The Philippines: Past and Present Volume I Part 45

In the educational campaign which we have thus far conducted with some considerable degree of success, two agencies have proved invaluable, namely the Catholic Church and the public schools. Again and again I have begged Apostolic Delegate Monsignor Agius and Archbishop Harty to bring to bear the influence of the Church in favour of simple sanitary regulations, the general adoption of which was imperatively necessary in combating some epidemic of disease. They have invariably given me invaluable a.s.sistance.

Through the public schools we reach more than half a million children, and they take the information which we convey to them home to their parents. Simple rules for the prevention of cholera have been universally taught in the schools. When the use of English has become generalized the difficulty now encountered in reaching the common people will largely disappear. The truth is that they are singularly tractable and docile when their reason can be effectively appealed to. The readiness with which they have submitted to the rigorous measures necessary for the elimination of leprosy is a lasting honour to them.

Would the sanitary campaign so vitally important to the people of the Philippines be effectively continued if American authority were withdrawn at this time? With regret I must answer this question emphatically in the negative. We have succeeded in training a few good physicians and surgeons. We have thus far failed to train really efficient sanitary officers. What is lacking is not so much knowledge as to what should be done as initiative and courage to do it. Until this condition changes radically for the better, Filipinos cannot safely be intrusted with the sanitary regeneration of their country. Under American control the population of the islands is steadily and rapidly increasing. It is my firm conviction that if Filipinos were at this time placed in control of the health work, the population would steadily and rapidly decrease.

The present att.i.tude of the Filipino press toward sanitary work is both interesting and important. I quote the following editorial from the March 27, 1913, issue of _El Ideal_, a paper generally believed to be controlled by Speaker Osmena:--

"Some persons, who, because of being ignorant of many things, do not sympathize with the Filipino people, who are in the habit of frequently throwing up to them the violent opposition of our ma.s.ses to strict sanitary measures in cases of epidemics, and the lively protests which are provoked here on some occasions by other provisions tending to end some public calamity, thinking they see in this disposition of mind an indication of our incapacity to govern ourselves....

"To be more expressive, we shall say that the sanitary agents and veterinarians of the government, swollen with power and overly zealous of their prestige, quickly become, when an occasion like those cited by us presents itself, cunning czars, whose sphere of influence is in direct ratio to the peaceful character and ignorance of the people intrusted to their care, and whose excesses and abuses recognize no limits but the natural ones established by the greater or lesser honour of those public servants, their greater or lesser cynicism, and their greater or lesser degree of temerity.

"This, and nothing else, is the logical and natural explanation of the hostility of our people toward those measures of good government which are sincerely esteemed for what they are worth, but for which they have veritable terror because of the nameless abuses to which they give rise.

"These comments are of palpitating current interest at this moment, when reports are made almost daily to the press and the proper authorities of misbehaviour and excesses befitting soulless people who live without the law committed by persons who should be examples of prudence, honesty and good manners, for it is in this concept that the people are compelled to furnish them their daily bread."

It is deeply to be regretted that the public press of the islands has not yet become sufficiently enlightened to join in the great sanitary campaign which has already relieved an enormous amount of human suffering and has greatly increased the expectancy of life of the people of the Philippines.

The Philippine a.s.sembly has repeatedly pa.s.sed acts providing for the creation of a sort of sanitary council of numerous members authorized to pa.s.s on public health measures proposed by the director of health and instructed to disapprove them if not in accordance with the beliefs and customs of the Filipinos.

In protecting the public health in the Philippine Islands emergencies constantly arise which must be instantly and effectively met. It would be as logical to place a commanding general directing a battle under the control of an advisory board as it would thus to tie the hands of the director of health, and it is difficult to see how any competent and self-respecting sanitarian could be willing to continue to hold this position if so hampered.

The Philippine Commission has heretofore invariably tabled the acts designed to accomplish this end, but that body has now been "Filipinized" and its future att.i.tude on this very important question is therefore in doubt. Hardly had the legislative session opened in October, 1913, when the a.s.sembly again pa.s.sed the same old bill. Should it become a law, there will be occasion to watch, with especial interest, the death rate of Manila and that of the archipelago as a whole.

