Holy Father the aspirations of the Philippine people with respect to
Church matters, and he consented to do so, provided the movement did
not in any way affect their absolute submission to the Holy See, and
that the Philippine Church should remain a Catholic Apostolic Church,
with the sole difference that its administration should be confided
to the Filipinos instead of to foreigners, if that reform met with
the approval of his Holiness. [281]
Only at this stage did Aglipay admit that he sought independence
of Rome; thereupon the Philippine clergy of distinction abandoned
all thought of participation in the new movement, or of any action
which implied dictation to the Holy See. Nevertheless, two native
priests were commissioned to go to Rome to seek the Pope's sanction
for the establishment of an exclusively Philippine hierarchy under
the supreme authority of the Pope. But His Holiness immediately
dismissed the delegates with a _non possumus_. The petition to His
Holiness was apparently only the prelude to the ultimate design to
repudiate the white man's control in matters ecclesiastical, and
possibly more beyond.
Gregorio Aglipay then openly threw off allegiance to the Pope, went to
Manila, and in the suburb of Tondo proclaimed himself _Obispo Maximo_
(_Pontifex Maximus_) of his new Church.
His sect at once found many followers in the provinces of Rizal,
Bulacan and Ilocos, and eventually spread more or less over the other
christian provinces. The movement is strongest in Ilocos, where several
parishes, indeed, have no other priest than an Aglipayan. This district
is part of the bishopric of Nueva Segovia, now administered by the
American Bishop Dougherty. As to the number of Aglipayan adherents, no
reliable figures are procurable from any source, but it is certain they
amount to thousands. I found Aglipayans as far south as Zamboanga. Just
a few priests ordained in the Roman Catholic Church have joined the
schismatic cause. One of these repented and offered his submission
to the administrator of the archbishopric (Father Martin Alcocer),
who pardoned his frailty and received him again into the Church. No
period of preparation was necessary, at least in the beginning, for
the ordination of an Aglipayan priest. He might have been a domestic
servant, an artisan, or a loafer shortly before; hence many would-be
converts refused to join when they saw their own or their friends'
retainers suddenly elevated to the priesthood. At Yligan (Mindanao
Is.) an American official arrested a man, tonsured and robed as
a priest in an Aglipayan procession, on a charge of homicide. In
1904 they had not half a dozen well-built churches of their own, but
mat-sheds for their meetings were to be seen in many towns. In the year
1903 these sectarians made repeated raids on Roman Catholic property,
and attempted to gain possession of the churches by force. Riots
ensued, religion seemed to be forgotten by both parties in the _melee_,
and several were given time for reflection in prison. In April, 1904,
at Talisay and Minglanilla (Cebu Is.), they succeeded in occupying
the churches and property claimed by the friars, and refused to vacate
them. In the following month an Aglipayan priest, Bonifacio Purganan,
was fined $25 for having taken forcible possession of the Chapel of
Penafrancia (Paco suburb of Manila). In the province of Yloilo the
Aglipayans were forcibly ejected from the church of La Paz. In 1904
they entered a claim on the novel plea that, as many churches had
been subscribed to or partially erected at their expense before they
seceded from the Catholic Church, they were entitled to a restitution
of their donations. The Catholics were anxious to have the contention
decided in a formal and definite manner, and the case was heard at the
Court of Guagua (Pampanga). The decision was against the sectarians,
on the ground that what had been once given for a specific purpose
could not be restored to the donor, or its application diverted from
the original channel, notwithstanding any subsequent change in the
views of the donor. It was probably in consequence of these disputes
that in January, 1905, the Secretary of War approved of a proposed
Act of the Insular Government conferring authority upon the Supreme
Court of these Islands to hear cases relating to Church property
claims and pronounce a final decision thereon.
Up to the middle of 1904 the particular doctrines of the Philippine
Independent Church were not yet defined, and the Aglipayans professed
to follow the Roman ritual. It was intended, however, to introduce
reforms of fundamental importance. For two days and a half I
travelled in company with the titular Aglipayan ecclesiastical
governor of the Visayas, from whom I learnt much concerning the
opinions of his sect. It appears that many are opposed to celibacy of
the clergy and auricular confession. My companion himself rejected
the biblical account of the Creation, the doctrine of original sin,
hereditary responsibility, the deity of Christ, and the need for the
Atonement. His conception of the relations between God and mankind
was a curious admixture of Darwinism and Rationalism; everything
beyond the scope of human reasoning had but a slender hold on his mind.
It is most probable that the majority of Aglipayans have given no
thought as to the possible application of the power of union in this
particular form, and that their adhesion to the movement is merely a
natural reaction following the suppression of sacerdotal tyranny--an
extravagant sense of untrammelled thought which time may modify by
sober reflection when it is generally seen that the clergy of the
Roman Catholic Church henceforth strictly limit themselves to the
exercise of their proper functions. With the hope of re-establishing
peace and conformity in the Church, His Holiness Pope Pius X. sent
to the Islands his new Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Ambrose Agius,
who reached Manila on February 6, 1905. [282]
It is doubtful whether the native parish priest, bereft of the
white man's control, would have sufficient firmness of character to
overcome his own frailties and lead his flock in the true path. Under a
Philippine hierarchy there would be a danger of the natives reverting
to paganism and fetichism. There have been many indications of that
tendency from years back up to the present. Only a minority of native
Christians seem to have grasped the true spirit of Christianity. All
that appeals to the eye in the rites and ceremonies impresses
them--the glamour and pomp of the procession attract them; they are
very fervent in outward observances, but ever prone to stray towards
the idolatrous. A pretended apparition of the Blessed Virgin is an old
profitable trick of the natives, practised as recently as December,
1904, in the village of Namacpacan (Ilocos), where a woman, who
declared the Virgin had appeared to her in the _form_ of the Immaculate
Conception and cured her bad leg, made a small fortune in conjunction
with a native priest. In May, 1904, a small party of fanatics was seen
on the Manila seashore going through some pseudo-religious antics,
the chief feature of which was a sea-bath. Profiting by the liberty
of cult now existing, it is alleged that the spirits of the departed
have made known their presence to certain Filipinos. A native medium
has been found, and the pranks which the spirits are said to play
on those who believe in them have been practised, with all their
orthodox frolic, on certain converts to the system. Tables dance
jigs, mysterious messages are received, and the conjuring celestials
manifest their power by displacing household articles. The _Coloram_
sect of the southern Luzon provinces has, it is estimated, over
50,000 adherents whose worship is a jumble of perverted Christian
mysticism and idolatry. The _Baibailanes_ of Negros are not entirely
pagans; there is just a glimmer of Christian precept mingled in their
belief, whilst the scores of religious monomaniacs and saint-hawkers
who appear from time to time present only a burlesque imitation of
christian doctrine.
Great progress has been made in the direction of _Education_. [283]
Schools of different grades have been established throughout the
Archipelago, and the well-intentioned efforts of the Government have
been responded to by the natives with an astonishing alacrity. Since
September 3, 1900, night-schools have also been opened for students
to attend after their day's work. The natives exhibit great readiness
to learn, many of them having already attained a very high standard--a
fact which I had the opportunity of verifying through the courtesy of
Dr. David P. Barrows, the able General Superintendent of Education, and
his efficient staff. Both the higher schools and the night-schools are
well attended. A special eagerness to learn English is very apparent,
and they acquire the language quickly up to a certain point. In
September, 1903, [284] out of the 934 towns in the Islands, 338 were
supplied with American teachers, the total number of teachers in the
Archipelago being 691 Americans and 2,496 Filipinos. The night-schools
were attended by 8,595 scholars. The percentage of school-children who
frequented the day-schools was as follows: In Manila, 10 per cent.;
in Nueva Vizcaya Province, 77 per cent. (the highest); and in Paragua
Island, 5 per cent. (the lowest). The average attendance throughout the
provinces was 13 per cent. of the total population of school-children.
Education has received the greatest solicitude of the Insular
Government; and Dr. Barrows informed me that at the end of June,
1904, there were 865 American teachers in the Islands (including about
200 female teachers), 4,000 Philippine teachers of both sexes, and a
school attendance throughout the Colony of 227,600 children. For the
youngest children there are now seven kindergarten schools in Manila,
and more applications for admission than can be satisfied.
The _Normal School_, situated in the Manila suburb of Ermita, is a
splendidly-equipped establishment, organized in the year 1901 with
a branch for training Filipinos to become teachers in the public
schools. The buildings are four of those (including the main structure)
which served for the Philippine Exhibition some years ago. They
contain an assembly hall, fourteen class-rooms, two laboratories,
store-rooms, and the principal's office. In the same suburb, close
to the school, there is a dormitory for the accommodation of forty
girl boarders coming from the provinces. The school is open to both
sexes on equal terms, subject to the presentation of a certificate
of character and a preliminary examination to ascertain if they can
understand written and spoken English and intelligibly express their
thoughts in that language. The training covers four years, with the
following syllabus, viz.:--
Algebra.
Arithmetic.
Botany.
Drawing.
English.
General History.
Geography.
Music.
Nature-study.
Philippine History.
Physics.
Physiology and Hygiene.
Professional Training.
United States History.
Zoology.
The training-class for children ranging from five to eleven years
serves a double purpose by enabling student-teachers to put into
practice the theory of professional training under supervision. For
the training of youths who intend to follow a trade, there is a branch
_School of Arts and Trades_ equipped with class-rooms, workshops,
mechanical and architectural drawing-rooms, and the allied branches
of industry. The subjects taught are:--
Architectural Drawing.
Blacksmithing.
Cabinet-making.
Carpentry.
Cooking.
Machine-shop Practice.
Mathematics.
Mechanical Drawing.
Plumbing.
Steam Engineering.
Stenography.
Telegraphy.
Tinsmithing.
Typewriting.
Wood-carving.
There is also a night-class for those working in the daytime who
desire to extend their theoretical knowledge.
The _Nautical School_ (_vide_ p. 195), established in Spanish times,
is continued with certain reforms, additions having been made to the
equipment. American naval officers have undertaken its superintendence
from time to time, and it is now under the direction of a civilian
graduate of the United States Naval Academy. The instruction ranges
from history and geography to practical seamanship, with all the
intermediate scientific subjects. Graduates of this school obtain
third-mate's certificates, and many of them are actually navigating
in the waters of the Archipelago.
A course of study in _Vocal Music_ is also offered to Normal School
students, and this may possibly lead to the first discovery of a fine
Philippine musical voice.
There is also a _Public School for Chinese_ situated in the _Calle
de la Asuncion_, in the business quarter of Binondo (Manila).
In the _Saint Thomas's University_ (_vide_ p. 194) there are few
changes. The diplomas now issued to students in Law and Medicine
are only honorific. With or without this diploma a student must pass
an examination at the centres established by the Americans for the
faculties of Law and Medicine before he can practise, and the same
obligation applies to Americans who may arrive, otherwise qualified,
in the Islands. Practical instruction in the healing art, or "walking
the hospitals," as it is called in England, is given at the _San
Juan de Dios Hospital_ as heretofore. The theoretical tuition in
these faculties is furnished at the _College of San Jose_. Besides
the Government schools, there are many others continuing the Spanish
system, such as the _Colegio de San Juan de Dios_, where, besides
the usual subjects taught, the syllabus is as follows:--
Commerce.
