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and seventy-two thousand inhabitants and 26,000 square miles there are one hundred and twenty miles in operation.

It will thus be understood what a lack of progress there was in the Philippine Islands under the Spanish regime, and it was with the view of rescuing the people from the deplorable conditions into which this sort of government had placed them that the United States undertook its munificent policy of developing the Islands and uplifting the people, keeping constantly a watchful eye for opportunity to help them along toward good government as well as agricultural and industrial improvement. In some respects the United States Government, as stated elsewhere in these comments, seems to have been able to do more for the Filipino people than for the people of the United States, because while County and State and National eonventions have been for a long time past proclaiming the importance of improving the roads and public highways and many men have been elected to office on that platform, definite laws are yet to be passed on that subject. In the Philippine Islands, however, during 1994 two hundred and fifty-two miles of new roads were constructed and sixteen hundred and sixty-two miles of bad old roads were repaired, while during 1905 there were constructed one hundred and fifteen miles of new roads and nine hundred and ninety-two miles of roads were repaired-these improvements aggregating a total outlay of between three and four millions of dollars. The roads will be of incalculable benefit to the natives in bringing their produce to market and encouraging further industrial development of the country through which they pass. Numerous other roads are also being built in the Islands for the purpose of benefit to the agricultural districts principally, though some of them, it must be admitted, were primarily to assist the military in their operations of safeguarding property and preserving the peace. All of the roads, however, will naturally be of permanent use in the gradual industrial and commercial growth of the Archipelago, as a whole.

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In July, 1996, the Philippine Cómmission passed an known as the Road Law, which provides that whenever accepted by the Provincial Board and the majority of the Assembly of the Presidents and Counsellors of the municipalities of any province, five days' work upon the highways by every able-bodied man of the province should be rendered every year, or payment of an equivalent of five days' wages in cash. It is believed that these Assemblies will see their way to accept this law, and should they do so there may eventually be established throughout the Archipelago what is known as the Caminero system, which consists in dividing the roads into sections of such length as can be cared for by the continuous work of one man; those wishing to work out their tax may deposit road material at given depositories along the road or give their service to new construction or reconstruction where the nature of the work is such that gangs become necessary. The money received from those not wishing to work is used to support the caminero or road worker. By this system definite responsibility for deterioration of any part of the road can readily be placed, and it has the further advantage of reducing the expenses of repairs, which in the tropics, where the rainfall is so abundant, amounts to considerable within the year.

The Friar Lands.

The "Friar lands" problem, one of the most fruitful sources of unrest in the whole Philippine situation, was finally disposed of by purchasing some four hundred and ten thousand acres of land at about seven millions of dollars. According to Act No. 1,120 of the Philippine Commission, the lands thus purchased have been placed in the control of the Bureau of Public Lands, with directions to proceed as rapidly as possible to their sub-division and sale to the occupants thereof upon ten years' time and at first cost to the Government. Though the exeection of this duty will involve the expenditure of much time and labor, as well as some practical difficulties, still there is a general disposition on the part of the former tenants of the

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religious orders, who are the present occupants of the land, to accept the liberal terms offered by the Government. Governor-General of the Philippines in his report on this subject says: "Whether any ultimate loss will be incurred in these large transactions can only be a matter of conjecture; but however it may be, it must be a subject of real congratulation that what threatened to become a cancerous sore on the body politic has been extirpated."

Present Conditions as to Peace and Order.

