The Philippines: Past and Present Volume II Part 37

-------------+----------------------- | Total of Permanent | Bridges and Culverts Fiscal Year | in Existence +------------+---------- | Number | Per Cent -------------+------------+---------- 1907[176] | 3,280[176] | -- 1908 | 3,631 | 11 1909 | 3,865 | 6 1910 | 4,372 | 13 1911 | 4,842 | 11 1912 | 5,181 | 7 1913 | 5,660 | 9 -------------+----------+------------

The old Spanish road system was quite extensive and very well planned, but the amount of really good construction was very limited. The system of maintenance was faulty, and the abandonment of maintenance during the insurrection against Spain and the war with the United States resulted in the almost complete destruction of many roads which were in fairly good condition at the time public order became seriously disturbed. The total value of Spanish work on existing roads is estimated at $1,800,000. The total value of all American work up to June 30, 1911, is estimated at $6,100,000.

The imperative need of better highways throughout the islands was brought home by the difficulties encountered by the army during the insurrection, and the first act of the Philippine Commission, pa.s.sed on the twelfth day after the commission became the legislative body of the islands, appropriated $1,000,000 ($2,000,000 Mexican) for the construction and repair of highways and bridges.

Much of this money was very advantageously expended by the military, who contributed a large amount of transportation free of cost. Unfortunately, while the necessity for roads was at this time fully appreciated, there was failure to appreciate the extraordinary rapidity with which tropical rains and vegetation destroy good roads in the Philippines. We further failed to appreciate the absolute indifference of the Filipinos themselves as to whether roads once built are or are not maintained.

One of the first large pieces of work undertaken was a road from Calamba on the Laguna de Bay to Lipa, an important town in the province of Batangas, and thence to the town of Batangas itself. This road ran for its entire extent through a rich agricultural district. I pa.s.sed over it when the dirt work had all been completed, and when all but two short stretches were surfaced. I certainly had vigorously impressed upon me the necessity of surfacing. Over that portion of the road which had been so treated an automobile could have been driven at sixty miles an hour. Over the remainder of it, built by the same engineer, shaped up in the same way, and as good a dirt road as could be constructed, four mules could not haul the ambulance in which we were riding without our a.s.sistance. We had to get out and literally put our shoulders to the wheel, or tug at the spokes, in order to enable the faithful beasts to extricate the ambulance from the mora.s.ses into which the two unsurfaced stretches had been converted.

Needless to say, the surfacing was completed as soon as possible, and then came what the Filipinos call a great desengano. [177] I venture to say that from the time the road was finished until it was completely destroyed there was never a shovelful of dirt nor a basketful of gravel placed upon it. In 1908 I attempted to drive over it in one of the two-wheeled rigs known as carromatas, which will go almost anywhere. I was upset twice in as many miles and gave up the attempt.

For a considerable time the destruction of roads almost kept pace with their construction, and until 1907 the small amount of provincial funds available usually resulted in failure to attempt repairs until both surfacing and foundation had been badly injured or destroyed. The remnants of old Spanish roads still existing, and the new roads constructed by Americans, were in danger of being wiped out. It was then decided that further insular aid for road construction should not be given until the indifference of provincial officials could be overcome, and funds provided for proper maintenance. It was further decided that roads and bridges should be considered as on a basis similar to that of other government property, and that maintenance must take precedence over new construction. Regulations providing for it were outlined and incorporated in a proposed resolution which was submitted to the several provincial boards with the information that further insular funds would not be appropriated for any province until its board pa.s.sed this resolution, thereby agreeing to provide road and bridge funds by means of the so-called double cedula tax, and perpetually to maintain the heavily surfaced roads then in existence within its limits.

The cedula tax is an annual personal or poll tax. The amount originally fixed by the commission was one peso, but legislation was subsequently enacted empowering provincial boards to increase it to two pesos, the additional amount to go for road and bridge work.

Most of the provinces promptly took the suggested action, and the few which at first stood out were soon compelled by popular opinion to follow suit. It is not too much to say that real progress in permanent road and bridge construction in the Philippines dates from 1907 when the present regulation relative to maintenance was put into effect.

Provision was made for a yearly provincial maintenance appropriation of not less than $282 per mile of duly designated road. Stone kilometer posts were erected beside all improved roads.

During the rainy season one caminero, or roadman, is stationed on each kilometer section. During the dry season one caminero cares for a two-kilometer section. These men are constantly at work cutting the encroaching vegetation from the lateral banks, keeping drains clear, and immediately filling depressions in the road-bed as they appear, using for the purpose material stored in specially constructed bins placed at regular intervals and kept filled with broken stone and gravel. Heavy repair work which may be necessary after great typhoons or floods must be specially provided for.

The inspection of each kilometer of road is made as follows: daily, by the sub-foreman; bi-weekly, by the foreman; monthly, by the district engineer; and tri-monthly by the division engineer.