Drawing.
Japanese Language.
Modelling in Plaster.
Piano, Violin.
Sketching from Nature.
Stenography.
Typewriting.
Watercolouring.
And preparation for the B.A. examination.
The _Seminario Central de San Javier_, under Jesuit superintendence,
is really intended for students proposing to enter the Church. Many,
however, follow the course of study and enter civil life. In the
large provincial towns there are Spanish schools, and at Dagupan the
_Colegio Instituto_ follows the same curriculum as that established
in the Manila _College of San Juan de Letran_. In Spanish times Jaro
was the educational centre of the Visayas Islands. Since the American
advent Yloilo has superseded Jaro in that respect, and a large school
is about to be erected on 75 acres of land given by several generous
donors for the purpose. The system of education is uniform throughout
the Islands, where schools of all grades are established, and others
are in course of foundation in every municipality. Including about
P1,000,000 disbursed annually for the schools by the municipalities,
the cost of Education is about 20 per cent, of the total revenue--a
sum out of all proportion to the taxpayers' ability to contribute.
According to the Philippine Commission Act No. 1123, of April, 1904,
the official language will be English from January 1, 1906. It will
be used in court proceedings, and no person will be eligible for
Government service who does not know that language.
In general the popular desire for education is very
pronounced. American opinion as to the capability of the Filipinos
to attain a high degree of learning and _maintain_ it seems much
divided, for many return to America and publicly express pessimistic
views on this point. In daily conversation with young middle-class
Filipinos one can readily see that the ambition of the majority is
limited to the acquisition of sufficient English to qualify them for
Government employment or commercial occupations. The industries of
the Islands are relatively insignificant. The true source of their
wealth is agriculture. In most, not to say all, tropical countries,
the educated native shuns manual labour, and with this tendency
dominant in the Filipino, it is difficult to foresee what may happen
as education advances. The history of the world shows that national
prosperity has first come from industrial development, with the
desire and the need for education following as a natural sequence. To
have free intercourse with the outside world it is necessary to
know a European language. This is recognized even in Japan, where,
notwithstanding its independent nationality, half the best-educated
classes speak some European tongue. If the majority of the Filipinos
had understood Spanish at the period of the American advent, it might
be a matter of regret that this language was not officially preserved
on account of the superior beauty of all Latin languages; but such
was not the case. Millions still only speak the many dialects; and
to carry out the present system of education a common speech-medium
becomes a necessity. However, generations will pass away before native
idiom will cease to be the vulgar tongue, and the engrafted speech
anything more than the official and polite language of the better
classes. The old belief of colonizing nations that European language
and European dress alone impart civilization to the Oriental is an
exploded theory. The Asiatic can be more easily moulded and subjected
to the ways and the will of the white man by treating with him in his
native language. It is difficult to gain his entire confidence through
the medium of a foreign tongue. The Spanish friars understood this
thoroughly. It is a deplorable fact that the common people of Asia
generally acquire only the bad qualities of the European concurrently
with his language, lose many of their own natural characteristics,
which are often charmingly simple, and become morally perverted.
The best native servants are those who can only speak their
mother-tongue. In times past the rustic who came to speak Spanish
was loth to follow the plough. If an English farm labourer should
learn Spanish, perhaps he would be equally loth. One may therefore
assume that if the common people should come to acquire the English
language, agricultural coolie labour would become a necessity. In
1903 one hundred Philippine youths were sent, at Government expense,
to various schools in America for a four-years' course of tuition. It
is to be hoped that they will return to their homes impressed with
the dignity of labour and be more anxious to develop the natural
resources of the country than to live at the expense of the taxpayers.
Since the Rebellion, and especially since the American advent,
a great number of Filipinos have migrated to the adjacent British
colonies, China, Japan, America, and Europe. There is a small colony
of rich Filipinos in Paris, and about 50 or 60 (principally students)
in England. They have no nationality, and are officially described as
"Filipinos under the protection of the United States." When the Treaty
of Paris was being negotiated, the Spanish Commissioners wished to have
the option of nationality conceded to all persons hitherto under the
dominion of Spain in the ceded colonies; but the American Commissioners
rejected the proposal, which might have placed their country in the
peculiar position of administering a colony of foreigners.
In 1904 the Government sent selected groups of the different Philippine
wild and semi-civilized races to the St. Louis Exhibition, where
they were on view for several months; also a Philippine Commission,
composed of educated Filipinos, was sent, at public expense, to
St. Louis and several cities in America, including Washington,
where the President received and entertained its members. Many of
the members of this Commission were chosen from what is called
the _Federal Party_. In the old days politics played no part in
Philippine life. The people were either anti-friar or conformists to
the _status quo_. The Revolution, however, brought into existence
several distinct parties, and developed the natural disintegrating
tendency of the Filipinos to split up into factions on any matter of
common concern. The Spanish reform party, led by Pedro A. Paterno,
collapsed when all hope was irretrievably lost, and its leader passed
over to Aguinaldo's party of sovereign independence. To-day there
is practically only one organized party--the Federal--because there
is no legislative assembly or authorized channel for the legitimate
expression of opposite views. The Federal Party, which is almost
entirely anti-clerical, comprises all those who unreservedly endorse
and accept American dominion and legislation. They are colloquially
alluded to as "Americanistas." Through the tempting offers of civil
service positions with emoluments large as compared with times
gone by, many leading men have been attracted to this party, the
smarter half-caste predominating over the pure Oriental in the higher
employments. There are other groups, however, which may be called
parties in embryo, awaiting the opportunity for free discussion in
the coining _Philippine Assembly_. [285] Present indications point to
the _Nationalists_ as the largest of these coming opposition parties,
its present programme being autonomy under American protection. The
majority of those who clamour for "independence" [I am not referring
to the masses, but to those who have thought the matter out in their
own fashion] do not really understand what they are asking for, for
it generally results from a close discussion of the subject that they
are, in fact, seeking autonomy _dependent_ on American protection,
with little idea of what the Powers understand by Protection. In
a conversation which I had with the leader of the Nationalists, I
inquired, "What do you understand by independence?" His reply was,
"Just a thread of connexion with the United States to keep us from
being the prey of other nations!" Other parties will, no doubt, be
formed; and there will probably be, for some time yet, a small group
of _Irreconcilables_ affiliated with those abroad who cannot return
home whilst they refuse to take the oath of allegiance prescribed in
the United States President's peace and amnesty proclamation, dated
July 4, 1902. The Irreconcilables claim real sovereign independence for
the Filipinos; they would wish the Americans to abandon the Islands as
completely as if they had never occupied them at all. It is doubtful
whether entire severance from American or European control would last
a year, because some other Power, Asiatic or European, would seize
the Colony. Sovereign independence would be but a fleeting vision
without a navy superior in all respects to that of any second-rate
naval Power, for if all the fighting-men of the Islands were armed to
the teeth they could not effectively resist a simultaneous bombardment
of their ports; nor could they, as inhabitants of an archipelago,
become united in action or opinion, because their inter-communication
would be cut off. When this is explained to them, there are those who
admit the insuperable difficulty, and suggest, as a compromise, that
America's position towards them should be merely that of the policeman,
standing by ready to interfere if danger threatens them! This is the
naive definition of the relation which they (the Irreconcilables)
term "Protection."
However, the cry for "independence" has considerably abated since the
Secretary of War, Mr. W. H. Taft, visited Manila in August, 1905,
and publicly announced that America intended to retain the Islands
for an indefinitely long period. Before America relinquishes her hold
on the Colony (if ever) generations may pass away, and naturally the
Irreconcilable, will disappear with the present one.
That the Filipinos would, if ever they obtain their independence, even
though it were a century hence, manage their country on the pattern
set them by their tutors of to-day, is beyond all imagination. "We want
them to learn to think as we do," an American minister is reported to
have said at a public meeting held in Washington in May, 1905. The
laudable aim of America to convert the Filipino into an American in
action and sentiment will probably never be realized.
Why the Philippines should continue to be governed by a Commission
is not clear to the foreign investigator. Collective government
is inconsonant with the traditions and instincts of these Asiatic
people, who would intuitively fear and obey the arbitrary mandate of a
paramount chief, whether he be called Nawab, Sultan, or Governor. Even
as it is, the people have, in fact, looked more to the one man,
the Mr. Taft or the Mr. Wright as the case may be, than they have to
the Commission for the attainment of their hopes, and were there an
uncontrolled native government, it would undoubtedly end in becoming
a one-man rule, whatever its title might be. The difficulty in making
the change does not lie in the choice of the man, because one most
eminently fitted for personal rule in the name of the United States
of America (assisted by a Council) is in the Islands just now.
The Philippine Assembly, which is, conditionally, to be conceded
to the Islanders in 1907, will be a Congress of deputies elected by
popular vote; the Philippine Commission, more or less as at present
constituted, will be practically the Senate or controlling Upper
House. The Filipinos will have no power to make laws, but simply to
propose them, because any bill emanating from the popular assembly
can be rejected by the Upper House with an American majority. The
Philippine Assembly will be, in reality, a School of Legislature to
train politicians for the possible future concession of complete
self-government. In connexion with the public schools a course of
instruction in political economy prepares youths for the proper
exercise of the right of suffrage on their attaining twenty-three
years of age. The studies include the Congress Law of July 1, 1902;
President McKinley's Instruction to the Civil Commission of April 7,
1900; Government of the United States, Colonial Government in European
States, and Parliamentary Law.
The question of the Filipinos' capacity for _self-government_ has been
frequently debated since the Rebellion of 1896. A quarter of a century
ago the necessary 500 or 600 Filipinos, half-caste in the majority,
could have been found with all the requisite qualifications for the
formation of an intelligent oligarchy. The Constitution drawn up by
Apolinario Mabini, and proclaimed by the Malolos Insurgent Government
(January 22, 1899), was a fair proof of intellectual achievement. But
that is not sufficient; the working of it would probably have been as
successful as the Government of Hayti, because the Philippine character
is deficient in disinterested thought for the common good. There is
no lack of able Filipinos quite competent to enact laws and dictate
to the people what they are to do; but if things are to be reversed
and the elected assembly is to be composed of deputies holding the
_people's_ mandates, there will be plenty to do between now and March,
1907, in educating the electors to the point of intelligently using the
franchise, uninfluenced by the _caciques_, who have hitherto dominated
all public acts. According to the census of 1903, there were 1,137,776
illiterate males of the voting age. In any case, independently of
its legislative function, the Philippine Assembly will be a useful
channel for free speech. It will lead to the open discussion of the
general policy, the rural police, the trade regulations, the taxes,
the desirability of maintaining superfluous expensive bureaux, the
lavish (Manila) municipal non-productive outlay, and ruinous projects
of no public utility, such as the construction of the Benguet road,
[286] etc.
The Act providing for a Philippine Assembly stipulates that the
elected deputies shall not be less than 50 and not more than 100
to represent the civilized portion of the following population,
viz. [287]:--Civilized, 6,987,686; wild, 647,740; total, 7,635,426. The
most numerous civilized races are the Visayos (about 2,602,000)
and the Tagalogs (about 1,664,000).
_Population of Manila_ (_Approximate Sub-divisions_) [288]
Race. Pop. Race. Pop. Race. Pop.
