This exhibit opened my eyes to the possibilities of gold mining in Mindanao, but I did not leave my business to go prospecting.
The natives of this part of Mindanao look upon washing for gold as their chief resource. A certain quantity of what they collect is used to make ornaments, and passes from hand to hand instead of coin in payment of gambling debts, and stakes lost at cockfights. The Mestizos and Chinamen get hold of the rest and send it away surreptitiously, so that no statistics can be collected. It is impossible to tax gold collected in this way, but the Government might derive a profit by establishing posts in each district where gold would be purchased at a fixed price and so get, say, ten or twenty per cent. out of it instead of allowing the Chinese and Mestizos to make perhaps forty or fifty per cent. according to the ignorance of the vendor.
The Philippine Islands with the Parts Known to be Auriferous Shaded
To face p. 150.
Foreman is probably quite right in saying that the influence of the friars has always been exerted against any mining company, whether Spanish or foreign. They did not want a rush of miners and Jews to the Philippines. But now, under the American Government, their power must decline, and new undertakings will, in a measure, be free from this hindrance.
The Spanish mining laws and regulations are excellent and a perfect model for legislation on the subject. They are based on the principle that the ownership of the surface gives no title to the minerals underneath, which belong to the State. The owner can, however, obtain a title by developing a mine.
The ingenuity and unscrupulousness of that vile breed, the native Pica-Pleito or pettifogging lawyer, has greatly contributed to stop Europeans from proceeding with mining enterprises, as success would bring down these blackmailers in swarms.
It is to be hoped that the new government will lay a heavy hand on these birds of prey. Rightly considered, they are only a species of vermin, and should have verminous treatment.