great extent of the island, for it must be remembered that Samar is the largest province in the Philippines; and, third, on account of the condition that this province is surrounded by others where bandolerismo has not yet been exterminated and of the fact that bandoleros can easily pass over from Leyte, Sorsogon, Albay, and Camarines to this province, where they find a refuge on account of its extent and its sparse population.

The municipal presidents have always passed resolutions at their conventions recommending the insular government to establish a system of telegraph and telephone lines in this province.

As the duties that weigh upon the supervisor are many and the work he has to perform excessive, I recommend, with his approval, to the honorable Philippine Commission the appointment of an engineer who shall assist him and devote his time to the study of roads and the making of the necessary plans for same, especially to the opening of two roads from Catbalogan to the northern and eastern coasts, which it is impossible to reach by sea during the season of the northern monsoon, more severe in Samar than in any other part of the archipelago on account of its being the most easterly island.

I feel highly honored in being able to express my satisfaction over the fact that all of the insular and provincial officers in this province observe an unblemised line of conduct in their private life, as well as in public affairs, and that all of them, Americans and Filipinos, amongst whom the greatest harmony exists. extol the constituted government.

In conclusion, I will state that it has been impossible for me to send any photographs demonstrative of the industries, agriculture, and manufactures of this province or its principal resources with this report, owing to the fact that there is no photographer here and that the kodak which the supervisor ordered has not yet arrived. But before the 15th of next September, if the machine gets here, I will be pleased to send photographs demonstrating the different classes of industry to which the natives are given. Respectfully submitted.

EDUARDO FEITO,

Governor, Province of Samar.

The CIVIL GOVERNOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

REPORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF SORSOGON.

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, PROVINCE OF SORSOGON,
Sorsogon, July 7, 1904.

SIR The acting governor of this province has the honor to transmit the annual report left by Governor Monreal prior to his departure, on the 14th of April, 1904, for the United States, as a member of the honorary board of commissioners to the St. Louis Exposition.

Governor Monreal wrote the first five sections of this report, having discontinued the work when the subject of public funds was reached, thinking that it would be, perhaps, better to await the results of the examination of the provincial treasury made by the committee of examiners from the insular treasury before dealing with this subject.

Following out the method adopted by Governor Monreal, I shall write the balance of the report, and at the same time make some explanations with reference to the first five sections, which I have the honor to transcribe, as follows:

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF SORSOGON.

SORSOGON, January 15, 1904.

SIR: In compliance with the provisions of the provincial act, the undersigned governor has the honor to make a brief sketch of the events which have occurred in this province and of the progress achieved by the different departments of the provincial administration during the period embraced between January and the end of December, 1903.

The plan followed in the writing of this report will deal successively with the following subjects: Employees, municipalities, public order, health, public instruction, public funds, improvements, general conditions, and projects and suggestions.

EMPLOYEES.

The members of the provincial board have had to accomplish a great deal of extra work during the year 1903, which it was impossible for them to do in 1902 because of the fact that they devoted their attention preferably to putting down public disturbances in several places of the province, particularly in the southern part.

The provincial treasury, under the direction of Mr. R. J. Fanning and the chief clerk, Mr. Paul B. Weiss, was obliged to devote its entire energy during the past year to the collecting of statistics of assessed real estate throughout the province, of which a special extract had to be made at the request of General Sanger, for the census, and to give the most scrupulous attention to other matters pertaining to this branch of the civil government.

Until January of this year Treasurer Fanning performed the duties of supervisor, through the resignation of the former incumbent of that office, Mr. King. He discharged these duties with admirable zeal and intelligence until the end of the said month, when the supervisor-elect, Mr. Westerhouse, arrived in this province, and, animated by a laudable desire to enter at once upon the duties of his office, made a tour of inspection during the month of March of several points in the province, at our request, for the purpose of making a careful reconnoissance for a general highway, which it is hoped will greatly facilitate the development of agriculture and business. The need of this road was greatly felt by the members of the board, who feared that the principal resources of the province would greatly suffer sooner or later on account of the mortality among animals due to the rinderpest and the glanders. After the reconnoissance was made plans were drawn and the work started, when Mr. Westerhouse was promoted to Batangas by order of the superior authorities. It is not known whether the Government conferred this favor upon him because of the work that he did for the province or because he included among the public works carried out under his supervision those done at the expense of the municipalities, the latter having on several occasions asked him for technical advice before undertaking any work, in order to avoid misuse of municipal funds.

