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The National Geographic Magazine 



merits of all receipts and expenses are 

 directly reported to this Bureau — that 

 is, statements of accounts are all entered 

 in ledgers under a carefully thought-out 

 accounting system and a carefully tabu- 

 lated statement of all receipts and ex- 

 penditures made to Congress. It is diffi- 

 cult to make clear to one not acquainted 

 with the facts the amount of work this 

 involves. These accounts for the Philip- 

 pines up to June 30, 1902, cover 12,600 

 closely typewritten pages. These sheets, 

 after being sent to Congress, have been 

 printed as documents, and are there open 

 to anybody interested in our stewardship 

 of the island possessions. 



The duties of the auditor cease, so far 

 as this Bureau is concerned, when each 

 individual account settled by him in the 

 Philippines has been certified. The 

 work performed here is considered a 

 comptroller's review of the fiscal affairs 

 of the islands, and discrepancies or errors 

 arising from whatever cause in the 

 accounts of an officer can be immedi- 

 ately discovered and adjusted. This 

 Bureau is therefore enabled at all times 

 to furnish correct and detailed informa- 

 tion relative to the receipts and expend- 

 itures or to any disbursing officer's 

 accounts in the islands. 



PHILIPPINE TARIFF 



Upon the occupation of Manila the 

 old Spanish tariff was made effective 

 until such time as more pressing affairs 

 would permit of a revision. In June, 

 1900, a board of officers was appointed 

 at Manila to revise the tariff, and said 

 board invited suggestions from the mer- 

 chants of that city, and informed them- 

 selves as to what should be done in the 

 matter of revision. In August of the 

 same year the board was instructed to 

 turn its work over to the new Philip- 

 pine Commission, and it, after investi- 

 gation, forwarded a draft of the tariff 

 to Washington. It was received Feb- 

 ruary 9, 1901, and printed immediately 

 as a " proposed ' ' tariff, and sent to the 



more important journals and trade 

 papers in the country, as well as to 

 manufacturers, exporters, and others, 

 asking that they make any suggestions 

 desired, and their expression was in- 

 vited in order to make a tariff that 

 would be both fair to the revenues of 

 the islands and equitable to the ex- 

 porter and consumer. After all sugges- 

 tions had been received the entire tariff 

 was carefully studied, paragraph by 

 paragraph, every suggestion was con- 

 sidered, a number of guarded changes 

 were made, and the appraiser of the 

 New York custom-house was asked to 

 go over it for any possible changes in 

 the classification or descriptive lan- 

 guage that might make its application 

 as free as possible from ambiguity. It 

 was then printed, translated into the 

 Spanish language, and forwarded to 

 Manila. No tariff could have been 

 given more careful legislative consider- 

 ation at both ends of the line. When 

 Congress assembled the tariff was pre- 

 sented to that body for ratification. 

 As a unique feature in tariff legislation, 

 it may be said that the Philippine tariff 

 passed both Houses of Congress, after 

 four months' discussion, without a sin- 

 gle paragraph or rate of duty prescribed 

 by it criticised by any member of either 

 party in either house. The tariff has 

 been a success ; the revenues have in- 

 creased under its operation, in spite of 

 fearfully adverse conditions that ought 

 to have decreased the revenues. 



Cholera has raged throughout the 

 islands. How many victims it has 

 claimed can not be told until the census 

 has been completed ; but by comparison 

 with the former visitation of cholera, I 

 should not be surprised to find that it 

 claimed from five hundred thousand to 

 eight hundred thousand victims. Rin- 

 derpest has killed over 95 per cent of 

 the carabaos, the native work cattle — 

 enough to paralyze agriculture. Surra, a 

 form of glanders, has been found as fatal 

 to the horses, and a drought has been 