CHAPTER XVII

Baguio and the Benguet Road

In June, 1892, when sitting in a native house on a hill overlooking Naujan Lake in Mindoro, and anxiously awaiting the boats which were to make it possible for my party to return to the coast, I saw a small flotilla approaching.

To my surprise and regret I found that it was not coming for us, but brought a number of Spanish officers who had heard that we had some mysterious procedure for killing the tamarau, an extraordinarily wild and vicious little buffalo peculiar to this island. They had come to get us to tell them how we did it, if possible, and if not to watch us and find out for themselves.

We described to them our method, which was easily understood. It consisted in picking up a likely trail along some water course, following it until the tamarau was overtaken, and then shooting him. This looked suspiciously simple to our Spanish friends before they had tried it, and they shook their heads. After trying it they became convinced that more than a few days of experience would be necessary before satisfactory results could be obtained. They profited little by the best information we could give them, and by the services of the expert tracker whom we loaned to them. Meanwhile I obtained from one of them, Senor Domingo Sanchez, information destined to become of great importance in the development of the Philippines.

Senor Sanchez, who was an employee of the Spanish forestry bureau, told me that in the highlands of Northern Luzon at an elevation of about five thousand feet, there was a region of pines and oaks blessed with a perpetually temperate climate and even with occasional frosts. I confess that I did not believe all of his statements. I was then experienced in climbing Philippine mountains, and at five thousand feet had invariably found a hopeless tangle of the rankest tropical vegetation, with humidity so high that trees were draped with ferns, orchids, and thick moss, and dripping with moisture. However, I knew that the mere presence of pine and oak trees would mean the occurrence of special bird species feeding upon their seeds, and so determined to investigate.

A severe attack of typhoid fever necessitated my leaving the islands before I could carry out this plan, but upon my return with the first Philippine Commission in 1899 I remembered Senor Sanchez's story. In view of the probability that American occupation would continue for a long period, the existence or non-existence near Manila of an extensive highland region with a temperate climate became a question of great practical importance. I therefore caused search to be made in the Spanish archives to see what, if any, reliable information was available, and to my great satisfaction unearthed a detailed report made by a committee of three distinguished and competent Spanish officers who had spent some weeks at Baguio in the _comandancia_ of Benguet, during which period they had made six temperature observations daily, had tramped over the neighbouring country very thoroughly, had located a number of springs of potable water and determined their approximate flow, and in short had gathered a large series of very valuable data which more than bore out the statements of Senor Sanchez.

I found, furthermore, that Spanish engineers had made a survey for a carriage road into this country, and had prepared a profile of it with estimates of the amount and cost of the necessary excavation and other work.

While in Washington during the winter of 1899-1900, I brought this matter to the attention of Secretary Root. Just as the second Philippine Commission was filing out of his office, after receiving its instructions, he called out to us directing that we look into that Benguet matter, and if the facts proved to be as stated open up the country.

Mindful of these instructions the commission delegated General Luke E. Wright and myself to visit Benguet and familiarize ourselves with conditions by investigation on the ground. General MacArthur was dubious when we expressed a desire to carry out the instructions of the secretary of war. He told us that the country was very dangerous, doubtless confusing it with Bangued, the capital of Abra, near which there was at that time a strong and active Insurgent force.

We insisted on going, so he said that he would send a troop of cavalry with us, and he kept his word. During the last week of July we finally sailed from Manila on a naval vessel for San Fernando in the province of Union. From this place we expected to go by road as far as Naguilian, in the same province, and thence on horseback to Trinidad and Baguio, in Benguet.

In order to expedite investigations as much as possible we took with us Mr. Horace L. Higgins, president of the Manila and Dagupan Railway Company, who was an engineer of experience, to report on the practicability of constructing a railway to Baguio. We also took Major L. M. Maus, of the army medical corps, and Dr. Frank S. Bourns, who then held the volunteer rank of major in the same corps, to report on the possibilities of the place as a health resort. Two young naval officers went along just for the trip.

Major Maus accompanied us only because requested to do so. Taking the lat.i.tude and alt.i.tude as a basis for his calculations, he had already determined with a lead pencil and piece of paper just what the climate of Baguio must be, and had demonstrated to his own complete satisfaction that the statements of the members of the Spanish committee above referred to were necessarily false.

