CHAPTER XXVII

[Spain's discovery and occupation.] The Philippines were discovered

by Magellan on the 16th of March, 1521--St. Lazarus' day. [256]

But it was not until 1564, [257] after many previous efforts had

miscarried, that Legaspi, who left New Spain with five ships, took

possession of the Archipelago in the name of Philip II. The discoverer

had christened the islands after the sanctified Lazarus. This name,

however, never grew into general use; [Numerous names.] the Spaniards

persistently calling them the Western Islands--Islas del Poniente;

and the Portuguese, Islas del Oriente. Legaspi gave them their present

name [258] in honor of Philip II, who, in his turn, conferred upon

them the again extinct name of New Castile. [259] Legaspi first of

all annexed Cebu, and then Panay; and six years later, in 1571, he

first sub dued Manila, which was at that time a village surrounded by

palisades, and commenced forthwith the construction of a fortified

town. The subjection of the remaining territory was effected so

quickly that, upon the death of Legaspi (in August, 1572), all the

western parts were in possession of the Spaniards. [Mindanao and

Sulu independent.] Numerous wild tribes in the interior, however,

the Mahomedan states of Mindanao and the Sulu group, for example,

have to this day preserved their independence. The character of

the people, as well as their political disposition, favored the

occupancy. There was no mighty power, no old dynasty, no influential

priestly domination to overcome, no traditions of national pride to

suppress. The natives were either heathens, or recently proselytized

superficially to Islamism, and lived under numerous petty chiefs, who

ruled them despotically, made war upon one another, and were easily

subdued. Such a community was called Barangay; and it forms to this

day, though in a considerably modified form, the foundation of the

constitutional laws. [Spanish improvemnts.] The Spaniards limited the

power of the petty chiefs, upheld slavery, and abolished hereditary

nobility and dignity, substituting in its place an aristocracy

created by themselves for services rendered to the State; but they

carried out all these changes very gradually and cautiously. [260]

The old usages and laws, so long as they did not interfere with the

natural course of government, remained untouched and were operative

by legal sanction; and even in criminal matters their validity was

equal to those emanating from the Spanish courts. To this day the

chiefs of Barangay, with the exception of those bearing the title

of "Don," have no privileges save exemption from the poll-tax and

socage service. [Unthinking policy of greed.] They are virtually

tax-collectors, excepting that they are not paid for such service,

and their private means are made responsible for any deficit. The

prudence of such a measure might well be doubted, without regard to

the fact that it tempts the chiefs to embezzlement and extortion;

and it must alienate a class of natives who would otherwise be a

support to the Government.

[High character of early administrators.] Since the measures adopted in

alleviation of the conquest and occupancy succeeded in so remarkable

a manner, the governors and their subordinates of those days, at a

time when Spain was powerful and chivalrous, naturally appear to have

been distinguished for wisdom and high spirit. Legaspi possessed both

qualities in a marked degree. Hardy adventurers were tempted there,

as in America, by privileges and inducements which power afforded

them; as well as by the hope, which, fortunately for the country, was

never realized, of its being rich in auriferous deposits. In Luzon,

for instance, Hernando Riquel stated that there were many goldmines in

several places which were seen by the Spaniards; "the ore is so rich

that I will not write any more about it, as I might possibly come under

a suspicion of exaggerating; but I swear by Christ that there is more

gold on this island than there is iron in all Biscay." [Conquerors

on commission.] They received no pay from the kingdom; but a formal

right was given them to profit by any territory which was brought into

subjection by them. Some of these expeditions in search of conquest

were enterprises undertaken for private gain, others for the benefit

of the governor; and such service was rewarded by him with grants of

lands, carrying an annuity, offices, and other benefits (encomiendas,

oficios y aprovechamientos). The grants were at first made for three

generations (in New Spain for four), but were very soon limited

to two; when De los Rios pointed this out as being a measure very

prejudicial to the Crown, "since they were little prepared to serve

his Majesty, as their grand-children had fallen into the most extreme

poverty." After the death of the feoffee the grant reverted to the

State; and the governor thereupon disposed of it anew.

