194 THE PLANT WORLD 



who dwell upon the advantages of ' ' progress ' ' and the necessity for 

 bettering the condition ' ' of the natives have usually in mind the system by 

 means of which the more astute and stronger can make their simpler and 

 weaker brothers do their hard work for them and content themselves 

 with the tough parts of the beef, if indeed they are so fortunate as to have 

 meat, while their " betters " enjoy the tenderloin. I picture with horror 

 the results which would follow the discovery of precious metals on this 

 island or the establishment of factories, in which the workers would have 

 to content themselves with a small fraction of the fruit of their toil. 

 Most writers on political economy consider society only in the light of its 

 power to produce. It seems to me that that community is the most for- 

 tunate which has the least poverty and the greatest amount of happiness, 

 not the one which has stored up the greatest wealth. 



Wealth usually goes to the few ; freedom from poverty may be common 

 to all. In this little island there is not now a family which can not gratify 

 its wants ; but if the land is swallowed up by a few individuals, the re- 

 maining inhabitants must be their serfs or peons, or become day-laborers, 

 which are so necessary in " more civilized " communities. In southern 

 California nearly all the descendents of the Mexicans are either servants 

 or day-laborers. Scarcely a single ranch remains in the possession of the 

 descendents of the family which owned it at the time of the American 

 occupation. I sincerely hope that this will not be the case in Guam fifty 

 years from now. In Australia the natives are nearly extinct, most of 

 them having died off from the effects of introduced alcoholic beverages ; 

 others from insufficient food or the inability to resist the effects of cold 

 and exposure after having enjoyed the luxury of blankets which civiliza- 

 tion has brought them. 



Wednesday, Febr^iary 8. — With General Wheeler, Mr. Garrett, his 

 secretary, and Mr. William Bengough to visit the northern portion of the 

 island. On our way Mr. Bengough took a number of photographs.* 

 Mr. Bengough proved to be a most delightful companion. He congratu- 

 lated me on the opportunity my position gives me for doing good work, 

 and establishing and confirming the rights of the natives. We visited the 

 ranch of Susana's brother, Don Gregorio Perez, and climbed to the 

 top of Mount Santa Rosa, from which we had a fine view of the island. 

 After a good dinner at Don Gregorio 's Mr. Bengough took a photograph 

 of our host and his family, t with a breadfruit tree in the background. 

 Of this part of the island, the view from Santa Rosa, and the products of 



*The accompanying photograph was taken by Mr. Bengough to illustrate the forest vegetation and 

 epiphytal growth on the island. General Wheeler is standing by one of the Governor's white stallions 

 beneath a tree covered with epiphytal ferns, and the writer, dressed in white duck uniform, is 

 near by. 



tThis photograph is reproduced opposite page i6 of General Wheeler's report. 