Under this system, in spite of unfavourable climatic conditions the reconstructed or newly constructed Philippine roads are to-day maintained far better than are most of the roads in the United States, and one may drive automobiles over them at top speed. Numerous freight and pa.s.senger automobile lines have already been established.

The average present cost of constructing heavily surfaced roads, including bridges which are apt to be numerous and expensive, is $8250 per mile.

Only first-cla.s.s bridges, of concrete, masonry or steel, are permitted on main roads in the lowlands. Arbitrary enforcement of this rule is the one thing about the present road system which in my opinion affords grounds for legitimate criticism.

While no one can dispute the wisdom of constructing bridges of hard materials whenever this can be done, it is possible to carry too far the policy of limiting construction to such materials, and in my opinion it has been carried too far in a number of instances.

Years ago a good automobile road was constructed from Cagayan de Misamis to and beyond the barrio of Agusan, which is the point of departure for the main trail into the sub-province of Bukidnon. Numerous small streams on this road were bridged with reenforced concrete, but proper allowance was not made for their terrific rise during heavy rains in the highlands and almost without exception the bridges were destroyed during the first severe typhoon. Funds are not yet available for their reconstruction with strong materials. Meanwhile nothing has been done. The road is therefore impa.s.sable during heavy rains, as the streams cannot then be forded. Meanwhile, our "temporary" wooden bridges on the connecting trail system, constructed before the bridges on the coast road were built, remain intact, and render it possible always to cross streams much larger than any of those which intersect the coast road.

Of course if the hard and fast rule governing bridge construction in the lowlands is once departed from, its enforcement may become difficult. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that existing regulations should be so modified as to authorize and encourage the construction of temporary bridges in such cases as that above cited.

The enormous change which road construction has produced in ease of travel, and in reduced cost of transporting farm products, cannot be appreciated by one unfamiliar with conditions in Spanish days. Then the ordinary country road was a narrow ditch sloping in on both sides toward the bottom, this condition being brought about by failure to provide proper drainage so that there was tremendous erosion during the rainy season, at which time these so-called roads became converted into deep quagmires by the action of very narrow-tired solid wooden cart wheels, most of which were fixed upon their axles. It was not unusual to see carts in mud up to their bodies, seeming to float on it while being pulled by floundering carabaos. Many of the roads were so bad that wheeled vehicles could not be used even during the dry season, and their place was taken by so-called cangas, or bamboo sledges, which also caused rapid road destruction. When all else failed, the Filipino mounted his faithful carabao, which could swim the unbridged streams if the current was not too swift, and could successfully negotiate deep quagmires, and thus he journeyed from place to place, leaving the transportation of his products until the coming of the dry season.

The use on improved roads of cangas, and of carts with narrow-tired wheels or with wheels fixed on their axles, is now forbidden by law. The carts permitted to be used have broad tires that help to smooth the roads instead of cutting them to pieces.

As already stated, this road system is supplemented in the wilder parts of the archipelago, so far at least as the special government provinces are concerned, by a trail system which is rapidly being extended. The trails, which are at first built only wide enough to permit the pa.s.sage of horses, are on grades such that they can be converted into roads by widening and surfacing, and are gradually widened in connection with the maintenance work so as to permit the pa.s.sage, first of narrow-tired carts, and later of carts of ordinary width. Indeed one such trail extending from Baguio, in Benguet, to Naguilian, in the lowlands of the neighbouring province of Union, has already been sufficiently widened to permit the pa.s.sage of automobiles, and the same thing can be done with any of the others when occasion requires.

It has been most interesting to note to what an extent the construction of good roads and trails and the cultivation of the land in their vicinity have gone hand in hand. The prosperity of the country has been enormously increased by the carrying out of the present sensible road policy for which Governor-General W. Cameron Forbes is primarily responsible.

The policy of the Forbes administration contemplated the steady continuance of road and bridge construction and maintenance until a complete system, which had been carefully worked out for the entire archipelago, should have been finished.

What would result if road and bridge work were turned over to a Filipino government? Judging from their absolute failure to maintain any roads until the insular government a.s.sumed control in 1907, and from the present neglect of munic.i.p.alities to care for the sections of road for which they are responsible, we are justified in saying that new construction would promptly cease; maintenance would be neglected; existing roads would be destroyed; bridges would be left up in the air by the destruction of their approaches, and would ultimately go to pieces, and the whole system would come to rack and ruin.

To be sure, the Filipino politicians loudly a.s.sert that they are heartily in sympathy with the present road policy of the government, but this is largely because the securing of government aid for roads in their respective provinces increases their popularity with the people, and the probability that they will be reelected. If it were left for them to determine whether money should be expended for this purpose or for some other which would more immediately inure to their private benefit, there can be no two opinions as to the result.

The continuance of American control for the present is absolutely essential, if proper means of communication and aids to navigation are to be established and maintained in the Philippine Islands.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES

If the commercial possibilities of any region are to be attractive to Europeans or Americans, it must have a just and stable government; a reasonably healthful climate; fairly good means of communication and transportation; forest, agricultural, mineral or other wealth, and labour with which to develop it. Proximity to main lines of travel and to markets is also an important consideration.