Filipinos 189,915 Americans 3,700 Other Europeans 1,000
Chinese 21,500 Spaniards 2,500 Other Nationalities 1,313
Total in the Census of 1903 ... 219,928
(Exclusive of the Army and Navy.)
The divisions of the Municipality of Manila stand in the following
order of proportion of population, viz.:--
1. Tondo (most).
2. Santa Cruz.
3. San Nicolas.
4. Sampaloc.
5. Binondo.
6. Ermita.
7. Intramuros (i.e., Walled City).
8. Quiapo.
9. Malate.
10. San Miguel.
11. Paco.
12. Santa Ana.
13. Pandacan (least).
The total number of towns in the Archipelago is 934.
_Populations of 40 Provincial Towns of the 934 Existing in the Islands_
(_Exclusive of Their Dependent Suburbs, Districts, and Wards_) [289]
Town. Civilized Pop.
Bacolod 5,678
Dagupan 3,327
San Jose de Buenavista 3,636
Batangas 1,610
Ilagan 1,904
Balanga 4,403
Iligan (or Yligan) 2,872
San Fernando (La Union) 1,142
Balinag 1,278
Imus 1,930
Baguio 270
Jaro 7,169
San Fernando (Pampanga) 1,950
Binan (or Vinan) 1,173
Jolo (Walled City) 541
Cabanatuan 1,894
S. Isidro 3,814
Capiz 7,186
Lipa 4,078
Tabaco 4,456
Calamba 2,597
Lingayen 2,838
Taal 2,658
Calbayoc 4,430
Olongapo 1,121
Tacloban 4,899
Cebu 18,330
Majayjay 1,680
Tarlac 3,491
Cottabato 931
Molo 8,551
Tuguegarao 3,421
Daet 2,569
Puerta Princesa 382
Vigan 5,749
Davao 1,010
Santa Cruz (Laguna) 4,009
Yloilo 19,054
Dapitan 1,768
Zamboanga 3,281
_Civilized Population, Classified by Birth_
_According to the Census of 1903_
Born in the Philippine Islands 6,931,548
Born in China 41,035
Born in United States 8,135
Born in Spain 3,888
Born in Japan 921
Born in Great Britain 667
Born in Germany 368
Born in East Indies 241
Born in France 121
Born in Other countries of Europe 487
Born in All other countries 275
6,987,686
The regulations affecting Chinese immigration are explained at
p. 633. Other foreigners are permitted to enter the Philippines
(conditionally), but all are required to pay an entrance fee (I had
to pay $5.30 Mex.) before embarking (abroad) for a Philippine port,
and make a declaration of 19 items, [290] of which the following
are the most interesting to the traveller:--(1) Sex; (2) whether
married or single; (3) who paid the passage-money; (4) whether
in possession of $30 upward or less; (5) whether ever in prison;
(6) whether a polygamist. The master or an officer of the vessel
carrying the passenger is required to make oath before the United
States Consul at the port of embarkation that he has made a "personal
examination" of his passenger, and does not believe him (or her) to
be either an idiot, or insane person, or a pauper, or suffering from
a loathsome disease, or an ex-convict, or guilty of infamous crime
involving moral turpitude, or a polygamist, etc. The ship's doctor
has to state on oath that he has also made a "personal examination"
of the passenger. If the vessel safely arrives in port, say Manila,
she will be boarded by a numerous staff of Customs' officials. In the
meantime the passenger will have been supplied with declaration-forms
and a printed notice, stating that an "Act provides a fine of not
exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment at hard labour, for not more than
five years, or both, for offering a gratuity to an officer of the
Customs in consideration of any illegal act in connexion with the
examination of baggage." The baggage-declaration must be ready for the
officers, and, at intervals during an hour and a half, he (or she)
has to sign six different declarations as to whether he (or she)
brings fire-arms. The baggage is then taken to the Custom-house in
a steam-launch for examination, which is not unduly rigid. Under a
Philippine Commission Act, dated October 15, 1901, the Collector of
Customs, or his deputy, may, at his will, also require the passenger
to take an oath of allegiance in such terms that, in the event of
war between the passenger's country and America, he who takes the
oath would necessarily have to forfeit his claim for protection
from his own country, unless he violated that oath. No foreigner
is permitted to land if he comes "under a contract expressed, or
implied, to perform labour in the Philippine Islands." In 1903 this
prohibition to foreigners was disputed by a British bank-clerk who
arrived in Manila for a foreign bank. The case was carried to court,
with the result that the prohibition was maintained in principle,
although the foreigner in question was permitted to remain in the
Islands as an act of grace. But in February, 1905, a singular case
occurred, exactly the reverse of the one just mentioned. A young
Englishman who had been brought out to Manila on a four years'
agreement, after four or five months of irregular conduct towards the
firm employing him, presented himself to the Collector of Customs
(as Immigration Agent), informed against himself, and begged to be
deported from the Colony. The incentive for this strange proceeding
was to secure the informer's reward of $1,000. It was probably the
first case in Philippine history of a person voluntarily seeking
compulsory expulsion from the Islands. The Government, acting on the
information, shipped him off to Hong-Kong, the nearest British port,
in the following month, with a through passage to Europe.
Since the American advent the _Administration of Justice_ has been
greatly accelerated, and Municipal Court cases, which in Spanish times
would have caused more worry to the parties than they were worth, or,
for the same reason, would have been settled out of court violently,
are now despatched at the same speed as in the London Police Courts. On
the other hand, quick despatch rather feeds the native's innate love
for litigation, so that an agglomeration of lawsuits is still one
of the Government's undesirable but inevitable burdens. There is a
complaint that the fines imposed in petty cases are excessive, and
attention was drawn to this by the Municipality of Manila. [291] After
stating that the fines imposed on 2,185 persons averaged $5 per capita,
and that they had to go to prison for non-payment, the Municipality
adds: "It shows an excessive rigour on the part of the judges in the
imposition of fines, a rigour which ought to be modified, inasmuch
as the majority of the persons accused before the Court are extremely
poor and ignorant of the ordinances and the laws for the violation of
which they are so severely punished." Sentences of imprisonment and
fines for high crimes are justly severe. During the governorship of
Mr. W. H. Taft, 17 American provincial treasurers were each condemned
to 25 years' imprisonment for embezzlement of public funds. In
February, 1905, an army major, found guilty of misappropriation of
public moneys, had his sentence computed at 60 years, which term
the court reduced to 40 years' hard labour. The penalties imposed on
some rioters at Vigan in April, 1904, were death for two, 40 years'
imprisonment and $10,000 fine each for twelve, 30 years' imprisonment
for thirty-one, and 10 years' imprisonment for twenty-five.
The American law commonly spoken of in the Philippines as the
"Law of Divorce" is nothing more than judicial separation in its
local application, as it does not annul the marriage and the parties
cannot marry again as a consequence of the action. The same could be
obtained under the Spanish law called the _Siete Partidas_, with the
only difference that before the _decree nisi_ was made absolute the
parties might have had to wait for years, and even appeal to Home.
On May 26,1900, the Military Governor authorized the solemnization
of marriages by any judge of a court inferior to the Supreme Court,
a justice of the peace, or a minister of any denomination. For the
first time in the history of the Islands, _habeas corpus_ proceedings
were heard before the Supreme Court on May 19, 1900. Besides the
lower courts established in many provincial centres, sessions are
held in circuit, each usually comprising two or three provinces. The
provinces are grouped into 16 judicial districts, in each of which
there is a Court of First Instance; and there is, moreover, one
additional "Court of First Instance at large." The Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, some of his assistant judges, several provincial
judges, the Attorney-General, and many other high legal functionaries,
are Filipinos. The provincial justices of the peace are also natives,
and necessarily so because their office requires an intimate knowledge
of native character and dialect. Their reward is the local prestige
which they enjoy and the litigants' fees, and happily their services
are not in daily request. At times the findings of these local
luminaries are somewhat quaint, and have to be overruled by the more
enlightened judicial authorities in the superior courts. Manila and
all the judicial centres are amply supplied with American lawyers who
have come to establish themselves in the Islands, where the custom
obtains for professional men to advertise in the daily newspapers. So
far there has been only one American lady lawyer, who, in 1904, held
the position of Assistant-Attorney in the Attorney-General's office.
CHAPTER XXXI
Trade and Agriculture Since the American Advent
During the year 1898 there were those who enriched themselves
enormously as a consequence of the American advent, but the
staple trade of the Colony was generally disrupted by the abnormal
circumstances of the period; therefore it would serve no practical
purpose to present the figures for that year for comparison with the
results obtained in the years following that of the Treaty of Paris.
The tables at the end of this chapter show the increase or decrease in
the various branches of export and import trade. Regarded as a whole,
the volume of business has increased since the American occupation--to
what extent will be apparent on reference to the table of "Total Import
and Export Values" at p. 639. When the American army of occupation
entered the Islands, and was subsequently increased to about 70,000
troops, occupying some 600 posts about the Archipelago, there came
in their wake a number of enterprising business men, who established
what were termed trading companies. Their transactions hardly affected
the prosperity of the Colony one way or the other. For this class of
trader times were brisk; their dealings almost exclusively related
to the supply of commodities to the temporary floating population
of Americans, with such profitable results that, although many of
them withdrew little by little when, at the close of the War of
Independence, the troops were gradually reduced to some 16,000 men,
occupying about 100 posts, others had accumulated sufficient capital
to continue business in the more normal time which followed. Those
were halcyon days for the old-established retailers as well as the
new-comers; but, as Governor W. H. Taft pointed out in his report
to the Civil Commission dated December 23, 1903, [292] "The natural
hostility of the American business men, growing out of the war, was
not neutralized by a desire and an effort to win the patronage and
goodwill of the Filipinos. The American business men controlled much of
the advertising in the American papers, and the newspapers naturally
reflected the opinion of their advertisers and subscribers in the
advocacy of most unconciliatory measures for the native Filipino,
and in decrying all efforts of the Government to teach Filipinos
how to govern by associating the more intelligent of them in the
Government.... The American business man in the Islands has really,
up to this time, done very little to make or influence trade. He
has kept close to the American patronage, and has not extended his
efforts to an expansion of trade among the Filipinos.... There are
a few Americans who have pursued a different policy with respect to
the Filipinos to their profit."
