Rice is sown once a year in some of the pueblos in the western part of the province, sowing time being in the latter part of May, throughout the month of June, and the beginning of July, and bears generally in five or six months, according to the class of seed employed, as there are premature seeds which fructify in the fourth month, so that rice can be cut four months after planting. The pueblos of the west generally plant sufficient rice only for their own wants during a few months of the year, scarcely ever doing so for shipment to other pueblos. In the pueblos of the north rice is wont to be harvested twice a year. The first season is similar to the one we have observed with relation to the pueblos of the west; the second starts in with the sowing, about the month of December. The first planting is called “jabagat,” which is the name of the prevailing wind during those months; and the second is called "amijan," the name given by the natives to the winds prevailing in the month of December. The pueblos of the north are accustomed to plant a considerable amount of rice and therefore gather the largest crops, suficient not only for their own wants, but frequently to enable them to make shipments to pueblos of the south of Luzon nearest to the northern part of Samar, and sometimes to the pueblos of the west and southwest of the island; but in view of the lack of animals suitable for the cultivation of rice, the rinderpest and the war having decimated the provincial herds, it is impossible to expect this result until the said pueblos shall have secured a sufficient number of these animals.

The greatest enemies of the rice planted in this province are: At the time of seeding, ants that eat the seeds planted in dry ground. Seed planted in wet ground is free from their attacks. In bearing it has two formidable enemies, one of which is a species of small rat with a very tapering nose, called in the Visayan dialect “jatá,” which eats the newly formed and tender grain; and the other is a species of fly called "tayangao," which gets into the grain while it is in the process of forming and sours and arrests its development, probably by the excretion of some liquid from its body.

Other enemies of rice are the wind, locusts, and drought. Wind is harmful to the rice plantation when it blows hard during the season of fructification, as it strips the plant of the grain. Locusts are also injurious to rice during the period of its growth, as they eat everything-leaves and grain, but more especially the leaves and ear-making the harvesting of the grain impossible. The drought is also a great obstacle, especially when the plant has not reached a good state of development, as it stunts the growth of the plant, and the ears are nearly always found empty.

Hemp yields two years after planting, as stated before, and from that time on can be made to yield uninterruptedly for many years-at least ten or twenty if the land is rich and new. There can be no doubt that the cultivation of hemp yields relatively larger returns with less care than any other, for once planted it does not require an absolutely strict cleaning of the land, especially if the sweet potato is planted with the hemp. The native sweet potato (camote), aside from being a succulent tuber much liked by the natives, is a substitute for rice in the hills, and can be gathered from five to six months after planting. Besides this, it possesses the great virtue of preventing the growth of weeds and noxious plants which might harm the hemp. It may therefore be said that it acts as a protection to the latter. There is also another plant, that is of great value to hemp, called the "dapdap," which, according to some farmers, absorbs water and all the humidity around it when it rains, and during a season of the drought exudes humidity, which is absorbed by the roots of the hemp plants and the sweet potatoes for their own nutrition. The cocoanut tree, seven or eight years after planting, bears fruit which can be used for copra or for oil uninterruptedly from that time on, especially if it is not used for the production of tuba. This tree grows best in sandy land, such as that of the east coast of this province, where it reaches its greatest development. Very large trees are also grown on the western and southern coasts of this province. A formidable enemy of the cocoanut is a form of insect named “bagang,” which does the tree a great deal of harm, especially when it is not frequently cleaned of its dry leaves and creepers surrounding it. These creepers and sand are frequently used with good results in ridding the tree of this insect.

The best lands in this province for hemp are situated in the northern, western, and southwestern part, especially those adjacent to the long and numerous streams which cross the island of Samar in all directions.

Cocoanuts bear well on the eastern and southern coasts. In some of the pueblos of this region there is not a shred of hemp, cocoanut alone being cultivated, as in the pueblo of Guiuan, for the purpose of making copra.

Corn and tobacco receive very little attention from the farmers of this province, who are devoting all of their energies to the cultivation of hemp (which brings a high price in the market at present), cocoanuts, and rice.

