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 parishioners, 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.
Typical Old-style Country Road.
Typical New-style Country Road.
Note the deposit of surfacing material. Also the caminero, or road tender, at work. During the rainy season, one man looks after each kilometer of road, keeping it constantly in repair. During the dry season one man cares for two kilometers.
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 passed 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 ownership of the government. Until this could be brought about little could be accomplished toward assisting 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 circumstances, 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 anticipated, 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.