﻿IX, B, 2 Sanitary Survey in Mindoro 153 



children were bom, twice the number which died in the final 

 three months of 1912. No previous records of births were 

 obtained. 



III. HOUSING CONDITIONS AND NUTRITION 



Housing conditions. — As the sugar companies are endeavoring 

 to work out the question of proper housing, I will only say that, 

 in my opinion, the barrack system now in use is defective in 

 many ways and that the individual (family) house seems to 

 promise better results generally. The condition of overcrowding 

 and of insanitary interior partition of barracks into small rooms 

 exists, and needs correction badly. 



Much trouble, in my opinion, might have been avoided, had 

 the companies exercised their undoubted right to regulate interior 

 as well as exterior conditions about their houses. Until such time 

 as they do so, no system of house building will remedy the un- 

 wholesome conditions which exist. That the companies can limit 

 the number of persons per house ; exclude chickens and animals ; 

 prevent the unauthorized construction of partitions, sleeping 

 closets, and sleeping shelves in their buildings; oversee ventila- 

 tion; and insist upon the maintenance of screens and upon 

 the use of the sanitary appliances provided by them is as plainly 

 possible as it is for them to regulate outdoor conditions. 



NutHtion. — The important matter of nutrition can only be 

 dealt with here in a general way. The fact of general malnu- 

 trition or subnutrition among these people was abundantly 

 established by the commission. 



The methods of supplying food for the laborers and their 

 families were investigated, and as a result the fact that the food 

 is sold at an abnormally high price was established. Members 

 of the commission priced the staple articles of food on sale at the 

 company stores and at tiendas, and found that prices were decid- 

 edly higher than those prevailing throughout the Philippines, and 

 in many cases exceedingly high. 



The messes of the restaurants conducted by the companies were 

 also investigated, and it was found that three classes of meals 

 were provided at rates of 20, 15, and 10 pesos per month, respec- 

 tively for first-, second-, and third-class board. In the opinions 

 of the chairman of the commission and myself, only the first-class 

 board, at 20 pesos per month, is suitable to subsist a workman 

 engaged at hard labor on the sugar estates. From inquiry of 

 the mess managers, it was found that less than 5 per cent of 

 the boarding laborers selected this fare. A larger percentage 



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