[The feudal "encomiendas."] The whole country at the outset was

completely divided into these livings, the defraying of which formed by

far the largest portion of the expenses of the kingdom. Investitures of

a similar nature existed, more or less, in a territory of considerable

extent, the inhabitants of which had to pay tribute to the feoffee;

and this tribute had to be raised out of agricultural produce, the

value of which was fixed by the feudal lord at a very low rate, but

sold by him to the Chinese at a considerable profit. The feudal lords,

moreover, were not satisfied with these receipts, but held the natives

in a state of slavery, until forbidden by a Bull of Pope Gregory XIV,

dated April 18, 1591. Kafir and negro slaves, whom the Portuguese

imported by way of India, were, however, still permitted.

[Extortions of encomenderos.] The original holders of feudal tenures

amassed considerable booty therefrom. Zuñiga relates that as early

as the time of Lavezares, who was provisional governor between 1572

and 1575, he visited the Bisayas and checked the covetousness of

the encomenderos, so that at least during his rule they relaxed

their system of extortion. Towards the end of Sande's government

(1575-80) a furious quarrel broke out between the priests and the

encomenderos; the first preached against the oppression of the

latter, and memorialized Philip II thereon. The king commanded that

the natives should be protected, as the extortionate greed of the

feudal chiefs had exceeded all bounds; and the natives were then at

liberty to pay their tribute either in money or in kind. The result of

this well-intentioned regulation appears to have produced a greater

assiduity both in agriculture and trade, "as the natives preferred

to work without coercion, not on account of extreme want." [Salcedo

"most illustrious of the conquerors."] And here I may briefly refer to

the achievements of Juan de Salcedo, the most illustrious of all the

conquerors. Supported by his grandfather, Legaspi, with forty-five

Spanish soldiers, he fitted out an expedition at his own expense,

embarked at Manila, in May, 1572, examined all parts of the west coast

of the island, landed in all the bays which were accessible to his

light-draught ships, and was well received by the natives at most of

the places. He generally found great opposition in penetrating into

the interior; yet he succeeded in subduing many of the inland tribes;

and when he reached Cape Bojeador, the north-west point of Luzon, the

extensive territory which at present forms the provinces of Zambales,

Pangasinan, and Ilocos Notre and Sur, acknowledged the Spanish

rule. The exhaustion of his soldiers obliged Salcedo to return. In

Vigan, the present capital of Ilocos Sur, he constructed a fort, and

left therein for its protection his lieutenant and twenty-five men,

while he himself returned, accompanied only by seventeen soldiers, in

three small vessels. In this manner he reached the Cagayan River, and

proceeded up it until forced by the great number of hostile natives to

retreat to the sea. Pursuing the voyage to the east coast, he came down

in course of time to Paracale, where he embarked in a boat for Manila,

was capsized, and rescued from drowning by some passing natives.

["The Cortes of the Philippines."] In the meantime Legaspi had died,

and Lavezares was provisionally carrying on the government. Salcedo

heard of this with vexation at being passed over; but, when he

recovered from his jealousy, he was entrusted with the subjugation of

Camarines, which he accomplished in a short time. In 1574 he returned

to Ilocos, in order to distribute annuities among his soldiers, and to

receive his own share. While still employed upon the building of Vigan,

he discovered the fleet of the notorious Chinese pirate, Limahong, who,

bent upon taking possession of the colony, was then passing that part

of the coast with sixty-two ships and a large number of soldiers. He

hastened at once, with all the help which he could summon together in

the neighborhood, to Manila, where he was nominated to the command of

the troops, in the place of the already deposed master of the forces;

and he drove the Chinese from the town, which they had destroyed. They

then withdrew to Pangasinan, and Salcedo burnt their fleet; which

exploit was achieved with very great difficulty. In 1576 this Cortes

of the Philippines died. [261]

[Commercial importance of early Manila.] Apart from the priests, the

first-comers consisted only of officials, soldiers, and sailors; and to

them, naturally, fell all the high profits of the China trade. Manila

was their chief market, and it also attracted a great portion of the

external Indian trade, which the Portuguese had frightened away from

Malacca by their excessive cruelty. The Portuguese, it is true, still

remained in Macao and the Moluccas: but they wanted those remittances

which were almost exclusively sought after by the Chinese, viz.,

the silver which Manila received from New Spain.

