The New International Encyclopædia/Philippine Islands
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. An archipelago forming the most northern group of islands in the Malayan or Eastern Archipelago. It lies wholly within the tropics. The land surface extends between latitudes 21° 10′ and 4° 40′ N., 1150 statute miles; the east and west limits are longitude 116° 40′ and 126° 34′ E., making about 650 miles. The most northern land in the Philippines is Y'Ami Island, of the Batanes group; the most southern is Balut Island, of the Sarangani Islands, south of Mindanao; the most western is Balabac Island, north of Borneo; and the most eastern is Sancó Point, on the east coast of Mindanao. The archipelago is bounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the south by the Sea of Celebes and the coastal waters of Borneo. It is 93 miles distant from foreign territory on the north (Formosa); 31 miles from Balambangan, an island near Borneo, on the south; 510 miles from the Pelew group (German) on the east, and 515 miles from Cochin-China (French) on the west.
The archipelago numbers about 1600 islands, most of them very small, and having altogether about 11,500 miles of coast line. Two of them, Mindanao and Luzon, are, however, classed among the larger islands of the world, and eleven islands, Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Panay, Negros, Palawan (Paragua), Mindoro, Leyte, Cebú, Masbate, and Bohol, are of primary geographical importance. The others are mainly dependent islands or islets along the coast of the large islands or subordinate archipelagoes like the Sulu Islands. The area of the total land surface is computed at 127,853 square miles, or a little larger than the New England States, New York, and New Jersey together. Mindanao (45,559 square miles) and Luzon (43,075 square miles) comprise about seven-tenths of the total land surface, the area of the other leading islands being: Samar, 5198 square miles; Negros, 4839; Panay, 4752; Palawan, 4368; Mindoro, 4050; Leyte, 3872; Cebú, 1668; Bohol, 1400; and Masbate, 1230. The total water surface within the limits occupied by the archipelago is 705,115 square miles.
Topography. This immense labyrinth of islands forms that part of a vast submarine plateau which has emerged above the ocean. The surrounding waters are shallow, for the most part not over 200 feet in depth, showing that the wide plateau on which the islands stand nearly approaches the surface. But strewn here and there over the sea floor are troughs and hollows and wide depressions, particularly to the west of Luzon and Mindanao, where greater depths are found. There is nothing approaching oceanic depths till the eastern edge of the submarine plateau descends to the Pacific deeps from 100 to 300 miles east of the archipelago. In the south three lines of islands stretch like isthmuses between the main archipelago and the southern lands. In the northwest is the most regular and best developed of these isthmuses, stretching from Mindoro to North Borneo, the long, narrow island of Palawan forming more than half its extent. In the centre the Sulu Archipelago connects the western terminus of Mindanao with the northeastern point of Borneo; and in the southwest the great peninsula of Celebes with the Sanguir Archipelago and other islands forms another isthmus, sweeping around to the south of Mindanao. These ridges are extended throughout the archipelago in the form of mountain ranges, from south to north, and form a large part of its relief. From the southern coast of Mindanao to the north of Luzon the mountains are disposed in a line with or parallel to the southern isthmuses. The whole interior is essentially mountainous, the Cordilleras extending north and south, their highest peaks ranging from 3720 to 10,312 feet (Apo in Mindanao), with outliers and ramifications partly filling the gaps between the ranges. 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.
Hydrography. In the smaller and narrower islands the mountain chain which is the backbone of each island is the great central water-parting, streams flowing to the sea on either side of it in short, straight courses. Mindoro, for example, has about 60 independent little rivers. The drainage of the larger islands is more complicated, the parallel arrangement of the mountain chains giving space for the development of considerable streams. Among them is the Rio Grande de Cagayan (q.v.), with a drainage basin of 10,000 square miles, or much more than one-third of Luzon. All the interior waters of Northeastern Luzon are tributary to the Cagayan, reaching the China Sea on the north coast of the island. All the interior waters of Central Luzon, south of the Cagayan basin, are included in the system of the Rio Grande de la Pampanga, which empties through a wide delta into Manila Bay. The mountains are so near the sea in East Luzon that the rivers of that coast are of small importance excepting the Bicol in the southeast, which floats small vessels; but in the northwest the Agno has 11 feet of water on its bar at high tide, which gives some importance to the port of Dagupan at its mouth. The Pasig is only 12 miles long, but as it connects Bay Lagoon (q.v.), or Laguna de Bay, with Manila Bay through the chief port of the island, it is a commercial highway of importance. The river systems of Mindanao, confined within the parallel ranges, have chiefly a north and south direction and are more important for navigation than those of Luzon. The Rio Grande de Mindanao, one of the largest rivers in the Philippines, drains the central basin of the island, carries the waters of many tributaries to the Celebes Sea on the west coast, and is navigable for gunboats as far as Lake Lagusan. The Rio Agusan (q.v.) rises about 25 miles from the south coast, and reaches the sea on the north coast, nearly dividing the island. It is navigable for a few miles from its mouth. The most important lakes in Luzon are: Laguna de Bay, 25 miles long and 21 miles wide, which receives numerous small streams from the mountains around it, and Bombon, 14 by 11 miles in extent, Taal volcano rising amid its waters. The largest lakes of Mindanao are Maguindanao, in the centre, and Malanao, near the north coast. Smaller lakes are scattered over the islands.
Climate. As the archipelago is wholly within the tropics, the climate is naturally very warm. From November to February inclusive, the most temperate months, the temperature ranges from 75° to 80° F. The hottest months are April, May, and June, when the monthly mean ranges between 81° and 83°. The intermediate temperatures are in March, July, August, September, and October, when the mean is from 79° to 81°. The temperature at Manila rarely rises above 100° in the shade, and does not fall below 60°. The prevailing atmospheric humidity intensifies the discomforts of heat, from which there is little relief in the three hottest months; but in December, January, and February the nights are fairly cool. As the mean temperature for the year varies merely by a few degrees, only two seasons are recognized. 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; but the floods arc not feared so much as the cyclonic storms of wind and rain known as typhoons, which seldom occur south of 9° N. latitude, but north of that line sometimes destroy the lives of thousands of persons and wreck many vessels and villages. 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 bubonic plague has never gained a strong foothold, though in 1901-02 the most strenuous efforts were required to suppress it. 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. Such an asylum is the elevated plateau of the small province of Benguet, 150 miles north of Manila, where, during the hottest month of the year, the temperature is not over 70° F. at midday.
Flora. 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. The cocoa palm flourishes everywhere and many of the ripe nuts are collected in rafts and floated to market. The oil is used in cooking and as an illuminant. 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. on the capital invested. This fibre is not successfully raised elsewhere except on a few plantations in North Borneo. Practically all the cultivated plants of the South Asian island world are successfully raised, including rice, sugar, tobacco, coffee, cacao, maize, and sweet potatoes.
