It will soon be possible to secure official and complete returns of the number of pupils enrolled and the number actually in attendance upon the elementary schools, the number that are receiving English instruction both in the day and evening schools, and the number of Filipino teachers. A rough estimate, based upon the reports received in this office and the number of English teachers in the field, may be given. There are probably over 150,000 Filipino pupils enrolled in the free primary schools which have been established by the American Government and over 75,000 pupils in actual attendance. There are probably 3,000 to 4,000 elementary Filipino teachers, 1,800 to 2,000 of whom are receiving one hour of English instruction daily. There are at least 10,000 adults receiving English instruction in the evening schools conducted by American teachers. Applications from adults are coming from all over the archipelago for English instruction. The American teachers are being given authority to establish evening schools whereever they are needed. There will shortly be from 20,000 to 30,000 attending these schools. Requests for large quantities of school supplies have now become so numerous that soon large orders will have to be placed with American firms for additional school material. Great interest is shown by Filipinos at large in educational matters, and the eagerness for English instruction before reported upon is still unabated. Respectfully submitted. FRED W. ATKINSON, General Superintendent of Public Instruction APPENDIX GG. REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE CITY OF MANILA FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1901. HEADQUARTERS PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL, ACTING ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Headquarters Provost-Marshal-General, Manila, P. I. SIR: I have the honor to report the operations of this department for the fiscal year 1901, as follows: 1 Included in "Board of health" account, beginning May 1, 1901. * Included in "Board of health" account, beginning February 1, 1901. APPENDIX HH. POPULATION BY PROVINCES, ACCORDING TO FIVE RELIABLE REPORTS. STATISTICS OF POPULATION. A bureau of statistics was established by a law enacted September 26, 1900. The chief officer of this bureau, called the chief statistician, was required, under the terms of this law, to superintend and direct the collection, compilation, and publication of such statistical information concerning the Philippine Islands as might be required by law. The position of chief statistician was held for one year by Prof. Carl C. Plehn, of California. The most important investigation of this bureau during the past year was that concerning the population of these islands. It was found that there were two sources from which the Spanish Government was able almost at any time to ascertain with sufficient accuracy for all practical purposes how many people there were in the islands who lived in organized communities recognizing Spanish sovereignty. These were, first. the assessment lists for tribute; second, the parochial records kept by the church. There was, and still is, no way in which the number of persons belonging to the non-Christian tribes could be ascertained. The returns from these two sources almost always confirm one another, the difference being as a rule only such as might readily be accounted for by the slight difference in time. The returns from the first source might on general principles be expected to fall below the truth, as the cabezas de barangay had an interest in avoiding responsibility for taxes by understating the population, while those from the second source might with equal propriety be expected to be in excess of the truth, for the priest was interested to report as large a parish as possible. Practically, however, neither of these motives seems to have seriously affected those returns which were made from time to time for statistical purposes, and the reports coincide too closely to be impugned on these grounds. Probably on account of the ease with which the population could be ascertained from these two sources the Spanish Government took but one census independent of them. That was in the year 1887, and was dated as of December 31. It seems to have been a house-to-house canvass, a separate leaflet being used for each man, woman, and child in the islands, excepting, of course, those of the independent tribes. The general plan of this census, the form and contents of the schedules, the regulations and instructions under which it was taken, were all of such a character as to warrant the expectation of fairly accurate results. It is not possible at the present time to ascertain how well the plan was executed, but the published returns show evidence of having been compiled with some care; and as the enumeration districts were small there is no good reason to question the general accuracy of the results. This census is, moreover, fully confirmed by information from the two regular sources of information and for the same time both as regards the total population and that of the several provinces. The earliest reliable information concerning the population is for the year 1735, when the various religious orders reported a total of 837,182 souls under their jurisdiction. From 1840 on the Strangers' Guide to Manila (Guía de Forasteros), afterwards known as the "Guía Oficial," gives once in every two years a new statement of the population of each pueblo and province based upon reports obtained from one or the other of the two sources above mentioned. Unfortunately there are frequent omissions, and the value of the published returns varies much from year to year. Embodied in this report is a table, from these and other sources mentioned therein, which gives the results of what seems to be the most. reliable of the older counts. A second table, attached hereto, gives by provinces the results of those counts which seem to be particularly worthy of credence, namely, those of 1818, 1840, 1850, 1870, and 1887. The most striking feature of these tables is the slow growth that is indicated. With a death rate which in normal years-that is, in years not attended by some epidemic or other disaster affecting the whole community-is between 30 and 35 per 1,000, and a birth rate of over 50 per 1,000, the increase which might be expected is much greater than appears. The fact is that the growth of the population has been restrained by violent epidemics of the most sweeping character. A single epidemic of smallpox, cholera, plague, influenza, and other diseases will easily sweep away the natural growth for several years. Thus in 1879 the death rate is reported as 106.3 per 1,000 against a birth rate of 43.4 per 1,000, while in 1896, which may be taken as a fairly normal year, the death rate was 33.7 and the birth rate 56.4. Several of the important epidemics are indicated in the table. |