Governor Taft's comments were only intended to impress upon the
permanent American traders, for their own good, the necessity
of creating a new _clientele_ which they had neglected. The war
finished, the wave of temporarily abnormal prosperity gradually
receded with the withdrawal of the troops in excess of requirements;
the palmy days of the retailer had vanished, and all Manila began to
complain of "depression" in trade. The true condition of the Colony
became more apparent to them in their own slack time, and for want of
reflection some began to attribute it to a want of foresight in the
Insular Government. Industry is in its infancy in the Philippines,
which is essentially an agricultural colony. The product of the soil
is the backbone of its wealth. The true causes of the depression
were not within the control of the Insular Government or of any
ruling factor. Five years of warfare and its sequence--the bandit
community--had devastated the provinces. The peaceful pursuits of the
husbandman had been nearly everywhere interrupted thereby; his herds
of buffaloes had been decimated in some places, in others annihilated;
his apparatus or machinery and farm buildings were destroyed, now
by the common exigencies of war, now by the wantonness of the armed
factions. The remnant of the buffaloes was attacked by rinderpest,
or _epizootia_, as the Filipino calls this disease, and in some
provinces up to 90 per cent. were lost. Some of my old friends
assured me that, due to these two causes, they had lost every head
of cattle they once possessed. Laudable effort was immediately made
by the Insular Government to remedy the evil, for so great was the
mortality that many agricultural districts were poverty-stricken,
thousands of acres lying fallow for want of beasts for tillage and
transport. Washington responded to the appeal for help, and a measure
was passed establishing the Congressional Relief Fund, under which
the sum of $3,000,000 was authorized to be expended to ameliorate the
situation. By Philippine Commission Act No. 738, $100,000 of this
fund were appropriated for preliminary expenses in the purchase of
buffaloes. Under the supervision of the Insular Purchasing-Agent a
contract was entered into with a Shanghai firm for the supply of 10,000
head of inoculated buffaloes to be delivered in Manila, at the rate
of 500 per month, at the price of P85 per head. An agent was sent to
Shanghai with powers to reject unsuitable beasts before inoculation,
and the Government undertook to remunerate the contractors at the rate
of P40 for every animal which succumbed to the operation. The loss on
this process was so great that a new contract was entered into with the
same firm to deliver in Manila temporarily immunized buffaloes at the
rate of P79 per head. On their arrival the animals were inspected, and
those apparently fit were herded on the Island of Masbate for further
observation before disposing of them to the planters. The attempt
was a failure. Rinderpest, or some other incomprehensible disease,
affected and decimated the imported herds. From beginning to end the
inevitable wastage was so considerable that up to November 20, 1903,
only 1,805 buffaloes (costing P118,805) were purchased, out of which
1,370 were delivered alive, and of this number 429 died whilst under
observation; therefore, whereas the price of the 1,805 averaged
P65 per head, the cost exceeded P126 per head when distributed
over the surviving 941, which were sold at less than cost price,
although in private dealings buffaloes were fetching P125 to P250
per head (_vide_ Buffaloes p. 337, et seq.). Veterinary surgeons and
inoculators were commissioned to visit the buffaloes privately owned
in the planting-districts, the Government undertaking to indemnify
the owners for loss arising from the compulsory inoculation; but this
has not sufficed to stamp out the disease, which is still prevalent.
Another calamity, common in British India, but unknown in these
Islands before the American advent, is _Surra_, a glandular disease
affecting horses and ponies, which has made fatal ravages in the pony
stock--to the extent, it is estimated, of 60 per cent. The pony which
fully recovers from this disease is an exceptional animal. Again,
the mortality among the field hands, as a consequence of the war,
was supplemented by an outbreak of _Cholera morbus_ (_vide_ p. 197),
a disease which recurs periodically in these Islands, and which was,
on the occasion following the war, of unusually long duration. Together
with these misfortunes, a visitation of myriads of locusts (_vide_
p. 341) and drought completed the devastation.
Consequent on the total loss of capital invested in live-stock, and
the fear of rinderpest felt by the minority who have the wherewithal
to replace their lost herds, there is an inclination among the
agriculturists to raise those crops which need little or no animal
labour. Hence sugar-cane and rice-paddy are being partially abandoned,
whilst all who possess hemp or cocoanut plantations are directing
their special attention to these branches of land-produce. Due to these
circumstances, the increased cost of labour and living in the Islands
since the American advent, the want of a duty-free entry for Philippine
sugar into the United States, the prospective loss of the Japanese
market, [293] the ever-accumulating capital indebtedness, and the
need of costly machinery, it is possible to believe that sugar will,
in time, cease to be one of the leading staple products of the Islands.
With regard to the duty levied in the United States on Philippine
sugar imports, shippers in these Islands point out how little it
would affect either the United States' revenue or the sugar trade if
the duty were remitted in view of the extremely small proportion of
Philippine sugar to the total consumption in America. For instance,
taking the average of the five years 1899-1903, the proportion was
.313 per cent., so that if in consequence of the remission of duty
this Philippine industry were stimulated to the extent of being able
to ship to America threefold, it would not amount to 1 per cent,
of the total consumption in that country.
At the close of the 1903 sugar season the planters were more deeply
in debt than at any previous period in their history. In 1904 the
manager of an Yloilo firm (whom I have known from his boyhood)
showed me statistics proving the deplorable financial position of
the sugar-growers, and informed me that his firm had stopped further
advances and closed down on twelve of the largest estates working on
borrowed capital, because of the hopelessness of eventual liquidation
in full. For the same reasons other financiers have closed their
coffers to the sugar-planters.
Another object of the grant called the Congressional Relief Fund was
to alleviate the distress prevailing in several Luzon provinces,
particularly Batangas, on account of the scarcity of rice, due,
in a great measure, to the causes already explained. Prices of the
imported article had already reached double the normal value in former
times, and the Government most opportunely intervened to check the
operations of a syndicate which sought to take undue advantage of
the prevailing misery. Under Philippine Commission Acts Nos. 495,
786 and 797, appropriations were made for the purchase of rice for
distribution in those provinces where the speculator's ambition had
run up the selling-price to an excessive rate. Hitherto the chief
supplying-market had been the French East Indies, but the syndicate
referred to contrived to close that source to the Government, which,
however, succeeded in procuring deliveries from other places. The
total amount distributed was 11,164 tons, costing P1,081,722. About
22 tons of this amount was given to the indigent class, the rest
being delivered at cost price, either in cash or in payment for the
extermination of locusts, or for labour in road-making and other public
works. The merchant class contended that this act of the Government,
which deprived them of anticipated large profits, was an interference
in private enterprise--a point on which the impartial reader must
form his own conclusions. To obviate a recurrence of the necessity
for State aid, the Insular Government passed an Act urging the people
to hasten the paddy-planting. The proclamation embodying this Act
permitted the temporary use of municipal lands, the seed supplied
to be repaid after the crop. It is said that some of the local
native councils, misunderstanding the spirit of the proclamation,
made its non-observance a criminal offence, and incarcerated many
of the supposed offenders; but they were promptly released by the
American authorities.
Under the circumstances set forth, the cultivation of rice in the
Islands has fallen off considerably, to what extent may be partially
gathered from a glance at the enormous imports of this cereal, which
in the year 1901~ were 167,951 tons; in 1902, 285,473 tons; in 1903,
329,055 tons (one-third of the value of the total imports in that
year); and in 1904, 261,553 tons. The large increase of wages and
taxes and the high cost of living since the American advent (rice in
1904 cost about double the old price) have reduced the former margins
of profit on sugar and rice almost to the vanishing-point.
If all the land in use now, or until recently, for paddy-raising were
suitable for the cultivation of such crops as hemp, tobacco, cocoanuts,
etc., for which there is a steady demand abroad, the abandonment of
rice for another produce which would yield enough to enable one to
purchase rice, and even leave a margin of profit, would be rather an
advantage than otherwise. But this is not the case, and naturally a
native holds on to the land he possesses in the neighbourhood, where
he was perhaps born, rather than go on a peregrination in search
of new lands, with the risk of semi-starvation during the dilatory
process of procuring title-deeds for them when found.
Fortunately for the Filipinos, "Manila hemp" being a speciality
of this region as a fibre of unrivalled quality and utility, there
cannot be foreseen any difficulty in obtaining a price for it which
will compensate the producer to-day as well as it did in former
times. Seeing that buffaloes can be dispensed with in the cultivation
of hemp and coprah, which, moreover, are products requiring no
expensive and complicated machinery and are free of duty into the
United States, they are becoming the favourite crops of the future.
In 1905 there was considerable agitation in favour of establishing a
Government Agricultural Bank, which would lend money to the planters,
taking a first mortgage on the borrower's lands as guarantee. In
connexion with this scheme, the question was raised whether the
Government could, in justice, collect revenue from the people who had
no voice at all in the Government, and then lend it out to support
private enterprise. Moreover, without a law against usury (so common in
the Islands) there would be little to prevent a man borrowing from the
bank at, say, 6 per cent.--up to the mortgage value of his estate--to
lend it out to others at 60 per cent. A few millions of dollars,
subscribed by private capitalists and loaned out to the planters,
would enormously benefit the agricultural development of the Colony;
and if native wealthy men would demonstrate their confidence in the
result by subscribing one-tenth of the necessary amount, perhaps
Americans would be induced to complete the scheme. The foreign banks
established in the Islands are not agricultural, but exchange banks,
and any American-Philippine Agricultural Bank which may be established
need have little reason to fear competition with foreign firms who
remember the house of Russell & Sturgis (_vide_ p. 255) and also
have their own more recent experiences. Philippine rural land is a
doubtful security for loans, there being no free market in it.
Between the years 1902 and 1904 the Insular Government confiscated the
arable lands of many planters throughout the Islands for delinquency
in taxes. The properties were put up to auction; some of them
found purchasers, but the bulk of them remained in the ownership of
the Government, which could neither sell them nor make any use of
them. Therefore an Act was passed in February, 1905, restoring to
their original owners those lands not already sold, on condition of
the overdue taxes being paid within the year. In one province of Luzon
the confiscated lots amounted to about one-half of all the cultivated
land and one-third of the rural land-assessment in that province. The
$2,400,000 gold spent on the Benguet road (_vide_ p. 615) would have
been better employed in promoting agriculture.
Up to 1898 Spain was the most important market for Philippine tobacco,
but since that country lost her colonies she has no longer any
patriotic interest in dealing with any particular tobacco-producing
country. The entry of Philippine tobacco into the United States is
checked by a Customs duty, respecting which there is, at present,
a very lively contest between the tobacco-shippers in the Islands and
the Tobacco Trust in America, the former clamouring for, and the latter
against, the reduction or abolition of the tariff. It is simply a clash
of trade interests; but, with regard to the broad principles involved,
it would appear that, so long as America holds these Islands without
the consent of its inhabitants, it is only just that she should do all
in her power to create a free outlet for the Islands' produce. If this
Archipelago should eventually acquire sovereign independence, America's
moral obligations towards it would cease, and the mutual relations
would then be only those ordinarily subsisting between two nations.
By Philippine Commission Act dated April 30, 1902, a Bureau of
Agriculture was organized. The chief of this department is assisted
by experts in soil, farm-management, plant-culture, breeding, animal
industry, seed and fibres, an assistant agrostologist, and a tropical
agriculturist. Shortly after its organization, 18,250 packages of
field and garden seeds were sent to 730 individuals for experiment
in different parts of the Colony, with very encouraging results. The
work of this department is experimental and investigative, with a
view to the improvement of agriculture in all its branches.
In Spanish times agricultural land was free of taxation. Now it pays a
tax not exceeding .87 per cent. of the assessed value. The rate varies
in different districts, according to local circumstances. For instance,
in 1904 it was .87 per cent. in Baliuag (Bulacan) and in Vinan (La
Laguna), and .68 per cent. in San Miguel de Mayumo (Bulacan). This tax
is subdivided in its application to provincial and municipal general
expenses and educational disbursements. The people make no demur
at paying a tax on land-produce; but they complain of the system of
taxation of capital generally, and particularly of its application to
lands lying fallow for the causes already explained. The approximate
yield of the land-tax in the fiscal year of 1905 was P2,000,000; it
was then proposed to suspend the levy of this tax for three years in
view of the agricultural depression.
