| One of the Builders—Major Geo. P. Ahern |
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Speaking to a young Filipino one day about the apparent lack of appreciation by the Filipino people
of what had been done here by the United States, a certain American went on to say that, fifteen or sixteen years ago, had the Filipino
people got down on their knees and asked God Almighty in His wisdom to give them a supreme gift, they could not have received no
greater blessing than what had befallen them. This American then went on to explain by saying that the Filipino people, backward in all
that goes to make up modern or occidental civilization, had been brought into close and general contact with what is probably the
foremost people in the world today in just those qualities in which the Filipino people are lacking. For instance, the Filipino people were
of an artistic temperament, given to the arts rather than the sciences; their education tended to the classics and they inclined to poetry
and philosophy and abstract discussions rather than the practical and material; there was also a natural oriental tendency to lassitude
and "mañana" and to do things rather "more or less." The American, on the other hand, was the very antithesis of all that, eminently
practical, enterprising, energetic, anxious to have things done and done in a hurry, and he brought with him up-to-date twentieth century
methods and all that was the latest in hygeine and sanitation and good roads and education and the hundred and one other agencies
that go to make up civilization today. So, said this American, had God in His almighty wisdom wished to confer a blessing of blessings
upon the Filipino people, He couldn't have done better than give them a decade or two of contact with the American people.
Somewhat exaggerated and overdrawn, you may say. Possibly. And yet probably even the most carping Filipino will admit some measure
of truth in the hyperbole, if such it be. For, even granted that there have been lapses and insufficiencies and innefficiencies, and granted
also that there has been some measure of monetary compensation, there can nevertheless be no question that, even with such
imperfections as exist, there has been a splendid record of magnificient accomplishment—such accomplishment as has not been wrought
anywhere under similar circumstances in such a comparatively short space of time. That the Filipino people, by their being already generally
a Christian and almost an "occidental" people, and by their zeal for education and a readiness and in some cases an eagerness to
profit by the new order—that they have contributed in large measure to the success acheived need not be denied. Nor does such
participation detract from the credit of those who have been responsible, as instructors and master builders, for the results attained.
And among these few will begrudge a place of honor and distinction to the man who is leaving these shores today, probably never to return:
Major Geo. P. Ahern, director of forestry. |
| Appreciation From Abroad |
| There have been several bureaus of this government which have attracted favorable attention
abroad and made the American administration of these islands of good report. For instance, the bureau of health has been the recipient
of not a little commendation, the bureau of prisons has been regarded as in some respects a model for like institutions, the bureau of
science has become known in several quarters of the globe, and the bureau of education has elicited striking exprssions of admiration.
However, there is no bureau which has evoked so much genuine appreciation—so much of that sincerest form of flattery—imitation, as that
which for fourteen years past has had Major Ahern as its director. Just as Shakespeare's prince said that "from the four corners of the
earth they come" to "view fair Portia," so might Major Ahern say that from the four corners of the earth they come to see the bureau and
its workings, and further, to steal its men.
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| Demand For Its Men |
| To explain this charge of official kidnapping and justify the envious distinction given the bureau of
forestry, even to their coming from the four corners of the earth to view it, let there be cited the visit here six or seven years ago of a
forester sent by the Dutch government in Java, and his recommendation that his government secure four or five of the bureau's
inspectors; then let there be cited the request of Portuguese East Africa, some six or seven years ago, for two men; then let there be
mentioned that H. M. Curran, one of the bureau's best men, is now organizing the forests of British North Borneo; next turn to the case of
Dr. Woodford, who was trained here, and is now making an inventory of the forests of British Columbia; then recall the recent visit of the
head forester of China, sent down by his government, and the fact that there are five Chinese students at present in the forestry school at
Los Baños with a view to future use in the development of forests in that great empire. Than such instances there could be no
sincerer testimonial to the enviable reputation the bureau has achieved or what is thought by other countries of the work it is doing. |
| Paid From The Start |
| The secret of these other countries sending emissaries here and corralling the bureau's men is
probably found in the bureau's having paid its way almost from the first and brought in handsome returns in revenue. In most countries,
according to Major Ahern, the usual experience is that it takes from ten to twenty years to begin to make money out of a country's forests.
