.. ' I. 11-, 'j N y is: - el, )fi C:;V' — k? I/owe? You are earnestly asked to hand this, ' after reading, to some other person wlo will also give it careful consideration. CG 0863 THE Calamities of Balayan, P.I. T REPLY To a Criticism of a Petition Made to the Taft Expedition of I905, by the Petitioners FELIX UNZON VIVENCIO RAMOS VICENTE PAZ RILLO VICENTE ALMANZOR WITH A PREFACE BY FISKE WARREN PUBLISHED BY THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE 20 CENTRAL STREET, BOSTON <A i/\1 ' 1907 9. The Calamities of Balayan, P.I. Honolulu, T. H., June 29, 1907. The following statistics of Balayan were sent by the authorities of that town to the Taft party in 1905. Later they fell under the eye of Mr. James A. Le Roy, consul of the United States at Durango, Mexico, in a copy in which it was unfortunate that the caption placed upon them by the editors described them as "showing the results of 'benevolent assimilation'," whereas the authors made the more proper claim that the "deplorable condition" was "consequent upon incessant calamities, such as the wars that have been fought, the plague of locusts. the drought, the rinderpest, * * * the lack of laborers, part of whom have succumbed to Asiatic cholera, hunger-and malaria, while others have emigrated, and consequent finall) on many other drawbacks." Another error was the printing of mangoes for mongoes, of mangas for mangoes, and of 60,000 instead of 600,000 (pieces of matting.) I enclose Mr. LeRoy's attack on these statistics and the reply by the authors. I think they illustrate, as neatly as may be, the difficulty of knowing another man's affairs as well as he knows them himself. Mr. LeRoy may be an estimable person and the government of the United States may be well-intentioned. But, perhaps, both may grievously err, when dealing with the Filipinos. The Spanish proverb says: "The fool in his own house is wiser than the wise man in his neighbor's," FISKE WARREN 3 PETITION FROM BALAYAN. jbalyan, Batangas, Philippine Islands, Aug. 26th, 1i05. To the Hon. W. H. Taft, Secretary of War, and the Members of IHis Party: The undersigned, representing for this occasion, the municipality of Balayan, Province of Batangas, Philippine Islands, have the high honor of extending to you, in the name of the said municipality, as well as in their own name, the most sincere and respectful expressions of welcome, which they do spontaneously and heartily, now that you have arrived at the boundary of this, the capital of this province. They join thereto their very best wishes and profit by this exceptional opportunity, when. distinguished members of Congress and of the Government of the United States have decided to come hither -to study at close range the condition of the Philippine Nation and to become acquainted from personal experience with the wants of this nation, to submit to them some real and positive information in order that the remedies which they unanimously propose may be considered and approved. These facts are as follows: 1. As a rule the prosperity of the nation stands in- direct proportion to the flourishing conditions of its agriculture, because it is undeniable that agriculture was, is, and will always l)( asi lono as the world exists, that loving and gracious mother which maintains mankind, and without which man would disappear. The only resource of these Islands and the only resource particularly of the town of Balayan is agriculture, which at the present da.te finds itself in a most deplorable condition.?s can be seen from the accompanying statistical tables, conseQluent upon incessant calamities such as the wars that have been fouiht, the plague of locusts, the drought. the rinderpest, lwiceh still prevails, the lack of laborers. p:mart of whom have succnmbed to Asiatic cholera, hunger and malaria, while others have erigrated, and consequent finally on many other drawhnael which it would take too much room to enumerate here. For all these reasons and in view of the feeling of justice and kindness inherent in the honorable persons who make up the American government. we petition, therefore, for protection for the agriculture of the town of Balayan, in the sense which we herewith expound. A. Temporary suspension of the ground tax. B. Suspensio.o of the tax (dutV) on vehicles, intended for 4 agriculture, the same to be inexpensive, more appropriate to the service on the fields and which do not destroy the provincial roads, as the use thereon is prohibited. C. Increased facilities for the export of sugar. D. Suspension of the railroad law, until the establishment of the Philippine legislative assembly, or, in any event, we petition that the set of conditions for the railroad tenders should include a line which starting from Manila should go through Cavite and the towns of Nasugbu, Balayan, Calaca, Taal, and Bauan, and terminate at the Bay of Batangas, or, if that cannot be done, at least include a branch starting from the centre of Batangas to ]Nasugbu, and Calatagan, passing through Bauan, Taal, Calaca and Balayan. E. Suspension of the concessions and franchises as long as the Philippine legislative assembly is not established. F. Postponement of the effect of the law of the Civil Commission No. 926 concerning land ownership because of the short term which remains over from the original term, and because of the great monetary crisis through which we are now passing. 