All these improved conditions in the Pailippines have naturally tended to the enlightenment and elevation of the people,. whose heightening self-pride and increasing interest in the governmental affairs have undoubtedy exercised upon them a beneficent influence. At any rate, peace now prevails in the Philippine Islands to a greater extent than ever before in their history. True, there have been disturbances in three of the Filipino provinces as well as in the Moro province, but none of these had for its object the expulsion of the sovereignty of the United States, which now seems to be recognized by the Filipino people as a fixed government over the Archipelago. In Cavite, which is regarded as the "Mother of Ladrones," as the people themselves call it, has ever been the hotbed of Ladronism or gang robbers in the Philippine Islands; and therefore disturbances in that neighborhood assume the nature of brigandage rather than of insurrection against the civil government. The trouble in Samar grew out of abuses in the way of extortion practiced upon their ignorant countrymen by prominent natives who as agents for large export houses in Manila force them to sell their hemp at a nominal valuation and then themselves turn it in to the business houses in Manila at the market prices, putting the difference in their own pockets. Some unscrupulous outlaws in the country took advantage of the excited condition of the people caused by these commercial outrages, organized them into bands, and used them, to revenge themselves upon their oppressors and for purposes of reprisal, which have been set forth in detailed reports from the Philippine Commission.

The Mount Dajo affair was a culminating incident of six months of peaceful effort to induce the band of Malay pirates to desist from raids upon a peaceful community. These efforts were interpreted as cowardice and the outlaws finally sent a challenge to the Government forces to come out and fight them. In the encounter that ensued the troops were assisted by the respectable Moro element of the Islands where the disturbances had occurred..

The disturbances in the Moro provinces and on the Island of Luzon were promptly overcome, while that on the Island of Samar continued to manifest itself from time to time. Samar, by the way, was an unknown territory which the Spaniards during their three hundred years of occupation never attempted to explore the interior of the Island of Samar being a mere tropical jungle and mountain fastness, inhabited by semi-barbarous tribes, the haven of the criminal refugees from surrounding islands, and all in all a nest of iniquity too bad even for Spain to handle. The work of the Americans there was that of pioneers, and with the usual result; but it is worthy of note that the law-abiding inhabitants of the Island have organized volunteers to assist the constabulary in putting an end to further disturbances there, and the cooperation between the civil and the military authorities is complete, so that little trouble may be expected there hereafter.

While of course there must be expected from time to time throughout the Archipelago some minor disturbances as occur even in the most highly civilized communities, still it is safe to assume that there will not be any organized hostile operations on any considerable scale hereafter. The best assurance of this assumption is the noticeable manner in which the people throughout the entire Archipelago have settled down to peaceful occupations, tending their fields and plying their trades with a whole-souled earnestness never before observed. There

are of course also likely to arise times of depression in business affairs and instances of great discouragemem from the failure of crops in certain sections of the Islands-conditions and experiences which are not unusual in other parts of the world where the best of governments prevail-but the reports received from the provincial governors, all of whom are natives, indicate the generally increased prosperity and contentment of the people, with constantly increasing faith and kindly goodwill towards the American government. Not long ago, March 3, 1903, it will be remembered Congress appropriated three million dollars in United States currency for the alleviation of distress throughout the Philippine Archipelago caused from war, loss of cattle from plague, etc. This money was placed at the disposal of the Philippine Commission and by it expended through appropriation acts of the Commission for the relief of the communities of the Islands that were suffering most acutely. Many of the provinces of the Islands where the benefits of this relief fund were felt have, according to the eloquent reports of their governors, shown the good work it has done. One provincial governor (Batangas, in 1904), speaking of the feeling of the people of his province for this generous aid, said: "With an indomitable and invincible spirit, and with head erect, proud of their self-reliance during this struggle against the cruelties of nature, they only bend the head to kiss and bless the generous hand of America and render to it unconditional adhesion and infinite acknowledgment for the splendid gifts that it has showered upon the people in days of sorrow, misery and hunger."

When the United States assumed control of the Filipinos, they were in a chaotic condition of insurrection and intestinal turmoil. They were, as a class, steeped in ignorance, and never had been accustomed to self-government. Now we find them happier, more comfortable, more prosperous, certainly more peaceful and in every way more interested in their lives than ever before-all living under governments conducted in the municipalities and provinces by their own chosen governing officials. We see a judicial system in which a large number of their own people hold place as judges, and we find a legislative body charged with the duty of enacting laws for their government-a legislative body composed in the lower house entirely of their own people, while in the upper house of that legislative body the number of native members of the Commission, which corresponds to the Senate in this country, is within one of equaling those appointed by the United States. Few governments on earth to-day are based upon more liberal principles, which contemplate not only popular suffrage, but every other feature of a Republican form of government, than which none better has ever yet been suggested either by friends or foes.

