THE 



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Vol. XI JANUARY, lUOO No. 1 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT* 



By Hon. John Barrktt, 

 Late United States Minister to Siam 



In accepting the invitation of tlie National Geographic Society, I 

 am not unmindful of the honor conferred or of the responsibility rest- 

 ing upon me to tell the truth about a portion of the world which has 

 such an important bearing now upon our national welfare. It will 

 be my simple purpose to consider within the limits of time at our 

 disposal the Philippine Islands as seen and known by me in times 

 both of peace and war, including such description of their environ- 

 ment or of neighboring countries as will best indicate the commercial 

 and strategic value of their location. This discussion will be no etlbrt 

 at orator}' or rhetoric, but an honest endeavor to tell 3'ou what I learned 

 with unprejudiced eyes. 



The invitation to speak under tlie di.stinguished auspices oi' tiie 

 National Geographic Society suggested that the treatment of the suV)- 

 ject should particularly include the material and geographical features 

 of the Philippines and their environment. It would not be wise, there- 

 fore, to enter upon any extended argument of the moral problems in- 

 volved in our occupation of the islands, although they are iiiijiortant, 

 except insomuch as the}' are interwoven with our political status in 

 the Pacific, which in turn is closely associated with coiiiinciiial and 

 geogra[thical considerations. 



During five years' residence in the far Kast, foui- of which it was 

 my honor to be the United States minister to Siam, it was also my 

 privilege to travel not only well over Siam, which to<lay is making 

 more progress tlian any other Asiatic land tixcept Japan, but also, in 



• A Icf'tiire (IfliviToil licfoic tin- Niitioiiikl <icograpliii- Sofioty, Iiecenibor K, Ibii'.t. 



