The Philippines: Past and Present Volume II Part 33

When pursued, tamarau cows have a curious fas.h.i.+on of pa.s.sing their heads under their calves, raising them with the horns pressed down in such a way as to hold them against their necks, with forelegs hanging on one side and hindlegs on the other, and running with them. All in all, they are very interesting beasts, and we still have much to learn about them. The man who attempts to hunt them with anything but a heavy and thoroughly reliable rifle is a fool.

Crocodiles of the largest size frequent many of the streams and most of the lakes in the Philippines. They are also to be seen occasionally on sandbars rising out of the sea. Doubtless they will some day be shot for their hides, but as yet they are left undisturbed, unless they display special proclivities for eating human beings, valuable horses or fat cattle. The Filipinos claim that with crocodiles the liking for human flesh is an acquired taste, and that it is only in comparatively rare instances that they become man-eaters, as do tigers. I believe that this is true. Certainly, I have seen a clear pool full of happy Tagbanua children with a big crocodile lying in plain sight at the bottom of it. On the other hand, I have known of individual crocodiles, of evil reputation, each of which have killed numbers of human beings. In one little pool crossed by a trail which I have had occasion frequently to use in Cagayan province ten persons were pulled down and devoured in three years. Most men who use the rifle sooner or later become interested in putting these vicious reptiles out of the way whenever opportunity offers.

Hunters and fishermen, in search of new and exciting experiences, will not fail to meet with them in the Philippines, and the tourist will find there much that is picturesque, strange or wonderful.

CHAPTER x.x.x

PHILIPPINE LANDS

Especial interest attaches to the subject of Philippine lands for three reasons: first, the very large majority of small landholders in the islands have no t.i.tles; second, there are enormous areas of unoccupied, unclaimed, uncultivated land which are doing no one any good at present and ought to be brought under cultivation as rapidly as possible; third, not only insular government officials, but Mr. Root and Mr. Taft have been very unjustly attacked for the land policy pursued in the Philippines.

As regards owners.h.i.+p, some 31,879 square miles may be considered to be private land to which owners have obtained t.i.tles or could have done so had they known how to a.s.sert their rights. Only about 8937 square miles of this total amount are estimated to be under cultivation at the present time.

Excepting only private lands and a few acres belonging to munic.i.p.al or provincial governments or to the insular government as the case may be, the remaining land const.i.tutes the public domain of the Philippine Islands which is the property of the government of the United States, but is administered by the insular government. It is made up of forest land, mineral land, agricultural land, and foresh.o.r.e and land under water.

Fifty-four thousand square miles are estimated to be forest land. The rest is now provisionally cla.s.sified as agricultural land for the reason that the mineral land and foresh.o.r.e have never been segregated.

The condition in which private land t.i.tles were found at the time of the American occupation was very distressing. It had been a difficult matter to secure t.i.tle under the Spanish regime and the very large majority of the common people had accordingly put it off until a mythical to-morrow which never came. Even those who had succeeded in obtaining formal doc.u.ments had in many instances lost them as a result of the vicissitudes of war.

The Public Land Act of the Philippine Commission, pa.s.sed under the provisions of the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, became effective on July 26, 1904. It contained liberal provisions relative to Spanish grants and unperfected t.i.tles.

Any citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States or of any insular possession thereof over the age of twenty-one years or the head of a family can obtain a forty-acre homestead by five years of cultivation, two years of occupancy and the payment of $10.

The Public Land Act also provided for the issuance of a free patent to a tract not exceeding forty acres in extent to any native of the Philippine Islands then an occupant and cultivator of unreserved, unappropriated, agricultural public land who had continuously occupied and cultivated such land either by himself or through his ancestors since August 1, 1898; or who prior to August 1, 1898, continuously occupied and cultivated such land for three years immediately prior to such date, and who had been continuously since July 4, 1902, until the date of the taking effect of the Public Land Act, an occupier and cultivator of such land.

Most liberal provision was thus made for the small landowner, or would-be landowner, but neither Congress nor the commission reckoned with the ignorance of the common people nor with the opposition to the acquisition of land by poor Filipinos which developed on the part of their richer and more intelligent fellow-countrymen. This latter difficulty has proved to be a quite serious one. The cacique does not wish his labourers to acquire land in their own right, for he knows well enough that if they did so they would become self-supporting, and it would cease to be possible for him to hold them as peons, as is commonly done at present. Serious obstacles are therefore frequently thrown in the way of poor people who desire to become owners of land, and if this does not suffice, active opposition is often made by munic.i.p.al officers or other influential Filipinos, who claim as their own private property land which poor men are trying to get. [158]

The Bureau of Lands now interests itself actively and directly in protecting the public lands against such spurious claims, and thus keeps large areas open to claim by the common people.