2. The stability of the government rests as we all know on good and equitable laws not less than on good and suitable officials, without which fluctuations in the government cannot be avoided, and without which a general distrust is liable to spread. On the basis of this principle, and with the object that more and more in the heart of the Philippine Nation, confdence in the honesty and sincerity of intention of the American Government may be confirmed, we petition for the follow- ing: / A. The establishment of the right of habeas corpus, and / strict observance of the Philippine bill. B. Continuation of the Spanish language in its character of the official language. C. Greater participation on the part of the Filipinos in the publid offices, and also a certain equitable adjustment in their pay as compared with that of-the Americans. D. Immediate convocation of the Philippine legislative assembly. E. Formal and solemn declarations as to the political future of the Philippine Islands on the part of the United States Congress, for the town of Balayan aspires to the independence of its country, on the basis of international neutrality, or at least with the protection of the American government. This as 5 piration, together with what has been said in the previous paragraph, is founded on: 1. The famous saying of Taft, "The Philippines for the Filipinos," which evidently is made of none effect as long as, the concessions and franchises are not suspended or limited more than they are now. For the Philippine Islands in their present impoverished condition cannot enjoy said concessions or franchises and they, therefore, must necessarily fall to the exclusive ownership of foreigners and Americans. 2. That if the convocation of the Philippine legislative assembly, and the declaration of independence of the Philippine Islands is to be delayed still longer, the danger will present itself that the great foreign and American enterprises will absorb the riches of the country and with it also the specfic Philippine race, and that would then wipe out entirely the necessity of the commonwealth which is so much desired. Is there anyone who can guarantee that this absorption such as we fear will not come to pass in a remote future, appearing as it does to be but the natural outcome of the life of nations? We have submitted here in short the greatest and most peremptory needs of the town of Balayan in particular, and some of the needs of the Philippine Nation in general. We are fully aware that many of them refer to matters within theneompetence of the civil comnission of the GovernorGeneral of the Islands, but we are also aware that the mission of investigation of which the illustrious members of Congress of the United States have come to this archipelago, can in one way or another show its influence in the acts of the Philippine Government. For this reason, we have thought it appropriate and necessary to draw up this limited and humble exposition. and to submit it to the members of M1r. Taft's party, accompanying which the undersigned representatives reaffirm once more their most ardent loyalty as well as that of the city and town of Balayan to the central government as well as to the government of the archipelago, signing with the protestations of their deep respect. FELIX UTnZON, VIVENCIO RAMOS, VICENTE PAZ RILLO, VICENTE ALMIANZOR. (3 STATISTICAL TABLES OF THE TOWNS'OF BALAYAN, TUY AN\D CALATAGAN, KNOWNS IN 1905 AS MUNICIPALITY OF BALAYAN, PROV. OF BATANGAS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. In 1896. In 1900. In 1905. Number of inhabitants 41,309 11,560 13,9'4 Area cultivated land, hectares 19,500 632 1,700 (Total area of agricultural land, 23,7-13 hectares, 25 ales, 45 centiares). Products: Rice, (cavanes) 39,020 13,000 12,500 Sugar, (picos) 520,000 1,200 12,230 Maize, (cavanes) 110,000 8,000 10,000 Mongoes, (cavanes) 12,000 400 800 Cocoa, (cavanes) 110 10 15 Cotton, (picos) 300 20 30 -Iatting, (pieces) 600,000 48,933 160,577 Machinery: Centrifugal mill 1 0 0 Hydraulic mills 5 0 0 Steam milis 25 0 2 Iron mills 675 8 25 Stone and wood mills (for sugar) - 15 0 0 Looms 4,750 450 620 Transportation: Steamboats 4 4 4 Trips per week 2 Infrequent Infrequent Carts and wagons 3,550 65 71 Sailing vessels, (48 to94tons burden) 11 0 0 Animals: Oxen 10,000 190. 527 Cows - 3,650 60 80 Carabaos, oxen 4,110 140 433 Carabaos, cows 1,350 92 194 Horses 3,300 180 217 Mares 1,500 213 399 Hogs 11,000 1,200 2,800 Hens 96,000 2,000 5,000 Other products like coffee, mangoes, bananas, oranges, etc.. equally reduced. Various small industries common in 1896 mostly destroyed or abandoned. 