i 86 The National Geographic Magazine 



proportion. The number consensually 

 married was 233,670, forming only 3.3 

 per cent of the population. This class 

 was in the Philippines much smaller 

 proportionally than in Cuba, where it 

 formed no less than 8.4 per cent of the 

 population. Adding together the le- 

 gally and consensually married, the pro- 

 portion of all married persons in the 

 Philippines became 36.4 per cent of 

 the population, or about the same as in 

 the United States, while in Cuba the le- 

 gally and consensually married together 

 formed only 24. 1 per cent of the popula- 

 tion. 



The proportion of married in the Phil- 

 ippines, including those legally and 

 consensually united, is greater than in 

 Japan, Germany, Austria, Canada, Mex- 

 ico, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Ar- 

 gentina, Cuba, and Porto Rico, but less 

 than in British India, where infant mar- 

 riages are so prevalent, and in the United 

 States. It is rather extraordinary that 

 seven-tenths of all the prostitutes re- 

 ported in the islands were from foreign 

 lands, which speaks volumes for the 

 chastity of the Filipinos. 



THE WORKERS 



The occupations of the Filipinos are 

 few in number and present little variety. 

 There is little cooperative work, very 

 little use of machines, and little special- 

 ization of function. A majority of the 

 male Filipinos farm on a small scale, 

 those living near the coast alternating 

 that occupation with fishing. Most of 

 the women who were returned as having 

 occupations were spinners and weavers, 

 weaving in their homes on hand looms 

 the beautiful, delicate fusi, pina, and 

 sinamay. They weave also hats and 

 mats of the finest quality, all this work 

 being done in a small way as a household 

 occupation, alternating with the duties 

 of housekeeping. 



With this introduction the reader will 

 be prepared for the statement that a large 

 proportion of the people, much larger 



than in the United States or in almost 

 any other country, were reported as en- 

 gaged in gainful occupations. Indeed, 

 out of a civilized population of 6,987,686 

 in the Philippine Islands no less than 

 3,037,880, or 43.5 per cent, were in this 

 class, as compared with '36.3 per cent in 

 the United States, 33. [ per cent in Porto 

 Rico, and 39.6 per cent in Cuba. 



THE SURPRISING NUMBER OF WOMEN 

 WORKERS 



This excessive proportion was, how- 

 ever, due to the large number of women 

 workers, namely 1,025,287, as is shown 

 by the following table, in which the pro- 

 portions of wage- earners among the 

 males and the females are given for the 

 above four countries : 



Country. 



Male. 



Female. 



Philippine Islands 



United States 



Porto Rico 



Cuba 



57-6 

 58.7 

 56.9 

 68.2 



29-4 

 12.8 

 9.9 

 8.8 





From the above table it appears that 

 the proportion of women engaged in 

 gainful occupations in the Philippines 

 was more than double that of the United 

 States, three times that of Porto Rico, 

 and more than three times that of Cuba, 

 while the proportion of working males 

 was about equal to that in the United 

 States and Porto Rico and less than in 

 Cuba. 



This remarkable showing is in part 

 explained by the fact that a large pro- 

 portion of the women assist in supply- 

 ing the family exchequer by spinning 

 and weaving and to a less extent by 

 working in the fields. 



Persons not engaged in gainful occu- 

 pations include women engaged in 

 housework, children at school, and 

 other dependents. 



Farmers and farm laborers constitute 

 more than two-fifths of all who are en- 