Fauna. The islands are poor in indigenous mammals. The most important animal is the carabao or water buffalo, which is caught young, tamed, and universally employed as a draught animal, while his tough flesh is valued by the natives as meat. He is usually docile, but is slow and lazy and during the heat of the day will not work more than two hours at a time without his mud bath. The female gives abundant milk, from which ghee, a kind of butter is made. The hide makes valuable leather. 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. The carnivora have no large representatives, and only a small wild cat, two species of civet eats, and the binturong are conspicuous. The islands have nearly 600 species of birds, among which are the jungle fowl, hornbill, fruit pigeon, the snipe, curlew, and other waders; also the species of swift whose nests (edible birds' nests) are highly esteemed in China as an article of food. 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
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| COPYRIGHT 1902, BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY | JULIUS BIEN & CO.LITH.N.Y. | ||||||||||||||||
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Geology and Mineral Resources. The geology of the archipelago has not yet been systematically studied. In broad outline the islands appear to consist of ancient eruptive rocks that have been covered by volcanic outpourings of the Tertiary, Quaternary, and present epochs, and in the lower levels by alluvium. Fossils are not found in the higher altitudes, and deposits of marine fossils are of small extent in recent geological times. There are twenty-three well-known volcanoes, of which eleven are more or less active. The most famous among them, and perhaps the most beautiful volcanic cone in the world, is Mayón, or the volcano of Albay, near the Bay of Legaspi, in Southeastern Luzon. Mayón is 8274 feet in height, and some of its eruptions in the past three centuries have been very serious. The surrounding country has been well-nigh buried under its streams of lava, and its clouds of volcanic dust have been carried through the air as far as the coast of China. Another remarkable volcano is Taal, which is an island in the middle of Lake Bomhon, Luzon, with an area of 220 square miles, built up from the bottom of the lake by the outpourings from several craters. The archipelago is a centre of seismic as well as volcanic energy, and the volcanic centres are often the sources of the severest earthquakes. Most of the very violent shocks from which Manila has suffered, for example, have radiated from the Taal centre. For the eighteen years 1880-97 there was an average of 53.4 earthquake days in the year, or 4.5 per month.
The mineral resources are supposed to be very large, but their extent is not yet known. 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. At present it is mined chiefly in Cebú, where as soon as the transportation shall have been perfected the output is expected to be 5000 tons a month Gold is found in many localities, and has long been mined by natives, employing very rude and wasteful methods. Explorations have proved that the alluvial deposits in many parts of Luzon, Mindanao, and other islands are extensive and gold-bearing quartz is found among the mountains of Northern Luzon, in Mindanao, and elsewhere, some of it being crushed by the natives between heavy stones and the metal extracted by washing. The prospects of gold-mining in Luzon are very favorable. Copper ore is reported from many islands, but the deposits have not yet been worked to any extent. Iron ore is abundant in Luzon, Cebú, Panay, and other islands. Some of the ore of Luzon yields 85 per cent. of pure metal, but thus far the ores are almost unworkcd except to a small extent in Luzon. Silver occurs in association with lead; sulphur may be obtained in large quantities around some of the volcanoes; and salt, gypsum, and a few other minerals of commerce are found.
Agriculture. 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 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. From the fibre yielded by the inner stalks are woven fabrics that are superior in softness and lightness. These fabrics are seldom exported, but the bast, of which, under the best conditions, 3000 pounds to the acre are produced, is the greatest export commodity, the average yearly shipments amounting to nearly 100,000 long tons. Cotton and ramie fibre are also produced to some extent, but cotton has declined, owing to the increased use of foreign textiles. Tobacco is of excellent quality, though it does not equal the favorite grades of the Cuban crop. The best leaf is grown on the wide plain of the Rio Cagayan (Isabela and Cagayan provinces), North Luzon. 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. 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. Among other products are cocoanuts, cocoa, wheat, indigo, sesame, peanuts, many varieties of vegetables, and spices in the south. Large quantities of copra, the dried meat of the cocoanut, are prepared for export. The pastoral industries are extensive. Some of the islands, as Masbate, have comparatively little tilled ground and depend more largely upon live stock. It is estimated that Masbate has 10,000 carabaos, 55,000 cattle, and 5000 horses. Cattle of a small humped variety are raised for beef on several islands. Swine and fowls are found in every native settlement. The Government experimental farm near Manila is for the purpose of encouraging the production of crops. Experiments with alfalfa and other forage plants have been very successful, and most of the vegetables grown in the United States, excepting melons and white potatoes, yield well. The Government distributes seeds and is giving special attention to coffee-growing. Very little land is owned by the peasantry, who rent their small holdings, paying half the crop to the owners. About 500,000 acres of the best tillable lands are owned by three of the Koman Catholic societies which do not encourage thrifty farming; it is likely that their lands will be purchased by the Government and sold to the tenants. The settlement of the land question is of the highest importance, as it is impossible in most cases to give a safe title to lands.
Manufactures. 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; and bamboo, rattan, palm leaves, and other material are used with intelligence and skill in making mats, hats, bags, cigar cases, and a large variety of other articles. Rope, soap, leather, sugar, and some other commodities are made by antiquated and imperfect processes, but much skill has been developed in erecting the better class of buildings, and in making furniture and wood carvings.
Commerce. Trade relations with foreign countries have grown rapidly since law and order were restored throughout most of the islands about the beginning of 1900, as the following table, giving the value of exports and imports, shows:
| 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | |
| Exports | $19,751,068 | $23,214,948 | $29,000,000 |
| Imports | 20,601,436 | 30,279,406 | 33,342,166 |
The large increase in the trade between the Philippines and the United States is shown by the following table:
| 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | |
| Exports to the United States | $3,830,415 | $4,409,774 | $5,971,208 | $4,420,912 | $6,612,700 |
| Imports from the United States | 127,804 | 404,193 | 2,640,449 | 4,027,064 | 5,251,867 |
The trade in 1901 with the other countries that are most important in Philippine commerce is indicated in this table:
| United Kingdom |
Hong Kong |
British East Indies |
Spain | France | French East Indies | |
| Imports from | $6,956,145 | $3,529,322 | $2,820,797 | $2,166,866 | $1,684,233 | $1,914,238 |
| Exports to | 10,704,741 | 5,067,547 | 1,314,084 | 1,656,400 | 1,934,256 | 1,483 |
The exports consist very largely of agricultural products. Manila hemp and sugar, the leading staples of the islands, are the principal factors in the trade, their combined value usually amounting to more than 75 per cent. of the total export valuation. In 1900 the value of the principal exports was: Manila hemp, $13,290,400; sugar, $2,397,144 (smaller than usual); copra and cocoanuts, $3,184,853 (unusually large); cigars and cigarettes, $1,164,369; leaf tobacco, $1,033,900; hides and skins, $311,183. The exports were classified as: Products of agriculture, 87 per cent.; manufactures, 7 per cent.; miscellaneous, 6 per cent.