It would seem only fit and proper to conclude this paper on the Philippine Islands by quoting at length from the Presi dent's recent message to the Senate and House of Representatives, which constitutes an interesting resume of the question and reads as follows:

"To the Senate and House of Representatives:

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"I transmit herewith the report of Secretary Taft upon his recent trip to the Philippines. I heartily concur in the recommendations he makes, and I call especial attention to the admirable work of Governor Smith and his associates. It is a subject for just national gratification that such a report as this can be made. No great civilized power has ever managed with such wisdom and disinterestedness the affairs of people committed by the accident of war to its hands. If we had followed the advice of the misguided persons who wished us to turn the islands loose and let them suffer whatever fate might befall them, they would have already passed through a period of complete and bloody chaos, and would now undoubtedly be the possession of some other power which there is every reason to believe would not have done as we have done; that is, would not have striven to teach them how to govern themselves or to have developed them. as we have developed them, primarily in their own interests. Save only our attitude toward Cuba, I question whether there is a brighter page in the annals of international dealing between the strong and the weak than the page which tells of our doings in the Philippines. I call especial attention to the admirably clear showing made by Secretary Taft of the fact that it would have been equally ruinous if we had yielded to the desires of those who wished us to go faster in the direction of giving the Filipinos self-government, and if we had followed

the polley advocated by others, whe desired us simply to rule the islands without any thought at all of Atting them for self-government. The Islanders have made real advances in a hopeful direction, and they have opened well with the new Philippine Assembly; they have yet a long way to travel before they will be fit for complete self-government, and for deciding, as it will then be their duty to do, whether this self-government shall be accompanied by complete independence. It will probably be a generation, it may even be longer, before this point is reached; but it is most gratifying that such substantial progress toward this as a goal has already been accomplished. We desire that it be reached at as early a date as possible for the sake of the Filipinos and for our own sake. But improperly to endeavor to hurry the time will probably mean that the goal will not be attained at all.

"(Signed)

"The White House,

"January 27, 1908."

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

The Hawaiian Islands are no longer a political issue. While a Democratic President and Secretary of State planned for their annexation more than a half century ago, while they many years later applied for admission and raised the American flag, and while that American flag was hauled down by the orders of another Democratic President, carried out by a former Member of Congress, they have since that time come permanently under the American flag, becoming a territory of the United States with a delegate in Congress, and the relation of those islands to the United States is no longer a political issue. Yet the effect of annexation upon the prosperity of the people and the prosperity of our own trade with them is interesting and worthy of record.

The growth of prosperity in the Hawaiian Islands began with that closeness of relationship brought about by the reciprocity treaty with the United States, which resulted in annexation, and perfect freedom of interchange between those islands, a tropical area with tropical products to sell, and the United States, a temperate zone area desiring tropical products, and having temperate zone products to exchange therefor. The production of sugar, which was formerly almost the sole product, grew from 25 million pounds at the date of the reciprocity treaty to 500 million pounds in the year before annexation; but on the assurance which annexation furnished that the markets of the United States would remain permanently open to this product, the sugar production of the Hawaiian Islands has in the short period since annexation grown to over 800 million pounds, having thus increased over one-half since 1899. The value of the sugar product of the Hawaiian Islands during the decade prior to annexation ranged from 8 to 16 million dollars per annum. In 1899 it crossed for the first time the 20 million dollar line. Since annexation the value has ranged from 25 to 35 million dollars per annum Practically all of this has been sent to the United States, and in exchange the islands have taken from the United States everything which they import, except certain products of China and Japan especially required by their Chinese and Japanese population, and that class of fertilizers for the plantations which can only be obtained from the nitrate beds of Chile. That the annexation of the Islands and the permanency of trade relations therewith have resulted advantageously to the commerce of the United States is quite apparent from the fact that the value of our shipments to the Hawaiian Islands, which never touched the 10 million dollar line prior to 1900, has been continuously above that line since annexation, and in 1907 was practically 15 million dollars, and in the fiscal year 1908 seems likely to exceed that sum. The total value of merchandise sent from the United States to the Hawaiian Islands in the eight years since annexation aggregates nearly 100 million dollars, while in the eight years immediately preceding annexation the value of our shipments to those islands was but 58 millions, having thus practically doubled as compared with the corresponding term of years immediately prior to annexation.