7 REMARKS UPON THE "STATISTICAL TABLES" OF THE TOWNS OF BALAYAN, TUY AND CAIATAGAN-SHOWING RESULTS OF "BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATIONS-" BY JAMES A. LeROY, DURANGO, MEXICO. In the first place, certain general remarks may be made as to the tables as a whole, and applying especially to the figures regarding population, loss of animals, decline in production, etc. I will incorporate with these my remarks as to the population data there given. The Spanish so-called census of 1896, in all the published tables I have been able to find, gives no figures at all for B'atangas province, and one of the guides stated that population returns were not made for that province in 1896, on account of Batangas being involved in the revolt which broke out that year. The census of 1887, the only Spanish census that even approximates the right to bear that name, and itself a very poor and faulty one, wildly inaccurate for some districts, credited the three towns here under question with 29,228 people. I do not believe there are any. figures in existence showing the population in 1896, and there certainly was no census, not any estimate worth speaking of as regards accuracy, for the year 1900. There was no census for 1905 either,and presumably the maker of these tables Las taken the figures of 13,577 from the 1903 census and added a few hundreds of population to it "for looks." There is no question whatever as to there having been a great decline in population and great devastation of all sorts in that part of Batangas, where these towns lie. But these tables do not show just when and how it was caused, and the way they are made up, coupled with the heeding "showing, the results of benevolent assimilation,' justifies the remark that they were devised so as to cover up the real facts. They give 41.300 people in 1896 (probably without-any, figures on which to rest this statement), then jump over to 1900, after war with the Americans had been going on over a year (but during which time this part of Batangas had scarcely been touched at all or affected, except indirectly by American military operations-be it noted in passing), and put down (upon somebody's estimate, whose we are not told, but it could not have been on any actually acquired data) a population of 11,560 people. Right here lies the first deception. It may be that by 1900 the population of these towns was so far reduced, granting even it was as much 8 as 41,000 in early 1896. But the real loss of population and the material devastation wrought in this region west of Lake Taal, was wrought in 1896 and 1897, in consequence of the Spanish military operations. Now, this fact is well known to any resident Of that portion of Batangas, and to any well-informed Filipino in that province or in Manila. On December 18, 1896, the Spaniards had a fight with the insurgents at Nasugbu, a fight of some importance, under General Jaramillo himself. On August 7, 1897, there was a fight on the outskirts of Calaca, between Taal and Balayan. Late in October, 1897, the insurgent forces mustered sufficiently to attack Tuy. These were the engagements of note, but there were various skirmishes, and much "scouting" by Spanish forces in this area. In accordance with the rule of operation in 1S97, the Spaniards burned over these towns except Nasugbu. As a Spanish volunteer soldier expressed it to me, with a grin, "We sowed that section with salt." It is a matter of common knowledge, with all who know the facts regarding that area, that it received before American occupation began the major portion of the damage that is visible today, barring cattle-pest and cholera. Many of the fields showed several years' overgrowth in 1900. This section of Batangas was hot included in the order of reconcentration under General Bell in 1901-2. There has been less of military operations in this area under American occupation than in the other areas of Batangas province. The rinderpest has destroyed the majority of the draftanimals. There have also been drought and locusts since 1902. Calatagan was almost wiped out in the cholera epidemic of 1902, being off on a little peninsula by itself, and thousands who escaped the plague fled from there and have not returned, going to Mindoro and the Cavite arsenal for the most part, some also to the hemp regions. As to the figures given for the area of cultivated land, I would sa.y that nowhere have I been able to find any returns by municipalities showing such areas in Spanish times; the remarks already made regarding the figures here cited for 1900, being certainly mere estimates (not to say wild guesses), will apply all the way through these tables. I find from the census of 1903 that the total area-of land to be returned as agricultural land for all Batangas province.