His first rude shock came when we were met at San Fernando by a young aide to Colonel [506] Duval, who was in command of the local garrison at that place. This lieutenant told us that some negro soldiers were stationed at Trinidad and were being kept supplied by an army pack train. I asked him how they were getting on. He said very well, except that they could not keep warm. They had called for all the spare blankets available, but still complained of the cold!

The trail proved to be in execrable condition. No repair work had been done on it since 1896, and its constant use during the then-existing rainy season by a pack train had completed its destruction. Much of the way it was a mere V in the earth, with deep mud at the bottom.

We left Naguilian early in the morning and stopped for lunch at a little place properly called Sablan, but unofficially known as "The Bells." Aguinaldo had thought at one time of establishing his headquarters in Benguet and had planned to have a gun foundry at Sablan. His troops accordingly stole most of the church bells in the neighbouring lowland towns, meaning to use them for gun metal, and compelled the unfortunate Benguet Igorots to carry them up the steep trail. Boiler pipes, which had been used in lieu of carrying poles, had in several instances been badly bent out of shape. There was even an old vertical boiler which had been lugged up entire for some unknown reason.

The labour involved must have been enormous, and we were a.s.sured that when the Igorot bearers, prostrated with fatigue, had refused to continue their t.i.tanic task without rest, they had been driven to it at the muzzles of Insurgent rifles, and that some of them had been shot as a lesson to the others. At all events, the boiler and the bells were there, and there the boiler and the larger bells have remained ever since!

It was still steaming hot at Sablan, and the whole countryside was buried in the densest tropical vegetation. Major Maus was triumphant. Things were working out just as he had predicted. However, as we were already halfway up, we thought that we might as well continue the journey. I had expected to find pines and oaks, but had antic.i.p.ated that they would grow amidst a dense tangle of damp tropical vegetation.

We were all literally dumfounded when within the s.p.a.ce of a hundred yards we suddenly left the tropics behind us and came out into a wonderful region of pine parks. Trees stood on the rounded knolls at comparatively wide intervals, and there were scores of places where, in order to have a beautiful house lot, one needed only to construct driveways and go to work with a lawn-mower. At the same moment, a delightful cold breeze swept down from the heights above us.

Just at sunset we experienced a second surprise, coming out on the knife-sharp crest of a ridge, and seeing spread before us the Trinidad Valley, which is shaped like a huge wash-basin. Its floor was vividly green with growing rice, Igorot houses were dotted here and there over its surface, and the whole peaceful, beautiful scene was illuminated by the rays of the setting sun. The air had been washed clean by the heavy rain which had poured down on us throughout the afternoon, and the sight was one never to be forgotten.

Just at dusk we reached the little settlement of Trinidad, which had been the capital of the Spanish _comandancia_ of Benguet, finding that its inhabitants were in part Ilocanos and in part Igorots.

Here we were hospitably entertained by the officers of the military post. It was so cold that one's breath showed. Major Maus improved the opportunity to indulge in a severe chill. Finding him buried under blankets, we asked his views as to the Benguet climate. They were radical! It is only fair to the Major to say that the report which he ultimately made set forth the facts fully and fairly. It did not suit General MacArthur. Years afterward, when discussing the climate of Benguet with Surgeon-General Sternberg, I referred to this report and found to my amazement that he had never seen it. He caused an investigation to be made, and it was at last resurrected from a dusty pigeonhole.

On our arrival at Trinidad we received a letter from Mr. Otto Scheerer, the one white resident of Benguet, inviting us to make our headquarters at his house when we visited Baguio. Bright and early the next morning Mr. Scheerer himself appeared on the scene and guided us to his home, where he entertained us most hospitably during our entire stay. The trip from Trinidad, a distance of four miles, was made over a wretched pony trail.

We found conditions exactly as described in the Spanish report. The country was gently rolling, its elevation ranging from forty-five hundred to fifty-two hundred feet. The hills were covered with short, thick gra.s.s, and with magnificent pine trees, which for the most part grew at considerable distance from each other, while along the streams there were wonderful tree ferns and luxuriant tangles of beautiful tropical vegetation. It took us but a short time to decide that here was an ideal site for a future city, if water could be found in sufficient quant.i.ty.