The imports are chiefly manufactured articles, cotton goods usually forming one-third to nearly one-half of the total, and foodstuffs. Rice is the most important of the agricultural imports. The value of the chief imports in 1900 was: Cotton manufactures, $8,727,777; rice, $4,365,056; iron and steel articles, $1,425,233; wheat flour, $475,236; malt liquors and cider, $1,113,684; mineral oils, $374,717; silk manufactures, $385,984; glass and glassware, $395,620.
Manila hemp is almost the only article imported into the United States, the value of the fibre brought to this country in 1902 amounting to $6,318,470.
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.
Transportation and Communication. The three leading ports of the islands are Manila, Cebú, and Iloilo. The situation of Manila (q.v.) gives it superior advantages in the domestic and foreign trade of the islands. Vessels, however, having a draught of more than sixteen feet are compelled to anchor two miles from the shore, and are dependent upon lighterage for loading and unloading cargoes. The Government intends to dredge an inshore harbor and protect it by breakwaters, so that the largest vessels may tie up at the docks. Cebú and Iloilo are the chief ports of the islands of Cebú and Panay, respectively, in the Visayan or great central group of islands between Luzon and Mindanao. There are also three ports of secondary importance: Aparri, on the north coast of Luzon, a large centre of tobacco shipments; Zamboanga, the leading port of Mindanao; and Jolo, the chief port of the Sulu Archipelago, in the south. Custom houses are maintained at these six ports, and they are open to foreign trade. In addition to these porti there are a large number of local ports whose business is confined to the coastwise trade. Many of them are connected directly by small steam and sailing vessels with the ports engaged in the foreign trade. 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 freight rates on these coasting lines are high.
All the ports are reached from the interior by small rivers, or by bad cart roads or footpaths. These paths and trails extend from the ports in all directions, but are very inadequate, and commerce is hampered by the poor inland communications. The only railroad extends from Manila north to Dagupan, on Lingayen Bay, 120 miles. It is estimated that the islands require .at least 1000 miles of railroad as a factor in their development.
The islands are fairly well supplied, through the three leading ports, with transportation to foreign lands. They have direct steam communications with all the leading ports of South Asia, Australia, San Francisco, and Barcelona, Spain. A large amount of the freight, however, is transhipped at Hong Kong and other Asian points, where it meets the steamships of the regular lines in the European and American trade. In 1901, 789 British, German, Chinese, and other foreign vessels entered the ports of Manila, Iloilo, and Cebú. Very little of the trade even with the United States is carried in vessels flying the American flag. In 1902 about 94 per cent. of American sales to the Philippines and 99 per cent. of American purchases wore carried in foreign bottoms. Since August, 1898, the Signal Corps of the United States Army has laid 1327 miles of cables between the islands and 5000 miles of permanent telegraph lines, so that most parts of the archipelago have now the means of rapid communication with one another. In 1903 direct electrical communication with the United States was opened by means of a Pacific cable between the east coast of Luzon and San Francisco by way of Guam, Midway Island, and Honolulu. Manila is also connected by cable with Hong Kong and the European system.
Banking. There are three general banking corporations in the islands. The Banco Español-Filipino, at Manila, with a branch at Iloilo, monopolizes the bank-note circulation of the Philippines, amounting to 2,407,560 pesos (a peso = 50 cents). Its capital is 1,500,000 pesos. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation has branches at Manila and Iloilo, and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China at Manila and Cebú. The aggregate liabilities of all these establishments on December 31, 1901, was 53,415,809 pesos, including deposits of 35,012,127 pesos. The Savings Bank and Pawn Shop of Manila, capitalized at 221,460 pesos, had in January, 1902, deposits amounting to 755,829 pesos and total resources of 1,096,597 pesos.
Finance. The central government is supported chiefly by import and export duties. The provincial and municipal governments derive their support from internal taxes. The revenues and expenditures in the archipelago from the date of the American occupation, August 20, 1898, to the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1901, were as follows:
| REVENUES | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | Total |
| Customs | $3,097,864 | $5,535,952 | $9,032,600 | $17,666,417 |
| Postal | 42,954 | 104,282 | 121,559 | 268,796 |
| Internal | 240,378 | 522,509 | 932,484 | 1,695,372 |
| Miscellaneous | 130,131 | 361,195 | 591,017 | 1,082,344 |
| Total | $3,511,327 | $6,523,938 | $10,677,660 | $20,712,929 |
| EXPENDITURES | ||||
| Customs | $29,177 | $134,685 | $280,815 | $444,678 |
| Postal | 30,410 | 89,149 | 147,031 | 266,591 |
| Other expenditures | 2,337,810 | 4,994,545 | 6,335,975 | 13,668,331 |
| Total | $2,397,397 | $5,218,379 | $6,763,821 | $14,379,600 |
One-half of the internal revenue receipts in each province is turned over to the provincial treasury, and the remaining one-half to the municipalities of the province. A poll tax of $1 Mexican is levied upon each male person between eighteen and fifty-five years of age, one-half being paid into the treasury of the town where he lives and the remainder into the provincial treasury. The municipal council may license saloons and other business requiring police supervision. An ad valorem land tax is collected for the benefit of the provincial and municipal governments, the provincial board levying one-eighth of 1 per cent. on the assessable land for roads and bridges, and may levy two-eighths more for general purposes. The municipal council is required to levy one-fourth of 1 per cent. for schools, and may levy one-fourth per cent. more for general purposes.
Weights, Measures, and Money. The coinage in use comprises the Mexican silver dollar, and silver peso and fractional currency coined at the Manila mint, which was established in 1902. A large amount of pesos coined at the Philadelphia mint are sent to the Philippines in 1903. The Philippines silver coins are legal tender to the amount of $10. 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. A later Government estimate is 6,975,073, with 1137 towns, the population being divided among the island groups as follows:
| GROUPS | Area sq. miles |
Population | Towns |
| Luzon | 44,235 | 3,727,488 | 570 |
| Marinduque | 681 | 48,000 | 6 |
| Mindanao | 46,721 | 495,659 | 130 |
| Mindoro | 4,108 | 106,200 | 19 |
| Palawan | 5,037 | 52,350 | 14 |
| Sulu Archipelago | 1,029 | 22,630 | 14 |
| Visayan Islands | 25,302 | 2,497,908 | 381 |
| Unassigned | 740 | 24,838 | 3 |
| Total | 127,853 | 6,975,073 | 1,137 |
With the exception of Manila, the capital, which has a population of 350,000, there are no cities in the archipelago with more than 40,000 inhabitants, though there are about 30 towns with populations between 20,000 and 40,000. The most important of these are Albay, Batangas, Bauan, Laoag, Lipa, and Taal in Luzon, Cebú in the Visayas, and Zamboanga in Mindanao.
