The Cultivation of Tobacco, a State Monopoly.
The seed of the tobacco plant was introduced into the Philippines from
Mexico by Spanish missionaries. It is an annual, grows to the height of
five or six feet, and varies greatly in flavor, not only in different
provinces, but in different places in the same province. Luzon has
always been more directly under the control of the Spaniards than any
other part of the Archipelago. As it contains the capitol--literally
the seat of Government--it is from this island that every unjust and
cruel edict has proceeded since the time of the conquest. Indeed,
Spain has never tried to govern more than half a dozen of the islands;
and while all of the Philippines are nominally under her suzerainty,
there are at least two hundred of them filled with fierce and
intractable tribes--and these she has not even explored. But it is
Luzon that, from first to last, has felt most heavily the weight of
her iron hand. On that island, in 1781, the cultivation of tobacco
was formally declared a State monopoly.
This lasted just a year and a century. The Government, after long
debate on the subject, decided that, on the whole, it would be more
profitable and less troublesome to demand a high license, and place
the enterprise in the hands of private dealers.
The monopoly was accordingly abolished, December 31st, 1882. The
natives fought against this. They had suffered horribly from State
regulations. They feared to suffer more from private persecution. The
friars, however, the real rulers of the Philippines, decided against
the monopoly; and, notwithstanding that it was the largest source of
public revenue on the islands, it was abolished.
Oppressive Conditions in Luzon.
From 1781 to 1882, then, in Luzon the following conditions prevailed:
First, in the Philippines natives were never allowed to own land,--the
property of the State. By paying for the privilege they might receive
permission to cultivate the soil. During the continuance of the
monopoly, in certain districts in northern Luzon, only tobacco plants
were permitted to be placed in the ground. Not one foot of his poor
little plot could the native use for his own subsistence. Moreover,
he was forced to contract with the Government to raise 4000 plants
a year; not one leaf of which could he call his own.
Every family was bound to produce a given quantity annually; while a
shortage in returns was punished with beating, fines, confiscation,
or imprisonment.
In some of the districts selected the islanders were too wild and
insubordinate to follow directions in the planting, the preparing,
and in the drying of the leaf. Emigrants were therefore sent from
the vicinity of Manila, and were provided with land, homes, food,
and clothing.
Their subsequent fate was pitiable. Spies of the Government visited
the native houses at all hours, in search of concealed tobacco. Every
nook and corner of the little dwelling would be ransacked time and
again, and the women of the family subjected to rude and insulting
personal inspection.
And these harassing visits were made at disquieting intervals;
sometimes two or three days in succession; so that the easy and
indolent Filipino was kept in haunting terror of incursions.
At the Government headquarters of the district, the dried leaves were
carefully examined by the Inspector. Those that he approved he paid
for; the rest were burned.
If an Indian were caught smoking one of his own cigars, within a few
steps of his own airing-sheds, he was seized and fined. The offence,
arrest, and conviction cost him dear: about $8.00 if he were smoking
a cigar; about $2.00, if a cigarette.
In a country where the monotony of life is mitigated by the soothing
effects of the leaf, and where men and women smoke as inevitably--and
almost as naturally--as they eat, these constant and harassing
exactions became maddening. The burning of the rejected bundles was
felt to be especially cruel and unnecessary. But the Inspector was
inexorable.
All these combined causes, and particularly the insults to women,
frequently brought about bloody encounters between the people and
the servants of the State.
There are numberless cases where Indians live on the land cultivated
by their ancestors, and cling to it; and, in their ignorance, feel it
to be their own. The Government, however, with its usual treachery,
finally took advantage of this attachment, and, while exacting full
returns from the natives, paid them only in part, or in depreciated
currency.
How Speculators Take Advantage of the Natives.
Sharpers from Manila made their way into the tobacco districts as
soon as this was known, buying large sums in Treasury notes for
small quantities of specie; and so needy were the natives, and so
rooted their distrust of Spain, that they made the exchange eagerly,
glad to get into their hands the smallest quantity of the money they
were familiar with--genuine gold.
Every effort was made to confine the growth of tobacco to certain
selected districts controlled by the State, but, in spite of this,
concealed plantations were continually being cultivated in remote
provinces, and a large body of picked men and many revenue cutters
were constantly in the employ of the Government. It was their duty to
discover and destroy these plantations, punish the growers, confiscate
the leaf, and break up the smuggling.
But, despite these precautions and drastic measures, the initiated
always knew where to obtain a good cigar for about one-fourth of
what was paid for it in a Manila shop. Expedition after expedition
was sent to distant islands, to discover and punish the growers
and manufacturers of illicit tobacco, and stubborn fights ensued,
the friars invariably being on the side of the natives.
These were the abuses and revolts that finally led to the abolition
of the monopoly.
Private enterprise in the islands has its own hard ways to accomplish
its own unscrupulous ends, and whether Company, individual, or
Government is in power, the result is always the same--the native is
cheated, suffers, is pushed to the wall.
The Quality of Manila Tobacco.
