He instilled these principles into himself and into the convicts, as the method to fit them soonest to return to society, cured mentally and physically, and to teach them to be law-abiding and self-respecting citizens.
Mr. Lamb devoted much study to the character of the Filipino and found him, as many others have found him, easy to manage, especially where tact and kindness is used. He also found that the primitive civilization of the Filipino people and their natural bent toward agriculture aided in the application of the principles he laid down.
He began by reducing the restraints and increasing the independence of the colony as a whole. He also began the utilization of agriculture as the burden of the convicts’ labors, and impressed upon them the idea that not only were they working for the government against which they had committed offenses but for themselves. He pointed out that they would not only gain virtual freedom at once, but would participate in the earnings of the colony.
His first lot of prisoners numbered more than 100, and they were, as in the early history of the colony, made up of all classes of criminals, but men who had been given certain liberties in Bilibid for good behavior. He had as assistants two Americans, the oldest of whom was less than 30, and the youngest of whom was but 21, a Filipino band director, a Filipino physician, a Spanish padre for chaplain, and a matron. The matron was necessary, as among his prisoners were some twenty women.
Today, three years since Mr. Lamb first went to Iwahig, there are 1,423 prisoners. He still has his two American assistants and the two Filipino assistants. In addition he has thirty-one petty officers, all of whom are prisoners. Two of these petty officers are “lifers,” serving sentences for murder in the first degree; two more of them are serving long terms for offenses almost as serious as murder, and the rest of the thirty-one are men who have more than five years yet to serve.
Every one of these thirty-one petty officers lives in his own home, has his wife and family, and is a director in the colony’s bank, established last year for the deposit of the colony’s funds and the gratuities saved by the prisoners. These gratuities are paid monthly, and as the convicts raise everything they use, even to beef and to the leather shoes they make from the hides of the cattle, their gratuities amount to a considerable sum.
Each of these petty officers is in charge of a certain number of prisoners called squads. The squads in turn are formed into brigades or battalions and commanded by the superintendent and assistants. The distribution of all prisoners is about the same as in a military garrison, where a company of soldiers is divided into squads in charge of a corporal and a sergeant.
The petty officer is responsible to the superintendent for the deportment of the members of his squad. The general orders, which are really regulations, are known by every colonist, and once a month must be recited by him to his petty officer.
In the Philippine islands there are many more holidays than in the United States, and on each of these holidays all work is suspended and the colonists are allowed to engage in sports, church fiestas and social intercourse. The American game of baseball is the principal sport. There are four crack teams in the colony, among the players being several American convicts. Each dry season the superintendent gives a pennant to the winning team and a small sum of money to be distributed among the players. The rivalry for the “flag” is sometimes as keen as in some of the games between teams in the United States.
The colonists have their own court, too, with the superintendent as a supreme judge. He acts finally and independently of the lower or convict court, but with one or two exceptions his action has always confirmed that of the lower court.