The Manila Port Works (_vide_ p. 344), commenced in Spanish times, are
now being carried on more vigorously under contract with the Atlantic,
Gulf, and Pacific Company. Within the breakwater a thirty-foot deep
harbour, measuring about 400 acres, is being dredged, the mud raised
therefrom being thrown on to 168 acres of reclaimed land which is to
form the new frontage. Also a new channel entrance to the Pasig River
is to be maintained at a depth of 18 feet. The Americans maintain
that there will be no finer harbour in the Far East when the work is
completed. The reclaimed acreage will be covered with warehouses and
wharves, enabling vessels to load and discharge at all seasons instead
of lying idle for weeks in the typhoon season and bad weather, as they
often do now. With these enlarged shipping facilities, freights to
and from Manila must become lower, to the advantage of all concerned
in import and export trade. The cost of these improvements up to
completion is estimated at about one million sterling.
The port of Siassi (Tapul group), which was opened in recent years by
the Spaniards, was discontinued (June 1, 1902) by the Americans, who
opened the new coastwise ports of Cape Melville, Puerta Princesa, and
Bongao (October 15, 1903) in order to assist the scheme for preventing
smuggling between these extreme southern islands and Borneo. Hitherto
there had been some excuse for this surreptitious trade, because
inter-island vessels, trading from the other entry-ports, seldom,
if ever, visited these out-of-the-way regions. In February, 1903,
appropriations of $350,000 and $150,000 were made for harbour works in
Cebu and Yloilo respectively, although in the latter port no increased
facility for the entry of vessels into the harbour was apparent up to
June, 1904. Zamboanga, the trade of which was almost nominal up to the
year 1898, is now an active shipping centre of growing importance,
where efforts are being made to foster direct trade with foreign
eastern ports. An imposing Custom-house is to be erected on the new
spacious jetty already built under American auspices. Arrangements
have also been made for the Hong-Kong-Australia Steamship Company to
make Zamboanga a port of call. Here, as in all the chief ports of the
Archipelago, greater advantages for trade have been afforded by the
administration, and one is struck with the appearance of activity and
briskness as compared with former times. These changes are largely
owing to the national character of the new rulers, for one can enter
any official department, in any branch of public service, from that
of the Gov.-General downwards, to procure information or clear up a
little question "while you wait," and, if necessary, interview the
chief of the department. The tedious, dilatory time and money-wasting
"come later on" procedure of times gone by no longer obtains.
What is still most needed to give a stimulus to agriculture and the
general material development of the Islands is the conversion of
hundreds of miles of existing highways and mud-tracks into good hard
roads, so as to facilitate communication between the planting-districts
and the ports. The corallaceous stone abounding in the Islands is
worthless for road-making, because it pulverizes in the course of one
wet season, and, unfortunately, what little hard stone exists lies
chiefly in inaccessible places--hence its extraction and transport
would be more costly than the supply of an equal quantity of broken
granite brought over in sailing-ships from the Chinese coast, where
it is procurable at little over the quarryman's labour. From the days
of the Romans the most successful colonizing nations have regarded
road-making as a work of primary importance and a civilizing factor.
Among the many existing projects, there is one for the construction
of railroads (1) from Manila (or some point on the existing railway)
northward through the rich tobacco-growing valleys of Isabela and
Cagayan, as far as the port of Aparri, at the mouth of the Cagayan
River--distance, 260 miles; (2) from Dagupan (Pangasinan) to Laoag
(Ilocos Norte), through 168 miles of comparatively well-populated
country; (3) from San Fabian (Pangasinan) to Baguio (Benguet), 55
miles; and three other lines in Luzon Island and one in each of the
islands of Negros, Panay, Cebu, Leyte, and Samar. A railway line from
Manila to Batangas, _via_ Calamba (a distance of about 70 miles), and
thence on to Albay Province, was under consideration for many years
prior to the American advent; but the poor financial result of the only
(120 miles) line in the Colony has not served to stimulate further
enterprise in this direction, except an endeavour of that same company
to recuperate by feeder branches, two of which are built, and another
(narrow gauge) is in course of construction from Manila to Antipolo,
_via_ Pasig and Mariquina (_vide_ Railways, p. 265).
Since February, 1905, a Congress Act, known as the "Cooper Bill,"
offers certain inducements to railway companies. It authorizes the
Insular Government to guarantee 4 per cent, annual interest on railway
undertakings, provided that the total of such contingent liability
shall not exceed $1,200,000--that is to say, 4 per cent, could be
guaranteed on a maximum capital of $30,000,000. The Insular Government
is further empowered under this Act to admit, at its discretion, the
entry of railway material free of duty. As yet, no railway construction
has been started by American capitalists. Projects _ad infinitum_ might
be suggested for the development of trade and traffic--for instance, a
ship-canal connecting the Laguna de Bay with the Pacific Ocean; another
from Laguimanoc to Atimonan (Tayabas); an artificial entry-port in
Negros Island, connected by railway with two-thirds of the coast, etc.
Up to the present the bulk of the export and import trade is handled
by Europeans, who, together with native capitalists, own the most
considerable commercial and industrial productive "going concerns"
in the Islands. In 1904 there were one important and several
smaller American trading-firms (exclusive of shopkeepers) in the
capital, and a few American planters and successful prospectors in
the provinces. There are hundreds of Americans about the Islands,
searching for minerals and other natural products with more hopeful
prospects than tangible results. It is perhaps due to the disturbed
condition of the Islands and the "Philippines for the Filipinos"
policy that the anticipated flow of private American capital has
not yet been seen, although there is evidently a desire in this
direction. There is, at least, no lack of the American enterprising
spirit, and, since the close of the War of Independence, several
joint-stock companies have started with considerable cash capital,
principally for the exploitation of the agricultural, forestal, and
mineral wealth of the Islands. Whatever the return on capital may
be, concerns of this kind, which operate at the natural productive
sources, are obviously as beneficial to the Colony as trading can be
in Manila--the emporium of wealth produced elsewhere.
There are, besides, many minor concerns with American capital,
established only for the purpose of selling to the inhabitants goods
which are not an essential need, and therefore not contributing to
the development of the Colony.
The tonnage entered in Philippine ports shows a rapid annual increase
in five years. Many new lines of steamers make Manila a port of call,
exclusive of the army transports, carrying Government supplies,
and in 1905 there was a regular goods and passenger traffic between
Hong-Kong and Zamboanga. Still, the greater part of the freight
between the Philippines and the Atlantic ports is carried in foreign
bottoms. The shipping-returns for the year 1903 would appear to show
that over 85 per cent, of the exports from the Islands to America,
and about the same proportion of the imports from that country
(exclusive of Government stores brought in army transports) were
borne in foreign vessels. The carrying-trade figures for 1904 were
78.41 per cent, in British bottoms; 6.69 per cent, in Spanish,
and 6.65 per cent, in American vessels. The desire to dispossess
the foreigners of the carrying monopoly is not surprising, but it
is thought that immediately-operative legislation to that end would
be impracticable. The latest legislation on the subject confines the
carrying-trade between the Islands and the United States to American
bottoms from July 1, 1906. It is alleged that the success of the new
regulations which may (or may not, for want of American vessels)
come into force on that date will depend on the freights charged;
it is believed that exorbitant outward rates would divert the hemp
cargoes into other channels, and a large rise in inward freights
would facilitate European competition in manufactured goods. Any
considerable rise in freights to America would tend to counterbalance
the benefits which the Filipinos hope to derive from the free entry
of sugar and tobacco into American ports. The text of the Shipping
Law, dated April 15, 1904, reads thus; "On and after July 1, 1906, no
merchandise shall be transported by sea, under penalty of forfeiture
thereof, between ports of the United States and ports or places of
the Philippine Archipelago, directly, or _via_ a foreign port, or
for any part of the voyage in any other than a vessel of the United
States. No foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports of
the United States and ports or places in the Philippine Archipelago,
either directly, or _via_ a foreign port, under a penalty of $200
for each passenger so transported and landed."
The expenses of the Civil Government are met through the insular
revenues (the Congressional Relief Fund being an extraordinary
exception). The largest income is derived from the Customs'
receipts, which in 1904 amounted to about $8,750,000, equal to about
two-thirds of the insular treasury revenue (as distinguished from the
municipal). The total _Revenue and Expenditure_ in the fiscal year
1903 (from all sources, including municipal taxes expended in the
respective localities, but exclusive of the Congressional Relief Fund)
stood thus:--
Total Revenue $14,640,988
Total Expenditure $15,105,374
Excess of Expenditure over Revenue 464,386
========== ==========
15,105,374 15,105,374
In 1903, therefore, Government cost the inhabitants the equivalent
of about 46 per cent, of the exports' value, against 45 per cent, in
Spanish times, taking the relative averages of 1890-94. The present
abnormal pecuniary embarrassment of the people is chiefly due to the
causes already explained, and perhaps partly so to the fact that the
P30,000,000 to P40,000,000 formerly in circulation had two to three
times the local purchasing value that pesos have to-day.
The "Cooper Bill," already referred to, authorizes the Insular
Government to issue bonds for General Public Works up to a total of
$5,000,000, for a term of 30 years, at 4 1/2 per cent, interest per
annum; and the municipalities to raise loans for municipal improvements
up to a sum not exceeding 5 per cent. of the valuation of the real
estate of the municipalities, at 5 per cent. interest per annum. For
the purchase of the friars' lands a loan of $7,000,000 exists, bearing
interest at 4 per cent. per annum, the possible interest liability
on the total of these items amounting to about $2,000,000 per annum.
On November 15, 1901, the high Customs tariff then in force was reduced
by about 25 per cent. on the total average, bringing the average duties
to about 17 per cent. _ad valorem_, but this was again amended by the
new tariff laws of May 3, 1905. Opium is still one of the imports,
but under a recent law its introduction is to be gradually restricted
by tariff until March 1, 1908, from which date it will be unlawful to
import this drug, except by the Government for medicinal purposes only.
On August 1, 1904, a new scheme of additional taxation came into
force under the "Internal Revenue Law of 1904." This tax having been
only partially imposed during the first six months, the full yield
cannot yet be ascertained, but at the present rate(P5,280,970.96,
partial yield for the fiscal year 1905) it will probably produce at
the annual rate of $4,250,000 gold, which, however, is not entirely
extra taxation, taking into account the old taxes repealed under
Art. XVII., sec. 244. The theory of the new scheme was that it
might permit of a lower Customs tariff schedule. The new taxes are
imposed on distilled spirits, fermented liquors, manufactured tobacco,
matches, banks and bankers, insurance companies, forestry products,
valid mining concessions granted prior to April 11, 1899, business,
manufactures, occupations, licences, and stamps on specified objects
(Art. II., sec. 25). Of the taxes accruing to the Insular Treasury
under the above law, 10 per cent. is set apart for the benefit
of the several provincial governments, apportioned _pro rata_ to
their respective populations as shown by the census of 1903; 15 per
cent. for the several municipal governments, provided that of this
sum one-third shall be utilized solely for the maintenance of free
public primary schools and expenditure appertaining thereto. In the
aforesaid distribution Manila City ranks as a municipality and a
province, and receives apportionment under this law on the basis of
25 per cent. (Art. XVII., sec. 150).