However, the first five years here under American administration saw the bureau of forestry turn in a million pesos to the treasury over and
above all expenses, and this was repeated the second five years. And, had the bureau been allowed a little more money for its operation,
it would have turned in proportionately more revenue. It is this Yankee method of making forests pay , ab initio, as the Romans
used to say, that seems to have caught the eye of some of these other governments. |
| Then And Now |
| The presumption is, of course, that to accomplish such results, the director of forestry had to use a
considerable number of men. Well, strange to say, there are no more men in the bureau of forestry now when it is turning in its quarter of
a million pesos or so every year, this in addition to its expenses, than there were in the old Spanish days when the forestry revenue was
almost nil. For then there were fifty-five or fifty-six Spaniards of the higher grades and some sixty odd Filipinos, while today there are only
ten or eleven American foresters with from eighty to ninety Filipino assistant foresters and rangers. |
| An Organizer |
| To secure such results, and to bring the bureau to its present state of efficiency, has meant
executive ability of no mean order—the power of organization. And nowhere is Major Ahern's administrative capability and heart [sic]
service better shown than in the forestry school at Los Baños. You can always tell the big man, the man who has a real genius for
organization, by his building for the future and by the machine he builds having in it the elements of perpetuity. He wants to see his work
live after him. And, as between the bureau of forestry and the school of forestry, it is a question which is the nobler monument. The
school will turn out twenty young graduates this year, and there are more to follow. And these are the men upon whom, in time, will
devolve the task of continuing what has been so well begun. |
| A Nursery For China |
| It is also of interest to know that at the school of forestry at Los Baños there are five young
Chinese students supported by the Chinese Famine Relief committee, they being sent down as a result of Major Ahern's representations,
and that there is now a prospect of their forming the nucleus of a school or class of forestry at the Nanking university, from which it is
intended there shall develop a forestry service for China. So that in time the Philippines may have the honor of having been the nursery
of a forestry service for that great empire. |
| Big Stands Here |
| From comparatively nothing the lumber business in these islands has grown till today it amounts
to five or six million pesos a year, and, in a few years, according to Major Ahern, it should be foru or five times that. For the opportunities
are here and all that is needed is capital. It is true the stands of timber in the Philippines cannot rank with those of Brazil and Sumatra,
but they are favored above nearly all other tropical countries. For, while the average stand in commercial forests is only somewhat over
10,000 board feet of marketable timber, here the average is over 20,000 feet. Strange to say, the Philippines can also boast one of the
biggest mills in operation in the tropics, that of the Insular Lumber company near Cadiz, Occidental Negros, which has a capacity of
about 70,000 board feet a day. The Insular Lumber company was also the first big company to open up here, beginning operations in 1904. |
| "Diligence and Thrift" |
| By Filipinos, the probable test as to Major Ahern's adminstrative ability will probably be found in the
degree to which he "filipinized' the service. In that, as already shown, he could qualify. A better test, however, would be: How did he treat
those Filipinos in the service? And there again he must be given a high average. And he demanded a high average. Outside the door of
his officed—and he has always taken a special pride in showing it—there hangs a chart. That chart has the name of each Filipino employee
in the office (of late all High school graduates) and his night school and savings bank rating. For before any aspirant could join the bureau
he had to pledge himself to go to night school and to save at least something each month. Diligence and thrift, it may be said, are two of
Major Ahern's own life maxims and he regards them as essential to success. And he thought he could do no better by those young Filipinos
who came to him than graft thise habits on them. To encourage them he awarded two prizes each year, a first, and a second for the two
with the highest average. The two who were last to receive such reward were Messrs. Malana and Mañgalinan, and their names will
stand proudly at the top for another year as an incentive to their fellows. |
| A "Master Builder" |
| More might be said about Major Geo. P. Ahern, director of forestry, and what he has accomplished
in his fourteen or fifteen years of service here—the best years of his life, but enough has been said to give some insight into his work and
into the character of the man. In his departure today the islands lose one who has been a loyal and faithful steward, an enthusiastic apostle
spreading the gospel of things Philippine, and a most ardent and efficient worker. And few have done more to enhance the name of the
American administration in these islands or help establish it on solid and enduring foundations. He is rightly one of the "Master Builders."
Which, with the satisfaction of well doing, is his best reward. |
| — Philippines Free Press 28 November 1914 |
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