THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES OF SPAIN.
The Philippines Another Example of the Shocking Misgovernment of
Spain's Outlying Possessions--Interesting Facts About the
Philippines--Spanish Oppression and Cruelty--Manila, the Capital
of the Islands--Manufactures and Trade of the Eastern
Archipelago--Puerto Rico and Its History--The Products and People
--Spirit of Insurrection Rife--The Colonies Off the Coast of
Africa Where Spain Exiles Political and Other Offenders--The
Canaries, Fernando Po and Ceuta.
From the very beginning of our war with Spain the peninsular
kingdom had reason to fear that the loss of Cuba would be but one
of the disasters to befall it in the war with the United States.
It was recognized in all quarters that the Queen Regent would have
been willing to let the Cuban insurrectionists have their island
without further protest, had it not been for the fact that giving
up probably would have incited an insurrection at home, resulting
in a loss of the crown to her son before he should have a chance
to wear it.
It was quite well understood as a like probability that the
Philippine islands, that splendid colony of Spain in the East
Indies, would be lost to Spanish control at the same time, and
that the island of Puerto Rico, the last remnant of Spain's great
colonial possessions in the Western hemisphere, after Cuba's loss,
would gain its freedom too. The Queen Regent having spurned the
only course in Cuban affairs which the United States would permit,
with American war-ships threatening Manila, it became immediately
apparent that the other horn of the dilemma which had been chosen
was as fatal to Spanish sovereignty as the first would have been.
Even Cuba, with all its abominations, scarcely afforded so
remarkable a picture of Spanish oppression, miscalled government,
as may be seen in the Philippines. It is only the remoteness and
isolation of these unhappy islands that has prevented the
atrocities there perpetrated from arousing the indignation of the
whole world. Readers are familiar enough with the shocking
barbarities practiced in times of disorder by the Spanish
authorities, and they do not need to be multiplied here, but in
the Philippines is demonstrated the utter incapacity of the
Spanish for the exercise of civilized government over a dependent
province even in times of so-called peace.
The Philippines are extremely interesting in themselves, but are
seldom visited by tourists, partly in consequence of their lying
out of the ordinary lines of travel and partly because of the
policy of Chinese seclusion cultivated by the government. The
climate, too, is unhealthy, even beyond what is usual in the
tropics, and the unsettled state of the country, swarming with
exasperated savages and bandits of the worst description, makes
excursions beyond the limits of the principal cities very
perilous. About 600 islands are included in the group, and the
total area is considerable--some 150,000 square miles, three or
four times that of Cuba, Exact data, however, are difficult to
obtain. There are a multitude of insignificant islets hardly known
except upon the charts of navigators; but Luzon almost equals Cuba
in extent. Altogether the islands probably contain less than
8,000,000 souls; so that Spanish cruelty finds plenty of raw
material to work upon.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION.
And most of it is raw to the last degree--a medley of diverse and
hostile races, ranging from the puny and dying remnant of the
Negritos, who live like wild beasts in the highlands, subsisting
upon the roots which they claw out of the ground, to the fierce
and unsubdued Mohammedan tribes that still keep up the bloody war
of creeds which raged in Spain itself for so many centuries. These
latter are chiefly of Malay origin and many of them are
professional head-hunters, well qualified to retort Spanish
outrages in kind. There are also Chinese in large numbers and
half-castes of all varieties. The proportion of Europeans is
small, even in the cities. The resident Spaniards are all soldiers
or officials of some sort and are there simply for what they can
make by extortion and corrupt practices.
The Philippine islands were discovered in 1521 by Magellan, the
circumnavigator, and were conquered by Spain and made a colony in
the reign of Philip II., for whom they were named, half a century
later. Spanish sway never has extended over more than half of the
1,400 islands of the archipelago, the others remaining under their
native wild tribes and Mohammedan rulers. The conjectural area is
about 120,000 square miles, and the estimated population about
7,500,000. About half this area and three-quarters of this
population are nominally under Spanish rule, but the insurrection
has left things in a good deal of doubt. The remainder of the
people are governed according to their own customs, by independent
native princes. Education is exceedingly backward. The Roman
Catholic clergy have been industrious, and probably 2,500,000
natives are nominal converts to the Christian religion; but
education has advanced very little among them. There is a Roman
Catholic archbishop of Manila, besides three bishops.
The history of the Philippines has included a succession of
revolutions against Spanish authority, put down by ferocious
warfare and cruelty on the part of the victors. The conversion and
subjugation of the islands were not accompanied by quite the
horrors that characterized the Spanish conquest of South America,
but the record is second only to that. Manila was captured by the
English in 1762 and was held by them for two years until ransomed
by the Spanish by a payment of 1,000,000 pounds. Contests with
rebellious tribes, attacks by pirates, volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes and tornadoes help to break the monotony of the
history.
