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ery, machinery, rice, wines, fruits etc. The exports are coffee, sugar, tobacco and honey.

Cattle and sheep are raised extensively, of a superior quality to any others of the West India Islands.

Formerly the trade with Spain has been greater than with any other country. Much of the tobacco is sent to Havana to be made into cigars.

The mineral resources include gold, some iron, yellow amber, marble, limestone and other building stone. The preparation of salt is the chief mineral production.

The value of the exports is about £3,349,078 and the imports £3,464,090. The trade is chiefly with Britain, but owing to duties and port charges it is carried on through Spain. The changes in the government of Porto Rico have not seemed to alter its commercial stability.

PEOPLE.

The people of this island are descendants of the Spaniards and negro slaves. The language spoken is mostly Spanish. As a rule the people are prosperous. There are several schools and two colleges on the island. They have good roads and a railway extends nearly around the island. The religion is Roman Catholic.

The preliminary emancipation act which came into operation at the beginning of 1871 lessened the number of slaves by 100,000. Slavery was completely abolished in 1873. There seems to be a unanimous feeling against any immigration of laborers, whether Chinese, coolies or others. A deep-sea cable now unites Porto Rico with Europe, America and the other Antilles.

There are 137 miles of railroad open for traffic and 170 miles being constructed. There are also 470 miles of telegraph. The great need of the island is still roads and bridges, though the government has done good work in this department in recent years. Now that the United States controls this fertile little island most of the trade which has heretofore been with Europe will be with this country. The introduction of the American system of sanitation and the American customs and advanced business and agricultural methods will place Porto Rico far in advance of her present commercial and intellectual position.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The Philippine Islands became a permanent possession of the United States by the treaty signed at Paris, France. The Commissioners met October 1st, 1898, and sat behind closed doors until December 10th, 1898; for the United States were Secretary of State Day, Senators Frye, Davis, Gray and Whitelaw Reid, The secretary of the commission was Prof. J. B. Moore, Assistant Secretary of State. Senor Montero Rios, President of the Senate, Senator Abarzuza, formerly Ambassador to France, General Serero, Senor Villarutra, Minister to Belgium, and Senor Garnica, Councilor of the Court of Cassation, were the commissioners for Spain. The troublesome matters to settle by the commission were: First, whether or not the United States was to become responsible for the Cuban debt; second, whether Spain should retain possession of the Philippines. These questions were finally settled by the United States refusing to become responsible for any part of the Cuban debt and agreeing to pay to the government of Spain the sum of $20,000,000 to cover the amount of money expended by the Spanish government for improvements in the islands, such as for harbors and public buildings. According to these conditions and those in full compliance with the terms of the Protocol, the treaty was signed December 10th, 1898, and by ratification of the same by the Senate of the United States, the Philippine Islands became the permanent and absolute possession of the United States government.

LOCATION.

This group of islands lies between 4 degrees and 45 minutes and 21 degrees north latitude in the Pacific, off the east coast of Asia and about 700 miles distant. There are more than 1200 separate islands with a total area of over 120,000 square miles. The island of Luzon, on which the capital, Manila is situated, is the largest of the group and contains an area of 40,000 square miles, or about as large as the state of New York; Mindanao, next in size, is 37,500; Samar, 5,300; Panay, 4,500; Palawan, 4,200; Mindoro, 4,000; Leyte, 3,000; Negros, 2,500; Zebu, 2,000; Masbatu, 1,500; Bohol, 1,000; Calanduanes, 500 square miles respectively, in round numbers. The islands are of volcanic formation, some are now active. Apo in Mindanao is active and 10,300 feet in height. Mayon, in Luzon, is very picturesque and more than 8,000 feet in height. The islands altogether have a rugged

surface and the non-volcanic are covered with valuable forests. Fresh water lakes and rivers appear in Luzon and Mindanao.

CLIMATE.

The climate is distinctly tropical but varies in different parts of the group. At Manila it is said that the thermometer reaches 90 degrees in every month of the year, rarely ever falls below 60 degrees; the mean temperature being about 80 degrees. It rains steadily from May to December and from June to November the ground is flooded; violent hurricanes occur, and during the changes of the monsoons, storms are very severe. From December to May the weather is delightful, after May the heat is very oppressive; this sort of climate with its humid atmosphere, together with the fertility of the soil, makes a vegetation nowhere excelled; fruit and blossoms may be seen hanging together on the same tree and the land yields continuous crops.

POPULATION.

It is difficult to estimate the population of the Philippines. Major General F. V. Green says, in his report to the War Department, that the population is from 7,000,000 to 9,000,000 of souls; the last official census taken by the Spanish government showed a population of 8,000,000. This, too, is probably very inaccurate.

DISCOVERY.