Absolute ignorance of the law was the commonest of all causes of the failure of the poor to take advantage of its very liberal provisions. Every known resource was exhausted in endeavouring to enlighten them. Pamphlets informing them of their rights were published in all important native dialects, and widely circulated. The schools cooperated in this good work. Provincial and munic.i.p.al officials were instructed to inform the people of their rights, but in very many cases these instructions were disregarded.

Because of the complete illiteracy of practically all of the members of the non-Christian tribes in Benguet and Lepanto, I caused a survey party to be sent out from the Bureau of Lands to inform them of their rights and to a.s.sist them in making the necessary applications. It was from this territory that proportionately the largest number of applications were sent in.

The period within which applications might be made was extended from January 1, 1907 to January 1, 1909, yet it is undoubtedly true that when it finally expired the vast majority of those who might have profited by the free patent privilege had failed to take advantage of it because of ignorance that it existed.

With the rapid spread of the English language such a condition would not now arise. At its last session the Philippine Legislature pa.s.sed an act to renew for a period of ten years the right to secure free patent, but this act, like the one which it amends, is subject to the approval of the President and of Congress. It is to be hoped that such approval will be given. In my opinion every reason which made it advisable to grant free patents in the first instance is still of full force.

The total number of homestead applications received since the Public Land Act took effect is only 19,313, and of these it has been necessary to reject 4811 because the provisions of law were not complied with. Forty-eight patents have been issued, and there are 8225 approved applications, while 6219 not yet approved by the bureau are pending.

The figures for free patents are as follows: Number of applications, 15,885; free patents issued, 722; cases still pending, 11,871; rejected for cause, 3292.

One reason why so many of the free patent cases are still pending is that there never has been, and is not now, a sufficient force of surveyors to keep the work of the Bureau of Lands up to date, all efforts to secure the necessary additions to this force having failed.

Under the Land Registration Act provision was made for the issuing of so-called Torrens t.i.tles for which the government is virtually responsible, once they are given out, so all that is now necessary to make it possible rapidly and effectively to remedy the existing situation is the appointment of a sufficient number of judges in the Court of Land Registration.

Government lands of provinces or munic.i.p.alities are chiefly those needed and utilized as sites for public buildings, plazas and the like. The insular government owns a similar cla.s.s of lands, and has certain lands in trust, such as the San Lazaro Estate, which was set aside long ago as a source of income for the support of lepers, but the so-called friar lands, which have a history of their own, are its most important holdings.

Under the Spanish regime several of the religious orders acquired large wealth in the form of estates, most of which were brought under high cultivation, although several of the largest, like the San Jose Estate in Mindoro, and the Isabela Estate in the province of the same name, were nearly or quite uncultivated, and a number of the others contained large uncultivated areas.

Field labour was performed exclusively by tenants who were settled on the estates in large numbers and in a number of instances had built up large and well-organized towns. For various reasons bitter hostility arose between them and their landlords. In some parts of the islands the friars were detested by the populace on general principles. Furthermore, the Filipino becomes greatly attached to his home, especially if his fathers have lived there before him. Tenants on the friar estates could be, and not infrequently were, arbitrarily dispossessed, and the possibility that this might occur was a thorn in their flesh.

During the insurrection the confiscation of the friar estates was very seriously considered by the so-called Insurgent government, which nominally took over their administration. As a matter of fact, there was then no real administration of them, and the occupied lands pa.s.sed under the control of the tenants, who remained in undisturbed possession for years and came to consider themselves the virtual owners of their holdings. We have already seen how hostility to the friars reached its climax at this time. Some were killed outright, and others imprisoned under such conditions as to make death probable, but the majority of those captured were in effect held for a long time for ransom, their liberty being offered on condition of a large cash payment.

Upon the inauguration of civil government and the reestablishment of law and order the friars naturally endeavoured to rea.s.sert their rights. With few exceptions their former tenants absolutely refused to pay rent. The friars threatened action in the courts, and would have been abundantly justified in bringing it, but such a course would unquestionably have led to serious disturbances of public order.