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| STREET SCENES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS |
| 1. MALASIQUI2. SAN CARLOS |
Education. There is considerable controversy as to the exact status and results of the system of education in operation before the American occupation. It is contended, on one hand, that the provisions for primary and secondary education were largely neglected, the tendency being to centre efforts upon the few who were sent to the college or university. It is accordingly asserted that comparatively few persons stood out prominently as educated Filipinos, while the great mass were either wholly illiterate or could barely read and write. Other authorities maintain that the Spanish system, considering the conditions which existed, achieved fair results. The report of the United States Commissioner of Education states that “the public elementary school system required by the Spanish law, whatever its defects, was widely diffused over the archipelago when the Americans arrived.” 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; 200 American teachers for secondary work were also assigned to duty; 200 soldier-teachers were detailed from their regiments; and 3400 Filipino teachers were also appointed. Instruction in the English language was provided in 1500 schools, in which more than 200,000 children were enrolled. Night schools were opened in various parts of the archipelago, with an enrollment of about 25,000 pupils. Grammar and high schools are a part of the system. Permanent normal schools and vacation normal courses for the training of Filipino teachers were organized. In 1903 plans were under discussion for increasing the number of trade schools and establishing schools of painting, sculpture, drawing, and music, and also a university at Manila. The aim of the common schools is in part to fit the Filipinos for practical work and to make a feature of agricultural and industrial training.
Religion. Under the treaty of peace of December 10, 1898, religious freedom is guaranteed to all. The people of the islands are largely Roman Catholic, though there are moon-worshipers, Mohammedans, Buddhists, etc. The Moros, living in the south, and the pagan wild tribes of the mountains, are the leading non-Christian classes. As shown by the Church registry in 1898, 6,559,998 Roman Catholics were distributed among 746 regular parishes, 105 mission parishes, and 116 missions. Most of the parishes are administered by Spanish friars of the Dominican, Franciscan, and Augustinian Orders, assisted by many native priests in the small parishes and missions, though since the American occupation several priests from the United States have been appointed to bishoprics. 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. They call attention to the fact that a counter-movement of popular origin and considerable proportions has taken place in favor of the friars. When Spanish sovereignty ceased, many members of the Orders retired to Spain, and the policy of acquiring their lands and delegating their powers to other officials of the Church has been advocated in reports of the Philippine Commission.
Government. For a time after the transfer of the Philippines to American control, the islands were held under military government subject to the orders of the President of the United States. In January, 1899, a commission was appointed by the President to investigate conditions in the Philippines. (See below under History.) In February, 1900, the provisional government of the islands was intrusted to a new board of civil commissioners, five in number, at the head of which was Judge William H. Taft of Ohio. The other members were D. C. Worcester, Luke E. Wright, Henry C. Ide, and Bernard Moses. The commission reorganized the local civil governments and in January, 1901, established a municipal code for the government of cities other than Manila and tribal settlements. An electoral system making the qualifications for suffrage the ownership of property, payment of certain taxes, or a knowledge of English or Spanish was also created. A constitution for the government of the provinces enacted by the commission provided that their officials should be a governor elected by the municipalities subject to the approval of the commission, and a secretary, a treasurer, a commissioner of public works, and a public prosecutor, all appointed by the commission. From time to time the commission instituted civil governments in the localities as circumstances required, until in 1903 more than 700 localities had local governments suited to their conditions. In June, 1901, the civil and military administration of the islands were separated by the appointment of Judge Taft as civil governor, thereby relieving the military governor of his civil duties in the pacified provinces. Shortly thereafter the commission was increased from 5 to 8 by the addition of three natives and was reorganized so as to place each member at the head of an administrative department. By an act of the commission dated June 11, 1901, the judicial system was reorganized. A Supreme Court was created to consist of seven justices, four American and three native; and sixteen Courts of First Instance, over which natives presided, were established. A considerable portion of the minor criminal jurisdiction was transferred to justices of the peace. A new code of civil procedure, authorizing the use of either English or Spanish in judicial proceedings, went into effect September 1, 1901. The city of Manila, the capital, is governed by a board of three commissioners somewhat after the manner in which the city of Washington is governed. In addition to the above measures the present constitution of government for the Philippines consists of the order of April 7, 1900, creating the Philippine Commission and defining its powers: that of June 21, 1901, creating the offices of Governor and Vice-Governor; an act of the Philippine Commission of September 6, 1901, organizing the departments of the interior, of commerce and police, of finance and justice, and of public instruction; and the important act of July 1, 1902, for the temporary government of the Philippines, which continued the government established under the above-mentioned orders and acts.
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. The act directed the President of the United States to have a census of the islands taken, and within two years thereafter, if peace prevailed in the islands, a legislative assembly should be called into existence. This body is to consist of two chambers, the Philippine Commission constituting the upper one, while the Lower House is to consist of from fifty to one hundred popularly elected delegates apportioned among the provinces on the basis of population, except that each province shall be entitled to at least one member. Persons qualified to vote for delegates include those who have held office under the Spanish régime or who own property of the value of $250 or pay taxes amounting to $15 or over, or who speak, read, and write Spanish or English. Two resident commissioners to the United States are to be chosen by the Legislature, and both commissioners and delegates are to be chosen biennially. The Legislature is to hold annual sessions; but if at any session the Legislature refuses to vote the necessary supplies for the support of the Government, the executive may appropriate sums equal to the amount last appropriated.
The Supreme Court, the Courts of First Instance, and the Municipal Courts as established by order of the Philippine Commission June 11, 1901, are continued. The United States Supreme Court is given appellate jurisdiction over all judgments of the Philippine Supreme Court in cases involving more than $25,000, or whenever the Constitution, the laws, or any right or title claimed under the authority of the United States is drawn in question. The Governor, Vice-Governor, members of the Philippine Commission, heads of executive departments, and the justices of the Insular Supreme Court are to be appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Congress reserves the power to annul all laws passed by the Philippine Legislature, and the Philippine Commission is directed to make annual reports of all receipts and expenditures to the Secretary of War. The Division of Insular Affairs instituted by the War Department is continued as the Bureau of Insular Affairs, and to this bureau are committed all matters pertaining to civil government in the insular possessions of the United States subject to the jurisdiction of the War Department. By a proclamation of July 4, 1902, the President of the United States declared the Philippine insurrection at an end everywhere except in the Moro territory and abolished the office of military governor, his authority in civil matters being superseded by that of the Philippine Commission.
Ethnology and Customs. 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. They are usually regarded as the aborigines, and as remnants of a pigmy race; some students consider them degraded Papuans. There are only twenty thousand of them. The brown race, either pure or mixed, constitutes nine-tenths of the population. A fraction are related to the Polynesians; yet the distinctness of this type is problematical, and the ethnologist finds his surest identities in the vast numbers of Malay peoples in the islands. The first immigrants were uncultured savages, whose descendants are now represented in the interior and the outskirts of the islands by living tribes. These were followed by incursions in historic times of Malay peoples having alphabets and a primitive culture. About B.C. 200 came the ancestors of many head-hunting tribes. The immigration of the Tagal, Visaya, Vicol, Ilocano, and other industrial tribes is assigned to A.D. 100-500. 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. It is improbable that these immigrations and blendings were numerous prior to the founding of Manila (1571) and the coming of Mexican and Peruvian silver in trade. So vigorous was the Chinese invasion afterwards that it threatened to overthrow the Spanish rule, while it resulted in the creation of a large mestizo population. The red or American race found its way into the islands on the Spanish ships sailing annually between Acapulco and Manila in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. It was not so much a migration of peoples as of arts. There are evidences of small settlements of Mexican Indians in and about Luzon, and the civilized portions of the archipelago were enriched by maize, pineapples, tobacco, cacti, agaves, and the varied industries associated with them. The white race, in all its important elements, Hamitic, Semitic, and Aryan, was permanently mingled with the brown during the 250 years of Spanish domination. In Northern Luzon and in the mountainous and central portions of other islands the native blood has not been changed, but elsewhere the term ‘pure-blood’ has little meaning. This blending has been most rapid in the Tagal, Vicol, and Visaya tribes, which constitute the largest fraction of the population.