The present [178] government of the Philippines is highly effective and the state of public order leaves little to be desired. Doubt has been expressed as to the stability of the existing regime, but it is at the very least safe to a.s.sume that the United States will never withdraw from the islands without leaving behind a government which will a.s.sure to the residents of the archipelago, foreign and native, personal safety, just treatment and security of property rights.

Health conditions are now excellent, and the death rate among whites at Manila is lower than that in many European and American cities. If one will only vary the monotony of the continuous warmth by making an occasional trip to Baguio, and take reasonable precautions as to food, drink and exercise, there is no reason why one should not die of old age.

Means of communication by land are now fairly good and steadily improving. The seas are well lighted and the main lines of sea travel have been carefully surveyed.

The islands have many beautiful harbors and, as we have seen, at Manila, Cebu and Iloilo extensive harbour improvements have already been made. There are no special difficulties attendant upon the loading or unloading of ships anywhere in the archipelago. The rapid extension of highways, and the construction of additional railways, are facilitating and cheapening land transportation.

The natural resources of the country are unquestionably vast. I have already devoted a chapter to the discussion of the forests and their wealth.

As to the mineral resources, while we have much still to learn we already know that there are excellent lignite, some c.o.king coal and extensive deposits of high-grade iron ore and of copper. One flourishing gold mine is now giving handsome returns, and several others seem to lack only the capital needed to develop them on a considerable scale in order to make them pay; dredges are operating for gold with great success in the vicinity of Paracale in eastern Luzon, and there are other gold placer fields in the islands which are worthy of careful investigation. The prospect of obtaining in quant.i.ty a high-grade petroleum with paraffine base rich in low-boiling const.i.tuents is very good.

Difficulties in the way of the development of the mining industry are to be found in the disturbances of geological formations which are inevitably met with in volcanic countries, in the dense tropical vegetation which in many regions covers everything and renders prospecting difficult, and in the unevenness of the rainfall which in some parts of the archipelago results in severe floods at one season and in the lack of sufficient water to furnish hydraulic power at another. But we are at least free from the troubles incident to freezing cold, and in my opinion a prosperous mining industry will ultimately be built up in the Philippines.

Agriculture has always been, and will doubtless long continue to be, the main source of wealth. In the lowlands may be found conditions of soil and climate favourable to the growing of all important tropical products. Owing to the position of the islands with reference to the northeast and southwest monsoons, practically any desired conditions as regard humidity and the distribution of rainfall can be found. There are regions which have strongly marked wet and dry seasons, and regions in which the rainfall is quite uniformly distributed throughout the year. In some provinces the heaviest rains come in January, while in others they come in July or August. The Philippine Weather Bureau has gathered an immense amount of very valuable rainfall statistics and is constantly adding to its present store of knowledge. Father Jose Algue, its distinguished director, can always be depended upon to furnish any obtainable information.

But this is not all. We are not confined to tropical products. In the highlands of Luzon and of Mindanao practically all the vegetables and many of the grains and fruits of the temperate zone may be produced.

When well fed, properly directed and paid a reasonable wage, the Filipino makes a good field labourer. Much of his so-called laziness is unquestionably due to malnutrition. A diet made up largely of rice, especially if that rice be polished, does not develop a maximum of physical energy.

When threshing machines were first introduced it was impossible to get Filipinos to handle the straw. The work was too strenuous for them. We soon discovered that by picking fairly strong men, and feeding them plenty of meat, we could make them able and willing to do it.

Some extraordinary misstatements have been made as to Manila's position with reference to main lines of travel and to markets. In this connection Blount says that it is an out-of-the-way place so far as regards the main travelled routes across the Pacific, [179]

and adds that shippers would not take to unloading cargo there before finally discharging it on the mainland of Asia.

With singular inconsistency he also says that Manila could never succeed Hongkong as the gateway to Asia. [180]

One might almost believe him ignorant of the fact that Hongkong is an island, separated from the continent of Asia, and that the very thing which he says would not happen at Manila, to wit the "unloading by way of rehearsal, before finally discharging on the mainland of Asia,"

is the thing which has made Hongkong harbour one of the busiest ports in the world.

Manila has numerous very definite advantages over Hongkong. Health conditions are vastly better, and there is far less danger that crews of vessels will become infected. Ocean going steamers come alongside piers and unload directly into great sheds which protect goods during storms. The pier sheds have direct connection with the electric railway system of the city, so that freight can be quickly and cheaply transported under cover. The Manila breakwater affords excellent protection during typhoons, whereas Hongkong harbour is periodically swept by storms which cause great damage to shipping and very serious loss of life.

Hongkong is a free port, but the construction of bonded warehouses at Manila for the reception of goods intended for reshipment would largely make up for the fact that Manila is a port of entry.