Directory_and_Chronicle_1918 — Page 1421

THE PHILIPPINES

The Thilipine Islands, discovered by Fernando de Magalhaes (Magellan), a Por tuguese in the service of Spain, on March 7, 1521, are a rich and beautiful group of islands, situate between Lat. 5 and 22 deg. N., and Long. 117 and 127 deg. E. They are surrounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. They lie about 600 miles off the coast of China. The northernmost group is but a short distance south of the Japanese island of Formosa, while the southernmost extremities reach close to Borneo and the Celebes. The total number of the islands is 3,141, of which 1,668 are known by name, while 1,473 are, so far as known, without names. The total area of the islands is 115,026 square miles. The two largest are Luzon with 40,969 square miles, and Mindanao with 36,292 square miles; there are nine other islands of more than 1,000 square miles and less than 10,000; twenty between 100 and 1,000 square miles, and the remainder are beween 1 and 10 square miles. The islands are divided into 38 provinces, 21 of which are on the island of Luzon, four on the island of Negros, three on Panay, and four on the island of Mindanao. The total population of the Philippines is estimated to be 8.000,000 or 9,000,000, of which about 647,740 belong to the non-Christian, or uncivilized, tribes.

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 ships, which were, however, destroyed by the Spanish fleet. 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 1574, 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 bills upon the Spanish Treasury. In the meantime, however, peace had been concluded, and the islands were restored to Spain, payment of the balance 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 religious orders in a short time acquired great power and became in effect the dominant authority. The clergy before the 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 the 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 had to carry on subjugation. In the inaccessible mountainous parts of the islands there are still tribes of aboriginal savages, but their number is comparatively small. 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.

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The chief articles of produce are sugar, hemp, tobacco, copra and coffee. The foreign trade was confined to the ports of Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, and Zamboanga, but on