The early history of the Philippines is meager in detail, but the pertinent points are recorded. The islands were discovered by Magellan who was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, in the year 1521. He visited Mindanao and Zebu where he founded a colony, and was killed in a war with the natives, April 26th, 1521. For many years the chief Spanish settlement was on the island of Zebu; however, in 1551 Manila was built by Villabos, who commanded an expedition to the islands for Spain, to visit the archipellago, and has since remained the seat of government. Villabos named the islands in honor of King Philipp 2nd on this visit. The years that followed the discovery of Magellan have been filled by revolts and uprisings of the native chiefs, brought about by the cruelty of their Spanish masters. In each instance superior armament and skill in the use of arms has proved too much for these little people and not until August, 1898, has any uprising been general. In that year a deeply laid plot was formed for the murder of the Governor General and all the Spanish officials and the overthrow of the rule of Spain in the islands. This plot included all the better class of Philippinos, and many foreign merchants participated. The plot was exposed by the wife of one of

the chief conspirators and thus Spain never felt the full force of the rebellion. The revolt was universal and in nearly every part of the archipellago hostile bands of natives were giving trouble to the Spaniards when Dewey landed at Manila. These natives were very ready to give aid to our soldiers in opposition to Spain.

PEOPLE.

The native inhabitants of these islands are of the Malay race and inhabit mainly the islands of Luzon, Panay, Zebu, Leyte, Bohl and Negros; the average proportion of the population to area is over 90 to every square mile. This is a denser population in proportion to area than have either Illinois or Indiana and about half that of France. A recent report says there are about 6,000,000 Christians and about five-sixths of that number belong to the Tagalos or Visayas.

Opinion differs concerning the degree of civilization to which the Tagals have arisen. In many ways they show high moral and mental attainments. Some writers attribute to the Tagals the want of honesty and the lack of truthfulness and trustworthyness, together with utter absence of originality. They are said to be lazy also, but this may be due to the climate in which they live, for it is not possible for any people to perform the same amount of manual labor in as hot a limate as has the island of Luzon, as in a climate like that of the northern part of the United States. Another writer says that they are open hearted and hospitable in their relations with travelers. The religion of the natives is Roman Catholic. The main part of the population is made up of Visaya and Ilocans and Tagals. But beside these there are more than thirty other different races.

It is estimated that in Manilla, there are 75,000 Chinese, and also many Japanese. It is said, too, that the great leader of the Tagals, Aguinaldo, is half Japanese.

The Moros tribe is non-Christian, but in many ways have attainments that are admirable. The physiques of the men of this tribe are generally handsome, they are of medium size and expert swimmers and expert also in the use of their implements of war, in the construction of which they show signs of great experience and culture. Their blades are made of steel, tempered highly, with beautiful designs, inlaid in gold and silver.

The handles are made of polished wood, and often artistically carved.

They delight to get hold of modern fire arms in the use of which they are sadly deficient and are unable to become good marksmen.

The attire of the men consists of pantaloons and jackets, with turbans arranged in a manner to signify rank.

The women are fond of bright colors and wear a skin-tight waist, showing off every outline of the figure, and a skirt divided and baggy. They drape a long piece of cloth about their body, and use it at times to cover their head and keep off the hot sun's rays.

As a rule the men consider it beneath them to perform manual labor, but are known to dive for coral and pearls, at which feat they are very expert.

From this it may be seen that the non-Christian tribe, in intelligence and civilization are far superior to the American Indians.

There are a few tribes, however, who are low down in the social and intellectual scale, and will no doubt have to be dealt with as our American Indians have been treated. The Mestizoes, (decendants of Chinese fathers and native mothers) form the native merchants, and are the middle men between the natives who have products to sell.

Agriculture is the chief occupation of the people, although only about one-ninth of the fertile lands are cultivated.

They also weave textile fabrics of silk and cotton and make very fine shawls and handkerchiefs, from a fibre obtained from the pineapple leaf.

The natives, too, are quite expert in ship building and construct ships of remarkable tonnage. The large business firms are composed mostly of either Americans or Englishmen. The exportation and importation of products have always been hampered under Spanish regime, for the only sea ports open to trade were Sual, Iloilo, Zebu and Manila. Now that the open door policy has been agreed upon by this country for the Islands the foreign and domestic trade will continue to increase as it has since the Spanish left the islands, and instead of education being "far behind what it was during the middle ages" as one writer expresses it, it will be elevated to a position equal if possible with

Our own.

MINERAL WEALTH.

The mineral wealth of these islands is comparatively undeveloped. Gold is found in every river bed and it is seen on every island of the group. Coal can be seen cropping out of the ground along the coast of many islands and our soldiers have been known to kindle a fire with the coal found on the surface of the ground. Iron and copper are plentiful and mines of the latter have long been worked in Luzon.

Limestone and variagated marble, sulphur both native and

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