(which would apply to the days of best development in Spanish times) was 117,422 hectares. According to the best information obtainable in 1903, the largest area ever under cultivation at one time in all this province, 9 up to the revolt of 1896, was 69,216 hectares. Yet the maker of these tables has claimed 19,500 hectares under cultivation in the present municipality of Balayan alone just before the outbreak of warfare. And whereas, almost one-third the total area ever cultivated in Batangas province was by actual returns once more under cultivation in 1903, he represents the area under cultivation in Balayan municipality in 1905 as less than one-tenth what it was in 1896. Such figures, and such proportions with reference to the whole province excite suspicion at once, especially in view of the fact that this western part of Batangas has never by any means been the best developed, most cultivated or most productive portion of the province. As regards sugar, the figures of the table would indicate a production of nearly 9,000 tons in Balayan alone in 1896. It is extremely doubtful to me —though I have not been able to find positive data upon this point-if Batangas province all together ever produced 9,000 tons in one year; it produced only 1,800 tons in 1902, and never has been much of a sugar province. compared with Pampanga for instance, while, as all know, over half the Philippine sugar is produced in Negros and Panay, not in Luzon. Again, the tables show a production of maize equivalent to 82.500 hectoliters in 1896 in this municipality (the three towns together, I mean in each case). All Batangas province produced but 15,803 hectoliters in 1902. I am unable to understand again how such figures were obtained for 1896; I know of no place where official figures of the sort may be found, published or unpublished. I note, too, the production of mangoes given in cavanes (75 liters each dry measure), a way of measuring them that is new to me, while these figures, again, are very suspicious. Mango trees would not suffer heavily from warfare. certainly not in this proportion. It seems strange, too, taking these figures at their face value, that. 41,000 people should manufacture 60,000 pieces of matting in 1896, while 14,000 people manufacture 160,000 (even stated so fine as "160,577") in 1905. Such figures show the hand of the' 'guesser," let us say. -Turning to the figures on machinery, I would remark that there is no question about the great destruction, through fire, of mills, little and big, in Batangas since 1896; but once more, as regards this town, the major portion of the damage was done in 1897. I can not but note, too, that the 'statistician" has set down 675 iron mills for this town in 1896, or, taking his own population figures, one to every 50 or 60 people, not count10 ing the other mills, some 50 in all, most of them of more value than the iron mills. This proportion of mills for the town of Balayan alone, not noted especially for sugar-production, as compared with the whole province at large, is rather amazing. The same must be said of the proportion of looms; with 4,750 of them in 1896, there was one to nine persons in the town. Regardina transportation facilities, the loss of population told of above, has naturally lessened the demand for the calls of vessels. Several also were lost in war. As to the sailing vessels, however, I believe some of them went over to Mindoro and elsewhere. And, as to land transportation, if there were 3,550 carts and wagons in 1896, there was one to 11.6 people. This is a pretty large proportion for the Philippines, and I note he allows but one to 22 people in 1905. The people who have moved away did not take their carts with them; comparatively few would be sold out of the town; such articles would not be greatly involved in fires set in warfare (for there are no stables over there, and vehicles stand outdoors); hence, I do not understand this remarkable dwindling from 3,550 to 620. As to animals: There has been great loss, mainly by rinderpest and surra, without doubt. But without accepting the figures given for either 1900 and 1905, certainly some remarks must be made as to the figures for 1896. Our census compilers for 1903 found Spanish figures for live stock only for the year -1891. In that year all Batangas was credited with 13,506 carabaos; this table gives Balayan alone 5,460 in 1896. Of other neat cattle, it credits Balayan with 13,650 in 1896; the entire province was set down for but 17,469 in 1891. Ag'ain, Balayan is given 4,800 horses in 1896, while in all the province there were but 12,427 in 1891. Somewhere there is a sad discrepancy. As for hogs and hens, I have never seen, in some time spent in examination of Spanish tables, any returns at all for such animals in the Philippines; therefore, this manrs guess at the number in Balayan in 1896 is but a guess. And rather wild guessing, it is too. He gives Baiyan 11,000 hogs for 1896, and the census of 1903 showed only 58,943 in the whole province. There was some loss in hogs since 1896, no doubt, but not great, and in no sense like that among the more valuable animals that have had the plagues. All Batangas reported 196,318 hens in 1903; these tables give Balayan itself 96,000 in 1896. Plainly the number of hens would decline, as a rule, with the population, but there could be no great or permanent loss purely incident to the warfare, among poultry, which breeds so readily. Yet this compiler would have It us believe that Balayan's poultry declined in number from 96,000 to 2,000 in 1900. I think that is enough for these "Statistical tables," If the Lopez family, who are perfect "caciques" in Balayan, had these figures furnished, they compare favorably with Sixto Lopez's statistical lies about