We revisited each of the several springs discovered and described by the Spanish committee, but decided that they would be inadequate to supply a town of any great size. Mr. Scheerer now came to the front and guided us to the very thing that we were looking for, but had hardly dared hope to find; namely, a magnificent spring of crystal-clear water. At that time it was flowing nearly a million gallons per day. It burst forth from a hillside in such a manner as to make its protection from surface drainage easy, and we decided that there was nothing lacking to make Baguio an admirable site for the future summer capital and health resort of the Philippines.

It was obvious that the construction of a highway from San Fernando, in Union, to Baguio would involve considerable expense, and we asked Mr. Scheerer about other possible lines of communication. A study of the Spanish maps had led us to consider two: one up the valley of the Agno River, and the other up that of the Bued River. The latter route had the great advantage of affording direct communication with the end of the railway line at Dagupan.

Mr. Scheerer took us to a point which commanded a view for some distance down the Bued River valley, and conditions looked rather favourable. Mr. Higgins undertook to make a trip down this valley to the plains of Pangasinan, reporting to us on his arrival at Manila, so we returned to that place and awaited advices from him. He was furnished with a guard of soldiers from Trinidad, and attempted to go down the river bed, but encountered unexpected difficulties, and his progress was finally checked by a box canon from which he escaped with difficulty, spending a night without food or water on a chilly mountain top known as "Thumb Peak." The following morning he managed to cross to a high mountain called Santo Tomas, whence he returned to Baguio. He was, however, of the opinion that the trip down the canon could be made without special difficulty by a party suitably provided with food and tentage.

Convinced by our report that active measures should be taken to establish communication with this wonderful region, the commission, on September 12, 1900, appropriated $5000 Mexican, "for the purpose of making a survey to ascertain the most advantageous route for a railway into the mountains of Benguet, Island of Luzon, and the probable cost thereof."

Captain Charles W. Meade, then serving as city engineer of Manila, was selected to make the survey. There was every theoretical reason to believe him competent, and we did not question either his integrity or his ability. After being absent from Manila for some time, he reported in favour of the Bued River valley route, saying that it was entirely feasible to build a railway along it.

He suggested that, as the construction of a wagon road would be necessary in building the railroad, we might as well undertake that first, and so be able to go to Baguio in wheeled vehicles before the railroad was completed. He asked for $75,000 United States currency, with which to build this road, stating that he expected to be able to do it for $65,000, but would like $10,000 as a margin of safety.

On December 21, 1901, the commission pa.s.sed an act authorizing the construction of a highway from Pozorubio, in Pangasinan, to Baguio, "the same to be built under the general supervision of the military governor and the immediate direction of Captain Charles W. Meade, Thirty-sixth Infantry, United States Volunteers, who has been detailed by the military governor for that purpose, along the general line of survey recently made by Captain Meade for a railway between said towns." The $75,000 asked for were appropriated by this act.

Work began promptly at both ends of the line. In June, 1901, I set out on my first trip through the wild man's territory in northern Luzon. Incidentally, and for my personal satisfaction only, I inspected the work on the road. We had been rather disappointed by Captain Meade's failure to make more rapid progress. At the lower end I found that delay was being caused by a huge cliff necessitating a very heavy rock cut. I was a.s.sured by Captain Meade that from this point on the line ran through dirt most of the way, so that the road could be completed very rapidly. This statement proved to be grossly in error. It took years of hard work to open up the road.

Its cost when finally ready for traffic was $1,961,847.05. Its length was forty-five kilometers eight hundred ninety-one meters, [507] of which thirty-four kilometers were in non-Christian territory. Some ten kilometers of the remainder have since been incorporated in the first-cla.s.s road system of the province of Pangasinan, as this part is chiefly used by the people of that province in shipping their agricultural products to Benguet, and in maintaining communication between their towns.

The additional cost of the road to date [508] since it was first opened is $792,434, making its total cost to date $2,754,281.05. This includes not only the actual cost of maintenance, but very extensive improvements, such as the metalling of the road from the so-called zigzag to Baguio, the construction of five steel bridges, and the replacing of all the original bridges on the road and of all the original culverts except those made of concrete or masonry.

On my arrival in Benguet in 1901, I found that good progress had been made on the upper end of the road, which had penetrated for a short distance into the canon proper without encountering any considerable obstacles.