The Negritos are small in stature, with closely curled hair, yellow sclerotic coat, and white teeth, which they file. They are among the shortest of mankind, the average stature being 1.47 meters (58 inches). Their cranial capacity is 1100 to 1200 cubic centimeters, and their cranial index 85. 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. Clothing is little needed as a defense against cold, but the need of protection from the sun's rays and the rain has quickened inventive faculty in devising a style of headgear which combines the functions of hat and umbrella, varying from island to island, with a rain cloak, also varying in form and material. The dwellings are made of bamboo, rattan, and palm leaves. The original fire-making device was the fire-saw, consisting of a section of bamboo stem, notched and laid on the ground and rubbed crosswise by another piece in shape like a knife; the bamboo fire syringe is also common.
Industrially the Filipinos are in the Iron Age. They have little machinery. All their tools are of the rudest sort, and are either Malay or Spanish. Many of them, especially the Moro tribes, work cleverly in metals, but do little at mining or reduction of ores. Their most elaborate work is done on the blades of edged weapons. Pottery is made by the brown peoples for domestic purposes; working in hard woods is a fine art, and in textiles the Filipinos excel. They split the bamboo and rattan into delicate filaments for hats and screens; make thread, twine, and rope of the native hemp; ornament their clothing and furniture with delicate vines and grasses; and weave the finest of cloth from the fibre of the pineapple. These fabrics are plaited by hand or wrought on looms, but it is difficult to tell which processes are Malayan and which came through Hispano-Mexican influences. 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. During the 250 years of Spanish domination the ‘groaning cart’ and old-style water craft partly took the place of native devices.
The Negrito weapons of war and the chase are the bow with string of bamboo, and arrows with heads of wood or of iron procured in trade. The brown peoples have inherited from their ancestors edged weapons set on a hilt or a shaft. They carry also wooden shields, decorated with patterns cut in and rubbed with lime wash or mud. Firearms of many patterns are to be found. Fortification of the village is effected by path splinters and spiked pitfalls.
Fine art among the Filipinos had no separate existence, but the possession of a strong artistic sense is revealed by the taste displayed in their industries. Even the Negritos are not devoid of it. The dress of men and women; the metal working of the men, especially on their weapons; the exquisite textile work of the women—all show artistic instinct. Under the influence of Spanish teaching and the inspiration of European and Christian motifs, some of the native Filipinos have attained distinction in painting and literature.
The principal tribes and languages are: Abaca, Abra-Igorrote, Abulone, Adang, Aeta, Agutaino, Altaban, Apayao, Aripa, Atá, Bagobo, Baluga, Bangot, Barangan, Bátak, Batane, Bicol, or Vicol, Bilane or Vilane, Bisaya or Visaya, Bouayanan, Buhuano, Bulalacauno, Bukidno, Bukil, Buquitnon, Cagayan, Calangan, Calamian, Calaua, Calinga, Caraga, Carolano, Catalangan, Catubangan, Cimarron, Coyuvo, Culáman, Dadayag, Dulangan, Dumagate, Durugmun, Eta, Gaddane, Gamungan, Guianga, Guimbahano, Guinaane, Halaya, Hiliguayna, Hilloona, Ibalone, Ibanag, Ibilao, Ifugao, Igorrote, Ilamut, Ilanos, Ilocanos, Ilongote, Iraya, Isinay, Ita, Itaa, Italone, Itanega, Itetapane, Kiangane, Lutanga, Lutayo, Maguindanao, Malauec, Malanao, Mamánua, Mandaya, Manguanga, Manguiane, Manobo, Mayoyao, Moro, Mundo, Nabayugan, Negrito, Palauan, Pampango, Pangasinan, Quiangan, Sámale, Sameaca, Sangley, Sanguile, Silipan, Subano, Tagabaloye, Tagabawa, Tagabelie, Tagacaolo, Tagala, Tagbanua, Tandolano, Tinguian, Tinitian, Tino, Tiruray, Vico (Bicol), Vilane, Visaya (Bisaya), Zambale. Some of these names are also applied to localities, in which case the people may be called after the place, which is rare, or they may have given designation to the place, which is common. The more important tribes and languages are defined in their several places.
HISTORY.
In accordance with the terms of the Demarcation Bull of Pope Alexander VI. of May 4, 1493, the Spaniards were to make discoveries and to establish colonies beyond a meridian line in the Atlantic 100 leagues west of the Azores (later by the Treaty of Tordesillas, June 7, 1494, 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands), while the Portuguese were to confine their efforts to the field of discovery east of that line. In the race for the control of the spice trade of the East Indies the Portuguese came off victorious, for they reached the Moluccas or Spice Islands the year before Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean, revealing that the Spaniards had found, not the Indies, but a great barrier continent that blocked the way thither.
The Moluccas lay so far to the east of India as to make it probable that if the demarcation line were extended round the earth they would be found to be in the Spanish half of the globe. It was to demonstrate this hypothesis and carry to completion the great design of Columbus to find a western route to the Spice Islands that Magellan undertook his voyage around America and across the Pacific. In March, 1521, he discovered a group of islands which he named after Saint Lazarus, whose festival was celebrated early in his stay among them. A few weeks later the heroic navigator lost his life in a skirmish with the natives. That he had achieved his project and proved that the Spice Islands lay within the Spanish half of the world was accepted by King Charles of Spain, but the impossibility of accurately determining longitude in those days, the difficulties of the voyage through the Straits of Magellan and across the Pacific, and financial necessities led him to relinquish all claims to sail or trade west of a new demarcation line, in the Antipodes, 297 leagues east of the Moluccas. (Treaty of Saragossa, 1529.) This really surrendered all rights to the newly discovered Islands of Saint Lazarus, which were slightly to the west of the Moluccas. The conquest of Mexico and the establishment there of the prosperous Viceroyalty of New Spain removed the difficulties presented by the navigation of the Straits of Magellan, and, in contravention of the provisions of the treaty, an expedition was dispatched to the islands in 1542 under the command of Villalobos. This expedition had no permanent result beyond giving to the group the name of ‘Islas Felipinas,’ in honor of the Prince, later King Philip II. The permanent conquest of the islands was achieved under Legaspi at the head of an expedition fitted out in Mexico. Legaspi arrived at Cebú in April, 1565. It was three years before his first reinforcements came, and five years before the conquest of Luzon was undertaken. In June, 1571, the city of Manila was founded, and this became the seat of the Spanish power. Within the next year great progress was made and at the time of Legaspi's death in August, 1572, the Spanish authority was securely planted in the islands and the conversion of the natives considerably advanced. Legaspi's force was small and the conquest was accompanied by relatively little bloodshed. The lack of social and political cohesion among the natives, the weakness of their religious beliefs, and the rivalries and hostility of the local chieftains opened the way for a patient and tactful prosecution of the policy of divide and rule: one chief after another was won over to the Spaniards, the picturesque ceremonials of the Church appealed to the artistic sense of the people, and the simple clan-like social organization was skillfully utilized by the Spaniards as the basis of their rule. Lying on the extreme verge of the vast empire of Spain, the islands were commonly known as the Western Islands (Islas del Ponicute), and until December 31, 1844, they were reckoned, so far as the calendar was concerned, in the Western Hemisphere, Manila time being about sixteen hours slower than Madrid time. The Portuguese protested against this invasion of their East Indian realm, but the conquest of Portugal by Spain in 1580 settled the question before there had been any serious collision. More formidable than the hostility of Portugal or the resistance of the natives were the incursions of Chinese pirates and later the attacks by the Dutch, who during their great contest with Spain made their way to the Indian seas and took possession of the Spice Islands.