Meantime conditions in the islands have been greatly improved. Large investments of capital from the United States

were made immediately following the annexation, which thus assured permanency of government, and permanency of relations with the United States; large additions were made to the population, and new efforts were made towards a diversification of industries. The Department of Agriculture established an experiment station in the Islands, and careful studies have been made of the producing power of the various sections with reference to various tropical and subtropical products, with the purpose of diversifying as much as possible the industries and products of the islands, and thus increasing the earning power of the people, and especially of developing opportunities by which persons of small capital or those desiring to build up prosperous lines of business of their own and own their own homes may be able to do so much more readily than in the production of sugar, which requires large estates and large investments.

The Governor of the Islands, Hon. H. W. Frear, in his inaugural address in 1907, referring to conditions since annexation, said:

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"Seven brief years, and yet what grand results if we but pause to view them; years, it is true largely of adjustment to new conditions, but equally years of advancement. The entire body of Hawaiian statute laws has been put into compact and harmonious form and added to by numerous laws, remedial and constructive. Local government has been established without the baneful results predicted. * Recovery has been had from a calamitous pestilence attended by extensive conflagrations in the capital; scientific investigation has been begun for the ultimate eradication of the most dreaded disease; the public health has never been better safeguarded. **The schools have grown in quality of work as well as in number of pupils. Progress has been made in the application of advanced criminological principles, especially as applied to juvenile delinquents. Evidences of moral and religious quickening are apparent on every hand. Much has been accomplished in the construction of public works and preservation of forests, settlement of public lands, introduction of labor, of city-making material, the establishment of diversified industries, the execution of irrigation projects, and utilization of water power. Even before annexation the contract labor system had largely disappeared, a system possessing in some degree the principle of profit-sharing has come into general practice that increases returns to both planter and laborer. The planters have begun extensively to provide the laborers with homes of sufficient size for residence and gardening purposes; a beginning has been made toward co-operation in the establishment of homesteads of sufficient size to support families inde

pendently.".

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PORTO RICO.

On the 18th of October of this year, Porto Rico completes the tenth anniversary of its existence within the jurisdiction of the United States. Of this period a year and a half was under military government and eight years and a half under a civil government established by the Act of Congress of April 12, 1900.

The changes for the better in this period of ten years have been remarkable, and the improvement in education, sanitation, commerce, and the administration of justice has demonstrated the wisdom and far-seeing ability of the Republican party. These improvements have not been made without overcoming serious obstacles. In less than a year after the Americans assumed control, the progress of the island received the worst setback known in its history. On August 8, 1899, Porto Rico was visited by the most severe cyclone that it has ever experienced, as a result of which thousands of lives were lost and millions of dollars worth of property destroyed. Not only was the coffee crop for that year totally lost, but a very large percentage of the coffee trees themselves were completely ruined. In many places the soil on the sides of the mountains was washed away, so that where fertile plantations once existed, but bare rocks remained. The serious nature of this disaster can be understood only when it is realized that the value of coffee alone exported during the last years of the Spanish Government exceeded the combined value of all the other exports. The success of the United States, therefore, has been all the more remarkable when one considers the inauspicious beginning of the administration.

Free trade between the United States and Porto Rico was established on July 25, 1901. All duties collected on goods between the United States and Porto Rico prior to this date were subsequently appropriated by Congress for the construction of schools, roads, and other public improvements on the island.

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