From the first announcement of the projected law up to its promulgation
the public clamoured loudly against it. For months the public
organs, issued in Spanish and dialect, persistently denounced it as a
harbinger of ruin to the Colony. Chambers of Commerce, corporations and
private firms, foreign and native, at meetings specially convened to
discuss the new law, predicted a collapse of Philippine industry and
commerce. At a public conference, held before the Civil Commission on
June 24, 1904, it was stated that one distillery alone would have to
pay a yearly tax of P744,000, and that a certain cigar-factory would
be required to pay annually P557,425. Petitions against the coming
law were sent by all the representative trading-bodies to the Insular
Government praying for its withdrawal. When the Commissioners retired
to their hill-station at Baguio (Benguet) they were followed up by
protests against the measure, but it became law under Philippine
Commission Act No. 1189. Since the imposition of this tax there
has been a general complaint throughout the civilized provinces of
depression in the internal trade, but to what extent it is justified
there is no available precise data on which to form an estimate.
As already stated, the American occupation brought about a rapid
rise in the price of everything, not of necessity or in obedience
to the law of supply and demand, but because it was the pleasure
of the Americans voluntarily to enhance established values. To the
surprise of the Filipinos, the new-comers preferred to pay wages
at hitherto unheard-of rates, whilst the soldiers lavishly paid in
gold for silver-peso value (say, at least, double), of their own
volition--an innovation in which the obliging native complacently
acquiesced, until it dawned upon him that he might demand anything he
chose. The soldiers so frequently threw away copper coin given them in
change as valueless, that many natives discontinued to offer it. It
followed that everybody was reluctantly compelled to pay the higher
price which the American spontaneously elected to give. Labour, food,
house-rent, and all the necessaries of life rose enormously. [294]
The Colony soon became converted from a cheap into an expensive place
of residence. Living there to-day costs at least three times what
it did in Spanish times. Urban property and lands were assessed at
values far beyond those at which the owners truly estimated them. Up
to 1904 it was not at all uncommon to find the rent of a house raised
to five times that of 1898. Retailers had to raise their prices;
trading-firms were obliged to increase their clerks' emoluments,
and in every direction revenue and expenditure thenceforth ranged on
an enhanced scale. It is remarkable that, whilst pains were taken by
the new-comers to force up prices, many of them were simultaneously
complaining of expensive living! Governor W. H. Taft, with an annual
emolument of $20,000 gold, declared before the United States Senate
that the Gov.-General's palace at Malacanan was too expensive a place
for him to reside in. The lighting of the establishment cost him $125
gold a month, and his servants' wages amounted to $250 monthly. He
added that he would rather pay his own rent than meet the expenses
of the Malacanan residence. [295]
Two and a half years later General Leonard Wood reported:
"There has been a great increase in the cost of living and in wages
in this (Moro) as in other provinces--an increase which has not been
accompanied either by improved methods or increased production. The
cause of the increase can be traced, in most cases, to the _foolishly
high prices paid_ by army officials for labour." [296]
Wages steadily advanced as a natural consequence of the higher cost
of living, and, under the guidance of a native demagogue, the working
classes, for the first time in Philippine history, collectively began
to grumble at the idea of labour-pay having a limit. It was one of
the abuses of that liberty of speech suddenly acquired under the new
dominion. On February 2, 1902, this person organized the malcontents
under the title of a "Labour Union," of which he became the first
president. The subscription was 20 cents of a peso per week. The
legality of peacefully relinquishing work when the worker felt so
inclined was not impugned; but when the strikers sought to coerce
violently their fellow-men, the law justly interfered and imprisoned
their leader. The presidency of the so-called "Labour Union" was
thenceforth (September following) carried on by a half-caste, gifted
with great power of organization and fluent oratory. He prepared the
by-laws of the association, and fixed the monthly subscription at one
peso per man and one peseta (one-fifth of a peso) per woman. About
100,000 members were enrolled in the union, the ostensible aim of
which was the defence of the working man's interests. It is difficult
to discern what those interests were which needed protection; the
position of the labouring class was the very reverse of that existing
in Europe; the demand for labourers, at any reasonable wage, exceeded
the supply. The idea of a Filipino philanthropically devoting his
life to the welfare of the masses was beyond the conception of all who
understood the Philippine character. At the end of about eight months,
notwithstanding the enormous assets from subscriptions, the "Labour
Union" became insolvent, with a deficit of 1,000 or more pesos. Where
the assets had gone needed investigation. In the meantime the leader,
posing as mediator between the Insular Government and certain notorious
outlaws, had endeavoured to negotiate with Governor W. H. Taft for
their surrender, on the condition of full pardon. The Government, at
length, becoming suspicious of his intentions and the full measure of
his sympathy for these individuals, caused the leader to be arrested on
May 29, 1903, on the allegations of "founding, directing, and presiding
over an illegal association known as 'The Democratic Labour Union,'"
irregularities connected with the foundation and administration of
the same, sedition, confederacy with brigands, and other minor counts.
It was clear to every thinking man, American or European, that the
control of such a formidable body was a menace to peace. The accused
was brought to trial on the chief allegations, and in September,
1903, he was sentenced to four years and two months' imprisonment,
but appealed against the sentence to the Supreme Court. Later
on he was tried on the other counts, and, although the public
prosecution failed, it served the useful purpose of dissolving a
league the scope of which was shrouded in obscurity, at a period
when the political atmosphere was still clouded by aspirations of
impossible and undesirable realization. I followed the course of
the trial daily, and I interviewed the accused at his house a week
before it ended. Three hundred documents were read at the trial, and
160 witnesses were brought against him. To endeavour to establish
a case of conspiracy against him, another individual was produced
as his colleague. The first accused was defended by an American
advocate with such fervid eloquence, apparently inspired by earnest
conviction of his client's innocence, that those who had to decide his
fate acquitted him of the charge of conspiracy on May 11, 1904. The
defendant's verbal explanation to me of the "Labour Union" led me to
the conclusion that its abolition would benefit the community.
The abnormal rise in wages had the bad effect of inducing the
natives to leave their pastoral pursuits to flock into the towns. The
labour question is still a difficult problem, for it is the habit
of the Filipino to discontinue work when he has a surplus in his
pocket. Private employers complain of scarcity and the unreliability
of the unskilled labourer. Undoubtedly the majority of them would
welcome the return of Chinese coolies, whose entry into the Islands is
prohibited by the Insular Government, in agreement with the desire of
the Filipinos, who know full well that the industrious Chinaman would
lower wages and force the Filipinos into activity for an existence.
Consul-General Wildman, of Hong-Kong, in his report for 1900 to the
State Department, Washington, said: "There has been, during the past
year, quite an investment of Hong-Kong capital in Manila; but it
is the general opinion that _no investment in mines or agriculture_
in the Islands _will be of any great value until the introduction of
Chinese labour_ is not only _permitted_ but _encouraged_."
Section IV. of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1902 provides that every
Chinese labourer rightfully in any insular territory of the United
States (Hawaii excepted), at the time of the passage of this Act,
shall obtain, within one year thereafter, a certificate of residence,
and upon failure to obtain such certificate he shall be deported;
and the Philippine Commission is authorized and required to make all
regulations necessary for the enforcement of this section in the
Philippine Islands. No restriction is placed upon their movement
from one island to another of the Philippines, but they cannot go
from the Philippines to America.
The regulations established by the Insular Government (Act of March
27, 1903) in conformity with the above-cited Act are as follows: The
Chinese can leave the Islands and return thereto within a year. They
must obtain a certificate of departure and be photographed. To
re-enter the Islands they must procure a certificate of departure at
the place of embarkation (usually China) for the Philippines. Thus,
during the year ending June 30, 1902, 10,158 Chinese entered Manila,
and 11,432 left it with return certificates. Chinese resident in the
Islands must be registered. The first banishment for contravention
of this regulation took place on January 6, 1905.
For a long time there was a big contraband business done in Chinese. A
coolie would pay as much as 400 pesos premium to find himself where he
could earn up to 100 pesos per month. The contraband agent in China
was an ex-Custom-house officer. The Manila agent was in the Customs
service, and the colleagues on the China side were high officials. When
the conspiracy was discovered the agent in China came to Manila to
answer the charge, and was at once arrested. A prosecution was entered
upon; but after a protracted trial, the proceedings were quashed,
for reasons which need not be discussed. The Exclusion Act is so
rigidly upheld that in the case of a Chinese merchant who died in
the Islands leaving a fortune of about 200,000 pesos, his (Chinese)
executor was refused permission to reside temporarily in the Colony
for the sole purpose of winding up the deceased's affairs.
The social position of the Chinese permitted to remain in the
Islands has changed since the American advent. In former times, when
the highest authorities frowned upon the Chinese community, it was
necessary to propitiate them with bags of silver pesos. There was no
Chinese consul in those days; but Chino Carlos Palanca was practically
the protector and dictator of his countrymen during the last decade of
Spanish rule, and, if a cloud descended upon them from high quarters,
he used to pass the word round for a dollar levy to dissipate it. In
February, 1900, Chino Palanca was made a mandarin of the first class,
and when his spirit passed away to the abode of his ancestors his
body was followed to interment by an immense sympathetic crowd of
Celestials. This pompous funeral was one of the great social events of
the year. Now there is a Chinese consul in Manila whose relations to
his people are very different from those between Europeans and their
consuls. The Chinese consul paternally tells his countrymen what they
are to do, and they do it with filial submission. He has given them
to understand that they occupy a higher position than that formerly
accorded to the Chinese in this Colony (_vide_ Chinese, Chapter viii).
On my first visit to Manila alter the American occupation I was struck
to see Chinese in the streets wearing the pigtail down their backs,
and dressed in nicely-cut semi-European patrol-jacket costumes of cloth
or washing-stuffs, with straw or felt "trilby" hats. Now, too, they
mix freely among the whites in public places with an air of social
equality, and occupy stall seats in the theatre, which they would
not have dared to enter in pre-American times. The Chinese Chamber
of Commerce is also of recent foundation, and its status is so far
recognized by the Americans that it was invited to express an opinion
on the Internal Revenue Bill, already referred to, before it became
law. The number of Chinese in the whole Archipelago is estimated
at about 41,000. When an enterprising American introduced a large
number of jinrikishas, intending to establish that well-known system
of locomotion here, the Chinese Consulate very shortly put its veto
on the employment of Chinese runners. The few natives who ran them
became objects of ridicule. The first person who used a jinrikisha in
Manila, with Chinese in livery, was a European consul. Other whites,
unaccustomed to these vehicles, took to beating the runners--a thing
never seen or heard of in Japan or in colonies where they are used in
thousands. The natural result was that the 'rikisha man bolted and the
'rikisha tilted backwards, to the discomfort of the fool riding in
it. The attempted innovation failed, and the vehicles were sent out
of the Colony.
Apart from the labour question, if the Chinese were allowed a free
entry they would perpetuate the smartest pure Oriental mixed class
in the Islands. On the other hand, if their exclusion should remain
in force beyond the present generation it will have a marked adverse
effect on the activity of the people (_vide_ pp. 182, 411).
