rue in the more thickly populated districts of the
Philippine Islands. But the case is different in sparsely settled
countries like Burma, East Sumatra, and the greater part of the
Philippines, where wages are so high that natives are not compelled by
necessity to work continuously. "Speaking generally," says Professor
Jenks, "the unskilled Filipino laborer, while intelligent enough, is
careless and thriftless. He in most cases wishes to take two or three
days a week, on the average, to celebrate as feast days. In individual
cases, where his wages have been increased, he has been known to lessen
correspondingly the number of days per month which he would work. His
income being sufficient to satisfy his modest needs, he could see no
reason why he should toil longer than was necessary to earn his
income."[83]

Hence in these sparsely settled countries the Dutch and English
governments have adopted, and Professor Jenks, in his report to the War
Department, has recommended a limited use of the system of contract
labor, not, however, for the native, but for imported Chinese. This
system has existed in another of our newly acquired possessions, Hawaii,
since 1852, where it applied to Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and
German immigrants, and whence it was abolished by the act of
annexation in 1898.[84]

[Illustration: FILIPINO GOVERNORS (From Census of the Philippine Islands)]

Contract labor of this kind is quite different from the peonage and
contract labor of the non-industrial races. It is similar to the
indentured service of colonial times, in that the term of each contract
is limited to a few years, and the contract is made by way of
compensation for advanced expenses of immigration. The object is not, as
in the case of slavery and peonage, to compel a shiftless race to work,
but it is to develop the country by the introduction of an industrious
race. The Chinese, after the expiration of their contracts, often become
skilled laborers and merchants, and in the latter position their
frugality and wiliness make them dangerous neighbors for the native
Malay and Filipino races.[85] For this reason Professor Jenks recommends
that employers be placed under bonds to return each contract Chinese
coolie to China at the expiration of the period of contract, not to
exceed three years, unless the government gives special permission for
renewal of the contract. Governor Taft, in his report for the year 1902,
while advocating a