelago, especially in Luzon, Mindoro, Masbate, Panay, Samar, Cebú, Negros, and Mindanao. ”

“ Plantation slavery, the dark page in West Indian colonization, never existed. Schools were provided in the pueblos and in the larger towns hospitals and colleges; the native languages were given literary form, grammars and dictionaries were compiled and translations made of the simpler literature of the devotional life. The Christian population of the islands formed a unique community, the only large body of Asiatics permanently converted to Christianity in modern times. ”

“ Two pesos are exchanged for $1 of United States money, and a ratio of 2 to 1 is maintained between Mexican dollars and United States gold. The metrical system of weights and measures is officially in use, but the Spanish denominations are also employed.
Population. A census of the Philippines was in progress when the insurrection began in 1896, and the American authorities found returns for over two-fifths of the population stored in Manila. The returns were made the basis for the estimate of the population in the twelfth census of the United States, where it is given as 6,961,339. ”

“ In some places the average of those who could read and write was high, in others low—a diversity due to local conditions. Higher education was well provided for, and presented many admirable features. Since September 1, 1900, the civil administration has put in force an educational bill designed to provide wider instruction for the masses as well as the more prosperous class. The archipelago has been divided into seventeen educational divisions, with an American superintendent over each division. Up to 1903 about 1000 American teachers had been distributed for primary work in the towns ”

“ The most important manufactures are the products of the tobacco works. The largest tobacco factory in Manila has over 10,000 employees. Most of the natives smoke home-made cigars, and over 150,000,000 cigars are annually exported. The leaf is cured and manufactured by means of modern machinery, many of the cigarette machines are worked by steam, and Manila is the chief centre of all tobacco products. Fabrics of Manila hemp, wool, cotton, silk, and piña fibre are woven on hand looms ”

“ Progress is manifested by the extension of the missions and the amelioration of the life of the natives. Much of the internal history is made up of the various conflicts between the clergy and the political administration or between the Archbishop and the friars. The chief incidents in external history are the volcanic eruptions, the incursions of the Chinese or Moro pirates, the attacks of the Dutch, etc. ”

“ The inhabitants are unequally divided between blacks, browns, yellows, and whites, and there is also a slight representation of reds. The blacks comprise native tribes, with descendants of African negroes and Papuans introduced by Spaniards. The native blacks are of Negrito type, commonly called Aeta, from a principal tribe; they are dwarfish in stature, and dwell in remote parts of the archipelago. ”

“ In the wet season, from June to October, five months, the rains are very heavy in the interior and on the west coast, because the moist southwest monsoon there prevails. The east coasts do not share in the excessive precipitation, because they are shielded by the mountains. In the dry season, from November to May, the comparatively dry northeast monsoon prevails, there are many, fair days, and the precipitation is greatest on the east coast. The rivers often overflow their banks during the wet season and wide areas in the larger islands are submerged ”

“ Each family was assessed a tribute of 10 reals, about $1.25, and the headmen were responsible for its collection. The petty governors and headmen of barangays were Filipinos; the higher administrative officers were Spaniards. The inhabitants of these pueblos were all natives. No Spaniards were allowed to live in these mission villages except the friars, who exercised there the firm but ordinarily gentle sway of the parent or schoolmaster. In the few Spanish towns there existed the ordinary municipal organizations that prevailed in Spanish America. ”