Directory_and_Chronicle_1900 — Page 1057

THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines, discovered by the Portuguese Fernando de Magalhaens (Magellan), are a rich and beautiful group of islands, situate between lat. 5 and 22 deg. N., and long. 117 and 127 deg. E., and form a Spanish colony. They are surrounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Facific, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. The islands are over a thousand in number and contain an area of 52,647 English square miles, with a population, in 1876, of 6,173,632 souls. At the end of 1883 the population, including the army and navy, was estimated at 7,636,632. The principal islands are divided into twenty-six provinces, thirteen of which are on the Isle of Luzon, four on the Isle of Negros, three on Panay, and three on the Isle of Mindanao.' The islands were formally annexed to the Crown of Spain in 1565. The first Governor was Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.

The early history of the Philippines is a record of continual trouble. Conflicts between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities led to internal contentions, while both Portugal and the Netherlands coveted these rich possessions and harassed the Spaniards. In 1606 the Dutch blockaded the ports with five snips, which were, however, destroyed by the Spanish flect. Attacks were also made at different points by powerful Chinese piratical fleets. The most celebrated of these was the invasion by Li Ma Hon, who with 2,000 men landed at Manila in 1572, but was defeated and driven out by the Spaniards and natives, under the leadership of Juan de Salcedo. In 1762 the capital was taken by the English, the private property of the inhabitants being saved from plunder on the condition of the payment of a ransom of £1,000,000 sterling, half of which was paid in money and the other half in bulls upon the Spanish Treasury. In the meantime, however, peace had been concluded, and the islands were restored to Spain, payment of the balance of the indemnity not being insisted upon.

After the discovery of the islands, ecclesiastics flocked to them in large numbers, and undisturbed by the attacks on Spanish authority, the work of converting the natives was carried on with great vigour. The rengious orders in a short time acquired great power and became in effect the dominant authority. The clergy before the recent capture of Manila by the Americans (since when many have left) numbered about two thousand, and most of the natives brought under subjection profess the Roman Catholic religion. In the Philippines there has been little of that cruelty to the aboriginal population which so often characterises une process of colonization, and the natives appeared in general contented and well conducted, the priests exercising the almost unbounded influence they possessed with great effect in the preservation of order. There was, however, an undercurrent of seditious feeling, and after attempts made to throw off the Spanish yoke in 1822, 1841, 1842, 1872, and 1896, the Insurgents' opportunity came in 1898, when, upon the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Spain, they offered to co-operate with the former. The offer was accepted, with the result that while Americans took and held the city of Manila the Insurgents overthrew Spanish authority throughout the remainder of the island of Luzon and established a Government of their own with General Aguinaldo as Dictator. By the Hispano-American treaty of peace the whole of the Philippine Archipelago was ceded to the United States, but this arrangement was not acquiesced in by the Insurgents, who claimed independence, and the United States are now engaged in a war of subjugation. In the inaccessible mountainous parts of the islands there are still tribes of aboriginal savages, but their number is comparatively small. In the last census returns the number of natives not subject to the civil government and paying no tribute was given as 602,853, while the number of natives paying tribute was returned as 5,501,356. There is a considerable number of mestizos or half-castes, some of whom are the children of European fathers by native mothers and some the children of Chinese fathers.

The public revenue prior to the subversion of Spanish rule was about $15,000,000, of which the larger part was raised from direct taxes, Customs, monopolies, and lotteries. The chief articles of produce are sugar, hemp, tobacco, and coffee. The foreign trade is confined to the ports of Manila, floilo, Cebu, and Zamboanga.

The climate of the Philippines varies little from that of other places in the same latitude. The range of the thermometer during the year is from a little over sixty degrees to about ninety. The year may be divided into three seasons, the first, cold and dry, commences in November; the second, warm but still dry, commences in