The tools of husbandry used in this province are the bolo, sorod, pangue, pagolong, plow, padanas, calcag, and pacarás. The pangue or panguijan is made up of two pieces of wood driven into the ground and a third piece laid across them, and is used to clean hemp. The pagolong is a round piece of timber 3 varas in length, stout and corrugated, which, when dragged by a carabao, levels the ground. The sorod is a sort of wooden comb or rake used to smooth the ground and break the clods of earth. The padanas resembles a section of split cane, and is serrated in the lower part, the teeth being about a handbreadth from each other. This instrument is about a meter in length, and its weight is proportionate to the strength of a carabao. It is used for clearing the ground, and its tooth pulls up all of the weeds and roots it encounters. The pacaras is a wooden instrument having a hole in the middle, where a knife is fixed. It is drawn by carabao, and is used for cutting weeds. Lastly, the calcag is a sort of rake, and is used for the same purpose as a rake.

Models of all these agricultural implements were sent by several of the municipalities to the St. Louis Exposition.

INDUSTRIES.

The industrial activity of this province is limited to the following manufactures: The making of nipa wine by primitive methods; the manufacture of panochas a and of potsherds; cocoanut oil factories; bakeries; and fisheries, as well as what are known as home industries, which consist in the making of mats, hats, and sinamay, piña, and abacá textiles, which are mostly in the hands of women. As the product of all of these industries is small it all remains in the province with the exception of a few mats sold in the pueblo of Tacloban, capital of the province of Leyte, on account of the fact that the pueblo of Basey, Samar, where most of the mats are made, is just in front of and a short distance from that town.

By utilizing any of the waterfalls in different parts of this province a paper mill could be established as all of the raw materials necessary are abundant, consisting of the waste from hemp and copra that the planters throw away, having no use for it.

A sawmill could also be easily established, and would pay large dividends, in view of the fact that this province has a source of wealth in its forests of timber of all classes, those of the superior group abounding; and owing to the great demand for lumber throughout nearly the entire province for bridge and road work from the government and for the rebuilding of houses by private citizens.

COMMERCE.

All of the commerce of this province is in the hands of foreigners. The most important commercial houses of Manila are represented here, such as the Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas; Warner Barnes & Co.; Smith, Bell & Co. ; Ynehausti & Co.; and Gutierrez Hermanos, besides four Chinese houses which compete with the former; and at the pueblo of Lao-ang, in the northern part of the province, the house of Oria Hermanos.

There are two small native mercantile companies in this province doing business at the pueblos of Lao-ang, Palapag, Pambujan, Catubig, and Orás, in the hemp and rice trade, but both of these companies are overshadowed by that of Oria Hermanos. The Pacific Oriental Trading and the American Commercial were the only two American companies doing business here; but both of them were obliged to close down owing to the fact that they were unable to compete with the foreign houses, as the personnel was inexperienced and unpractical. During the past fiscal year the province shipped to Manila 157,377 piculs of hemp and 61,214 piculs of copra, small amounts compared with the ordinary annual production, due to the disease which attacked the cocoanut trees and the scarcity of hemp preventing the province from gathering a larger crop of the said article which forms the basis of its trade and wealth. This year an alluring prospect is held out to the merchants and planters, who believe that they will be able to gather double the amount of hemp and copra unless sométhing unforeseen should happen. Barring accidents, hemp will be abundant throughout the province this year.

a Cakes made of brown sugar.

Business has suffered great depression during the present crisis such as never before known, but it will begin to pick up in the month of September, when planters begin to extract the fiber from their new plantations, which will yield a much larger amount than ever before on account of the larger area of land planted. A much larger yield of copra is also expected, owing to the fact that the trees are rid of the disease which attacked them last year; it is expected that in the next six months the production of this article will be up to the ordinary yield in normal times.

The importation of rice throughout the province during the last fiscal year amounted to 198,855 piculs, approximately. It is probable that it will diminish considerably this year, providing that the rice plantations are not destroyed. It is expected that sufficient rice will be gathered in Samar in the next harvest to supply the demand of three-fourths of the population for a period of three or four months. While this will diminish the importation of that article it will greatly benefit the inhabitants of the province, and trade will find compensation for reduced sales of rice in the large shipments of hemp and copra which it can handle, as well as the larger demand for general merchandise, owing to the increase of the amount of money in circulation among the inhabitants. Economic and financial conditions.