What the provincial board is most sorry for in connection with this matter is the fact that in spite of having asked Mr. Westerhouse to leave his report of the amount of work done in the province and the expenses incurred therein with the board before leaving, he went away without even taking leave of his colleagues, who have been defrauded in their hopes of conserving a record of this work containing the amount of expenditures from provincial funds for material and other expenses connected with public works.

In Mr. Westerhouse's place the province secured the services of Mr. Stevens, who has been discharging the duties of his office with as much, if not more, intelligence, order, and abnegation, much to the satisfaction of everybody. From the time that he took charge of the office he started in to make preparations for the opening of a great highway between Sorsogon and Bulusan. However, he had scarcely started to work and constructed 1 kilometer of the road when the rains fell so abundantly that work had to be suspended in anticipation of better weather, but it appears that the elements conspired against the realization of this work. It has been observed that Mr. Stevens is very willing and has a great desire worthily to comply with his duties. If his enthusiasm and good sense do not suffer detriment, I believe that the province can hope to have good public works, for which the pueblos will be eternally grateful to the central government of the Philippines.

The provincial fiscal is a good official, though his efforts would have been more appreciated by the province had he issued circular letters to the pueblos instructing the municipal officials as to certain doubtful points in act 82 and its amendments, as it is a notorious fact that the majority of the persons who are charged with the administration of the municipalities are quite ignorant of the matter, and for this reason it has been felt that the fiscal, who is their technical adviser, should have assisted them, especially as the form of government is entirely new and but recently implanted in this country.

MUNICIPALITIES.

This province has at the present time 16 municipalities of the third and fourth class, separated from each other by distances of from 10 to 15 miles. All of these municipalities have progressed in so far as the restrictions imposed by present conditions and their resources have permitted them, for they have

suffered from a series of misfortunes, such as the cholera, the rinderpest, the glanders, and the surra that have been so greatly detrimental to agriculture in this province that many flourishing fields have been converted into dense growths of forest through lack of cultivation.

On account of the epidemics, which have affected both man and beast, the pueblos of the east, south, and west have doubly suffered. Their rice fields, which constitute one of the principal sources of their wealth, have been left fallow and will remain so on account of the high price of the one indispensable element for their cultivation-to wit, draft animals. Hemp is the principal product of Sorsogon, and though it does not require animals for cultivation, their use is necessary for the transportation of the product from the plantation to the storehouse, particularly if the distance between these two places is great. After the disturbance of the public order in this province had been quelled and the panic which the cholera had produced had disappeared, the inhabitants of the pueblos devoted their efforts to the peaceful labor of cultivating the plantations, both large and small, and they were greatly favored during the last two-thirds of the year by a large immigration of laborers from Albay, who came to seek work in Sorsogon, that received them with open arms and saved them from famine.

If exception is made of some transgressions of a nonimportant character committed by one or two presidents and a few councilors and justices of the peace, it can be stated that all municipal officers have properly conducted themselves. This government has never missed an opportunity of advising all officials of having their actions in harmony with the provisions of the law, so that following out the lines laid down by the government for all they may depart from old and ingrained customs and practices, which they still stick to through their ignorance of the law.

As evidence of the fact that the municipalities have come to understand that many municipal officers have been committing irregularities, I would point to that grand resolution passed by the presidents of the pueblos at their second annual convention in 1903, in which they recommended the secretary of public instruction that the municipal code, the provincial act, and the act of Congress providing a temporary government for the l'hilippine Islands be taught not only in the high school, but also in the municipal schools, in order that the children might have full knowledge of their duties. Though it is hard to confess it, in this province even the most competent officials leave much to be desired. However, since they themselves have endeavored to apply the remedy which will correct the irregularities committed in the municipalities, it must be because they have understood the necessity of this action in order that all of their acts may be guided by justice and reason.

There are some municipalities in this province which merit special mention. The provincial capital, Sorsogon, on account of its having, by its activity, assisted the province in the construction of the road between Sorsogon and Bacon, in being the first to do its share of the work. This town was also able to construct a new and decent municipal building suitable for its purpose, and recently in establishing a system of public lighting; it is also on the eve of putting up a public municipal school.

