﻿ASBESTOS AND MANGANESE DEPOSITS. 175 



to Vigan, but the time consumed in making the trip with bull-carts is 

 about the same. Traveling with a bull-cart is slow and somewhat dif- 

 ficult, but the rate of pay is not high, it being usually about 25 centavos 

 per mile, although sometimes this depends upon whether you are going 

 to or from Laoag. Cargadores can easily be procured if it does not 

 happen to be the rice harvesting season when they are wanted, their cost 

 being about 35 centavos per man per day and subsistence. Kice or 

 ground corn is sufficient for them. The conditions affecting transporta- 

 tion on the water have been given elsewhere. 



LABOR. 



The Ilocanos make very good laborers and are always willing to work, 

 although they are remarkably untutored in the kind of labor required 

 in mining. One great difficulty comes in the harvesting season; for 

 then the}' are very reluctant to leave the rice fields. Thirty-five centavos 

 a day and subsistence is the usual rate at present. The general labor 

 conditions here are the same as in other parts of the Islands and of the 

 Orient. When the native and his dialect are better understood it becomes 

 evident that he is a -much better workman than some would have us believe. 

 Brutality on the part of the foremen, even apart from the underlying 

 moral objections, will not for a moment accomplish anything in the 

 handling of these peoples. 



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