At the period of the American occupation the _Currency_ of the
Islands was the Mexican and Spanish-Philippine peso, of a value
constantly fluctuating between 49 and 37 cents. gold (_vide_ table
at p. 647). The shifty character of the silver basis created such an
uncertainty in trade and investment transactions that the Government
resolved to place the currency on a gold standard. Between January 1
and October 5, 1902, the Insular Treasury lost $956,750.37 1/2 from the
fall of silver. A difficulty to be confronted was the impossibility
of ascertaining even the approximate total amount of silver current
in the Islands. Opinions varied from P30,000,000 upwards. [297]
Pending the solution of the money problem, ineffectual attempts were
made to fix the relative values by the publication of an official
ratio between gold dollar and silver peso once a quarter; but as
it never agreed with the commercial quotation many days running,
the announcement of the official ratio was altered to once in ten
days. Seeing that ten days or more elapsed before the current ratio
could be communicated to certain remote points, the complications in
the official accounts were most embarrassing. Congress Act of July
1, 1902, authorized the coinage of subsidiary silver, but did not
determine the unit of value or provide for the issue of either coin or
paper money to take the place of the Mexican and Spanish-Philippine
pesos in circulation, so that it was quite inoperative. Finally,
Congress Act of March 2, 1903, provided that the new standard should
be a peso equal in value to half a United States gold dollar. The
maximum amount authorized to be coined was 75,000,000 silver pesos,
each containing 416 grains of silver, nine-tenths fine. The peso was
to be legal tender for all debts, public and private, in the Islands,
and was to be issued when the Insular Government should have 500,000
pesos ready for circulation. The peso is officially alluded to as
"Philippine currency," whilst the popular term, "Conant," derives
its name from a gentleman, Mr. Charles Conant, in whose report, dated
November 25, 1901, this coin was suggested. He visited the Islands,
immortalized his name, and modestly retired.
The "Philippine currency," or "peso Conant," is guaranteed by the
United States Treasury to be equal to 50 cents of a gold dollar. The
six subsidiary coins are 50, 20, and 10 cents silver, 5 cents nickel,
and 1 and 1/2 cent bronze, equivalent to a sterling value of one
shilling to one farthing. This new coinage, designed by a Filipino, was
issued to the public at the end of July, 1903. The inaugurating issue
consisted of 17,881,650 silver pesos, in pesos and subsidiary coins,
to be supplemented thereafter by the re-coinage of the Mexican and
Philippine pesos as they found their way into the Treasury. For public
convenience, silver certificates, or Treasury Notes, were issued,
exchangeable for "Conant" silver pesos, to the extent of 6,000,000
pesos' worth in 10-peso notes; another 6,000,000 pesos in 5-peso notes,
and 3,000,000 pesos in 2-peso notes, these last bearing a vignette
of the Philippine patriot, the late Dr. Jose Rizal. On December 23,
1903, the Governor reported that "not till January 1, 1904, can the
Mexican coin be demonetized and denied as legal tender value." A
proclamation, dated January 28, 1904, was issued by the Insular
Treasury in Spanish and Tagalog to the effect (1) that after October 1,
1904, the Government would only accept Mexican or Philippine pesos at
the value of their silver contents, and (2) that after December 31,
1904, a tax would be levied on all deposits made at the banks of the
above-mentioned coinage. Notwithstanding the publication of numerous
official circulars urging the use of the new peso, the Mexican and
Spanish-Philippine dollars remained in free circulation during the
first six months of 1904, although rent and certain other payments
were reckoned in "Conant" and current accounts at banks were kept in
the new currency, unless otherwise agreed. Naturally, as long as the
seller was willing to accept Mexican for his goods, the buyer was only
too pleased to pay in that medium, because if, for instance, he had to
pay 10 Mexican dollars, and only had "Conant" in his pocket, he could
call at any of the hundred exchange shops about town, change his 10
"Conant" into Mexican at a 5 to 20 per cent. premium, settle his bill,
and reserve the premium. Almost any Far Eastern fractional coins served
as subsidiary coins to the Mexican or Spanish-Philippine peso, and
during nine or ten months there were no less than three currencies
in use--namely, United States, Mexican (with Spanish-Philippine),
and "Conant." It was not practicable to deny a legal-tender value
to so much Mexican, and Spanish-Philippine coin in circulation. The
retailer was required to exhibit in his shop a card, supplied by the
municipality, indicating the exchange-rate of the day, and declaring in
Spanish, English, and Tagalog as follows: "Our prices are in American
currency. We accept Philippine currency at the rate of..."; but the
reckoning in small-value transactions was so bewildering that, in
practice, he would accept any coinage the purchaser chose to give him
at face value. From August 1, 1904, when the "Internal Revenue Law"
(_vide_ p. 630) came into operation, merchants' and bankers' accounts
and all large transactions were settled on the new-currency basis. Many
retailers followed the lead, and the acceptance of the new medium
thenceforth greatly increased. Still, for several months, provincial
natives were loth to part with their old coin at a discount, or, as
they plainly put it, lose 10 to 20 per cent. of their cash capital
at a stroke. The Insular Treasurer therefore issued another circular
in December, 1904, stating that whosoever engaged in business should
make use of the old coinage in trade transactions after December 31,
1904, without special licence, would be condemned to pay not only
that licence, but a heavy fine, or be _sent to prison_; and that
all written agreements made after October, 1904, involving a payment
in old currency, would pay a tax of 1 per cent. per month from the
said date of December, 1904. Nevertheless, further pressure had to be
exercised by the Civil Governor, who, in a circular dated January 7,
1905, stated that "it is hereby ordered that the Insular Treasurer
and all provincial treasurers in the Philippine Islands shall, on and
after this date and until February 1, 1905, purchase Spanish-Filipino
currency, Mexican currency, Chinese subsidiary silver coins, and all
foreign copper coins now circulating in the Philippine Islands at
_one peso_, Philippine currency, for _one peso and twenty centavos_,
local currency."
As late as March, 1905, there was still a considerable amount of old
coinage in private hands, but practically the new medium was definitely
established. The total number of "Conant" pesos in circulation in
the Islands, in the middle of May, 1905, was 29,715,720 (all minted
in America), and "Conant" paper, P10,150,000.
From the time of the American occupation up to May, 1902, the two
foreign banks--the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and
the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China (_vide_ Banks,
p. 258)--were the only depositaries for the Insular Treasury, outside
the Treasury itself. In the meantime, two important American banks
established themselves in the Islands--namely, the "Guaranty Trust
Company," and the "International Banking Corporation." On May 15,
1902, the "Guaranty Trust Company" was appointed a depositary for
Philippine funds both in Manila and in the United States; and on June
21 following the "International Banking Corporation" was likewise
appointed a depositary for the Insular Treasury, each being under a
bond of $2,000,000. These two banks also act as fiscal agents to the
United States in the Philippines. [298]
In 1904 the position of the "Banco Espanol-Filipino" (_vide_ p. 258)
was officially discussed. This bank, the oldest established in Manila,
holds a charter from the Spanish Government, the validity of which was
recognized. The Insular Government sought to reduce the amount of its
paper currency, which was alleged to be three times the amount of its
cash capital. Meanwhile, the notes in circulation, representing the
old Philippine medium, ceased to be legal tender, and were exchanged
for "Conant" peso-value notes at the current rate of exchange.
For a short period there existed an establishment entitled the
"American Bank," which did not prosper and was placed in liquidation
on May 18, 1905, by order of the Gov.-General, pursuant to Philippine
Commission Act No. 52 as amended by Act No. 556.
In February, 1909, the terms of Article 4 of the Treaty of Paris
(_vide_ p. 479) will lapse, leaving America a freer hand to determine
the commercial future of the Philippines. It remains to be seen
whether the "Philippines for the Filipinos" policy, promoted by the
first Civil Governor, or the "Equal opportunities for all" doctrine,
propounded by the first Gov.-General, will be the one then adopted
by America. Present indications point to the former merging into the
latter, almost of necessity, if it is desired to encourage American
capitalists to invest in the Islands. The advocate of the former
policy is the present responsible minister for Philippine affairs,
whilst, on this work going to press, the propounder of the latter
doctrine has been justly rewarded, for his honest efforts to govern
well, with the appointment of first American Ambassador to Japan.
Trade Statistics
Total Import and Export Values (exclusive of Silver and Gold)
Period. Imports. Exports. Total Import Excess Excess
and of Imports. of Exports.
Export Trade.
Annual
Average. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $.
1880-84 19,500,274 20,838,325 40,338,599 -- 1,338,051
1885-89 15,789,165 20,991,265 36,780,430 -- 5,202,100
1890-94 15,827,694 19,751,293 35,578,987 -- 3,923,599
Year.
1899 13,113,010 12,306,912 25,479,922 746,098 --
1900 20,601,436 19,751,068 40,352,504 850,368 --
1901 30,279,406 23,214,948 53,494,354 7,064,458 --
1902 32,141,842 23,927,679 56,069,521 8,214,163 --
1903 32,971,882 33,121,780 66,093,662 -- 149,898
Great Britain and the United States are the most important foreign
markets for Philippine hemp, the distribution of shipments in 1850
and in five recent years having been as follows:--
Hemp Shipments To United States, United Kingdom, and Other Countries
Year. To United States. To Great Britain. To Other Countries. Total.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
1850 7,387 1,092 323 8,802
1899 26,713 21,511 26,808 75,092
1900 20,304 46,419 22,715 89,438
1901 30,336 82,190 11,731 124,257
1902 60,384 44,813 6,303 111,500
1903 69,912 59,189 8,651 137,752
Hemp Shipments
Year. Total.
Tons.
1850 8,802
1855 14,936
1860 24,812
1865 24,862
1870 30,535
1875 32,864
1880 49,934
1885 52,141
1890 63,269
1895 104,040
1896 95,736
1897 112,755
1898 99,076
1899 75,092
1900 89,438
1901 124,257
1902 111,500
1903 137,752
Total Chief Exports from the Philippine Islands
1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
Sugar
Manila 65,678 84,204 83,469 91,628 92,856 48,071 73,296 67,996 107,003
Cebu 28,195 18,140 17,815 16,694 11,862 3,455 8,762 18,388 16,962
Yloilo 109,609 83,456 77,847 76,997 114,207 96,000 85,104 165,407 137,716
Total 203,482 185,800 179,131 185,319 218,925 147,526 167,162 251,791 261,681
Hemp
Manila 43,927 39,268 56,709 71,881 59,455 56,201 68,256 87,778 70,174
Cebu 8,214 7,192 7,663 11,298 11,616 7,068 11,087 11,035 10,010
Total 52,141 46,460 64,372 82,679 71,071 63,269 79,343 98,813 80,184
Sapan-wood
Manila 2,911 1,885 962 750 574 1,385 880 1,574 3,332
Yloilo
and Cebu 1,100 2,943 4,260 5,853 4,018 1,415 3,317 2,207 1,586
Total 4,011 4,828 5,222 6,603 4,592 2,800 4,197 8,841 4,918
Coprah
tons -- -- -- -- -- 4,653 17,875 22,439 11,519
Shipped from Manila only.
1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893.
Coffee
tons 5,209 7,337 4,998 6,702 5,841 4,796 2,869 1,326 307
Cigars
thousands 114,821 102,717 99,562 109,109 121,674 109,636 97,740 137,059 137,458
Tobacco-Leaf
tons 6,799 6,039 4,841 10,229 10,161 8,952 9,803 12,714 11,534
Buffalo-Hides
tons 632 666 566 1,888 755 394 272 327 --
Indigo
tons 84 64 111 232 221 19 89 278 --
Gum Mastic
tons 195 205 404 330 490 188 303 136 --
Cordage
tons 265 187 175 124 94 196 149 100 --
M.O.P. Shell
tons 10 8 13 12 23 31 18 10 --
Total Chief Exports from the Philippine Islands--continued
1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1858.
