Friar MARTIN. The witness has stated that he paid as a canon 22 cavanes of rice. Now, if we take the gross product of a cavan of ground as 40 cavanes of rice we will have left 18 cavanes. The witness has been unable to state the cost of planting and gathering and garnering the crop of palay; but in Cavite Province, according to the facts in my possession, they amount to the equivalent of 16 to 17 cavanes of rice with rice at 10 reals a cavan. As they paid in rice it is a sign that the rice was not worth over 10 reals. If it had been worth more than 10 reals they would have paid in money. If we make a calculation, they would nave netted, at the most, between him and his profit sharer working the land, 3 cavanes to divide, supposing that he has told the truth. But he has stated that his share of the profits was 5 cavanes; that is, his own share, which was half of the net profits for both of them. Governor TAFT. But he said that the expenses were about 5 pesos, didn't he? Señor TIRONA. The subtenant had a great many more expenses, because he had to provide the plows and carabaos. Governor TAFT. The custom, as testified here, is that they divided the expenses and then divided the crop. Friar MARTIN. The general custom is that they used to subtract the expenses from the gross product, first paying the canon, then subtracting the expenses, and then dividing the net profits. Governor TAFT. So that if his expenses were $5 that would make $10 for both of them? Friar MARTIN. No, sir. Governor TAFT. And that would leave 8 pesos to divide, according to the witness. Friar MARTIN. Then you state that you can cultivate a hectare of ground at an expense of 10 pesos, gathering the crop and all expenses. Señor TIRONA. The custom was a little bit different in my town. The tenant there, not the subtenant, paid the expense of seeding, $4, and 75 cents to a peso for the working of the ground after the seed was in, which would make, say, an average of 5 pesos; but besides that he had to pay the cartage. The cartage is hard to calculate; it depends on the distance between the warehouse and the place where the rice is grown. Archbishop GUIDI. I would like to know the exact cost of cultivating 1 hectare. Señor TIRONA. I am unable to state, because it varies a great deal, but I have tried to explain the expenses that I had to pay and the expenses that my partner had to pay. He had to pay the expense of putting in the seed, then the expense of harrowing, and also the expense of hauling the grain from the land to the granary. This partner was obliged to pay all other incidental expenses, also the expense of reaping the crop and gathering it; but I am unable to state what those expenses of my partner amounted to in money. Governor TAFT. Did you hear what Friar Martin said with reference to the time that he paid 22 cavanes as the canon? He said this: The total product was 40 cavanes; you paid 22 as the canon, and the total expenses would be 16. That left only 2 cavanes to be divided between you and your partner. Is that correct? Señor TIRONA. My expenses amounted to about 5 pesos on an average, and the other expenses which were borne by my partner, the subtenant, were those of reaping and other incidental expenses which he bore. Governor TAFT. What is your land in Imus worth a hectare? Señor TIRONA. Part of the lands I inherited from my father and part of the lands, about 15 hectares, I bought about fifteen years ago for 80 pesos a hectare. Governor TAFT. From whom did you buy it? Señor TIRONA. A man named Blas Heda, now dead. Governor TAFT. Was he paying a canon to the Recoletos? Señor TIRONA. I believe so. Governor TAFT. What you paid, therefore, was 80 pesos for the right to occupy the land? Señor TIRONA. In the deed of conveyance for which I paid the possession of the land was also given to me. Governor TAFT. And that at the rate of 80 pesos a hectare? Señor TIRONA. Yes, sir; more or less. Archbishop GUIDI. Upon the payment of your 80 pesos per hectare for that piece of property which was conveyed to you, did you get the ownership of the property, or did you simply get possession of the property? Señor TIRONA. The deed of conveyance that was issued to me states, according to my idea-I am not a lawyer nor do I understand anything about legal terms-that it gives me possession of the land. Archbishop GUIDI. Can you dispose of this land? Can you sell it or do as you please with it? Señor TIRONA. It has been the custom among the residents of that town having property to convey possession of it by deeds. Archbishop GUIDI. It is a loss of time to examine this witness. I do not wish to question him any more. Governor TAFT. We understand what he means and what he does not want to say, but that is a question we are not trying here. The question is one of value. I want to ask him what that land is worth now. Señor TIRONA. I have not tried to sell. Governor TAFT. Suppose you were to buy that land free from the necessity of paying any canon? Señor TIRONA. It would be worth somewhat more on that account. Governor TAFT. How much? Señor TIRONA. I can not calculate; I do not know. Governor TAFT. Have you first or second class land? Señor TIRONA. I have both first and second class land. Governor TAFT. What is the first-class land worth? Señor TIRONA. It depends upon circumstances what the land is worth. Seven years ago it was worth about 80 pesos a hectare, but lately there have been no sales of land. Still, I would think it might be worth about 90 pesos. It depends altogether on the necessity of the seller for disposing of his property. Possibly it might be worth 100 pesos a hectare. Governor TAFT. Have you made a tax return on that land? Señor TIRONA. Yes, sir. Governor TAFT. How much did you return the land as worth? Señor TIRONA. A little over 100 pesos a hectare. Governor TAFT. That was your declaration as proprietor, was it? Señor TIRONA. Yes, sir. The board of municipal assessors afterwards changed it and converted my valuation into gold. Governor TAFT. Did they make it $100 gold? Señor TIRONA. They converted my declaration into gold because the board saw that the valuation which I had placed upon it would not enable the municipality to collect enough taxes to keep up expenses. TESTIMONY OF FELIZ CUENTA. Governor TAFT. What is your name? Governor TAFT. Where do you live? Señor CUENTA. In Bacoor. Governor TAFT. Bacoor is in the hacienda of San Juan? Señor CUENTA. Yes, sir; but the pueblo itself is in the San Nicolas estate. Governor TAFT. Have you any land there? Señor CUENTA. I am the presidente of the town and I am not a tenant of the town now, but I have some land of my own. Governor TAFT. How much? Señor CUENTA. About 30 cavanes of land. Governor TAFT. Is it rice land? Señor CUENTA. Yes, sir. Governor TAFT. How long have you held it? Señor CUENTA. Some of the land I inherited from my father and some I have bought. Governor TAFT. Did your father pay a canon on the land? Señor CUENTA. No, sir; the land to which I refer is land which belongs to the municipality. Governor TAFT. Is it first-class or second-class rice land? Señor CUENTA. They are not first-class lands because they are subject to rainfall, and when the rain does not fall there is no crop. Governor TAFT. How much do they produce in a good year? Señor CUENTA. From 25 to 30 cavanes. They are not first-class lands; they are lands that are near the center of the town; they are not irrigated lands. Governor TAFT. And you raise from them in normal years from 25 to 30 cavanes? Señor CUENTA. Yes, sir. Governor TAFT. Are you familiar with first-class lands in that part? Do you know first-class lands? Señor CUENTA. Yes, sir; more or less. Governor TAFT. What do you consider your land worth? Señor CUENTA. As these lands of mine have no burden on them whatever except the land tax, I consider them to be worth about 100 pesos Mexican a hectare, and I place this valuation upon them because they are near town. Governor TAFT. How does that compare in value with the first-class lands on the estates, assuming that there is no canon to pay and no burden of any sort except the land tax? Señor CUENTA. It would be about the same. Governor TAFT. But is not first-class land on the estate worth more than your land that is not irrigated? Señor CUENTA. They are worth 100 pesos a hectare for the reason that the lands in the estate are farther away from the town. You have to take that fact into consideration. You must also remember that those classifications of first class, second class, and third class were made by the administrators of the estates themselves. Governor TAFT. Isn't there first-class land in the estate just as near the town as your land? Señor CUENTA. No, sir; as all my lands are within the populated limits of the town. Governor TAFT. Isn't there first-class land up near Imus? Señor CUENTA. At the barrio of Mambo, where there is plenty of water, there are good first-class lands. Governor TAFT. Isn't that near Imus? Señor CUENTA. Right adjacent to Imus. Governor TAFT. What is that land worth? Señor CUENTA. About 150 pesos; I do not know for certain. Governor TAFT. How much will first-class land produce? Señor CUENTA. From 40 to 50 cavanes. Archbishop GUIDI. How much do yours produce? Señor CUENTA. Twenty-five to thirty. Mr. MCGREGOR. Without irrigation? Señor CUENTA. Yes, sir. Governor TAFT. How many crops, on that first-class land, do they produce in two years? Señor CUENTA. Each year, one. Archbishop GUIDI. Have they never gathered two crops in one year? Señor CUENTA. In my town, so far as I know, I have never seen two crops. I have never heard of two crops in Imus. Mr. McGREGOR. Your pariente, Juan Cuenta, who used to be the presidente, has land that is irrigated from this large dam called the Place de Malina. Does that only produce 40 to 50 cavanes? They have as much water as they require, of course. Señor CUENTA. Perhaps they produce about that much. There are some years when they might have produced more and some less. Governor TAFT. How much more? Señor CUENTA. I suppose that that is about as high as they reach. I do not know. I have heard from others who possessed land around there that they would produce from 40 to 50. Governor TAFT. Has not your cousin produced three crops in two years? Señor CUENTA. No, sir. Governor TAFT. Do you own first-class land? Señor CUENTA. I do not know whether they are first-class lands or not; they are at the barrio of Ligas and the water from the dam reaches the land. Mr. McGREGOR. Then you put a value of about $100 Mexican on the first-class land there? Señor CUENTA. I have not said so. Archbishop GUIDI. What is the value of first-class land? Mr. MCGREGOR. Do you consider your land, under the usual way of classifying land, third-class land? Señor CUENTA. You can not classify these lands, as they are not irrigated lands, and when it does not rain they have very little value. Mr. MCGREGOR. We look upon that as third class. Do you know a man named A. Tolentino? He has lands in the district of San Nicolas. The reason I ask this question is that there is a man named Tolentino who has 14,707 meters of land and he values it at $325 gold. Señor CUENTA. I do not know him; there are a great many Tolentinos. Mr. McGREGOR. That is a price that I got from the book in Cavite; I do not quite understand it. They call it improved palay land. Perhaps the man has got a dam on it or something of that sort. Governor TAFT. What did you return your land at? Señor CUENTA. I, together with several other prominent citizens of the town of Bacoor, had agreed to fix a high valuation upon our real estate there in order to help out the municipality in its running expenses for schools, general improvements, etc., and for that reason I put a value of 200 pesos a hectare on my land. It was, however, with the understanding that this high valuation would be reduced when the necessities of the municipality would not be as great as they are at present. Governor TAFT. Was it $100 gold that you put on it? Señor CUENTA. Two hundred dollars Mexican. Governor TAFT. And they reduced it to gold? Señor CUENTA. No, sir; they have not reduced it to gold. Governor TAFT. Haven't they been ordered to reduce everything to gold? Señor CUENTA. The tax board has not changed the valuation put upon the land by the property owners in their declarations, though it has converted them to gold at the rate of exchange. We increased it, in other words. Governor TAFT. Did they not transfer it to gold at the rate of two to one? Señor CUENTA. This conversion was made by the treasurer; the boards did not do it at all. It is done in Cavite itself. Mr. MCGREGOR. Have you any salt lands? Señor CUENTA. Yes, sir. Mr. McGREGOR. How much? Señor CUENTA. Perhaps each salt pit may be less than a hectare. I nave 12 of these salt pits, about 12 hectares. Mr. MCGREGOR. What do you value your salt lands per hectare at? Señor CUENTA. That is according to the condition of the salt pit. Some land is better than other. Mr. McGREGOR. But taking average land? Señor CUENTA. From 250 to 300 pesos for each salt pit, more or less. Mr. McGREGOR. I wanted to get at his price, because we have some salt lands. TESTIMONY OF GREGORIO BAUTISTA. Governor TAFT. What is your name? Señor BAUTISTA. Dasmariñas. Governor TAFT. Do you hold any lands in Dasmariñas? Señor BAUTISTA. Yes; I am in possession of lands at Dasmariñas. Governor TAFT. How much? Señor BAUTISTA. I have two classes of land-one irrigated and the other not irrigated. Governor TAFT. How much irrigated? Señor BAUTISTA. Two cavanes. Governor TAFT. How much unirrigated? Señor BAUTISTA. About 3 cavanes, I should calculate. Governor TAFT. Is that irrigated land first-class land? Señor BAUTISTA. I can not state with regard to the classification of the land. Governor TAFT. How much will it produce? Señor BAUTISTA. In the good times, 50 cavanes. Governor TAFT. How much does the unirrigated land produce? Señor BAUTISTA. I have not cultivated it to palay at all. I cultivate it to corn. Before the revolution I also planted some sugar cane, but not since then. Archbishop GUIDI. Did you in the best of times, or at any time, get more than 50 cavanes per hectare from your land? Señor BAUTISTA. Never. Archbishop GUIDI. Did you ever get two crops from that land? Señor BAUTISTA. No; never. Governor TAFT. Have you returned your land for taxation? Señor BAUTISTA. Yes, sir. Governor TAFT. At what price did you return it? Señor BAUTISTA. Some at 75 and some 80 pesos Mexican a cavan. Governor TAFT. Do you think that is about the right value? Señor BAUTISTA. To the best of my knowledge and understanding that is the right price. Governor TAFT. How much did you declare the unirrigated land at? Señor BAUTISTA. I returned it at 5 pesos, because the land has not been cultivated for a number of years and it is now overgrown with vegetation. Mr. MCGREGOR. Is there much sugar land in the vicinity of Dasmariñas? Señor BAUTISTA. There are two or three landowners at the present time who are cultivating sugar cane. Mr. MCGRECOR. I think that Señor Villegas said that there was none. EXHIBIT G. DETAILED AND SUMMARIZED STATEMENTS OF THE VALUATIONS OF THE FRIARS' ESTATES BY SEÑOR VILLEGAS. The friar lands as surveyed by the expert appointed by the Philippine Commission. ESTATES OF THE DOMINICANS. Binan (3,739 hectares 10 ares 15 centares): Rice lands of the first class, 2,039 hectares 10 ares 15 centares, at $150 a hectare Sugar lands of the first class, 1,700 hectares, at $100 Dams and dikes, according to present condition Calamba (16,424 hectares 14 ares): Rice lands of the first class, 3,991 hectares, at $150 a hectare.... Rice lands of the second class, 883 hectares, at $125 a hectare... Rice lands of the third class, 883 hectares, at $80 a Sugar lands, 4,626 hectares, at $60 a hectare.. Lolomboy, Polo, Bulacan (106 hectares 53 ares): Rice lands and building lots (improved lots) of the first class, at $150 Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan (4,158-9-66 hectares): Building lots, 164-45-67 hectares, at $125 Uncultivated lands, 647-53-83 hectares, at $5 a Improvements, farmhouse, and warehouses for rice.. Naic (7,922 hectares and 29 ares): Rice lands of the first class, 3,119 hectares 28 ares, at $200 a hectare Building lots in the town, 40 hectares 1 are, at $200 a hectare Uncultivated woodlands, 4,763 hectares, at $5 a hectare.... Improvements of dams, dikes, and tunnels, according to present condition... Farmhouse and warehouses for the storing of rice.. a Lolomboy, Polo, Bulacan (second) (65—19–50 hectares): Rice lands and building lots of the first class, at $150, $9,779.28. Omitted in error and added to the grand total. 623, 856.00 8,020.00 23,815.00 90, 305.76 770, 996. 76 |