[Spain and Portugal united.] In 1580 Portugal, together with all

its colonies, was handed over to the Spanish Crown; and the period

extending from this event to the decay of Portugal (1580-1640)

witnessed the Philippines at the height of their power and prosperity.

[Manila as capital of a vast empire.] The Governor of Manila ruled

over a part of Mindanao, Sulu, the Moluccas, Formosa, and the original

Portuguese possessions in Malacca and India. "All that lies between

Cape Singapore and Japan is subject to Luzon; their ships cross the

ocean to China and New Spain, and drive so magnificent a trade that,

if it were only free, it would be the most extraordinary that the

world could show. It is incredible what glory these islands confer

upon Spain. The Governor of the Philippines treats with the Kings of

Cambodia, Japan, China. The first is his ally, the last his friend;

and the same with Japan. He declares war or peace, without waiting

for the command from distant Spain." [262] [Dutch opposition.] But

the Dutch had now begun the struggle, which they managed to carry

on against Philip II in every corner of the world; and even in 1510

De Los Rios complained that he found the country very much altered

through the progress and advance made by the Dutch; also that the Moros

of Mindanao and Sulu, feeling that they were supported by Holland,

were continually in a state of discontent.

[Decline of colony.] The downfall of Portugal occasioned the loss of

her colonies once more. Spanish policy, the government of the priests,

and the jealousy of the Spanish merchants and traders especially,

did everything that remained to be done to prevent the development

of agriculture and commerce--perhaps, on the whole, fortunately,

for the natives.

[Philippine history unimportant and unsatisfactory.] The

subsequent history of the Philippines is, in all its particulars,

quite as unsatisfactory and uninteresting as that of all the other

Spanish-American possessions. Ineffectual expeditions against pirates,

and continual disputes between the clerical and secular authorities,

form the principal incidents. [263]

[Undesirable emigrants from Spain.] After the first excitement of

religious belief and military renown had subsided, the minds of those

who went later to these outlying possessions, consisting generally as

they did of the very dregs of the nation, were seized with an intense

feeling of selfishness; and frauds and speculations were the natural

sequence. The Spanish writers are full of descriptions of the wretched

state of society then existing, which it is unnecessary to repeat here.

[English occupation.] The colony had scarcely been molested by

external enemies, with the exception of pirates. In the earliest time

the Dutch had engaged occasionally in attacks on the Bisayas. But

in 1762 (during the war of the Bourbon succession) an English fleet

suddenly appeared before Manila, and took the surprised town without

any difficulty. The Chinese allied themselves with the English. A

great insurrection broke out among the Filipinos, and the colony,

under the provisional government of a feeble archbishop, was for a

time in great danger. It was reserved for other dignitaries of the

Church and Anda, an energetic patriot, to inflame the natives against

the foreigners; and the opposition incited by the zealousness of the

priests grew to such an extent that the English, who were confined in

the town, were actually glad to be able to retreat. In the following

year the news arrived from Europe of the conclusion of peace; but

in the interval this insurrection, brought about by the invasion,

had rapidly and considerably extended; and it was not suppressed

until 1765, when the work was accomplished by creating enmity among

the different tribes. [264] But this was not done without a loss to

the province of Ilocos of two hundred sixty-nine thousand two hundred

and seventy persons--half of the population, as represented by Zuñiga.

