LABOR IN THE PHILIPPINES.
A KNOWLEDGE of the wages paid for labor in Manila and of the conditions one must meet, should be sufficient to keep American laborers at home. If they wish to take their labor to that market, it must be sold as cheaply as the labor of their competitors, as they will receive no larger wages because the Philippine Islands are a possession of the United States. The best skilled labor at Manila receives the equivalent of $15.00 per month in gold, while the average earnings of the working classes will not equal $4.00 per month in gold, out of which provision must be made for the support of one's family. The best clerical labor, such as accountants, cashiers, bookkeepers, and the employees of the larger houses, receive from $30 to $60 per month in gold. The small number of Europeans, excepting the Spanish, who are engaged in business in the Philippines, are either the proprietors or responsible managers of established firms. The total absence of European and American laborers in the Orient is a sufficient demonstration that their employment is not needed. It is quite true that the cost of living is merely nominal in comparison with the cost in the United States, but even if one should save one's entire income, it would scarcely amount to a competence. It is a mistake to indulge the supposition that the Filipinos are uncouth savages, incapable of performing skilled labor that requires the exercise of judgement. The population living along the coast and in the cities has attained a surprising degree of civilization, and the workmen of this class produce an infinite variety of articles of their own manufacture that would be creditable to a more enlightened country. They are, in my judgment, superior to the same classes in Cuba, Porto Rico, and Hawaii, and possess in a great measure the cleverness at imitation, of the Japanese, whom they resemble in physical appearance and in the similarity of many customs.—Review of Reviews.