Comparison between the fiscal year 1902-3 and the fiscal year 1903-4. Leaving out all accounts such as sale of provisions to the municipalities, exchange, returns for errors, and the readjustment of accounts of municipalities brought about by the passage of Act No. 960 (the act consolidating the municipalities of Samar) belonging to the last fiscal year that are not taxes collected, as well as accounts such as sale of provisions to the municipalities, money loaned by the insular government, returns of internal revenue collected by the military, and exchanges for the fiscal year 1902-3, for the same reason a comparison of the taxes actually collected during the two fiscal years mentioned is as follows:

It is impossible to make an exact comparison unless a great deal of time is used, owing to the different rates of exchange at which the local money was accepted, but a careful calculation of the provincial treasurer, who reduced all currencies to Filipino money, discloses that the collections for the last fiscal year are as follows in comparison with those for the preceding one:

Fiscal year ending June 30, 1903
Fiscal year ending June 30, 1904-

Decrease

Philippine currency. 184, 367. 86 182,978. 67

1, 389. 19

However, the chief clerk, who is the deputy of the provincial treasurer, collected 20,000 pesos Philippines currency during the month of June, not included in the collections for that month, as he did not return to this city

WAR 1904-VOL 1139

until the 2d instant, so that had these collections arrived prior to the time that the books were closed on June 30 the collections for the last fiscal year would have exceeded those of the previous year by more than 18,000 pesos.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS.

As regards public order the province is enjoying an Octavian peace, for with the exception of one band of ladrones, called in the vernacular “ Polahans,” which does not exceed 100 men, the province is entirely on the side of the government. It has been seen from several municipalities threatened by ladrones that the inhabitants have kept a strict watch and taken the field against them en masse, as in the case of the pueblo of Balangiga, situate in the southern part of the province, where the people, armed with only bolos and lances, with the municipal president at the head, were able to overcome a band of Polahans that during the month of last May endeavored to enter the said town. The municipal president distinguished himself by his energy and the manner in which he handled the situation, and this in spite of the fact that he was one of the most rabid revolutionists of this province. He is now one of the strongest supporters of the government in its service.

A deplorable occurrence during the month of February in the immediate vicinity of Borongan resulted in the death of the valiant constabulary officer, Mr. Rufus McCrea. According to information obtained by the undersigned, the said officer was killed for having been mistaken for the Filipino lieutenant of constabulary, named Pio Colón Abenis, a native and resident of Borongan, where the latter lives, and his family have brought upon themselves the enmity of the entire population because of the abuses committed by them during the military régime, at which time the father of Lieutenant Abenis was president of the town. To-day, notwithstanding that two years have passed since the war ended in this province and that political passions in the majority of the inhabitants have been extinguished, the Abenis family are constantly menaced in one way or another to such an extent that they have been obliged to prevail upon General Allen, who knows the members of the family well, to grant them the use of revolvvers and Krag rifles for their personal security, in spite of the fact that a detachment of constabulary composed of 70 men is stationed at the said pueblo. The only band of ladrones existing in Samar is armed with bolos and eight or ten rifles, which it has imported from the neighboring province of Leyte.

The band is wont to split up into small groups and roam around the hills, with the constabulary, which has four stations in this province, constantly on their tracks.

This band operates in the interior between the eastern, western, and southern coasts. The leader is a so-called pope named Pablo de la Cruz, and like two or three of his principal supporters is a native of southern Luzon. I can assure you that the character of the natives of this province is peaceful, but, as the lower classes are very ignorant, a person little more enlightened than themselves teaching them false doctrines is believed in implicitly, and they allow themselves, lamblike, to be misled through devious paths of error, it being very difficult afterwards to make them understand that their guides or teachers are nothing but bandoleros who, accustomed to idleness, live at the expense of the unwary, as happens with the Polahans, who use flags bearing religious emblems, scapularies, and rosaries, and who have an infinity of prayers fabricated by their leaders which their dupes believe are a talismanic protection against the enemy's fire. They are also made to believe that the cause which they uphold is holy, and it is for this reason that when the constabulary run upon these bands of ladrones and get them in a tight place where escape is impossible they are seen to kneel as if in prayer to the God that they adore for protection. This blind faith was exemplified in a small group of Jadrones who, attacked by the constabulary, charged them with bolos, and, as was natural, were nearly all killed. This incident alone demonstrates the ignorance in which part of the general mass of the people lives. As a rule, however, there can be few provinces where more submissive and respectful people will be found than in Samar.

