282 The National Geographic Magazine 



PHILIPPINE LAND PURCHASE 



Friar Bonds. — Another example of 

 finance by this Bureau is the recent sale 

 of bonds to pay the friars for the surren- 

 der of their lands to the public domain 



SUBANON WOMAN, SHOWING NATIVE SKIRT OR "TAPIS," 

 WOVEN OF HEMP. 



of the Philippine Government. At the 

 end of the last year, just before Gov- 

 ernor Taft started for Washington, we 

 received a cablegram to the effect that 

 his labors for the past four years had 

 been successful ; that a definite agree- 

 ment had been reached, and that the 

 price to be paid for the lands that would 

 settle this troublesome question had 

 been decided upon. That act of July 1, 

 so often mentioned, providing for a 

 temporary civil government for the 

 Philippine Islands, authorized a bond 

 issue to provide funds necessary for this 

 payment. A prospectus or circular was 

 immediately made out offering these 

 bonds to the public, to the highest 

 bidder. Bids were opened January 11 

 last, and it was found that the offer of 

 107.577 f° r the entire seven million dol- 

 lars' worth of bonds tendered would 

 give a premium of $530,390, which was 

 the most advantageous to the Philippine 

 Government by a little over $75,000. 

 The award was therefore made to the 

 syndicate making this bid. The bonds 

 were registered in denominations of ten 

 thousand and one thousand dollars, 

 bearing respectively the vignettes of 

 President McKinley and Vice-President 

 Hobart. 



On February 1 the bonds will be de- 

 livered to the successful bidders, and 

 the money derived therefrom devoted 

 to the purchase of the lands according 

 to the agreement made. The purchase 

 price was some $7,240,000. Seven mil- 

 lions of the bonds were sold, leaving a 

 surplus on account of the premium real- 

 ized of approximately $300,000. This 

 work, under the direction of the Secre- 

 tary of War and the authority of the 

 act of the Philippine Commission, fell 

 to the lot of this Bureau, whose ability 

 to perform the task under its organiza- 

 tion and with the experience gained in 

 previous transactions of this kind in the 

 past can be best judged by the results 

 obtained. 