The pueblo of Gubat, which was able to put its municipal building, which was a veritable palace, in good order after its occupancy by the volunteers, who left it in a very bad state of repair, and did considerable damage to it by removing all of the doors and partitions and doing away with the materials of which they were composed. This town has also a fine municipal school under construction, which would have been finished by this time had it not been for the heavy rains, which still continue throughout the province; and, lastly, this town has also made preparations to establish a system of public lighting. I would also state that this municipality, in order to favor the development of its commerce and agriculture, repaired some of its bridges, after its own fashion, in order that they could be used until the turn of the municipality came for sharing in the provincial appropriations for this purpose.

The pueblo of Barcelona is also deserving of great credit for having undertaken the work of repairing the great amount of damage done to its municipal building, which involved a thorough overhauling of the entire edifice, the putting on of a new iron roof, and replacing all of the windows. Although this work was started during the latter part of the year 1903, it has not yet been finished, on account of the weather having prevented the securing of the necessary materials; however, when the building is finished it will be one of the most beautiful monuments in the province. The old municipal school, which was in

a very bad state, was also repaired, and is now used for children of both sexes. but as this building looks more like a hemp warehouse than an educational institution, the people of this town wish to make an appropriation for the construction of another adequate building for school purposes.

The pueblo of Santa Magdalena was able to build its municipal building and schoolhouse of light materials only, in view of the fact that its funds will not for the present permit anything better.

Matnog, in spite of not being able to agree with the political creed of the provincial governor, has recently come to the understanding that the counsels given to it were nothing but the truth; for this reason the municipal government has been closely following out the governor's instructions, and in order to preserve its beautiful municipal building, which for a long time was in a state of woeful neglect, has now started the work of repairing same, which I hope to see carried through to completion. This building is constructed of mixed materialsthat is to say, of masonry and timber. Aside from this, Matnog has put up a municipal school, which is constructed of light materials, owing to the fact that the municipality has not sufficient funds on hand to put up a strong building.

At Irocin, in spite of the fact that it is the only central pueblo of the province where it is necessary to make very large expenditures in order to provide for the needs of the municipality, extensive repairs were made to the old unfinished municipal building, a provisional schoolhouse was put up, where children of both sexes are now taught by American and Filipino teachers, a public lighting service was established, and some sewers constructed in the central and other parts of the pueblo.

Bulan is at present making preparations for securing material for its municipal building and public school. It has constructed 2 kilometers of local road, with the end in view of saving the little business and agriculture left it after the death of its animals.

Magallanes, in spite of its smallness, made efforts to repair its public buildings, such as the municipal building and the old public school, which are constructed of timber and nipa, the municipality being unable at present to afford the use of more expensive materials.

Juban was able to finish its municipal building, which contains all of the municipal offices, the court of the justice of the peace, and the public school. This town is also building a fine road to the seacoast, which is of great importance as an outlet for the products of that district and will continue to be so until the road to Casiguran, a better harbor than that of Juban, is finished. Juban has also finished the construction of a bridge 3 meters wide by 7 meters long, which was much needed to facilitate the transportation of merchandise from Irocin by way of the river and which is brought in as far as the barrio of Banuangurang.

The pueblo of Casiguran started to reconstruct its old municipal building and was able to finish half the work when the bad weather set in and prevented its continuance on account of the difficulty of securing the necessary material. This town also built a bridge with a span of 44 meters and a length of 8 meters, and has its public school installed in an adequate building rented by the municipality. Pilar constructed a reservoir that the municipality thought was indispensable for providing the town with water, which is a very scarce article in that vicinity. In order to do this work the water was brought in a canal from the river, at quite a distance from the reservoir. It has planned later to build a pipe line from the reservoir to the pueblo and thus provide the inhabitants with water. Three sewers were also built in this pueblo. They have contributed much to improving its sanitary condition. The municipal school of this pueblo is of a provisional character, it being the desire of the municipality to wait until it has more money on hand before beginning the construction of a stone building for educational purposes.