Since 1882 it is a matter of common complaint that there is not so
much care taken in the preparing of the leaf: this requires great
skill and unwearied attention to detail, inasmuch, as if overheated,
or left too long in the airing-sheds, something precious is lost in
quality and in aroma.
Cuban cigars are not sold in the colony, and the old residents
believe the flavor of their own tobacco incomparable. The outside
world, however, gives the preference to the Cuban brand. Indeed, at
one time the Government tried to introduce seed from Cuba, but, owing
to mismanagement, the scheme failed. Such an inferior quality of leaf
sometimes finds its way into Manila, and is sold for such low prices,
that one wonders what profit there can be in cultivating it. This is,
of course, worked off on the poorer natives.
The tobacco trade is still a monopoly in Spain, and the Philippines
are under contract to provide the home factories with 98,000 cwt. of
dried leaf per annum. Enormous fortunes are made in a short time in
this product.
When the infamous Weyler was Governor-General of the Philippines,
his two brothers were in this business in Binondo. They went back to
Madrid in a few years, and lived like princes.
The fact remains, however, that while a very superior article of cigar
and cigarette is made in the factories of Manila and its vicinity,
if the colony wishes to compete with other countries, the tobacco
planters must raise the standard of quality all along the line.
Methods of Preparing the Tobacco Leaf.
There are several large tobacco factories in Binondo, the trading
centre of Manila; one in particular employing 15,000 men, women,
and children, at an average wage of 15 cents a day. The working hours
are from seven to twelve in the morning, and from two to five in the
afternoon. Just at sunset, I have often seen the operatives leave
this factory in droves, and thousands of them immediately plunge into
the waters of Manila Bay, where they swam about in the surf, rolling,
tumbling, and shouting like children.
I have repeatedly gone through the factories, following the leaf from
bale to finish; and it is an interesting sight. Color and quality
are decided by a lightning expert, and quick and thorough is the
whole process, till the finished cigars are packed in cedar boxes,
labeled for the market. Cedar-wood seems part of the charm.
Innumerable efforts have been made to use other and less expensive
woods in packing, but without avail: either the cedar conserves the
aroma better, or, more likely, it adds a special quality of its own,
which, through long habit, the confirmed smoker finds indispensable
to his enjoyment.
The Escalante region is noted for the fine tobacco grown there,
though sugar, of course, is the most important crop. The tobacco is
rich-flavored, and by many experts is deemed the most desirable leaf
in all the Visayas.
But it is generally agreed that the best quality of Island tobacco
is that grown in the provinces of northern Luzon, the most valued
coming from Cagayan and La Isabela.
Old residents invariably prefer Island tobacco; but the English,
as the Americans, and the peninsular Spaniard choose, instead,
the famous Vuelto Abajo of Cuba, and think they get it. Millions of
"Havana" cigars, made of Philippine leaf, are sold in Manila under
the name of this brand. In fact, the two styles--Manila and Cuban--are
manufactured in almost equal quantities, differing in size and shape,
but not in quality. The expert, at the selecting table, divides his
heap into many different colors. Only five, however, are known to the
trade. They are: Maduro, Colorado Maduro, Colorado, Colorado Claro,
and Claro.
The filling of a cigar is called tripa, or tripe; the wrapper, capa,
or overcoat. From the factory I have mentioned, alone, a million and
a half of cigars are shipped to Europe every month. The strong, dark
brands go to Spain. England takes every kind. The lighter colors are
preferred in America.
Tobacco-leaves for cigarettes are cut into thread--generally
called "long cut,"--and the whole process of making is done by one
machine. I have seen nine of these hard at work, each turning out
12,000 cigarettes a day, making 38,000,000 in a year.
Smoking, a Universal Habit.
Smoking goes on in the Philippines everywhere but in church--in the
hotel dining-room as soon as coffee is served, and at the theatre or
opera while the audience is gathering, and between the acts. Even your
cab-driver will offer you a cigar, if he thinks you have none. Spanish
women of wealth and rank--grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and nieces
sit on the balconies of their beautiful residences in the capital,
puffing away at their cigarillos,--a tiny brand made especially for
feminine consumption; while in some homes men and women help themselves
from the same box.
It is an incongruous sight, and one hostile to the accepted ideas
of a splendid type of primitive man, to see in the depths of remote
provinces native men and women, young and old, of striking physical
proportions, the men nude but for the flimsy breech-clout, smoking
away at cigars, cigarettes, and even pipes; and at every possible
and impossible angle of incidence.
For cigars and cigarettes have for many years been sold everywhere
throughout the colony,--in even the remotest hamlets.
Besides, considerable stimulus has been given to the smoking habit in
the wildest provinces by travelers, who, to ingratiate themselves with
the half-savage natives of distant provinces, or to keep them from
speculating whether one is a Spaniard or not, and thereby arousing
their ire, bountifully dispense cigars and cigarettes wherever they go.
And so the dominant and absorbing habit of the Filipinos is to smoke.
Indeed, the common habit of smoking makes it possible to realize the
Arabian Nights' stories of fabulous fortunes made in the Philippines
in a short time from the cultivation, preparation, and manufacture
of the fragrant leaf.