Agitators and demagogues had succeeded in firmly convincing many of the tenants that they were the actual owners of their lands, and those of them who knew better were bright enough to take advantage of the peculiar situation.

Hostility between Filipinos and friars had become so general that the return of the latter to their parishes, accustomed as they had been to the exercise of a large measure of control over their paris.h.i.+oners, and with the memory of grave abuses recently suffered fresh in their minds, was deemed to be undesirable, but their permanent withdrawal from the provinces was hardly feasible so long as they continued to hold very large estates there. It was believed to be in the public interest to encourage the several tenants to buy their individual holdings so that they might become responsible landowners rather than remain discontented and ready at any time to become ladrones. It was believed that without great difficulty they could be persuaded to attorn to the government, and that if the estates could be purchased at a reasonable price individual holdings could eventually be sold to their occupants. Because of the beneficial influence of such a course on public order and the probable resulting improvement in social conditions, the purchase of these estates was believed to be in the public interest.

Had there been sufficient funds in the treasury the insular government would have been within its right in making this purchase, but as the total sum involved was large, and a bond issue was required to raise it, it became necessary to get the consent of Congress. This was given in sections 63, 64 and 65 of the Act of July 1, 1902. Under the authority thus conferred the commission pa.s.sed the so-called Friar Lands Act, which provided among other things for the temporary leasing and ultimate sale of their holdings to tenants as well as for the determination of values and the fixing of rentals and purchase prices.

Naturally the first thing to be done was to get tenants to acknowledge the owners.h.i.+p of the government. Until this could be brought about little could be accomplished toward a.s.sisting them to buy their holdings. With all possible promptness temporary leases were issued to them. No effort was made carefully to ascertain the real extent or value of their holdings, and unless their statements were upon their face obviously very gravely in error they were accepted as a basis for the first leases issued. The amount of opposition which was encountered was, under the circ.u.mstances, surprisingly small, and the progress of the work was unexpectedly rapid.

Planimeter surveys were made as rapidly as possible, and it was soon found, as had been antic.i.p.ated, that tenants in general had understated both the size and value of their holdings. While the rate of rentals as compared with values remained unchanged, there was a resulting general increase in their amounts, and this caused murmuring, but no really serious trouble resulted. There followed as rapidly as possible the completion of accurate surveys and the fixing of final values which necessitated further changes in rentals. The volume of work was simply enormous. Many of the estates were divided into an incredible number of small holdings with boundaries of the utmost irregularity. An effort was made to get the consent of the tenants to a readjustment of boundaries on a rectangular system, leaving the size of their holdings unchanged but straightening them out. It had to be abandoned. A tenant would be unwilling to part with a given clump of bamboo or a magnificent mango tree planted by his great-great-grandfather. The fact that these valuable possessions occupied salient angles in his boundary naturally did not worry him at all.

The definite right to purchase their holdings was from the outset conferred upon lessees so that from the time the first leases were issued the only possible reasons for the failure of a tenant to purchase his holdings would be unwillingness to do so or lack of funds.

In pa.s.sing the Friar Lands Act, which they did during my absence on leave, the commission, none of whose members were posted on land matters, rather thoughtlessly made applicable to the sale of vacant lands the conditions and limitations of the Public Land Act.

We had been compelled to purchase some vacant estates and to forego the purchase of several which were thickly occupied, for the reason that the friars insisted on selling the one and absolutely refused to sell the other. We had to take the best bargain we could get. The vacant lands on certain of the estates could not be sold in small tracts.

The Friar Lands Act was accordingly amended by the Philippine Legislature, of which the Philippine a.s.sembly was then the Lower House, and all restrictions on the areas of those lands which might be sold were removed, so as to make it possible to get rid of the vacant friar lands.

Interest was piling up on the purchase price of the latter, and obviously it was best for the government, which had to administer them, and for the people, who had to pay the bill, that they should be disposed of as soon as possible.

Ultimately an opportunity presented itself to sell the San Jose Estate of some fifty-eight thousand acres in its entirety to an individual, and it was thus sold after consultation with the attorney-general of the Philippines and the attorney-general of the United States as to the rights of the government in the premises, and with the approval of the secretary of war and of President Taft first had. The buyer acted as an agent for Messrs. Welch, Havemeyer and Senf, who were all heavily interested in sugar growing and desired to establish a modern sugar estate in the Philippines. This fact, when it became known, was the beginning of trouble.

