Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/222

pedient to do this, and they are employed in the prison in petty manufactures, such as making chairs, baskets, hats, rope, etc.

A report made to Governor Taft November 4, 1902, by J. B. Aleshire, major and quartermaster, United States Army, in charge of army transport service at Manila, clearly demonstrates the availability of native labor and strongly refutes the frequently expressed idea that such labor cannot be profitably employed. His report shows that upward of 1,800 Filipino laborers, skilled and unskilled 4 were on the pay-rolls of the Quartermaster's Department, a large proportion of whom were given regular and almost continuous employment. About 450 of the employees were engaged as launch and lighter officers and crews and were rated as unskilled, having been principally engaged in the handling of coal, freight, baggage, forage, etc.

Major Aleshire says:

"Chinese labor was formerly employed for the handling of coal, but has been abandoned and replaced by Filipino labor, which by practical tests during several months averaged more tons per day per man and at a much lower rate per ton.

"The attendance of the Filipino laborer has been and is excellent. They do not absent themselves after Sundays, holidays, or fiestas, nor during such days should they be notified in advance they will be required to work. Their physical strength is much improved, and they are capable of doing as much and as hard work as any laborer we have in the orient."

Governor Taft, in referring to the labor question in an address at Manila, said:

"I know the disposition of most Americans here is to open the doors and let in the Chinese, so that we may have Chinese cheap labor in the islands, but I am emphatically opposed to the general policy of admitting the Chinese, first, because the Filipinos have the strongest opinion that it will be for their detriment, and, second, because I believe the history of the Straits Settlements shows that it will not be for their prosperity as distinguished from the material prosperity of the islands. I am opposed to admitting any Chinese labor until it shall be made to appear that the great works of construction which are essential in the islands cannot be carried on satisfactorily with Filipino labor."

The rates of wages which have prevailed since American occupation, while low as compared with wages in the United States, have been substantially double those paid under Spanish dominion.

Fish forms one of the principal items of food of the Filipino people, and a large proportion of the people are fishermen.

Fish are caught by various devices. In favorable situations the shores are lined in the shallow waters with traps, weirs, or corrals built of bamboo, and in them a large part of the catch is made. Nets and seines of various patterns are also extensively used, as well as the ordinary hook and line, and in some localities the spear.

The markets of Manila are always bountifully supplied with fresh fish of many varieties and of fine flavor, and the fisheries in the vicinity which supply the city are said to be highly remunerative. The same is true at other centers of population throughout the Philippines.

It appears from the statements of the supervisors that about nine-tenths of the people of the islands use fish as their principal flesh diet. The average family consumes in the neighborhood of 800 pounds of fish per annum.