Report- of Taft Philippine Commission 117 



vailing typhoons, so that there are fre- 

 quently days, and even weeks during 

 which ships can neither load nor un- 

 load. 



Large vessels entering the harbor of 

 Manila, having a draft of more than i6 

 feet, are now compelled to lie two miles 

 or more offshore. Those of less draft 

 than this find entrance into the Pasig 

 River. The bay is so large that it feels 

 the full effects of the winds. The only 

 method by which large vessels anchor- 

 ing therein can take on or discharge 

 cargo is by lightering. At best, and 

 when the bay is calm, this is a tedious 

 and very expensive process, and dur- 

 ing rough weather becomes impossible. 

 Moreover, during the prevalence of ty- 

 phoons, which are not infrequent, the 

 safety of vessels thus situated is much 

 endangered. 



The cost of doing business in this 

 port is very great and constitutes a 

 very heavy burden upon commerce. 

 Freight rates from Manila to Hong- 

 kong, a distance of about 700 miles 

 only, are as much and sometimes more 

 than from San Francisco to Hongkong, 

 a distance of about 8,000 miles. 



The Spanish Government, more than 

 twenty years ago. formulated an elab- 

 orate scheme for the constrtiction of a 

 thoroughly protected harbor, with suf- 

 ficient depth of water to accommodate 

 the largest ships, and levied a special 

 tax on imports and exports for the pur- 

 pose of raising the necessary funds to 

 carry it into effect. Operations were 

 begun pursuant thereto shortly there- 

 after and continued in a slow and in- 

 termittent way up to the time of the 

 native outbreak of i8g6, with the result 

 that about 30 per cent of the work con- 

 templated was completed. Work upon 

 these plans, with slight modifications, 

 has been resumed by the Commission, 

 which has appropriated $1 ,000,000 for 

 the purpose. 



There are no navigable rivers, roads, 

 or even permanent trails in the islands. 



There are numerous water-courses in 

 the great islands of Luzon and Mindanao 

 which have their sources in the moun- 

 tains of the interior and flow to the sea 

 in rapid and broken currents. As a gen- 

 eral rule, they are inconsiderable in 

 volume and are either not navigable at 

 all or, if navigable, only for a few miles 

 from their mouths, so that they may be 

 eliminated in considering the question 

 of transportation. 



The so-called highways are generally 

 merely rude trails, which in the rainy 

 season, lasting half the year, are simply 

 impassable, and during the dry season 

 are rough and only available for travel 

 to a very limited extent. As a result, 

 there are few natives of the interior who 

 have ever been beyond the boundaries of 

 towns in which they live. The Com- 

 mission has appropriated $1,000,000 to 

 be expended at once in road-building. 



The Manila and Dagupan Railroad is 

 at this time the only line in the entire 

 island. It was constructed by English 

 capitalists and has been in operation 

 since 1892. It has a gauge of 3 feet 

 and 6 inches and traverses a rather low- 

 lying, fertile region, densely populated. 

 It was perhaps improperly located in 

 the beginning, and crossing, as it does, 

 quite a number of streams near their 

 mouths, which necessitated much trestle 

 and bridge work, was expensive to con- 

 struct. This expense, it seems, was in- 

 creased by unnecessary requirements of 

 the Spanish Government. As a result, 

 it appears to have cost the company 

 about $60,000 in gold per mile. It is an 

 expensive line to maintain by reason of 

 the fact that several of the streams, in 

 seasons of flood, overflow their banks 

 and inflict much damage upon the road- 

 bed. But, whilst it has not earned a 

 fair interest on the extravagant sum 

 which it cost, it has been wonderfully 

 beneficial in increasing the population 

 and wealth of the provinces through 

 which it runs and affords a striking illus- 

 tration of the enormous benefits which 