With the exception of a few individuals in each pueblo, the people blindly obey the orders of the government, and have a blind faith in their destiny. This small number of persons of an ungovernable character found in the pueblos are the very ones who profess nationalist ideas; they can explain nationalism only as being equivalent to independence. The majority of these people have no property and are unaccustomed to work; they reflect to the best of their abilities the ideas with which their so-called chief, Vicente Lucban, has imbued them.

It is useless for me to conceal the fact that the nationalist party of Samar is mainly composed of persons who have but the lightest veneer of education, but who believe that they are veritable Senecas. They are the self-styled mentors of the people, and have not the least objection to making this fact public. These individuals are known among themselves as “Filosofos" (philosophers), which demonstrates clearly the small amount of education which they possess. Notwithstanding that they profess these ideas and their qualifications, they all aspire to office and are ever ready to struggle with this end in view, but as they form a small part of the people they have scarcely any influence upon public order, which I believe to-day is secure throughout the province I govern. The political condition of the inhabitants of Samar could not be better, for if guided properly they easily assimilate all that is taught to them and profit by good example.

The constabulary force in this province is divided into four posts, the largest being those of Borongan, in the east; and Catbalogan, the capital of the province, in the west. This organization has rendered very good services in the hunting down of ladrones and in the maintenance of public order, it being a great satisfaction for me to be able to say that the conduct of the senior inspector and other officers at his orders could not have been better, either in their private affairs as gentlemen or in their public life.

The municipal elections in this province, held last December in all of the pueblos except three, were orderly in the extreme. In the three pueblos alluded to-Calbiga, Villa Real, and Lavezares-questions of a personal rather than political nature dominated to such an extent that the elections had to be held twice in the two first-named pueblos and three times in the third. Notwithstanding this, after six months of the new municipal government in the said places, there is a fair amount of harmony in the municipal administration, the only disturbing elements being a few persons whose character and condition are such as to make them, wherever they may be, a blot upon the community. Happily, as I have already stated, their number is very small.

On account of the provincial elections, which took place on the 1st of last February, political passions became so inflamed in three individuals resident in this capital that at the public meeting on the eve of election in the municipal building at Catbalogan, on motion of the provincial fiscal, here at that time, the three individuals referred to proffered insults and threats in the presence of the numerous public assembled in the hall against certain persons merely because they were candidates of the sane and worthy people of the province, and their election was for this reason very probable.

These three persons, seeing that their plans for the elections were not successful, were sorry for the threats and insults which they had given expression to at the meeting, and doubtless believing that all other people like them are vindictive, asked pardon for their fault.

The provincial elections were put through quietly and in a perfectly orderly manner. Judging from the noise anyone would have said that but a small number of persons were gathered together in the building where the elections were held, when, as a matter of fact, there were 191 electors therein. The first vote was taken at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, after the preliminary provisions of the law had been carried out, and finished at 8 o'clock at night, without any candidate having secured a majority of votes. There was a short recess, during which the electors had some light refreshments, and the second vote was taken at midnight, with the result that one candidate obtained 119 votes and was declared elected by the president. Six votes were cast aside as invalid on account of errors in orthography.

The senior inspector of constabulary, who was at the door of the building during the entire time of the elections, stated that he never saw a more quiet or orderly election, as there were neither disputes nor altercations to disturb the perfect tranquillity which reigned.

During the interval between voting the senior inspector was obliged to prevent the entrance of several persons into the hall who wished to violate the law and commit irregularities, which would have resulted in the elections being annulled.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

Telephone and telegraph lines uniting this capital, which is situated on the west coast of the island, with the municipalities of the north, east, and south I urge as a necessity. First, on account of the lack of means of communication between this capital and the rest of the province; second, on account of the