MANILA, THE CAPITAL OF THE COLONY.
Manila, the capital city of the colony and of Luzon, the largest
island, lies 628 miles, or sixty hours' easy steaming, southeast
of Hongkong, and twice that distance northeast of Singapore. The
population of the city is about 330,000, of whom only 10,000--
including troops, government officials and clergy--are Europeans,
and not more than 500 are English-speaking people. A few American
houses have branches in Manila, so that there is an American
population of perhaps 100. The city faces a fine bay, into which
flows the River Pasig. Most of the Europeans live in Binondo, a
beautiful suburb on higher ground, across the river. There are
many native dialects, but the social, official and business idiom
is Spanish. The army of Spanish civil, religious, military and
naval officials is a leech on the people in the same fashion as it
was in Cuba. All the places of profit are monopolized by them,
appointments to choice offices in the Philippines being given to
those whom it is desired to reward for service to the government
in Spain. It is quite well understood that such an appointee is
expected to gain a fortune as rapidly as he can, by any method
possible, so that he may give way for some one else to be brought
over from Spain for a similar reward. The policy is the same as
the colonial policy of Spain in Cuba was, and the same results
have followed.
But, indeed, pillage of the wretched natives is the almost open
aim of the government--the sole end for which it is organized and
maintained; so why should petty officials be scrupulous? It is the
old Roman provincial system, denounced by Cicero 2,000 years ago,
but in Spain unforgotten and unimproved. What other use has she
for dependencies, except as a source of revenue wrung by torture
from the misery of slaves, and incidentally as a battening ground
for her savage war dogs? Here the detestable Weyler is said to
have accumulated a fortune of several millions of dollars in three
years--more than twenty times the whole amount of his salary!
The methods employed in this legalized system of robbery are
medieval in character, but often highly ingenious. One of them is
the "cedula personal," a sort of passport. Every person in the
islands and over eighteen years of age and accessible to the
authorities is required to take out one of these documents; even
the women are not exempt. The cedula must be renewed annually and
the cost is from $1.50 to $25, according to circumstances--the
chief circumstances being the victim's ability to pay. This in a
country where wages sometimes fall as low as five cents a day! And
any one who holds a cedula costing less than $3 is further
required to render the government fifteen days of unremunerated
labor.
INSTANCES OF PETTY EXTORTION.
But the cedula is only one device out of many for extracting gold
from the refractory ore of poverty. A hungry native cannot kill
his own hog or buffalo for meat without a special permit--which,
of course, must be paid for. He is not allowed to press out a pint
of cocoanut oil from the fruit of his own orchard until he has
obtained a license, and this also has its price. The orchard
itself is taxed; everything is taxed in the Philippines.
The resident Chinese are further subjected to a special tax--
whether for existing or for not being something else is not
stated. They are not popular and are treated with the most
shameless injustice. This the following incident will illustrate:
Fires are very frequent in Manila and very destructive, most of
the houses being of wood, while the poorer districts are a mere
jumble of bamboo huts, thousands of which are sometimes consumed
in a day without exciting much comment. A fire in the business
portion, however, arouses more interest; it affords opportunities
that are not to be neglected. On one such occasion, where the
scene of conflagration was a quarter chiefly occupied by Chinese
shops, the street was soon thronged with an eager mob. The poor
Chinamen, acting much like crazed cattle, had fled into their
upper chambers and locked the doors, apparently preferring death
by fire to the treatment they were likely to receive outside. But
there was no escape.
The "rescuers"--Spanish soldiers--quickly broke in with axes and
after emptying the money boxes, hurled the wretched Mongolians and
all their goods into the street, to be dealt with at discretion.
It was a mere pretext for robbery and outrage, as many of the
shops were remote from the fire and in no danger. The next morning
the middle of the street was piled high with soiled and broken
goods; and any one who cared to bribe the sentries was allowed to
carry away as much as he pleased. All day long the carts went to
and fro, openly conveying away the plunder. The owners were not in
evidence; what had become of them is not recorded. Such is the
"fire department" in Manila.
Taxes are imposed for "improvements," but no improvements are
permitted even when backed by foreign capital. The roads remain
impassable canals of mud, education is a farce, the introduction
of machinery is frowned upon and progress is obstructed.
The natural resources of the Philippines are very good, and under
a civilized administration these islands would be rich and
prosperous. But the mildew of Spanish misgovernment is upon
everything and its perennial blight is far more disastrous than
the worst outbreaks of savagery in time of war. His total
inability to maintain an endurable government in time of peace is
what marks the Spaniard as hopelessly unfit to rule.
