The economic outlook of the Filipino

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: The economic outlook of the Filipino
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 6 (No. 7) July 1926
Year: 1926
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Fulltext: 20 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1926 The most vital of all Philippine questions today is not by any means political. It is purely economic. Possessed of great resour ces in land, a fair climate, and equal op portunity the per capita production from these resources re Great Resources mains about what it Are Still was under the muchNoolw'tpJ discussed Spanish reNeglected gime. With gov ernment in the hands of the Filipinos for the last twelve years, it is a lamentable fact that they have done so little (except on paper) towards developing the country. The question then arises: Is there any way in which Uncle Sam has neglected his opportunities along economic lines? The land, the only resource of the islands, is of course a closed preserve, practically, and made so by those whose sentiments were more highly developed than their brains. But what about those who should make these lands a productive asset instead of a political liability? Have we or they evolved any sane system regarding this particular, or have we sentimentally neglected this in an effort to be benevolent? We may safely answer this in the affir mative, we have been guilty of neglect; for in spite of the mouthings about the dignity of labor, in spite of the voluminous annual reports, in spite of specious excuses, and passing the buck delightfully, we have sad dled them with an academic system of edu cation that has evolved into an air-tight bureaucracy that leads away from, instead of towards, the goal of every Our Failure Filipino—his economic indeWith Public pendence. In a confessedly Education agricultural country the most vital question is not that of the question of sovereignty, or the iridescent bubble of political independence. The paramount issue with the native of the provinces, the twelve millions, is one of comparative prosperity. And the first duty of a real patriot is to provide a decent living for himself and his family, a duty perhaps which is the last thought of both the poli tician and the bureaucrat steeped in bovine complacency and provided with the 57 varie ties of stock excuses. True, some will say that the economic salvation of every country lies in its own hands, or rather in those to which they have delegated it. Before capital can be employ ed a spirit of willingness to engage in agri cultural actitivities is of course necessary. . Of the twelve million who live in the provinces and who form the Filipino peoples, the earning capacity is yet extremely low. The well-dressed people of Manila are no __ » criterion of these millVlanila One Thing lions, for even if the And Provinces opinions of the capital Another are vociferous, there is no reason to believe that these are shared by the hewers of wood and the drawers of water. This is a fact much betrer seen through the provin cial microscope than through the Manila telescope. Prosperity is of course relative although the desire for it is universal. It j connotes the living of normal lives. Without I prosperity amongst the millions it is of little real value to point out fortunes made —perhaps during the war-period, by bor rowing money. Take the sugar industry. Even with the preferential now enjoyed it is a hard matter ccrn in spite of all that’s sung. Labor may be to convince anyone that it is a going conAgents Hawaiian-Philippine Company Operating Sugar Central Silay, Occ. Negros, P. I. Mindoro Sugar Company San Josi, Mindoro, P. I. inefficient; on the other hand, wages paid in Cuba and Hawaii are almost double. It is all, of course, a matter of cost of produc tion in the last analysis, but the incubus of indebtedness under which the sugar indus try is l-.boring is perhaps the greatest han dicap of all. Anyhow, manv of the owners on paper of the haciendas and centrals, are in a quandary as to who is the real owner. With the cost production relatively high and the hectare-yield so low, the need of ade quate and efficient agricultural labor will be found to be the chief root of all the evils of this industry. The tobacco industry is perhaps the poorest rewarded of all agricultural activities in the islands—that is, the actual producer. A trip through the tobacco regions and a glance at the flimsy broken-down houses and the poverty-stricken and dejected air of the producer is enough to impress even > • i . • i the casual visitor that Impractical Aid these farmers have the To Tobacco lowest earning capacity Farmers a1' those engaged in wresting a living from the soil. While the Spanish monopoly in its heyday made many millions and was the first endeavour to make the Philippines economically independent of Mexico, whence the annual silver subsidy was drawn, it did not put much into the pockets of the pro ducers. Its stringent regulations accom plished, however, one thing. They produced excellent tobacco, and Manila cheroots were known all over the seven seas. That many WELCH-FAIRCHILD, Ltd. SUGAR FACTORS AND EXPORTERS MANILA, P. I. Cable Address: WEHALD, Manila Standard Codes New York Agents: Welch, Fairchild & Co , Inc., 135 Front Street San Francisco Agents: Welch & Co., 215 Market Street Every Man his own Doctor—? Perhaps. You may have a facility for taking good care of your health. Your eyes are a different matter. There, specialists must step in and make a decision that is based on scientific knowledge. A careful accurate examination of your eyes is their basis for judgment. Jllioays the best in quality but never higher in price. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OE COMMERCE JOURNAL July, 1926 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 21 of the regulations were reprehensible goes without saying, but they did produce a su perior product. The present experimental stations do little for the actual producer except hand him the cheapest commodity in the world—free advice. It needs more than advice to rejuvenate an industry or relieve the utter stagnation into which it has fal len. The words of a Dutch expert from Sumatra, who visited the tobacco region a couple of years ago, are perhaps pertinent. “You have here the best soil in the world, line seed, and excellent tobacco climate, but an utter lack of people with agricultural intelligence to grow tobacco. Any good crop produced is a direct dispensation oi l’ivvidence.” The rice industry, from which some five million Filipinos derive a living, is in a little better shape thar tobacco, and this we might say is not due to any government agency, but rather has occurred in spite of it. Better prices for the daily bread of the twelve million has a good deal to do with it. The rice grower not rive IVlulions being engaged in producLivo From ing an export crop, was Rice Industry ignored by the govern ment, which did not un derstand his problems. He was yelped at by politicians who desired him to produce under a fixed price during the war, and passed up as a credit risk by I he Philippine National Bank. A moribund bureau of agriculture, main ly composed of typists, could do nothing for h.m. The producer of our chief food, and also our best money crop, has tut few boosters, but lie has solved some of his problems in his own way. Cheaper’ trans portation is a great factor, the protective tariff helps, and the Chinese dealers, mil lers and distributors have been a godsend to him, for they have partly solved his credit problem. But ther? is no further ex tension of this industry, no new lands being placed under cultivation except in the old rice regions. The economic situation of the actual pro ducer leaves much to be desired. Rice is mainly produced under the share system, the landlords providing the capital and the tenants the labor, the profit being equally divided. The annual earnings of die pro ducing unit, were, in 1914, P113.30, which sum gradually rose until in 1919 it was . 1*280, which amount Families Receive practically equals 1*280 Yearly From that of this year. Rice Farming This represents the the earnings of an average family unit, not a very opulent one. In connection with this we might state that the only agricultural school for the rice region, requires deposits and expenses per year of seme P47 per student—students who work the fields half the time! It can he readily seen that few farmers’ sons can emerge from the depths with the family earnings as low as quoted. This school, founded by men of vision and abil ity, is also joining the procession of inocuous institutions. In the past it was the only bright spot in the system, and that of which visiting educators took tile most no tice. The average yield of palay in the islands is, perhaps, the lowest in the orient. What is the reason for this stagnation in national prosperity? The main reason is academic and not agricultural instruction. With the greater part cf the revenues devoted to pub lic instruction, the government keeps on making- parasites out of potential producers; it drains the rural population into the ur ban districts, and unwisely allots the price of a postage stamp per capita to the vital problem of agricultural instruction. Schools are nor merely buildings full of students. Unless the driving force of the institution is a man of real ability and vi sion the school fails of its purpose. Reduc ed to a sterotyped curriculum, the present . system merely vegePer Capita tates. Good agriculProduction tural teachers cannot Remains Low obtained at present salaries and under a stagnant bureaucracy. If they come, they speedily leave, never to return. Twentyfive years of education has done little or nothing to enable the present generation to produce as much pro rata as did their fore fathers under the Spanish regime. Why this antipathy towards the practical end of agriculture in an agricultural country exists, only God Almighty knows. Educa tion, the cornerstone of American rule, has only resulted in a plethora of theorists in the white-collar positions—and an extensive waiting list. The greatest political fulcrum THE TRADE MARK THAT GUARANTEES QUALITY The Trade-Mark That Has Identified The Choicest c7Hanila Cigars Since 1883 cA Shape for Every Taste and Every One A Source of Perfect Joy Five La Minerva Cigars with World-Wide Reputations Czars Monte Carlo Fancy Tales Excelentes Monarcas Sold Everywhere La Minerva Cigar Factory, Inc. 2219 Azcarraga Tel. 12-69 Makers of the Choicest Cigars Since 1883 is the thousands of teachers on the payroll: there is a great chance here, for certain powers. In spite of the millions spent annually from the treasury, this amount is now aug mented by private subscriptions, by schools to be founded for illiterates outside the educative function of government, and pr:vate schools are increasing yearly. With the idea of discouraging the high schools, instead of limiting these the government has merely raised the- fees, thus making more money available; but in all the school activities the urge is still academic and not agricultural or practical. The following figures given by a Filipino superintendent cf schools are pertinent. He quotes a list of j 092 pupils, most of whom were grad uated. Only 8.3 per cent engaged in agri culture. The saddest part of the report shows that these 1092 pupils came from families 55 per cent of whom were engaged in agriculture. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL