At the present time the jails of the following provinces have been turned over, under Act No. 610, to the senior inspectors of the respective provinces: List of provincial jails turned over to constabulary. The following report of Capt. Chas. S. Wallace, U. S. Army, superintendent of the telegraph division, shows in a clear and concise manner the status of work looking to the final management of all the telegraphic communication in the Archipelago by the insular government. That more lines have not been turned over is accounted for by the large expense involved and the difficulty of obtaining suitable operators. HEADQUARTERS PHILIPPINES CONSTABULARY, TELEGRAPHIC DIVISION, Manila, P. I., June 30, 1903. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this division for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903: During the military occupation of the Philippine Islands practically every pueblo was garrisoned, resulting in an extensive system of telegraph and telephone lines and cables, extending from Aparri to Siassi, with a network of branch lines reaching to almost every town of any importance in the Archipelago, comprising some 8,000 miles of wire and handling over 7,000 telegrams daily, with commercial line receipts aggregating about $6,000 gold per month. As peace was established the army withdrew and was concentrated in large camps, and many of the branch telegraph and telephone lines, being no longer necessary from a military standpoint, were abandoned. These lines, however, were necessary to the administration of the insular government, and in many cases commercial interests demanded their retention. These conditions resulted in the Commission passing an act on September 15, 1902, organizing the telegraph division of constabulary, and on September 29, 1902, the undersigned was detailed by the War Department for service with the insular government and assigned to duty as superintendent. Inspectors with the requisite electrical knowledge were appointed and operators and linemen employed, supplies contracted for and the work of taking over lines from the military began, until to-day the insular government operates 1,871 miles of telephone lines, with 155 offices; 593 miles of telegraph lines and cables, with 23 offices. The commercial line receipts have grown from $12.36 in November, 1902, to $470.51 for June, 1903. The bureau controls lines in 34 provinces and has entirely replaced the military in 13 provinces, namely: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Union, Abra, Zambales, Bataan, Bohol, Masbate, Benguet, Lepanto-Bontoc, Cuyo, Surigao, and Antique. Five hundred and twenty-five miles of new line have been constructed in 13 provinces, for which purpose 770 miles of material including 160 new long-distance telephones have been distributed. Practically all the lines received from the military needed rebuilding, as many miles had been abandoned for some time before being transferred to this bureau. The telegraph division now consists of 20 telegraph inspectors, 19 American telegraph operators, 12 American linemen, 18 native telegraph operators, as well as 81 enlisted men of the regular constabulary force detailed for duty as linemen. NATIVE OPERATORS. On March 1, 1902, the educational department opened a telegraph school in Manila, with a view to furnishing native operators for the insular telegraph lines. Later schools were opened at Iloilo, Vigan, and San Isidro, the constabulary furnishing the instructors at Manila and Iloilo. At present 18 natives have graduated and are at work in the provinces. This number will be greatly increased in the next few months, as the schools are but now fairly started. The Ilocano makes by far the best telegraph operator. He acquires English readily, has the necessary application, and shows a disposition to accept employment in any part of the Archipelago. This is not true of some of the other tribes. Although a school was not opened in Ilocano country until March 23, 1903, and prior to this time he must come to Manila for instruction, 14 out of the 18 native operators now employed are Ilocanos. The principal difficulty with the native operator is the lack of general education necessary in making out reports and accounting for line receipts. Careful and systematic instruction, however, is overcoming this and very soon I expect to see all of the smaller offices in charge of Filipinos. Already four of the five offices in Zambales Province are handled by them. During the recent Marine camp near Olongapo a field office was opened in the camp by a native and all business transmitted in quite a satisfactory manner for several weeks. It will be necessary, however, for some time to come to employ a number of Americans to operate the larger offices, and it is earnestly recommended that a number be imported from the United States, under a contract similar to that used by the educational department. This will be imperative if more telegraph lines are to be taken over. For American operators and linemen this bureau has largely depended upon enlisted men discharged from the signal corps of the army. These men have generally served several years in the islands, are ready to return to the United States, and will not remain for the salaries authorized. The practice of asking for the discharge of selected men to accept service with the constabulary is not a success, as enlisted men desiring to leave the service for other reasons take this means of procuring their discharge and then resign. The practice also causes discontent in the signal corps and makes poor service. Out of 23 men discharged from the signal corps by order to accept positions with the constabulary 6 have resigned after a short time. |