Manila has cable connection with the rest of the world, and
regular lines of passenger steamers. The European colony has its
daily papers, which are, however, under strict censorship,
religious and military, and keeps up with the news and the
fashions of the day. Until the insurrection of the last two years,
the army, except two Spanish brigades of artillery and a corps of
engineers, was composed of natives and consisted of seven
regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. There was also a body of
Spanish militia in Manila, a volunteer corps similar to the one
which was always maintained in Havana under Spanish rule, which
could be called out by the captain-general in the event of need.
SPAIN'S FEEBLE CONTROL OF THE ISLANDS.
When the latest insurrection began, Spain shipped to its far-off
colony all the men who could be spared from service in Cuba, and
after a few months of fighting it was announced that the rebellion
was crushed. As a matter of fact, however, Spain has control of
but a comparatively small part of the islands, and the natives
elsewhere are as free from obligation to pay Spanish taxes as they
were before the discovery.
Trade restrictions have hampered the commercial progress of the colony,
but in spite of that fact their trade with the outside world is a large
one. For many years after the conquest but one vessel a year was
permitted to ply between Manila and the Spanish-American port of
Acapulco. Then the number was increased to five. Then a Spanish
chartered company was given a monopoly of the trade of the islands. When
that monopoly expired, other houses began business, until finally many
large English and German firms shared the trade, while American houses
and American ships were by no means at the foot of the list. The total
volume of the exports and imports is about $75,000,000 annually.
The manufactures of the Philippines consist chiefly of textile
fabrics of pineapple fiber, silk and cotton; hats, mats, baskets,
rope, furniture, pottery and musical instruments. Vegetable
products of great value are indigo, cocoa, sugar, rice, bamboo,
hemp and tobacco. Coffee, pepper and cassia grow wild in
sufficient quantity and quality to provide a living for those who
wish to take advantage of what nature has provided. Coal, gold,
iron and copper are mined with profit. The soil is exceedingly
fertile, and although the climate is tropical, with little change
except between wet and dry seasons, it has not been difficult for
Europeans to accustom themselves to it. The largest island is
nearly 500 miles long and 125 miles wide, while others are more
than half as large. It must be remembered that the interior of
these great islands, and the whole of hundreds of the smaller
ones, are unexplored and almost unvisited by travelers from
civilized lands, as Spanish exploration has been of little
practical value to the rest of the world or to science.
PUERTO RICO.
Puerto Rico, the smaller of the two islands which Spain held in
the West Indies, was discovered by Columbus in 1493 and occupied
by soldiers under Ponce de Leon early in the sixteenth century. It
lies well outside the Caribbean sea, in the open Atlantic, and for
this reason it is not at all affected climatically, as Cuba is, by
proximity to the continent. Its climate is determined mostly by
the ocean, whose breezes sweep constantly over the entire island,
tempering deliciously the tropical heat, of the sun.
The surface of the island is equally favorable to excellent
climatic conditions. It has no mountains, but it has hills that
extend from end to end of it and form a perfect watershed and
afford drainage for plains and valleys. Thirteen hundred rivers,
forty-seven of them navigable, drain 3,500 square miles of
territory, a territory as large as the state of Delaware. All over
its extent are, besides the principal range of hills that are by
some called mountains, round-topped hills of finest soil, which
are nearly every one cultivated. In summer the heat is not
excessive in the valleys and in winter ice never forms oil the
hills. It is a purely agricultural country and the great majority
of the natives are farmers. In the population of 810,000 are
300,000 negroes, who are now free, and since their freedom have
gone into the towns and cities and found work in the sugar mills
and at similar employments.
The native Puerto Ricans adhere to the soil. Their labors are not
severe where the soil is loose and rich, as it is every where
except near the seashore, and for reasons already stated the
climate is very favorable to a comfortable existence. The only
drawback perhaps to this comfort for dwellers on the island is
lack of substantial bridges over the many streams and the absence
of good roads.
There are a number of extensive forests on the island, and while
they resemble in their main outlines those of the other West India
islands, certain varieties of trees and shrubs exist there that
are not seen elsewhere. Baron Eggers, who in 1883 had a coffee
farm of 2,000 acres just coming into bearing, found leisure from
his other employments to explore some of the forests and--he being
an authority on the subject--the facts he discovered and reported
have been regarded of interest by travelers and students. He found
palms and a strange variety of orchid, but the palms were not so
lofty, nor the orchids so rich as they both are on the Caribbean
islands. But he found trees of great beauty and great utility in
manufactures that are not abundant on the other islands, if,
indeed, they are ever found on any of them.
The Baron describes with rapture the sabino, so called by the
natives, but by him called the talauma; it is from fifteen to
twenty feet high, with spreading branches, having large silvery
leaves and bearing immense white, odorous flowers. The hietella is
another tree that has remarkable leaves and yields beautiful
crimson flowers. He describes still another tree, without naming
it, as having orangelike foliage, large purple flowers, and as
having in its neighborhood other trees, different from it, but
resembling it and evidently allied to it. This tree, he says, is
not found elsewhere. Still another tree, the ortegon, whose
flowers are purple spikes a yard long, and whose wood is used for
timber, is common on the high lands near the coast. And there are
dye woods, mahogany and lignum vitae. Hence it is seen that the
forests of Puerto Rico are generally beautiful, and strange in
some of their features.
The words Puerto Rico are, when translated, Rich Port, and they
are very applicable to this snug spot in the Atlantic ocean, only
a short distance off the United States coast. Every variety of
soil is adapted to the growth of a particular kind of crop. The
highest hills, as the lowest valleys, are cultivated with
reference to what they will best produce. On the hills, rice; in
the valleys, coffee, cotton and sugar cane; on the rising grounds
between the valleys and hills, tobacco. Puerto Rico rice, unlike
that of the Carolinas, grows on dry lands, even on the highest
hills, without watering. It is the staple food of the laborers.
The consular report to Washington for 1897 says the product of
coffee that year was 26,655 tons; of sugar, 54,205 tons, and of
tobacco, 1,039 tons. The number of bales of cotton is not given,
but the consul expatiates on its fine quality. The richness of the
sugar lands may be judged from this item in the report: "Three
hogsheads of sugar is an average yield per acre, without using
fertilizers of any kind."
Puerto Rico is one of the finest grazing countries in the world.
Its herds of cattle are immense, and from them are supplied cattle
of a superior quality to the other West India islands. Great
quantities of hides are shipped to various countries.
Though richly agricultural as the island is, and entitled as it is
to be regarded as exclusively agricultural, in past times
considerable mining was done there, in gold, copper and salt.
Indeed, copper is still mined to a small extent, and salt is still
so plentiful that the government finds a profit in monopolizing
the sale of it.
Puerto Rico is only 100 miles in length and from fifty to sixty
miles in breadth, and as square as a dry-goods box. East and west
and north and south its coast lines run almost as regularly as if
projected by compass. It is the delight of the sailorman, as its
fertile soil is the joy of the agriculturist.
The harbor of San Juan is the chief in Puerto Rico, and one of the
best of its size in the Caribbean sea. It is safe and sheltered,
large and land-locked, and though the entrance is somewhat "foul,"
ships drawing three fathoms can enter and find anchorage within,
good holding ground being had at any depth up to six fathoms. The
bay is broad as well as beautiful, and opens toward the north, so
that a vessel laying her course from New York could, if there were
no obstructions en route, sail directly into the harbor.
The fortifications which surround the city of San Juan are, like
the Spanish pedigrees, ancient, flamboyant, beautiful to look at,
but as worthless withal. This city of about 25,000 inhabitants is
completely inclosed within imposing walls of stone and hardened
mortar from 50 to 100 feet in height. They have picturesque gates
and drawbridges, portcullises and demilunes, quaint old sentry
boxes projecting into the sea, frowning battlements, and all that;
but most of their cannon date back from the last century.
In ancient times the chief fort or castle was called the "morro," or
Moorish tower, because it was generally round; and San Juan, like
Havana, has its Morro as the most prominent point of its fortifications.
It stands on a bluff jutting out from the city walls and has a
lighthouse immediately in the rear of it. Against the seaward front of
the massive walls the ocean pounds and thunders, but the landward harbor
is quiet and safe for any craft. A broad parade ground is inclosed
within the walls, westward from the citadel, and not far off is the
oldest house in the city, no less a structure than the ancient castle of
Ponce de Leon, one-time governor here and discoverer of Florida. His
ashes are also kept here, in a leaden case, for Ponce the Lion-Hearted
was a great man in his day and cleaned out the Indians of this island
with a thoroughness that earned him an exceeding great reward.
Just under the northern wall of the castle is the public cemetery,
the gate to it overhung by an ornate sentry box, and the bones of
evicted tenants of graves whose terms of rental have expired, are
piled in the corners of the inclosure. The prevailing winds by day
are from the sea landward; by night, from the inland mountains
toward the coast. Far inland rises the conical summit of the great
Luquillo, a mountain about 4,000 feet in height, and from whose
sides descend streams that fertilize the island.
It is about ninety miles from San Juan to Ponce, the southern
port, by a fine road diagonally across the island. The Spaniards
generally are poor road-builders, but in this island they have
done better than in Cuba, and one may travel here with a fair
amount of comfort to the mile. There are several lines of
railroads building, a system being projected around the island 340
miles in length.
The city of Ponce is the largest, with a population of about 38,000 and
an export trade of vast extent. It is the chief sugar-shipping point,
though it has no good harbor, and lies nearly three miles from the sea.
It is a rather fine city, with a pretty plaza and a grand cathedral, and
its houses, like those of San Juan, are all built of stone.
Other harbors are: On the east coast, Fajardo and Humacao; on the
north, besides San Juan, Arrecibo; on the west, Aguadilla and
Mayaguez, at the former of which Columbus watered his caravels in
1493, and where the original spring still gushes forth.
Going with Puerto Rico are two small islands called Culebra and
Vieque, mainly inhabited by fishermen, but with fine forests of
dye and cabinet woods to be exploited. The commerce of the island
is mainly with the United States. We gained $1,000,000 a year in
exports to this island for the last ten years, and nearly
$3,000,000 in imports. With a staple government and under wise
control, Puerto Rico will more nearly attain to its full
productiveness. The annual sugar yield is estimated at near 70,000
tons; that of coffee, 17,000 tons; bananas, nearly 200,000,000;
cocoanuts, 3,000,000, and tobacco, 7,000,000 pounds. Gold was
originally abundant here, and copper, iron and lead have been
found. With enterprise and protection to life and property they
will be profitably exploited.
COLONIAL POSSESSIONS OF SPAIN.
The loss of Cuba and Puerto Rico did not leave Spain without
colonial possessions, as the subjoined table will show:
Area--English
Possessions in Asia square miles. Population.
Philippine Islands 114,326 7,000,000
Sulu Islands 950 73,000
Caroline Islands and Palaos 560 36,000
Marianne Islands 420 10,172
------- ---------
Total Asiatic possessions 116,256 7,121,172
Possessions in Africa
Rio de Oro and Adrar 243,000 100,000
Ifni 27 6,000
Fernando Po, Annabon, Corsico, Elobey, San Juan 850 30,000
------- -------
Total African possessions 243,877 136,000
The Sulu archipelago lies southwest of the Island of Mindanao, and
directly south of Manila and the Mindora sea. The chief island
gives its name to the group, which extends to the three-mile limit
of Borneo. The area of the whole is estimated at 950 square miles;
the population at 75,000 Melanesians.
The Caroline and Marianne, or Ladrone Islands, are more numerous,
but scarcely as important or as populous as the Sulu group. They
belong to what is sometimes known as Micronesia, from the extreme
diminutiveness of the land masses. The two groups are east and
northeast of the Philippines, and in easy sailing reach from
Manila. From east to west they are spread over 30-odd degrees of
longitude, and from north to south over 20 degrees of latitude.
The inhabited islands are of coral formation, generally not over
ten or twelve feet above high water mark. They are, in fact, heaps
of sand and seaweed blown over the coral reefs. Most of these
islands are narrow bands of land from a few yards to a third of a
mile across, with a lagoon partly or wholly inclosed by the reef.
Cocoanuts and fish are the chief reliance of the natives, who are
an inferior species, even for Polynesians.
First and most attractive of the African dependencies, both by
reason of natural resources and of their advantages as a naval
base, are the Canaries, which are regarded as a part of the
Spanish kingdom proper, so long and so secure has been the hold of
Spain upon them.
More extensive in area, if not more attractive for residence
purposes, is the sandy, partially desert stretch bearing the names
of Rio de Oro (River of Gold), and Adrar. The imaginary line
familiar to schoolboys under the name of the Tropic of Cancer has
an especial fondness for this region, passing near the north and
south center. The district is close to the Canaries on its
northern edge, and it is ruled by a sub-governor under the
Governor of the Canaries. There are two small settlements on the
coast The only glory Spain gets from this possession is that of
seeing its color mark on the maps of Africa.
Of the other African possessions enumerated some are hardly big
enough to be seen on an ordinary map without the aid of a
microscope. Corisco is a little stretch of coast around an inlet
just south of Cape St. John, near the equator. Fernando Po Island
will be found right in the inner crook of the big African elbow.
Annabon Island is off Cape Lopez.
Another possession or claim of the decadent peninsula monarchy
remains to be catalogued--the country on the banks of the Muni and
Campo rivers, 69,000 square miles, and containing a population of
500,000. The title to this section is also claimed by France.