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,[2] 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.[3]
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.
The reply to the claim that Manila is far from markets and established lines of travel is simple. Look at the map and compare it with Hongkong!
Let us now consider more in detail the resources of the Philippines.
