ts were read at the trial, and
160 witnesses were brought against him. To endeavour to establish
a case of conspiracy against him, another individual was produced
as his colleague. The first accused was defended by an American
advocate with such fervid eloquence, apparently inspired by earnest
conviction of his client's innocence, that those who had to decide his
fate acquitted him of the charge of conspiracy on May 11, 1904. The
defendant's verbal explanation to me of the "Labour Union" led me to
the conclusion that its abolition would benefit the community.

The abnormal rise in wages had the bad effect of inducing the
natives to leave their pastoral pursuits to flock into the towns. The
labour question is still a difficult problem, for it is the habit
of the Filipino to discontinue work when he has a surplus in his
pocket. Private employers complain of scarcity and the unreliability
of the unskilled labourer. Undoubtedly the majority of them would
welcome the return of Chinese coolies, whose entry into the Islands is
prohibited by the Insular Government, in agreement with the desire of
the Filipinos, who know full well that the industrious Chinaman would
lower wages and force the Filipinos into activity for an existence.

Consul-General Wildman, of Hong-Kong, in his report for 1900 to the
State Department, Washington, said: "There has been, during the past
year, quite an investment of Hong-Kong capital in Manila; but it
is the general opinion that _no investment in mines or agriculture_
in the Islands _will be of any great value until the introduction of
Chinese labour_ is not only _permitted_ but _encouraged_."

Section IV. of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1902 provides that every
Chinese labourer rightfully in any insular territory of the United
States (Hawaii excepted), at the time of the passage of this Act,
shall obtain, within one year thereafter, a certificate of residence,
and upon failure to obtain such certificate he shall be deported;
and the Philippine Commission is authorized and required to make all
regulations necessary for the enforcement of this section in the
Philippine Islands. No restriction is placed upon their movement
from one island to another of the Philippines, but they cannot go
from the Philippines to America.

The regulations established by the Insular Government (Act of March
27, 1903) in conformity with the above-cited Act are as follows: The
Chinese can leave the Islands and return