schools and education in Batangas in 1900, and with his mis-statements about the Filipinos furnished Senator Carmack in 1902. A REPLY TO THE CRITICISMS PUT OUT BY MR. JAMES A. LEROY UPON THE STATISTICS OF BALAYAN, TUY AND CALATAGAN, CONTAINED IN THE STATEMENT SUBMITTED TO THE HONORABLE TAFT COMMISSION IN THE YEAR 1905, BY CERTAIN CITIZENS OF BALAYAN, BATANGAS, P. I., IN THEIR OWN BEHALF AND IN THAT OF THEIR FELLOW-TOW- NSMEN. POPULATION. Under the Spanish dominion lists were made out annually in each town of the Philippine Islands, giving, for each district of the town, full particulars regarding the population, such as sex, age, condition and occupation of each citizen, with a chronicle showing the increase or decrease, due to change of residence and to births and deaths. These lists, called padrones, contained a summary, by districts and for the whole, and were made out in duplicate, one copy being deposited in the parochial house, while the other was sent to the treasury department cf the respective provinces. And from these lists we knew very well that in 1896 Balayan contained twentv-one thousand, one hundred and five inhabitants (21,105), Tuy fourteen thousand and eighty-four (14,084), and Calatagan six thousand, one hundred and twenty (6,120). No doubt Mr. LeRoy was ignorant of this. The population of 41,309 souls for the region then represented by the three towns, but now united into one, began to diminish on the 20th of September, 1896, the day of the attack upon Tuy by the revolutionists, carrying panic and disorder, 12 both to Balayan and Calatagan. Then ensued a period of continuous diminution, due to the ravages of war, forced emigration, sickness and hunger, and by cholera in the year 1902. There is, therefore, nothing surprising in the fact that the figures of 41,309 for Balayan, Tuy and Calatagan in 1896, should be reduced to 13,924 in 1905, according to the official count made then to determine the classification of towns, or as low as to 11,500 in the year 1900, according to the list made out then by order of Col. Bullard, of the 39th infantry. Tuy was the first town of Batangas to be attacked by the revolutionists. That was on the 20th of September, 1896, (a day of sad remembrance for those who subscribe), and the siege of the Spanish force lasted for three days, after which, at an interval of only three days, Talisay, of the same province, was besieged. Kasugbu was not attacked till later, being the 23rd of October, 1896, and not in December, as Mr. LeRoy erroneously declares. That gentleman makes no mention of Balavan among the towns attacked in 1896 and 1897, although it had in fact suffered precisely four attacks on the part of the revolutionists during that period, the third of which caused the destruction by fire of about a third part of the heart of the town. These attacks took place in 1896, on December 28th, and in 1897, on January 9th, February 24th and March 24th; and this list excludes the frequent encounters and skirmishes in the outskirts of the town. These are data which no one can impeach, for they are in every way public, certain and true, and we give them not merely as citing what we have learned, but as ourselves eye-witnesses, and, in some cases, actors in the events to which they refer. Furthermore, it is proper to observe at this point that when Mr. LeRoy quoted from the last Spanish census, he should have taken into account the fact that that census sets down the figures for Balayan separately from Tuy and Calatagan, whereas now. when we speak of Balayan, we include Tuy and Calatagan, the fusion of the three having been made in 1905. Nasugbu was no.exception among the towns burned in this region during the rising of 1896 and 1897; indeed no house in it was saved from the fire. This we say in order to rectify Mr. LeRoy's assertion that Nasugbn was not burned. RECONCENTRATION. We take issue with Mr. LeRoy upon his statement that Bala13 yan, Tuy and Calatagan were not included in the reconcentration order of General Bell. We can prove from official documents that on December 13, 1901, the order was received for the reconcentration of the people, with their animals, movables, eatables and provisions into the heart of the respective towns to be effected before the 25th of the same month; and this reconcentration was not lifted until April 14, 1902, a statement that can be likewise confirmed by those who were in military command here at that time and who were successively J. A. Cole and B. H. Cheever, both captains of the 6th cavalry. In this connection, we may point out that when Mr. LeRoy says that thousands of inhabitants fled from Calatagan because of the cholera, to Mindoro, Cavite and the hemp regions, he is in antagonism with the facts-not to say dreaming. AREA OF AGRICULTURAL LAND. Under this head, we shall begin by making plain, that in the year 1896, at the outbreak of the revolution, all of Balayan, all of Tuy and all of Calatagan, with only the exception of the mountains in the case of the first two, and of the part devoted to grazing and its mountains in the case of the third, was worked and under constant cultivation. The landed