APPENDIX F. REPORT ON THE CONSTRUCTION TO BE GIVEN THE CONGRESSIONAL ENACTMENT APPROVED MARCH 2, 1901, RELATING TO THE PUBLIC LANDS AND TIMBER IN THE PHILIPPINES, BY CHARLES E. MAGOON, LAW OFFICER, DIVISION OF INSULAR AFFAIRS, WAR DEPARTMENT. WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DIVISION OF INSULAR AFFAIRS, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your request for a report on the proper construction of the provision in the Army appropriation bill, approved March 2, 1901 (Public No. 118)— That no sale or lease or other disposition of the public lands or the timber thereon or the mining rights therein shall be made. The particular subject calling for consideration is the effect of this Congressional enactment upon the right of the United States governmental authorities in the Philippines to provide for the use of forest products in the public forests of the Philippine Islands by the residents of the archipelago and by the Government. The question is presented to the War Department by the following cablegram from the Philippine Commission: [Translation of cablegram received March 7, 1901, 6.55 a. m.] MANILA. ROOT, Secretary of War, Washington: High-price lumber one of people's greatest burdens; present situation very little timber on private land; people almost entirely are obliged to depend upon purchase timber from Government land to repair damage owing to the war. If recent legislation abrogates General Orders, Headquarters Department of Military Governor, series of last year, No. 92, fixing reasonable rates and proper limitations under which any resident may cut public timber, it will produce greatest hardship. If so, ask authority to put imported timber on free list. Is cuttting public timber for public works forbidden? Request opinion. TAFT. To properly understand said provision it is necessary to consider the entire paragraph of which it is a portion and the general purpose of the legislation. Said paragraph is as follows: All military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern the Philippine Islands, acquired from Spain by the treaties concluded at Paris on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and at Washington on the seventh day of November, nineteen hundred, shall, until otherwise provided by Congress, be vested in such person and persons and shall be exercised in such manner as the President of the United States shall direct, for the establishment of civil government and for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of said islands in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion: Provided, That all franchises granted under the authority hereof shall contain a reservation of the right to alter, amend, or repeal the same. Until a permanent government shall have been established in said archipelago full reports shall be made to Congress on or before the first day of each regular session of all legislative acts and proceedings of the temporary government instituted under the provisions hereof; and full reports of the acts and doings of said government and as to the condition of the archipelago and of its people shall be made to the President, including all information which may be useful to the Congress in providing for a more permanent government: Provided, That no sale or lease or other disposition of the public lands or the timber thereon or the mining rights therein shall be made: And provided further, That no franchise shall be granted which is not approved by the President of the United States, and is not in his judgment clearly necessary for the immediate government of the islands and indispensable for the interest of the people thereof, and which can not, without great public mischief, be postponed until the establishment of permanent civil government; and all such franchises shall terminate one year after the establishment of such permanent civil government. To understand the purpose and extent of this legislation it is necessary to consider the conditions with which Congress was called upon to deal. The Taft Philippine Commission, in its report to the Secretary of War dated January 24, 1901, says: The timber of the Philippine Archipelago forms one of its most important natural sources of wealth. The timber-producing trees have been classified in order of their commercial value as follows: Superior group, 12 species; first group, 17 species; second group, 49 species; third group, 74 species; fourth group, 200 species; fifth group, 33 species; total species, 385. It is certain that there still remain more than fifty species not yet classified. Included in this list are very hard woods, capable of taking a beautiful polish; woods that resist climatic influences and are proof against the attacks of white ants; woods especially suited to use for sea piling on account of their imperviousness to the attacks of Teredo navalis, or for railroad ties, because they last extremely well when placed in the ground; in short, there are woods for every imaginable use. There is a great variety of trees yielding valuable gums, and rubber and guttapercha are abundant in Mindanao and Tawi-Tawi. At least 17 dyewoods are produced, within the limits of the archipelago, while other trees yield valuable essential oils or drugs. It has been estimated by the present head of the forestry bureau from such data as he has been able to secure that there are not less than 40,000,000 acres of forest lands in the archipelago. Under the Spanish administration a force of 66 expert foresters and 64 rangers, with 40 other subordinates, such as clerks, draftsmen, etc., formed the personnel of the forestry department. The service was organized in 1863, and throughout its history the higher officials were selected from the Spanish corps of engineers. No Filipino was permitted to hold any of the more important positions. In addition to the care of the forests the department had in charge the survey of all public lands. The annual income during the last years of the Spanish régime was approximately $150,000 (Mexican). The present forestry bureau was organized on the 14th of April, 1900, under General Orders, No. 50, which placed Capt. George P. Ahern, Ninth United States Infantry, in charge, making no specifications whatever as to his duties. He received authority to employ 4 foresters, 2 rangers, a stenographer, and a translator. This force was gradually increased until on the 18th of September it consisted of a translator, a stenographer, a chief assistant, 7 assistant foresters, 1 head ranger, and 13 rangers. On July 1 regulations prepared by the forestry bureau and governing the utilization of the forest products of State lands were published as General Orders, No. 92. These regulations were based on those in force under Spanish sovereignty, but the latter were somewhat condensed and a few changes were introduced The old blank forms were kept and additional ones provided for. Under the new rules the prices per cubic foot charged by the Government for timber cut on public lands are as follows: Superior group, 7 cents; first group, 5 cents; second group, 4 cents; third group, 14 cents; fourth group, 1 cent; fifth group, cent (United States currency). There are given lists of the trees of the several groups, with their common names