﻿ix, d. 2 Christie: Irrigation in llocos Norte 107 



fish and cook for their fellow members while the latter are at 

 their labor. 



Nominally the officers are elected, and may be deposed by 

 vote at any time. In other words, they are subject to the 

 recall. But as a rule, a society has one or more members whose 

 influence is preponderating because of property, shrewdness, 

 education, or past or present government office, who constitute 

 the real controlling force. It must be borne in mind that a 

 very large proportion of the members cannot even read or write. 

 This fact is sufficiently evidenced by the long rows of marks 

 seen at the end of the agreements. The ignorance and humble 

 station in life of the mass of the members make it easy for a 

 local boss who gets to be the chief of an irrigation society 

 to keep control of its activities. 



In the case of those societies whose constitutions I have 

 read, the land irrigated is divided into equal shares among 

 the majority of the members, with the stipulation, in the case 

 of many of the larger societies, of larger shares for one or more 

 of the officers. The chief is often thus favored, sometimes to 

 the extent of having twice as much allotted to him as the 

 ordinary members; the superintendent of construction and the 

 secretary-treasurer are also given an advantage sometimes ; 

 the foremen have no advantage except that they do not do as 

 much manual labor as the ordinary members. 



Landowners who do not belong to a given society frequently 

 want the association to bring water to their land, or wish to 

 enjoy water rights in some canal that passes their land, but 

 which they have not helped to build. In such cases, it is often 

 possible for them to secure the advantages desired by agreeing 

 to give the members of the society a part of the crop. The 

 payment demanded is usually high, amounting often to two-fifths 

 of the crop. 



The danger of the chief of an irrigation society enriching 

 himself at the expense of the labor of the members is realized 

 by the Ilocanos, and the article found in the agreement quoted 

 above, forbidding the chief to enter into irrigation contracts 

 without first submitting the proposition to a meeting of the 

 society, is a very common one in instruments of this kind. 



Another common provision is one expressly forbidding a 

 member to alienate his share of land without the consent of 

 the society. It is often provided that in case a member wishes 

 to sell he must give the first choice to a fellow-member. On 

 the death of a member, his rights and obligations in a society 

 descend to his heirs. 