property in the province of Batangas has in most cases not been. measured by experts and for this reason the total area is not known with exactness. But this we may say: that the cultivable area of Balayan, Tuy and Calatagan is much greater than that of the whole estate of Senor Pedro P. Roxas in Nasugbu, which reaches a total of 28,760 hectares, accordingp to expert measurement; and, further, that Balayan, Tuy and Calatagan used to have more than 700 sugar mills. Thus it ought not to seem excessive that these three towns in 1896 should have had 19,500 hectares under cultivation (an average of. 27 hectares to,each mill), considering also that some of the area was devoted to other growth than that of sugar cane. With respect to the area of the three towns under cultivation in 1905, and even today, we affirm it to be much less than a tenth. part of what it was in 1896; for Balayan is one of the towns of Batangas that has comparatively little of its area under present cultivation. On the other hand, in 1896, the agriculture of the three towns reached its apogee, forming without doubt the chief sugar district of the province, that is to say, the first in point of quantity, quality and prosperity. 14 PRODUCTION. Let it surprise no one that the production of sugar in Balayan in 1896 came to about 9,000 tons, because at that time Balayan had four steamships, namely, the Germana, the Don Francisco, the Balayan and the Purisima Conception; and had more than eleven sailing vessels-schooners, pailebots and pontins-which were the Conception, the Angeles, the Bella Pas, the Oretano, the Resurrection, the Natalio, the San Ignacio, the Ogono, the Mermoquis, the Consuelo and the Concha-and all of these, at harvest, and even for some months afterwards, together with other steam and sailing vessels that came from Taal with considerable frequency, were occupied in loading and transporting Ifrom here to Manila the quantity of sugar that we have stated. Another proof, both eloquent and forcible, is the number- of store-houses, 21 of which still remain, built of masonry, and one of light materials, while six, of mixed construction, were burned in war time on February 24, 1897. Moreover, the product ol Calatagan used to go direct to Manila, not passing through Balayan, and likewise a great part of the harvest did not enter the store-houses at all, when these were crowded, or when the vessels could receive the sugar direct from the carts. Finally, proof may be had of abundance of the harvest of the three towns in 1896, by consulting, in the first place, the books of the owners, or charterers of these vessels; and, in the second place, the books of the capitania of the port of 'Manila for that year;:also by asking for information from the commercial houses of Manila and the consignees, such as Smith Bell, Campania General de Tobaccos, Andrews, Stevenson and others, and the brokers, such as Sloan, Armstrong, Chiudian, Genato, Paterno, Linghap and others. With respect to the production of maize, no inference should be made from the production of 1902 to that of 1896; for, as stated above, the cultivated land, after that year, did not reach one-tenth of the area cultivated previously. And, further, it should be understood that before the revolution'of 1896, it was the custom for parcels of land from which the sugar cane had. been harvested, to be sown with maize upon the arrival of the month of May and the first rains. Next, Mr. LeRoy occupies himself with the production ofwhat he calls mangoes, woefully confusing this fruit with the mongo, which is a kind of pease or cereal. The mango is not measured by the cavan, but by the number of pieces of fruit; while the mongo is not measured by the number of pieces of 15 fruit, but by the cavan. The mongo is of the family of leguminous plants. It is known scientifically by the name Phaseolus Mungo (P. B.) and the mango is of the family of the terebinthaceae, and is known as the Mangifera Indica (P. B.). But, even supposing that Mr. LeRoy had not been mistaken in the name, we still could not admit that the war could not have greatly affected the production, because the mango trees are generally found axway from the centres of population, and, since Tuy, Calatagan and the barrios of Balayan had been depopulated, naturally the fruit of the trees in those parts could not well have been availed of. And, if our figure for the cavans of mongo appears suspicious to Mr. LeRoy, on our side it seems,ingular to us that a gentleman of such extraordinary parts should appear not to know the size of a cavan, a measure whose use is very general in Spain, and should set down the cavan as equivalent to 75 litres. With respect to the pieces' of matting, the number that we set down as manufactured in 1896 was 600,000, not 60,000; but, even supposing that the figure was wrongly transcribed, still there would have been nothing strange that in 1905 there should be 160,000 pieces produced, with the population at only 14,000, because not every inhabitant is a manufacturer of matting. And it would not have been strangoe that in 1896, with a larger population, there should have been fewer pieces