and their scientific names, so far as the latter have been ascertained, together with rules governing the cutting and measuring of timber and the payment of the charges thereon, as well as provisions as to how the various gums shall be gathered. It seemed extremely important that an order allowing the cutting of timber should be put into force at the earliest possible time, as there was practically a lumber famine at Manila and other important points in the archipelago, while the destruction of buildings incident to the war and the increased demand for good dwelling houses, resulting from the large influx of Americans, made it imperative that provision should be made so that the felling of trees and marketing of lumber might lawfully begin. The regulations were therefore necessarily somewhat hastily compiled by those having the work in charge. The commission is now able to profit by the practical results obtained through putting them into force, and is of the opinion that the clerical work connected with the cutting and marketing of timber can be simplified considerably with profit to all concerned. It seems probable that the rates charged, which are greatly in excess of those charged under the Spanish tariff, should be somewhat reduced. The whole matter will be made the subject of careful investigation and legislative action in the near future. Early in September the commission investigated the affairs of the forestry bureau, and learned that no attempt had been made to enforce the forestry regulations outside the island of Luzon, even in such great commercial centers as Iloilo and Cebu. With a view to the immediate increase of its efficiency, the forestry bureau was reorganized so as to consist of an officer in charge, an inspector, a botanist, a chief clerk and stenographer, a translator, a law clerk, a record clerk, ten assistant foresters, and thirty rangers, the existing force of foresters and rangers to be augmented gradually, as occasion might require, until the number above indicated was reached. Active steps are now being taken toward the location of foresters and rangers at important points throughout the archipelago as fast as circumstances will permit. The present monthly collections of revenue from forest products are about $8,000 (Mexican). This sum should be largely increased in the near future. If the statements of the chief of the forestry bureau are correct the forests of the Philippine Islands are more extensive and more valuable than those of India. It is of the utmost importance that the wanton destruction of valuable timber which has been allowed to go on here in the past should be checked at the earliest practicable time, while with the exercise of proper supervision over the cutting of timber and the construction of better roads the annual revenue from the sale of forest products should soon become a very important source of income. The chief difficulty which confronts us at present is the lack of honest and active subordinate officials. It is absolutely necessary that the men who occupy these posts should be familiar with the more important of the different kinds of woods, so that they may be able to survey consignments of timber and make proper collections thereon. The men at present used for this work were almost without exception formerly employed for it under the Spanish régime, and in the view of the chief of the bureau many of them are corrupt. They are exposed to severe temptation, for it is a simple matter to transfer a wood from the class in which it belongs to a lower class, thereby saving a considerable sum to the owner, who is often only too willing to give a part of what he can make in this way to the forester or ranger with whom he is dealing in order to escape the payment of the full amount due. It is believed that competent men should be trained on the ground for these positions as speedily as possible, and that meanwhile a close inspection should be maintained over the work of the present incumbents in office, who have been informed that if they are detected in dishonesty they will not only be dropped from the service of the forestry bureau, but will be ineligible for appointment to any office which falls under the civil-service law. Great difficulty has been experienced in securing the services of a competent man for inspector, but it is hoped that such a man may soon be found. The commission has cabled to Washington for four experienced foresters with a knowledge of Spanish and of tropical botany. These men upon their arrival will enable us to put the service in a much more satisfactory condition. It is very important that responsible and fully qualified white men should be stationed at the more important centers of the lumbering industry in these islands if the forests are to be exploited intelligently and the Government is to receive proper compensation for the timber cut on public lands. It is believed that nine-tenths of the timber standing in many of the forests of these islands might be removed with great profit to the Government and actual improvement to the forests, inasmuch as this would give opportunity for rapid growth to the trees left standing. Capt. George P. Ahern, Ninth United States Infantry, in charge of the forestry bureau of the military government of civil affairs in the Philippines, in his annual report dated August 15, 1900, says: From various sources of information I am led to believe that the public forest lands comprise from one-fourth to possibly one-half of the area of the Philippine Islands, viz, from 20,000,000 to 40,000,000 acres. There are fully 5,000,000 acres of virgin forest owned by the State in the islands of Mindoro and Paragua. The island of Mindanao, with an area of more than 2,000,000 acres, is almost entirely covered with timber and but a small percentage of cultivated land. In the province of Cagayan, on the island of Luzon, there are more than 20,000,000 acres of forest. In the places just mentioned the cuttings up to the present date have been very small. In many other provinces in the island of Luzon, especially in the country close to Manila, much timber has been cut, and to fill large contracts the lumbermen are obliged to go quite a distance from this city in order to find a suitable tract. In a recent visit to the southern islands of this group I was impressed with the amount of timber standing on the smaller islands. Frequently the topography was such that it could be exploited with facility. I saw tracts of virgin forest where from 10,000 to 20,000 cubic feet of magnificent timber per acre was standing, trees more than 150 feet in height and with trunks clear of branches for 80 feet and more than 4 feet in diameter. There are many millions of cubic feet of timber in these forests that should be cut in order to properly thin out the dense growth. For instance, where there are three or four trees growing on a space required by one, that one so freed would put on more good wood each year than the four together. Forestry is largely a question of light and shade; it is comparatively easy to learn the most desirable tree species for a certain locality, but the question of whether 300 or 3,000 trees should remain on one acre is where the real value of the scientific forester is shown. |