In conclusion I would say that all the municipalities have their buildings well furnished, with the exception of Castilla, Matnog, Santa Magdalena, Bulusan, and Prieto-Diaz; also that all of them are provided with typewriters, except Matnog and Prieto-Diaz, the latter on account of its recent creation having been unable to provide itself with all that it requires. In spite of this, however, it can point with pride to a public school building 36 yards in length and 10 yards wide which, had it not been for the bad weather, would be now finished, for its construction was due to the rigorous condition imposed by the provincial government to those barrios prior to their being organized as a new municipality.

PUBLIC ORDER.

Fortunately, for a period of over a year Sorsogon has been enjoying peace and good order, and comparative prosperity. Since the disturbances by Colache et al., in the year 1902, no complaint has been made relative to disturbances in the province. From that fortunate date when Esposia and all of his followers were captured, including the two young women who acted as propagandists of his fanatical doctrines, the tranquillity among the inhabitants of Sorsogon was completely restored, due in a large measure to their own efforts as they devoted themselves to their usual pursuits, desiring to be rid of the brutalizing influence which Esposia had exercised over them, and due also to the fact that the large planters awoke to the necessity of repairing the losses that a lack of labor and abnormal conditions had caused to their estates. For over eight months Sorsogon › had no constabulary, and yet during this entire period the pueblos have conducted themselves so creditably that the tact and prudence of the municipal councils and the efforts of the municipal police were sufficient to maintain order throughout their respective districts. During the entire time referred to we had only 12 constabulary in the provincial capital who were not incapacitated, as the members of this corps, who came over to Sorsogon after having finished the campaign in Albay, were sick with beriberi and paludal fevers; it having been found necessary to maintain a force of 25 constabulary in the extreme southern boundary of the province in order to prevent the invasion of malefactors from Samar who, had they been successful in penetrating into the mountains of Sorsogon, might have created disturbances which we desired at all costs to avoid.

During the entire campaign in Albay all of the constabulary, officers and men were obliged to remove to that province to help the government in putting down the disturbances in that place, the only officers remaining here having been First Lieut. and Inspector F. J. O'Grady, supply officer, and Mr. Furlong, who was in command of the detachment at Santa Magdalena, in the southern part of the province, stationed there to prevent incursions of fanatics from Samar. The western part of the province was looked after by the scouts and the volunteer organizations of Pilar and Donsol, the latter of which is worthy of special mention, in view of the fact that from the time of its organization until the disturbances in Albay, were completely suffocated, it distinguished itself by its activity and captured the malefactors Silvestre Lindo, who held the rank of captain; Juan Loma, his lieutenant; Catalino Herrera, a sergeant; and 2 corporals, Ramon Llorca and Juan Mapulá, together with 16 men. These volunteers, as the result of their careful reconnaissance of the country where they operated, which is adjacent to the Albay boundary, were able to come upon 32 peaceable citizens who, through fear of the bandits from Albay and of the constabulary, were hidden in a large cave, most of them more dead than alive on account of the hunger and privation that they had suffered.

Mr. Furlong, in the southern part of the province, was able to capture 5 escaped prisoners, who were sentenced and sent to Bilibid in July, 1903.

Before leaving this matter it is my duty to do justice to the activity of Mr. Furlong, the only constabulary officer during that period who was in charge of the entire district of the eastern and southern pueblos of the province, and who devoted all of his energies and displayed great zeal in maintaining peace and good order.

On May 22 of this year we had the misfortune to lose Señor Rufino Gerona, the late municipal president of Bulan and the chairman of the committee of public order of this province, a person whose work, probity, stainless honor, and intelligence have won for him the affection of the entire province. He was the indefatigable pursuer of Francisco de la Cruz and Colache et al. during the years 1901 and 1902, never abating his efforts along this line until they were captured. The deeds of the late lamented Señor Gerona speak more for him than all that Capt. and Inspector H. P. Nevill, Capt. and Inspector John W. Swann, Major Garwood, and myself could say about him.

I would also place on record the brilliant conduct of the commanding officer of the Donsol Volunteers, Mr. Aguilar, who cheerfully and with resignation bore up under the privations of the campaign admirably, and defended his territory from invasion by the malefactors of Albay. Neither he nor any of his men received pay other than that furnished by the generosity of the public, and yet not a single abuse was ever reported as having been committed by them, but, on the contrary, these volunteers have been most highly praised on account of their having been able to carry on the severe work of the campaign without any resources other than those within their reach.