Two very distinct cla.s.ses of men were interested in imposing the existing legislative restrictions relative to the sale of Philippine lands. The first were influenced by the most honourable of altruistic motives. They feared the monopolization of agricultural lands and the evils of absentee owners.h.i.+p. The other cla.s.s were the representatives of certain important sugar interests in the United States who wished to keep out Philippine sugar at all hazards and had shrewdly figured out that the simplest way to do this would be to prevent its production on a commercial scale. They therefore sought to restrict the sale of public land so as to make it impossible for an individual or an a.s.sociation to buy enough to establish a modern sugar estate. This they succeeded in doing. They even went further, and by limiting the land which a corporation might own and control made it impossible for a corporation to purchase enough land of any sort for such an estate. But that is another story with which we are not here concerned.

They built a fence around Philippine lands which they deemed to be "pig-tight, horse-high, and bull-strong," but we unwittingly cut a small hole through it. The limitations on the sales of land did not apply to land belonging to the insular government which had first imposed certain restrictions on the size of the areas of vacant friar land which might be sold and had then removed them, having the same right to do the one thing that it exercised in doing the other.

The San Jose Estate was sold to an individual. By him it was sold in part to other individuals who had the undoubted right to acquire as much land as they could get, and in part to a corporation not authorized to engage in agriculture which acquired only such land as it needed to conduct its legitimate business and was therefore within its legal right. The transaction was a perfectly legitimate one from every view point. It spread consternation among the beet-sugar men, and Congressman Martin of Colorado, a state which has extensive beet-sugar interests, made upon the floor of the House a scurrilous attack upon President Taft, Secretary Root and the insular government officials concerned in which he accused them of violating the law and of having formed a gigantic conspiracy with great corporate interests, more especially with certain sugar interests, not only to deprive the friar land tenants of their holdings but to prevent Filipinos in general from acquiring land and to turn the Philippines over to the trusts. Mr. Martin and his fellows insisted that section sixty-five of the Act of July 1, 1902, in itself imposed the restrictions of the Public Land Act on the sale of friar lands; that the commission in imposing these limitations in the first instance had merely voiced the will of Congress and that its act in subsequently withdrawing them was illegal and iniquitous. They apparently lost sight of the fact that if so, the iniquity was shared by the Philippine a.s.sembly. Later they endeavoured to explain the action of the a.s.sembly by saying that it did not know what it was doing, and certain members of that body made a similar claim, for political effect. As a matter of fact, I myself explained to the members of the a.s.sembly friar lands committee the purpose of the bill with which they were then in full accord.

I requested an investigation. One was authorized by the House. It was made by the Committee on Insular Affairs. Its cost to the United States was very large. The secretary of the interior, the executive secretary, the attorney-general, the director of lands and other witnesses, were called to Was.h.i.+ngton from the Philippines and taken away from their work at a rather critical time. The result was a complete vindication of the several persons who had been attacked. Congressman Martin failed to make good his charges in any particular, and incidentally members of the committee and such other persons as cared to follow the proceedings were given a valuable demonstration of the manner in which the insular government transacts its business.

There was, however, one unfortunate indirect effect. In view of the difference of opinion among congressmen as to whether Congress had or had not intended to make the limitations to the Public Land Act relative to areas which could be sold applicable to friar lands the secretary of war issued an executive order providing that their sale should be subject to such limitations, pending an expression by Congress of its will in the matter. Congress has never acted.

There are large tracts of vacant friar lands which cannot be sold for years to come, if subject to existing restrictions, either because they are situated in very spa.r.s.ely inhabited regions where there is no demand for them on the part of would-be small landowners, or because the price as fixed by law is materially in excess of that of equally good, adjacent, unoccupied public lands which can be had subject to identical conditions as to areas purchasable. As the Philippines are "land poor," the inadvisability of such a policy would seem to be sufficiently evident. The argument against large estates is without force, both because the amount of land concerned is relatively insignificant, and because there are already in the islands so many large estates, owned in many instances by Filipinos, that the addition of a few new ones more or less would not perceptibly change the existing situation.

The question might well be raised as to the authority of the secretary of war to suspend by an executive order the operation of a law duly enacted by the Philippine legislature pursuant to powers conferred by Congress, especially as Congress has power, and has had opportunity, to disapprove it. I think it possible that the director of lands could be compelled by mandamus to sell vacant friar lands in any quant.i.ty to an individual applicant.

The facts as regards forest lands are set forth in sufficient detail in the chapter on the Philippine forests.