Under American Occupation. According
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. to Sir John
Bowring.
Sugar
Manila 94,656 107,221 97,705 57,382 5,041 27,473 5,567 421 368
Cebu 10,198 13,335 7,701 15,257 12,363 3,731 8,283 4,595 6,202
Yloilo 88,533 110,527 124,648 130,542 71,982 36,312 45,070 97,129 81,308
Total 193,387 231,083 230,054 203,181 89,386 67,536 58,920 102,145 88,378 34,821
Hemp
Manila 82,693 93,595 83,172 102,721 -- -- -- -- --
Cebu 16,804 10,445 12,564 10,034 -- -- -- -- --
Total 99,497 104,040 95,736 112,755 75,092 89,438 124,257 111,500 137,752 25,781
Sapanwood
Manila 1,292 1,619 898 1,022 No quantities stated in the
Yloilo Office Returns since 1898.
& Cebu 1,633 694 2,743 3,165
Total 2,925 2,313 3,551 4,187 Included in Table of 4,201
Total Export Values, p. 639.
Coprah
tons 33,265 37,104 37,970 50,714 15,906 65,355 32,655 59,287 83,411
Shipped from Manila only.
Coffee
tons 309 194 89 136 34 13 30 7 4 1,560
Cigars
thousands 137,877 164,430 183,667 156,916 No quantities officially stated. 85,142
Tobacco-Leaf
tons 9,545 10,368 10,986 15,836 6,272 9,834 7,764 9,016 8,593 4,106
Buffalo-Hides
tons 398 467 397 728 -- -- -- -- -- 402
Indigo
tons 72 27 23 33 114 5 8 247 40 36
Gum Mastic
tons 189 275 172 223 No quantities officially stated.
Cordage
tons 170 198 194 239
M.O.P. Shell
tons 54 79 13 42
Total Export of Sugar from the Phillipine Islands During 18 Years
1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
Manila
Dry 47,542 62,594 62,167 63,890 -- 33,233 50,342 51,718 72,007
Wet 18,136 21,610 21,302 27,738 -- 14,838 22,954 16,278 34,996
Total 65,678 84,204 83,469 91,628 92,856 48,071 73,296 67,996 107,003
Cebu
Dry 23,676 15,190 12,765 13,094 -- 3,145 7,562 17,488 16,712
Wet 4,519 2,950 5,050 3,600 -- 310 1,200 900 250
Total 23,195 18,140 17,815 16,694 11,862 3,455 8,762 18,388 16,962
Yliolo
Dry 102,369 81,201 71,722 72,882 -- 87,966 82,515 160,050 135,191
Wet 7,240 2,255 6,125 4,115 -- 8,034 2,589 5,357 2,525
Total 109,609 83,456 77,847 76,997 114,207 96,000 85,104 165,407 137,716
Grand Total 203,482 185,800 179,131 185,319 213,925 147,526 167,162 251,791 261,631
Total Export of Sugar from the Phillipine Islands During 18
Years--continued
1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1902. 1903.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
Under American Occupation
Manila
Dry 65,189 81,502 77,676 46,345
Wet 18,136 21,610 21,302 27,738 5,041 27,473 5,567 421 868
Total 94,656 107,221 97,703 57,382 5,041 27,473 5,567 421 868
Cebu
Dry 10,198 13,085 7,484 15,137
Wet -- 250 217 120 12,363 3,751 8,283 4,595 6,202
Total 10,198 13,335 7,701 15,257 12,363 3,751 8,283 4,595 6,202
Yliolo
Dry -- -- 123,720 129,174
Wet -- -- 928 1,368 71,982 36,312 45,070 97,129 81,308
Total 88,533 110,527 124,648 130,542 71,982 36,312 45,070 97,129 81,308
Grand Total 193,387 231,083 230,054 203,181 89,386 67,536 58,920 102,145 88,378
_N.B._--The total export of sugar in the year 1861 was 53,114 tons.
Trade Statistics
Tobacco and Cigar Shipments Before American Occupation
Year. Cigars. Leaf. Year. Cigars. Leaf.
Thousands. Tons. Thousands. Tons.
Under
Monopoly 1880 82,783 8,657 1889 121,674 10,161
1881 89,502 7,027 1890 109,636 8,952
1882 103,597 6,195 1891 97,740 9,803
1883 190,079 7,267 1892 137,059 12,714
1884 125,091 7,181 1893 137,458 11,534
1885 114,821 6,799 1894 137,877 9,545
1886 102,717 6,039 1895 164,430 10,368
1887 99,562 4,841 1896 183,667 10,986
1888 109,109 10,229 1897 156,916 15,836
Tobacco-leaf Shipments Since American Occupation
1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
6,272 9,834 7,764 9,016 8,593
Cigar Shipments Since American Occupation
The official returns do not state the quantities shipped
United States.
British Empire. [299]
Other Countries.
Total
Year. Value. Value. Value. Value.
Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $.
1899 3,405 430,013 512,281 945,699
1900 5,662 937,872 214,883 1,158,417
1901 908 1,604,470 227,071 1,832,449
1902 11,006 813,083 164,429 988,518
1903 1,900 757,783 201,672 961,355
Coprah Shipments
Year. Manila. Cebu. Total.
Tons. Tons. Tons.
1890 4,653 -- 4,653
1891 -- -- 17,875
1892 -- -- 22,439
1893 11,519 -- 11,519
1894 32,045 1,220 33,265
1895 34,332 2,772 37,104
1896 34,895 3,075 37,970
1897 47,814 2,900 50,714
1899 13,356 2,378 15,906
1900 62,469 2,886 65,355
1901 30,347 2,308 32,655
1902 41,816 17,471 59,287
1903 69,189 14,222 83,411
Coprah Shipment Values
United States.
British Empire.
Other Countries.
Year. Total Value
Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $.
1899 -- 72,095 654,558 726,653
1900 4,450 246,243 2,931,788 3,182,481
1901 -- 91,793 1,520,045 1,611,838
1902 9,057 531,421 2,161,247 2,701,725
1903 9,354 311,606 3,498,833 3,819,793
Cocoanut-oil Shipment Values
1893 1894 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903
Value Value Value Value Value Value Value
Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $.
10,336 33,333 None 105 20 346 81
It will be observed that with the increase of coprah shipment,
the export of cocoanut-oil has decreased.
_Sapan-wood Shipments Before American Occupation_
Year. Tons.
1880 5,527
1881 4,253
1882 5,003
1883 2,924
1884 2,868
1885 4,011
1886 4,828
1887 5,222
1888 6,603
1889 4,592
1890 2,800
1891 4,197
1892 3,841
1893 4,918
1894 2,925
1895 2,313
1896 3,551
1897 4,187
The official returns, since 1898, do not state the _quantities_
of sapan-wood shipments.
Gum-mastic Shipments
Year. Tons.
1880 431
1881 440
1882 339
1883 235
1884 245
1885 195
1886 205
1887 404
1888 330
1889 490
1890 188
1891 303
1892 136
1894 189
1895 275
1896 172
1897 223
The official figures of _quantity_ are not procurable since 1897. The
_values_ of the shipments are as follows:--In 1901, $154,801; in 1902,
$189,193; in 1903, $143,093.
Coffee Shipments
Year. Tons.
1856 437
1858 1,560
1865 2,350
1871 3,335
1880 5,059
1881 5,383
1882 5,052
1883 7,451
1884 7,252
1885 5,209
1886 7,337
1887 4,998
1888 6,702
1889 5,841
1890 4,796
1891 2,869
1892 1,326
1893 307
1894 309
1895 194
1896 89
1897 136
1899 34
1900 13
1901 30
1902 7
1903 4
Gold and Silver Imports and Exports Since American Occupation
Year Imports Exports
Gold. Silver. Gold. Silver.
Gold $. Gold $. Gold $. Gold $.
1899 109,965 1,141,392 3,487,050 939,756
1900 71,058 2,830,263 593,143 3,147,946
1901 751,909 6,269,613 857,563 637,844
1902 3,110 4,226,924 314,295 4,173,776
1903 50,730 1,403,475 63,540 7,494,347
Tonnage Entered in Philippine Ports Since American Occupation
Year. Steamers. Net Tonnage. Sailing-ships Net Tonnage.
1899 1,562 767,605 313 58,980
1900 2,969 1,278,740 3,252 147,153
1901 3,649 1,630,176 6,333 208,092
1902 3,744 1,819,547 7,222 242,669
1903 4,679 2,343,904 6,111 251,116
Exchange Fluctuations (Of the Peso or Mexican Dollar).
Sight on London.
Year. Highest. Lowest.
1869 4/5-1/4 4/1-3/4
1879 3/11 3/9
1880 3/11-3/4 3/9-3/4
1881 4/1-1/2 3/11
1882 4/1 3/11-1/2
1883 4/0-1/4 3/9-1/2
1884 3/9-1/4 3/7-3/4
1885 3/10-1/4 3/8-1/2
1886 3/9-3/4 3/7-1/2
1887 3/8-1/2 3/3
1888 3/6-3/4 3/2-3/4
1889 3/6-1/4 3/3
1890 3/10-1/2 3/2-1/4
1892 3/3-3/4 3/-
1897 2/2 1/2-3/4
1898 2/0-5/8 1/9-1/2
1899 2/05/16 1/11-3/8
1900 2/0-7/8 1/11-7/8
1901 2/0-1/2 1/10-5/16
1902 1/10-13/16 1/6-1/4
1903 1/11-5/16 1/6-11/16
1904
Local Currency 1/11-9/16 1/9-11/16
"Conant" Peso 2/0-13/16 2/0-3/16
Proportionate Table of Exports (Exclusive of Gold and Silver)
Years 1899-1903
Year 1899
United States ==================
British Empire ===================
Spain ======
Other Countries ==========================
Year 1900
United States ====================
British Empire =======================================
Spain ========
Other Countries =======================================
Year 1901
United States ======================
British Empire ====================================================
Spain =======
Other Countries ===============================
Year 1902
United States ===================================================
British Empire =======================================
Spain =====
Other Countries ==================================
Year 1903
United States =========================================================
British Empire =============================================
Spain ======
Other Countries =====================================
Proportionate Table of Imports (Exclusive of Gold, Silver, and
U.S. Govt. Supplies) Years 1899-1903
Year 1899
United States =======
British Empire ==================
Spain ============
Other Countries ==================================================
Year 1900
United States ===========
British Empire ==================================
Spain ==========
Other Countries ============================================================
Year 1901
United States =================
British Empire ========================================
Spain =========
Other Countries ====================================================================
Year 1902
United States ===================
British Empire ================================
Spain ==============
Other Countries ====================================================================
Year 1903
United States =================
British Empire ================================
Spain ==========
Other Countries ====================================================================
Proportionate Table of Hemp, Coprah, and Sugar Exports, and Rice
Imports in the Years 1899-1903
Hemp.
1899 ===================
1900 ======================
1901 ===============================
1902 ===========================
1903 ===================================