ere on June 26,
1904. During his mission the conditions of the friars' land settlement
were embodied in a contract dated December 28, 1903, whereby the
United States undertook to pay, within six months from date, the sum
of $7,227,000 gold in exchange for the title-deeds and conveyances of
all the rural lands belonging to the three corporations possessing
such--namely, the Dominicans, Agustinians, and Recoletos. [277]
To cover this purchase, bonds were issued in America for $7,000,000
bearing 4 per cent, interest per annum; but, as the bonds obtained
a premium on the money market, the total amount realized on the
issue was $7,530,370. It remained, therefore, with the corporations
themselves to deliver the title-deeds, but on personal inquiry of
the Gov.-General in the month of July following I learnt that up to
that date they had only partially fulfilled this condition. This,
however, concerns them more than it does the American Government,
which is ready to pay for value received. The approximate extent of
the friars' lands is as follows [278]:--

Province. Acres.

Cavite. 121,747 Some held for centuries. None
less than one generation.
La Laguna 62,172
Rizal 50,145
Bulacan 39,441
Rizal (Morong) 4,940
Bataan 1,000
Cebu 16,413
Cagayan 49,400 Gov't. grant to Austin friars,
Sept. 25, 1880.
Mindoro 58,455 Gov't. grant to Recoleto friars
in 1894.
-------
Total 403,713

The purchase negotiations became all the more complicated because,
from 1893 onwards, the Religious Orders had sold some of their lands
to speculators who undertook to form companies to work them; however,
the friars were the largest stockholders in these concerns.

As the lands become State property they will be offered to the tenants
at the time being at cost price, payable in long terms with moderate
interest. The annual compounded sum will be only a trifle more than
the rent hitherto paid. [279]

As Governor Taft stated before the United States Senate, it would be
impolitic to allow the tenants to possess the lands without payment,
because such a plan would be promotive of