produced than in 1905, with a smaller population, for, at this latter date, there was no work to be taken up that would yield a greater return. MILLS ANLD IHAND-LOOMS. Mr. LeRoy is also astonished at what seems to him the amazino' figure of 700 sugar mills, because he does not wish to recognize Balayan, with Tuy and Calatagan, where it belonged, as the biggest sugar producing town of the province. And we again declare that there were in fact more than 700 mills in the three towns in 1896; because this is the truth; because, in order to reach this figure, it was necessary to count them up, barrio by barrio; and because, furthermore, this was known to those who at that time paid the industrial licenses for sugar mills. As for Mr. LeRoy's surprise at 4,750 as the number of handlooms in 1896, we may point out that in almost every house in the three towns, where there was an adult woman, there was also a loom, and in many of these houses there were two or 16 three looms, according to the number of marriageable women that they contained. The figure 4,750, was taken from a good source, being a copy of the report of an official inquiry in December, 1895. 2MEANS OF TERRESTRIAL TRANSPORTATION. WAith respect to carts and wagons, 3,550 for the three towns in 1896, will not seem too high a figure, if account be taken of the fact that it was the custom for each cattle-mill to have from two to five carts that served for carrying the cane to the mill; and the seed to the river and from the river to the fields; all this without reckoning the carts on nire for the purpose of carrying the sugar from the mills to the harbor. If there were fewer carts in 1905, in proportion to population, it was because there was a smaller production and fewer animals. And let not Mr.. LeRoy marvel at the disappearance of a large part of the carts of 1896, even though the people that emigrated did not indeed take their carts with them. For the carts of the Philippines are made of wood and bamboo, and, even if many of them had escaped the fires, still with the lapse of nine years and exposed as they were to the weather, they cculd not well-have remained intact. CARABAOS, CATTLE, HORSES, PIGS AND POULTRY. Mr. LeRoy also says that statistics of 1891 show that Batangas contained only 13,506 carabaos, and he is incredulous of the three towns having 5,460 in 1896. In justification of our figures, we may say that in 1888 and 1889, there was a great mortality of working animals in all the province, and, therefore, it was natural that there should be few in 1S91; but later the loss was made good and thus it came about that the three towns possessed 5,460 carabaos in 1896. Moreover, the table for 1891, cited by MIr. LeRoy, must be from some one of censuses made in the Spanish era, which he himself in the early paragraphs of his observations, confesses to be poor and faultyand inaccurate for some districts, so that one of MIr. LeRoy's statements may be held to answer the other. And that which we say of carabaos, we say equally of other cattle. In respect to L;orses, we may say that the census of the Spanish era cited by Mr. LeRoy, was inaccurate, as he himself acknowledges, and it is very probable that there was much concealment, for there was then a tax on horses. Hence, our figure of 4,800 should obtain the greater credence and be accepted. 17 The number of pigs and hens that we set down is correct and was taken from the same copy of the official inquiry that we mentioned above. The pigs did not diminish in number from. 1896 to 1905, solely because of plagues; for, beyond the mortality caused by the plagues, there were many that ran wild when the people left the barrios, and likewise the reconcentrations put hindrances and difficulties in the way of the procrea~tion of domestic animals. And that which we have said of pigs is likewise applicable to hens. Be it forgiven us for remarking that, step by step as we advance in the consideration of Mr. LeRoy's criticism, we become more and more convinced that that gentleman, when the question concerns Spanish statistics, gives or withholds credit, according as his object gains or loses thereby. In the last paragraph of his remarks, Mr. LeRoy made allusion to the Lopez family in order to say that they are perfect caciques in Balayan and to ascribe to them the drawing up of the exposition that we made to the honorable Taft commission. It thus becomes our duty to make it clear, once and for all, out of regard for the truth arnd for our own dignity, that never have we allowed ourselves to become the instruments of any one's caprice, that the idea of making that exposition was born of the wish of the people, who came together at various times in meetings and discussed at length, point by point, all of the data. and petitions contained in that document, as we indeed have previously stated in the beginning of that exposition, and as appears by the resolution passed at the final meeting, the original of which is to be found in the archives of the Secretary of the Municipality. FELIX UI NZON. VICENTE PAZ RILLO. VIVENCIO RAMOS. VICENTE ALMANZOR. Balayan, Batangas, P. I. January 19, 1907. 18