The dominating impulse in this remote extension of Spanish power had been religious rather than commercial. The new conquest was to be an outpost of Christianity facing the great Asiatic heathen world. From it as a base the missionaries could prosecute their labors effectively in China and Japan. Religious purposes and interests continued to dominate the life of the islands for over three centuries. They never were in the true sense of the term a Spanish colony, but a great mission like the more familiar Jesuit missions in Paraguay and California. It is as a mission that the history of Spanish rule should be studied and its results estimated. To convert the natives, to collect them in villages where they would live under the oversight of the pastor with the faithful obedience of the flock to the shepherd and prepare themselves for salvation, was the simple ideal of the mission. That it was in a large measure achieved is the very general testimony of fairly dispassionate observers. The Christian population steadily increased, and the requirements of religion, while rigorously enforced, were not more burdensome than in Europe. There was little real oppression and hardly any exploitation of the people. 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. In its general framework the administration of the islands as a Spanish dependency was modeled on the system introduced into America, which in turn was an adaptation of that existing in the provinces of Spain. At the head was the Governor with viceregal powers, having by his side the Audiencia or Supreme Court. This body served not only as the highest court of appeal, but also as a check upon the arbitrary authority of the Governor. Another important restraint upon that official was the residencia, or obligation to stand ready to answer all charges of misbehavior which should he preferred during a period of six months, after the termination of his tenure of office. The heads of the provincial administration were the Alcaldes Mayores, whose functions were both executive and judicial. In his judicial duties the Alcalde Mayor was assisted by an assessor and a notary. The administrative division below the province was the pueblo or village, which was ruled by the Petty Governor, who was originally elected by the general suffrage of the married inhabitants of the pueblo, but in later years was chosen by a small body of thirteen electors. Within the pueblos the population was subdivided into little clan-like groups of forty or fifty families called barangays, a survival of the earlier native organization, each under a barangay headman (cabeza de barangay). 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. There was the town corporation ‘el Cabildo’ (chapter), consisting of two alcaldes (justices), eight regidores (aldermen), a registrar, and a constable. The members of the Cabildo held office permanently. Membership could be bought and sold or inherited.
At the head of the ecclesiastical administration stood the Archbishop of Manila, the Bishops of Cebú, Segovia, and Cáceres, and the Provincials of the four great Orders of friars (the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and barefooted Franciscans), and of the Jesuits. The members of these Orders (the regular clergy) greatly preponderated in numbers and influence over the secular clergy, who were mostly natives.
The economic development of the islands was rendered impossible by the manufacturers in Spain, who demanded protection against Asiatic competition in the markets of Mexico and Peru, and secured the restriction of the imports from the Philippines to the cargo of an annual ship. 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. 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 events of the great Seven Years' War rudely interrupted this placid life. Spain, drawn into the maelstrom of this conflict in the vain hope of recovering Gibraltar, lost the Floridas and saw Havana and Manila fall before English fleets. The preliminaries of peace, however, had been agreed upon before the news reached England of the capture of Manila, and the conquest was therefore relinquished to Spain. The reforming Government of Charles III. exerted its activities even to the remote Philippines. The Royal Philippine Company was chartered to carry on direct trade between Spain and the islands (1785). Three years earlier the enterprising Governor-General Basco y Vargas, to make the colony self-supporting, introduced the Government tobacco monopoly (1782), by which lands suitable for growing tobacco were arbitrarily pressed into that service and the cultivators compelled by forced labor to produce stipulated amounts to be sold to the Government at fixed prices. This system of compulsory labor was practically the first attempt really to exploit the resources of the islands, and during the following century was fruitful in abuses and of the seeds of revolt. It was abolished in 1882. In this connection should be mentioned the polos y servicios, forty days' required labor on the roads, bridges, public buildings, etc., which was exacted of the natives in addition to their tribute. These requirements for public service could be canceled for from one to three dollars. The official class men were exempt from this burden.
The Mexican Revolution severed the ancient connection of New Spain with the ‘Western Islands,’ and the Spanish Constitution of 1812, which embodied the principles of the French Revolution, and which put all parts of the Spanish Empire on an equality and admitted the Philippines to representation in the Cortes, led the natives to believe that now they would be exempt from tribute and polos y servicios. Consequently, when the news came that Ferdinand VII. in 1814 had abolished the Constitution of 1812, the Ilocanos rose in rebellion. Henceforward the agitations of home politics and the example of the Spanish-American States steadily undermined the old-time stability of conditions in the Philippines. The mission system could not be maintained in its integrity. The number of Spaniards in the islands increased, the spirit of colonial exploitation grew, the monastic Orders which combined the functions of landlords and spiritual guides were more and more pervaded with the mercantile spirit. Nor did their predominant influence in the government of the islands at all diminish in an age progressively hostile to clerical control. The opening of the Suez Canal brought the Philippines relatively near to Europe and more than ever exposed them to the contending forces of modern thought. Promising young Filipinos completed their education in Europe. By a few weeks' voyage they found themselves in many respects transported from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth. That they should contentedly return to the earlier age was impossible. The Spaniards did not weather the transition. The final collapse began with the insurrection of 1896, which was primarily an agrarian revolt aimed at the expulsion of the Orders from their estates and the islands.
