FAMILY RELATIONS ADMIRABLE. 213 unknown. It is true that the prohibition of the Roman Catholic Church against divorce and remarriage led to many alliances in which the contracting parties were "married though not parsoned." These cases have afforded the basis for absurd charges of immorality against the islanders. As a matter of fact the conclusion of intelligent observers is that an unusually high standard of sexual morality is maintained by the natives of Guam. Safford voices the opinions of others, who like himself have had exceptional opportunities for ascertaining the truth, when he says: 66 such unlegalized alliances have been held up as examples of the shocking immorality of the island, whereas, in reality, in most cases observed by the writer they were to all intents and purposes marriages, in which the husband and wife were mutually faithful and the children well cared for. One of the most striking features to a stranger is the conscientious way in which illegitimate children are provided for. While registrar of property in the island, the writer was struck in many cases by the earnest desire of fathers to secure legal titles for their illegitimate children to houses and plantations especially prepared for them, and the records show that some of the best estates in the island were the creation of unmarried parents for their children." Parents in general are extremely solicitous for the welfare and happiness of their children and they in their turn recognize the authority of their parents as long as they live and seldom fail to provide for their comfort in old age. From the time that little ones come into the world the fathers begin to accumulate and hoard property with a view to giving them as good a start in life as possible. Safford expresses the belief that "there are perhaps few countries in the world where greater attention is paid to the establishing of a young couple in life, though of course in Guam their wants are comparatively few on account of the simplicity of their surroundings and their mode of living. On their part sons and daughters show the greatest respect and affection for their parents. It is not unusual for a man or woman of forty or fifty years to ask permission of his parents before engaging in a business transaction, and the spectacle of old women, abandoned and forgotten by their children, acting as water carriers, etc., so common in Samoa and among our Indian tribes, is unknown in Guam." GUAM. THE ISLAND UNDER AMERICAN RULE. The Economic Conditions are Far From Satisfactory-Good Roads are the Most Pressing Need - The System of Government The Trade of the Island - The Difficulties of Administration - The Capital of Guam The Old Church of Agana - Our Medical Officers Have Been Veritable Missionaries Treatment of Lepers - Educational Extension Under Difficulties Our Duty to the Guamese. The northern half of the island is occupied by a heavily wooded plateau; the southern portion is mountainous. Along the middle-west side is a low coastal plain of extreme fertility. Almost the entire population is to be found in a few towns situated upon this strip of land. Agana, the capital, contains upwards of seven-tenths of the entire population of about 10,500. Four villages, strung along the road between Agana and the harbor of Apra, a distance of less than ten miles, account for the greater part of the remainder. There are a few little barrios further south on the same coast and one at the southeast corner of the island. The only interior village lies about one mile to the south of the capital. Such an arrangement of the population upon the lit |