got on, and I have no question of the result. In some of the English provinces they have a civil governor and a native governor. The moment the latter rebels at any action of the governor he is speedily brought to agreement.

Mr. FRYE:

Q. In your judgment, from what you have seen of the islands, how near will the revenues of the islands support the government?— A. That is going to depend on which way you make the revenue, and also the expenses-how much the army and navy will cost. The custom-house gave last year-which was, I suppose, a wretched year for business-between four and five millions of revenue at Manila. The personal tax was a great source of revenue, and the real-estate tax and the licenses were very great. But with a land tax and with a personal tax it is easy enough, without making it irksome, or without complaint, to pay the expenses of the. islands.

The CHAIRMAN:

Q. And raise how much revenue?-A. That is hard to say.

Q. They have been raising nine millions, we understand?-A. It should have been much more. Thefts and extortions prevailed. Monopolies were sold for which the Government received paltry sums; the concessions granted from Madrid, e. g., for the manufacture of beer, the sole privilege with immunity from all duties, the Government receiving only $120 a year. The largest tobacco company had most valuable privileges with apparently little payment. The opium monopoly for Manila and the adjoining province paid the very inadequate amount of about $180,000 a year. Special fees pertaining to the custom-house, etc., were paid to the archbishop.

Mr. GRAY:

Q. Those things have been stopped. How do they take it?-A. The merchants like it very much.

Q. Are the priests making any difficulty?—A. No, sir; they are too frightened, and many of them have gone away.

Mr. FRYE:

Q. Do you think they will go home, all of them?-A. The thing will be so much changed that there is no profit to them or danger from their remaining.

Q. As I understand it, then, your opinion is that with a fair and reasonable imposition of taxes in the islands, and reasonable duties on imports, the islands will support themselves in all the forms of government necessary, military and civil?-A. I think certainly it will. I do not say that the first year it is going to do that; you have to give time for it; but I think there will be so much capital going into the place which will be willing to pay for privileges that it will only be a question of a short time.

Mr. REID:

Q. Would it be possible, by a fair and reasonable tariff, equally applicable to the importation of all nations, collected at the principal custom-houses there, to raise money enough to administer the government?-A. A tariff alone?

Q. Yes, sir.-A. On imports and exports?

Q. On imports alone.-A. I should rather doubt that. But I've never heard complaints of the export charges, and very likely those,

with the imports, will suffice. I do not see any objection to the cedula

tax.

Q. Has not that been the one of which the most complaint was made?-A. It has been too high; I think that is the reason. I do not see the objection to the land tax. See how well it has worked in Egypt, and in India. Dicey says in his article that it is paid more readily than under the old government, because they know that they are being treated fairly, and that when it was once paid they would not be called upon to pay it again. I will read from Mr. Dicey's article: "Up to 1882 the acreage of taxable land in Egypt was calculated at 5,000,000. It is now increased by over 600,000 acres, or close upon 13 per cent. Yet the total amount of the land tax-the great permanent source of revenue in Egypt-is actually less in 1897 than it was in 1881."

The

According to Sir Edwin's figures the average land tax per acre has been diminished during the above period from 22s. to 18s. 3d. arrears of land tax, which formerly attained colossal proportions, have now been practically paid off. The fellah, when once he had paid his annual contribution, has no longer any apprehension, as he had in the days of Ismail, of being called upon to pay again in advance long before the date of the next installment had become due. Mr. GRAY:

Q. As you understood Mr. Reid's question in regard to the production of revenue from the taxes collected at the custom-houses; they were to be levied equally upon all nations, including the United States? A. Yes.

PRELIMINARY REPORT OF DR. GEORGE F. BECKER, OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, ON THE GEOLOGICAL AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 4, 1898.

SIR: I have the honor to inclose, for the information of the commission, copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting a copy of a preliminary report made by Dr. George F. Becker, of the United States Geological Survey, in regard to the geological and mineral resources of the Philippine Islands.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM R. DAY,

JOHN HAY.

Chairman of the United States Peace Commission, Paris, France. (Inclosure: From Interior Department, October 29, 1898, with inclosure.)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, October 29, 1898.