It seems to be agreed that the establishment of Masonic lodges in the islands and the admission to them later of prominent Filipinos and Mestizos of anti-clerical or liberal sentiments offered a nucleus for agitation, facilitated united action, and led immediately to the formation of the patriotic Asociación Hispano-Filipina, the Liga Filipina, and the revolutionary society, “el Katipunan.” The first Masonic lodges were founded about 1860, but it was over a quarter of a century before they became active centres of anti-clerical agitation. The Asociación Hispano-Filipina was devoted to promoting Filipino national aspirations through literary channels, and established an organ, La Solidaridad, in Barcelona. The Liga Filipina was founded by Dr. José Rizal (q.v.) to work for the expulsion of the friars and to secure the same political concessions for the islands that had been granted to Cuba, a larger recognition of the natives in the appointments to civil offices, and freedom of the press and of association. More radical than these was the Katipunan, which was established in 1892 to secure independence by open revolt, and began by wholesale assassinations of Spanish officials and friars. The existence of an elaborate plot was revealed by a native, August 19, 1896, and on the 25th the mask was entirely thrown off. The garrison of Manila consisted of only 300 Spanish regulars and about 1200 native soldiers. The total number of Spanish soldiers in the islands was under 2000. The authorities could act only on the defensive until October, when reinforcements began to arrive from Spain. On the other hand, file insurrectionists were hampered by a great lack of arms and ammunition. The insurrection centred in the province of Cavité, which was under the control of the rebels until their power was broken in the spring of 1897 by the vigorous campaign of General Lachambre. Its leaders were Andrés Bonifacio, the head of the Katipunan, and Emilio Aguinaldo (q.v.).
After organized resistance had been shattered, it seemed wise to the Governor-General, Primo de Rivera, to attempt to secure peace by obtaining the withdrawal of the native leaders from the islands. In accordance with the Treaty of Biaenabató, Aguinaldo and some of the other generals withdrew to Hong Kong. No properly authenticated text of this treaty has ever been published. That made public by Aguinaldo is substantially identical with the demands which he made, and which it would appear were not acceded to by Primo de Rivera. Aguinaldo demanded $3,000,000, the expulsion of the friars, the representation of the Philippines in the Cortes, equality of Filipino and Spaniard in the administration of justice, the participation of Filipinos in the higher administrative offices, a readjustment of the property of the parishes and of the taxes in favor of the natives, the proclamation of the individual rights of the natives, and liberty of association and of the press. Aguinaldo has asserted that the suppression of the religious Orders and the establishment of administrative autonomy were agreed upon, although not put down in writing. Governor-General Primo de Rivera giving his word of honor that the agreement would be fulfilled. Primo de Rivera, on the other hand, maintained that nothing but money and personal security were promised to the leaders. The treaty was signed December 17, 1897. Only the first installment ($400,000) of the sum of $800,000 finally fixed was ever paid, and, on the other hand, the insurrection was quieted only temporarily. In March, 1898, a new rising in the provinces north of Manila took place and early in April there was an outbreak in the island of Cebú. On March 24th the Seventy-fourth Regiment of native soldiers deserted to the insurgents, who now vastly outnumbered the Spanish forces, but were greatly hampered by the lack of arms.
The day that war began between Spain and the United States, Aguinaldo appeared in Singapore and on April 24, 1898, United States Consul-General Pratt had a conference with him in reference to coöperating with Commodore Dewey. Of the exact nature of the understanding the same uncertainty exists as in the case of the Treaty of Biaenabató. What is certain is that Commodore Dewey arranged for Aguinaldo to follow him to Manila and that Aguinaldo expected the United States to pursue in the Philippines the policy proposed for Cuba, the policy of common action with the insurgents against Spain for their liberation from her rule. What is probable is that Consul Pratt at Singapore, and Consul Wildman at Hong Kong, and Commodore Dewey as well, had similar expectations. Later they all equally disclaimed having bound the United States in any way. On May 1st the Spanish fleet in the Bay of Manila was annihilated by the Asiatic Squadron under Commodore Dewey, Aguinaldo arrived at Cavité on May 19th, in the American dispatch boat McCulloch. He had an interview with Dewey, who supplied him with arms for the insurgents, who flocked to his standard. In the weeks that elapsed until the arrival of General Merritt late in July, Aguinaldo secured control of the Province of Cavité and thoroughly invested Manila by land. His capture of Spanish garrisons was not only sanctioned, but assisted by Dewey, and had it not been for the native forces the capture of Manila would have been a far more arduous undertaking for the Americans and the Spanish forces might have eluded them by retiring into the interior. As it was, the con- dition of the Spaniards was hopeless, and on August 11th the arrangement was effected, through the Belgian Consul André, by which the American ships should refrain from firing on the walled city of Manila and the Manila forts from firing on the ships, while on shore there should be only a brief show of resistance to enable the Spanish general to save honor at least. The American soldiers were in ignorance of this arrangement, and through an accident there was more bloodshed than was intended at the taking of the city (August 13th). To the onlooking foreigners in the harbor the transaction seemed like a travesty of war. The fall of Manila marked the complete collapse of the Spanish power in the islands. The Americans held the capital and controlled the harbor; and Aguinaldo and the insurgents rapidly extended their control over the various provinces.
In the meantime (almost exactly coincident with the capture of Manila) came the signing at Washington of the peace protocol (August 12th), providing that the United States should occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which should determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. On October 31st, after the Peace Commission had been at work in Paris for a month, the Spanish plenipotentiaries were painfully surprised by a demand for the cession of the whole group. It was nearly a month before Spain yielded to the inevitable. In the treaty as signed December 10, 1898, Spain ceded the whole group and the United States agreed to pay Spain $20,000,000, give Spanish ships and merchandise admission to the islands on the same terms accorded to American ships and goods for a period of ten years, and to transport to Spain the Spanish soldiers captured at the surrender of Manila. The treaty was submitted to the Senate of the United States January 4, 1899, and it was ratified February 6th, by only three votes more than the necessary two-thirds majority (57 to 27).
In the meantime, before the protocol of peace, Aguinaldo had organized a government (June 12, 1898), and in the provisional constitution promulgated June 23d he announced the independence of the islands as the chief object of the Revolutionary Government. On August 6th Aguinaldo appealed to the powers of the world for recognition of his forces as belligerents and of the independence of the Philippines, asserting that the Revolutionary Government was predominant in fifteen provinces. These provinces comprised the central part of Luzon and the majority of the inhabitants. During the following months the Americans held Manila and the native forces the rest of the island. The hopes of independence under American protection, which had been based upon the declared attitude of the United States toward Cuba and the friendly coöperation of Admiral Dewey and General Anderson, were rudely shaken by the proposed annexation of the islands to the United States, and relations became greatly strained in consequence of President McKinley's proclamation of December 21st that the islands were ceded to the United States and that military rule was to be extended over them as rapidly as possible. The tension proved too great to last, and on the night of February 4, 1899, hostilities broke out at Manila. The news of this battle, reported as an attack by the Filipinos on the Americans, no doubt contributed to the ratification of the peace treaty two days later.
