Report of the governor general of the Philippine Islands. [1908]

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS. 233
XVIII. Any question arising in connection with the administration of the
friar lands loan fund which is not covered by the foregoing regulations shall be
submitted in writing to the secretary of the interior, whose ruling thereon shall
be final and conclusive, and shall become a part of these regulations for the
government of the director of lands in any similar case which may thereafter
arise.
By authority of the secretary of the interior:
Director of Lands.
Approved:
Secretary of the Interior.
There were received during the months of November, December, and January
14 applications for loans-6 from bona fide occupants of the Santa Rosa estate,
6 from the Imus estate, and 1 each from the Binan and Calamba estates. Of
these all the loans were approved, but the applicant on the Calamba estate
has so far failed to obtain the registration of his mortgage and the loan is still
pending. The total loans made aggregate 111,690, of which 111,000 were used
for the purchase of draft animals, including 51 carabaos and 29 bullocks, to be
used for the cultivation of sugar lands on the friar estates in Cavite and Laguna
provinces. The securities given for these loans were valued by the appraisers
at 1*24,905, in addition to the mortgages on the growing crops. All these loans
were made for periods of twenty months each, with interest at the rate of 12
per cent per annum. The disbursement of this money was on the order of the
borrower direct to the cattle dealer in payment for the animals purchased, and
thus no opportunity was given the borrower to dispose of the funds borrowed
otherwise than agreed upon. At the present writing all the animals purchased
are in good health and have given good satisfaction, and the result has been an
increase in the cultivated area of sugar land on the Santa Rosa estate to
upward of 120 hectares, with the probabilities of the harvesting of a splendid
crop from this area, when there should be no difficulty in the payment of the
loans made, except for the probability that further loans will be required to
further increase the cultivated area. The increased area under cultivation has
not been due alone to the benefits from these loans, as the animals were purchased so late in the year that the plowing of this land had been accomplished
by the bureau of agriculture with a steam plow, and this subject is reported
on under a separate paragraph.
Many informal applications for friar lands loans have been received, but
nearly all were either from the estates to which the loan privilege had not been
extended, or were for the cultivation of other crops than sugar, and recommendations regarding such loans will be made in the near future. If other bona
fide tenants of sugar lands do not desire to avail themselves of the loan privilege,
it may be advisable to extend it to other estates and under other conditions, viz,
the cultivation of other crops than sugar; but it is believed that during the
coming year further loans will be made, especially if steam plowing can be
done by the bureau of agriculture, as the experiment of the last year has demonstrated that it can be successfully accomplished. The most that can be expected
of the friar lands loan fund of P100,000 is that it will eventually increase the
cultivated areas on the estates to which it is applied to the extent of 1,000 hectares. However, this 1,000 hectares, once under cultivation and producing a
crop, will give the cultivators great assistance in further extending the cultivated areas, so that eventually all the land available will be in use. Great difficulty has been encountered in getting the securities for friar lands loans in such
shape as to be available for use as such, and as the chattel-mortgage law is new
and its terms are not understood, many delays have occurred. The cost of
making loans has so far been nominal, the agents of the estates attending to this
work in addition to their regular duties; but there appears to be no good reason
why the whole P100,000 should not be loaned out in the near future for the
benefit of the friar lands and the bona fide occupants thereof, and if this experiment is successful, it would appear to be an indication of what can be accomplished through agricultural banks, although the method of procedure would
be somewhat different, land being the basis of the loan rather than the security
accepted on friar lands loans.
STEAM PLOWING ON FRIAR LANDS.
In October, 1906, an agreement was entered into between the bureau of agriculture and this bureau, acting for the bona fide occupants of the Santa Rosa
estate, to place thereon one of the steam plows belonging to the bureau of agri