PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
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stimulated by the success attained in dealing collectively with their employers in their demand for higher wages and better working conditions, until at the end of 1923 a total of 120 such organizations with a paid membership of 150,000 were in existence in the whole Archipelago, the majority of them being located in tlie city of Manila. In the Philippines there are three national labour organizations controlling the majority of trade unions and other organizations, viz., Congreso Obrero de Filipinas (Labour Congress of the Philippines), Federacion del Trabajo de Filipinas (Federation of Labour of the Philippines) and the National Confederation of Tenants and Farm Labourers of the Philippines.
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
The bulk of overseas shipments are made from the port of Manila, although other smaller ports also have direct connections with foreign ports. The most important of these are Cebu, Iloilo and Zamboanga. These and the other smaller ports now open to foreign trade are growing in importance. They possess good harbour facilities, are well protected from storms, and vessels drawing 30 feet or more can load and unload alongsids their wharves with perfect safety. Nearly a thousand inter-island vessels are now operated in the coastwise trade.
Manila, the capital and chief port of the Islands, is on the largest and finest bay in the Orient. The harbour at the entrance of this bay is landlocked. The anchorage space for steamers is protected by a semi-circular breakwater within which is a basin large enough to accommodate all vessels of the size of the "Empress" liners. To-day four piers project into the harbour, and another is being projected. Regular steamship lines are maintained between Manila and Hongkong, Amoy, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Cadiz and Australian ports.
There are at present 1,272 kilometres of railroad car-lines in the Philippines. They are owned by two companies-the Manila Railroad Company, which is owned by the Government; and the Philippine Railway Company. In Manila and in the province of Rizal, electric car service is maintained by the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company, the total extent of its lines being 88 kilometres.
Next in importance to railways in the domestic transportation of the Islands are motor vehicles. Many private individuals and companies authorized by the Public Utility Commission are engaged in land transportation both for passengers and freight.
The construction of good roads open to all kinds of traffic in different parts of the Islands has been properly attended to by the Philippine Government during the past 20 years. The total extension of first-class, second-class, and third-class roads in the Islands increased from nearly 5,600 kilometres in 1910 to 10,300 kilometres in 1924. The mileage of roads rated as first-class is 3,284 miles.
There are at present two cable lines and one radio communication service in operation between the Philippines and foreign countries. Zamboanga is in radio communication with stations in North Borneo. The increased need for better and more extensive facilities for internal communication has been met by the rapid extension of telegraph and telephone lines, submarine cables, radio system and mail service.
Experiments have been made recently with aviation as a factor in the mail and passenger service, both domestic and foreign.
COMMERCE
The growth of Philippine commerce during the last ten years is shown in the following table of comparison:-
1914......
Imports P 97,177,306
Exports P 97,379,268
Total Trade P194,556,574
1915...
1916...
98,624,367
107,626,008
206,250,375
90,992,675
139,874,365
230,867,040
1917....
131,594,061
191,208,613
322,802,674
1918..
197,198,423
270,388,964
467,587,387
1919...
237,278,104
226,235,652
463,513,756
1920..
298,876,565
302,247,711
601,124,276
1921....
231,677,148
176,230,645
407,907,793
1922....
160,395,289
191,166,596
351,561,885
1923.....
174,999,494
241,505,980
416,505,474
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