SIR: In May, 1898, by arrangement between the honorable the Secretary of War with this Department, Dr. George F. Becker, geologist, of the United States Geological Survey, accompanied the military expedition to the Philippine Islands, for the purpose of procuring information touching the geological and mineral resources of said islands.

Dr. Becker has made a preliminary report on the subject, a copy of which, together with a copy of a letter from the director of the Geological Survey, submitting the same for my consideration, are herewith transmitted for your information.

Very respectfully,

The honorable the SECRETARY OF STATE.

TP- 33

C. N. BLISS, Secretary.

513

MEMORANDUM ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

By GEORGE F. BECKER, United States Geological Survey.

This brief memorandum, prepared at the request of Admiral Dewey, probably covers all the main discoveries in the geology of the Philip pines which are of economic interest. It is drawn up from data recorded in the Spanish mining bureau (Inspeccion de Minas), but not published, manuscript mine reports by the late William Ashburner, verbal information obtained in Manila, and from various technical publications, of Semper, Santos, Roth, Drasche, Abella, and others.

Only about a score of the islands are known to contain deposits of valuable minerals. These are arranged below in the order of their latitude to give an idea of their geographical distribution, and to facilitate finding the islands on the map. The latitude of the nothern end of each is taken as that of the island. The character of the valuable minerals stated in the table will afford a general notion of their resources. Mineral-bearing islands and their resources.

The distribution of each mineral or metal may now be sketched in somewhat greater detail. In many cases the information given in this abstract is exhaustive, so far as the available material is concerned. The coal fields of Cebu, however, have been studied in some detail by Mr. Abella, and in a few other instances more extended information has been condensed for the present purpose.

514

COAL.

So far as is definitely known, the coal of the Philippine Islands is all of Tertiary age, and might be better characterized as a highly carbonized lignite. It is analogous to the Japanese coal and to that of Washington, but not to the Welsh or Pennsylvania coals. Such lignites usually contain considerable combined water (8 to 18 per cent) and bear transportation ill. They are also apt to contain much sulphur, as iron pyrite, rendering them subject to spontaneous combustion and injurious to boiler plates. Nevertheless, when pyritous seams are avoided and the lignite is properly handled, it forms a valuable fuel, especially for local consumption. In these islands it would appear that the native coal might supplant English or Australian coal for most purposes. Lignite is widely distributed in the archipelago; some of the seams are of excellent width, and the quality of certain of them is high for fuel in this class.

Coal exists in various provinces of the island of Luzon (Abra, Camarinos, Batan, Sorsogon). The finest beds thus far discovered appear to be in the small island of Batan, lying to the east of the southern portion of Luzon, in latitude 13° 19'. These seams vary from 2 feet 6 inches to 14 feet 8 inches in thickness. Analyses have been made in the laboratory of the Inspeccion de Minas, and the mean of seven analyses gives the following composition:

One pound of this coal will convert 6.25 pounds of water at 40° C. into steam at 100° C. The heating effect is about three-fourths of that of Cardiff coal. The same beds are known to exist in other small adjacent islands, Carraray and Rapu-Rapu. A number of concessions for coal mining have also been granted on the main island of Luzon, just south of Batan, at the town of Bacon. No doubt the beds here are either identical or, at least, closely associated with the coal seams in the little islands.

The coal field of southern Luzon is said to extend across the Strait of San Bernardino into the northern portion of Samar. Here coal is reported at half a dozen localities, but I have been able to ascertain no details as to the thickness or quality.

In Mindoro there are large deposits of coal in the extreme southern portion (Bulacao) and on the small adjacent islands of Semarara. This fuel is said to be similar to that of Batan.

The islands of Masbate and Panay contain coal, the deposits of which thus far discovered do not seem of much importance. Specimens from the southwestern portion of Leyte, analyzed in the laboratory of the inspección de minas, are of remarkably high quality, but nothing definite about the deposit is known to me.

The first discovery of coal in the archipelago was made in the island of Zebu in 1827. Since then lignitic beds have been found on the island at a great variety of points. The most important croppings are on the eastern slope, within some 15 or 20 miles of the capital, also named Cebu. Though a considerable amount of coal has been extracted here the industry has not been a profitable one hitherto. This is at