“It is often true that monotony and discomfort are the cause of nervous and mental breakdown, witness the often-mentioned insanity among farmers’ wives and the nervous breakdowns attributable to pain and strain, even though it be, as in many cases of eyestrain, so slight as not to be recognized by the patient.”

In short, it is the monotony of a tropical lowland climate which makes an occasional change so imperatively necessary.  Shall residents of the Philippines be forced to seek that change, at great expense of time and money, in Japan, the United States or Europe, or shall we make and keep available for them a region which admirably answers the purpose, distant only half a day’s travel from Manila?

I give extracts from a memorandum of Col.  William H. Arthur, Department Surgeon of the Philippines, which are important in this connection:—­

“3.  Experience has shown that long residence in the Philippines has a marked effect on the mental and physical vigour of people not born and raised in the tropics.  This is manifested in many ways, and men, women and children who are not actually ill, seem to lose their energy, become listless, irritable, and forgetful, and find the least exertion burdensome.  This is much aggravated in the hot season, and very few individuals manage, without permanent mental and physical deterioration, to live through many hot seasons in the plains.

“4.  There are in the Philippine Islands two places where relief from these conditions can be found:—­(1) Camp John Hay, near Baguio, in the mountain province of Benguet, Island of Luzon; and (2) Camp Keithley, in the Lake Lanao District of the Island of Mindanao.  Camp John Hay, in the province of Benguet, is in the mountains at an elevation of approximately 5000 feet and is 175 miles from Manila, most of which distance is covered by railroad.  Within 18 months it is expected that the railroad all the way to Baguio will be completed.

“5.  Experience has shown that a large number of cases of disease or injury, or patients convalescing from surgical operations, recover much more rapidly in the cool mountain climate of Baguio than in the depressing heat and humidity of the plains.  Before the establishment of this mountain refuge from the heat of the plains, many cases of this class were transferred to the United States that are now brought back to health at Camp John Hay and Camp Keithley.  The beneficial effect of the change in climate is particularly noticeable in people who have become run down after one or more hot seasons spent at the lower levels.

“6.  The great value of a refuge in the mountains from the effect of prolonged heat is shown in enclosed reports, which indicate the classes of cases especially benefited, but there are a great many others not reported and not actually sick but whose vitality and resistance are more or less diminished and who find great benefit from an occasional sojourn in the mountains of Benguet or the highlands of Mindanao, especially during the hottest part of the year.”