50 



Economizing labor. — The Philippines are like most of the sugar- 

 producing countries in that the available labor supply is comparatively 

 limi'ted. Under the present system of very small plantations and mills 

 the ' amount of labor required per ton of sugar produced is much 

 greater than it would be if a better sj^stem of management were in- 

 augurated and more labor-saving devices used. The argument is some- 

 times presented that high salaried management and expensive labor-saving 

 machinery tend to make the cost of the work done greater than when 

 the native laborer, paid small wages, is left to take his o\vn time and use 

 his own methods for doing the work. Even admitting the truth of this 

 claim, a sufficient argument against it is the fact that the limited labor 

 supply available necessarily limits the amount of sugar that can be 

 produced on a given plantation and in the whole Islands. It should 

 be so economized and augmented that the amount of manual labor 

 now required to produce a ton of sugar will produce more and more 

 each year, especially with improved methods and equipment. 



Laborers often work twelve and even fifteen hours a day during 

 the heaviest part of the grinding season. It is customary and they 

 do not complain, but not being very strong or well fed, they become 

 fagged out in a few days and drag through the balance of the season 

 in a desultory manner or quit work altogether, generally under the 

 pretense of being sick. Shorter hours would result in more efficient 

 labor, conserve the strength of the men for a longer period, and reduce 

 the demand for holidays. 



The common diet of fish and rice provided for the laborers is no 

 doubt the most economical so far as actual cost is concerned, but it 

 could be greatly improved by giving a greater variety of food and more 

 meat. The effect of an abundant and wholesome diet is quite evident 

 in the excellent physical condition of the Philippine Scouts, Constab- 

 ulary soldiers, Coast Guard sailors, and Bilibid prisoners. 



With the coming of the central miU the system of harvesting at 

 a number of places or small plantations at the same time will be changed 

 so that one large gang of laborers will work in a limited section along 

 the temporary tracks of the plantation railway, which will prove much 

 more economical than dividing the labor employed on the area from 

 which the central mill draws its supply of cane into the large number 

 of Squads represented by the present small plantations. A large part 

 of the labor now employed by the small mills during the harvest season, 

 such as for driving carts, unloading cane at the mill, loading and 

 unloading cars, handling and drying bagasse, hauling sugar to the 

 port of shipment, and many other laborious tasks will be accomplished 

 by mechanical power or dispensed with altogether. 



Stripping the cane. — The first process in harvesting sugar cane is 

 the stripping the leaves from the stalks, an operation requiring much 