The first intimations that the islands might be annexed called forth opposition in the United States, which was increased by the open declaration of that policy by the Government and greatly intensified by the outbreak of war between the American army and the Filipino republic. This opposition characterized the acquisition of the islands as the beginning of imperialism, as at variance with the traditional policy of the United States toward peoples struggling for independence, as being identical in its purposes with the projects of Napoleon III. in Mexico, as irreconcilable with the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the spirit of the Constitution, and as inevitably involving unknown expense and bloodshed. It was urged that our policy should have been one of conciliation and substantially identical with that pursued in Cuba, that the Filipinos were as capable of self-government as the South Americans, in whose behalf the Monroe Doctrine was first promulgated, or as the adherents of Juarez in Mexico, who were supported by the United States against Maximilian, and that a protectorate by the United States would have been acceptable to the Filipinos. On the other side, the acquisition of the islands by the United States was declared the only possible solution that would save them from anarchy or from falling into the hands of some European power, and that it was the duty of the United States to accept the burden. Others felt strongly the appeal of the great natural resources of the archipelago, almost undeveloped by Spain, and the immense strategic importance of holding them in view of the future Eastern Asiatic questions.
The discussion of the points of view and the policy of the Government were hampered by great lack of knowledge of the situation. To meet in part this difficulty. President McKinley appointed, in January, 1890, a commission, consisting of President Schurman of Cornell University, Admiral Dewey, Gen. E. S. Otis, the Hon. Charles Denby, and Prof. D. C. Worcester, to investigate conditions in the islands and to labor for the acceptance of American rule by the natives. In March, 1899, the Commission began its work. On April 5th it issued a proclamation to the people of the islands, explaining the purpose of their mission and the intentions of the American Government. The efforts of the Commission were devoted particularly to conciliating prominent Filipinos, and to building up a party favorable to American rule. To do this concurrently with the vigorous prosecution of the war was uphill work. In May they had a conference with some representatives of Aguinaldo, but it came to nothing.
The operations of the American army disorganized the republic and the national movement became embodied in the leadership of Aguinaldo. During the first nine months of the war disappointingly little headway was made by the Americans. The great majority of the engagements were within a radius of fifty miles of Manila. The military authorities exercised a rigid censorship over the press dispatches, so that it was practically impossible for the general public to know the real conditions. In the fall and winter of 1899 there was greater progress. Most of the country, from Manila to Dagupan, came under American control, and the native army was driven to the mountains. The principal events in 1900 and 1901 were in connection with the process of establishing civil government in the islands for which see above under Government. On March 23, 1901, Aguinaldo was captured, and on July 4th military government was superseded by civil government in the pacified districts. By act of Congress, approved July 1, 1902, civil government was established throughout the islands. Up to the establishment of civil rule in July, 1902, the total number of troops sent to the islands amounted to 4135 officers and 123,903 men. The cost of the war to the United States was over $170,000,000.
Bibliography. The numerous works on the Philippines fall naturally into two groups, those describing the condition of the islands under Spanish rule, and those dealing with the new order of things brought about by American supremacy. To the first group belong the following: Mallat, Les Philippines (Paris, 1846), perhaps the best single work; Jagor, Reisen in den Philippinen (Berlin, 1873); Sansianco, El progreso de Filipinas. Estudios economicos, administrativos y politicos. Parte economica (Madrid, 1881); Jordana y Morera, Bosquejo geográfico e historico-natural del archipiélago filipino (ib., 1885); Montero y Vidal, El archipiélago filipino y las islas Marianas, Carolinas y Palaos (ib., 1886); id., Historia general de Filipinas (Madrid, 1887-1895), perhaps the best general history; Meyer and Schadenberg, Die Philippinen (Dresden, 1890-1892); Zuñiga, Estadismo de las islas Filipinas, ed. by Retana (Madrid, 1893), which has a bibliography; Sastrón, Colonización de Filipinas (Malabón, 1897). The second group includes: Foreman, The Philippine Islands (2d ed., London, 1899), which gives an immense amount of information, and is the basis of several other works; Younghusband, The Philippines and Round About (New York, 1899), a general résumé of the history and political conditions; Lala, The Philippine Islands (New York, 1899), which gives the point of view of a progressive Filipino; Sawyer, The Inhabitants of the Philippines (London, 1900), a historical study of the elements that make up the population of the islands; Buel, Wright, etc., Our Late Wars: Spain and Our New Possessions (Washington, 1900); Robinson, The Philippines: The War and the People (New York, 1901); Schurman, Philippine Affairs: A Retrospect and an Outlook (New York, 1902), an account of the proceedings of the first American Commission; U. S. Philippine Commission, Report to the President (4 vols., Washington, 1900-1901); Blair and Robertson, Philippine Islands, 1493-1893, an exhaustive work on the early history, compiled from original documents, to be in 55 vols. (Cleveland, Ohio, 1903 et seq). On special periods of the history, consult for conquest and first half century, A. de Morga, The Philippine Islands, trans., Hákluyt Society (London, 1868); for the eighteenth century, Le Gentil, Voyage dans les mers de l'Inde (Paris, 1781). For the first half of the nineteenth century, Comyn, Memoria sobre el estado de Filipinas (Madrid, 1820; Manila, 1877; trans. by Walton, London, 1821); Sinibaldo de Mas, Informe sobre el Estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1842 (Madrid, 1842); Buzeta and Bravo, Diccionario geográfico, estadistico, histórico de las Islas Filipinas (Madrid, 1850); Bowring, A Visit to the Philippine Islands (London, 1859). The novels of José Rizal, the Filipino patriot, illustrate the social conditions prior to 1896. Noli me Tangere (Berlin, 1856) appears in English somewhat condensed in two editions—An Eagle Flight (New York, 1901), and Friars and Filipinos, trans. by Gannett (New York, 1902). It was translated into French as Au pays des Moines (Paris, 1899). Other works on miscellaneous subjects are: Semper, Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen (Leipzig, 1868-1901); Blumentritt, “Versuch einer Ethnographie der Philippinen,” in Petermanns Mitteilungen, Ergänzungsheft 67 (Gotha, 1882); Worcester, The Philippine Islands and Their People (New York, 1898); Stevens, Yesterdays in the Philippines (London, 1890); Tornow, “The Economic Condition of the Philippines,” in National Geographic Magazine, vol. x. (Washington, 1899); Morris, Our Island Empire (Philadelphia, 1899); Millet, The Expedition to the Philippines (New York, 1899); Sonnichsen, Ten Months a Captive Among Filipinos (New York, 1901); and for bibliography, Josephson, “Bibliographies of the Philippine Islands,” Bulletin of Bibliography, vol. ii (Boston, 1899). For the ethnology, consult: Blumentritt, “List of the Native Tribes of the Philippines, etc.,” in Smithsonian Report (Washington, 1901); Meyer, “Die Philippinen,” in Ethnographisches Museum, vol. viii. (Dresden, 1890); Brinton, “The Peoples of the Philippines,” American Anthropologist, vol. xi. (New York, 1898), which has a bibliography; Meyer and Schadenburg, Album von Philippinen-Typen (Dresden, 1891); id., “Die Philippinen,” and id., “Negritos,” Königlich-Ethnographisches Museum zu Dresden (Dresden, 1893).