[Many minor uprisings from local grievances.] Severity and want of

tact on the part of the Government and their instruments, as well as

bigoted dissensions have caused many revolts of the natives; yet none,

it is true, of any great danger to the Spanish rule. The discontent

has always been confined to a single district, as the natives do

not form a united nation; neither the bond of a common speech nor

a general interest binding the different tribes together. The state

communications and laws among them scarcely reach beyond the borders

of the villages and their dependencies.

[Danger from mestizos and creoles.] A consideration of far more

importance to the distant metropolis than the condition of the

constantly excited natives, who are politically divided among

themselves, and really have no steady object in view, is the attitude

of the mestizos and creoles, whose discontent increases in proportion

to their numbers and prosperity. The military revolt which broke

out in 1823, the leaders of which were two creoles, might easily

have terminated fatally for Spain. The latest of all the risings of

the mestizos seems to have been the most dangerous, not only to the

Spanish power, but to all the European population. [265]

[Cavite 1872 mutiny.] On the 20th of January, 1872, between eight and

nine in the evening, the artillery, marines, and the garrison of the

arsenal revolted in Cavite, the naval base of the Philippines, and

murdered their officers; and a lieutenant who endeavored to carry the

intelligence to Manila fell into the hands of a crowd of natives. The

news therefore did not reach the capital until the next morning, when

all the available troops were at once dispatched, and, after a heavy

preliminary struggle, they succeeded the following day in storming

the citadel. A dreadful slaughter of the rebels ensued. Not a soul

escaped. Among them was not a single European; but there were many

mestizos, of whom several were priests and lawyers. Though perhaps

the first accounts, written under the influence of terror, may have

exaggerated many particulars, yet both official and private letters

agree in describing the conspiracy as being long contemplated, widely

spread, and well planned. The whole fleet and a large number of troops

were absent at the time, engaged in the expedition against Sulu. A

portion of the garrison of Manila were to rise at the same time as

the revolt in Cavite, and thousands of natives were to precipitate

themselves on the caras blancas (pale faces), and murder them. The

failure of the conspiracy was, it appears, only attributable to a

fortunate accident--to the circumstance, namely, that a body of the

rebels mistook some rocket fired upon the occasion of a Church festival

for the agreed signal, and commenced the attack too soon. [266]

[Summing up.] Let me be permitted, in conclusion, to bring together a

few observations which have been scattered through the text, touching

the relations of the Philippines with foreign countries, and briefly

speculate thereon.

[Credit due Spain.] Credit is certainly due to Spain for having

bettered the condition of a people who, though comparatively speaking

highly civilized, yet being continually distracted by petty wars,

had sunk into a disordered and uncultivated state. The inhabitants of

these beautiful islands, upon the whole, may well be considered to

have lived as comfortably during the last hundred years, protected

from all external enemies and governed by mild laws, as those of

any other tropical country under native or European sway,--owing,

in some measure, to the frequently discussed peculiar circumstances

which protect the interests of the natives.

[Friars an important factor.] The friars, also, have certainly had

an essential part in the production of the results.

[Their defects have worked out for good.] Sprung from the lowest

orders, inured to hardship and want, and on terms of the closest

intimacy with the natives, they were peculiarly fitted to introduce

them to a practical conformity with the new religion and code

of morality. Later on, also, when they possessed rich livings,

and their devout and zealous interest in the welfare of the masses

relaxed in proportion as their incomes increased, they materially

assisted in bringing about the circumstances already described,

with their favorable and unfavorable aspects. Further, possessing

neither family nor good education, they were disposed to associate

themselves intimately with the natives and their requirements;

and their arrogant opposition to the temporal power generally arose

through their connection with the natives. With the altered condition

of things, however, all this has disappeared. The colony can no

longer be kept secluded from the world. Every facility afforded for

commercial intercourse is a blow to the old system, and a great step

made in the direction of broad and liberal reforms. The more foreign

capital and foreign ideas and customs are introduced, increasing

the prosperity, enlightenment, and self-respect of the population,

the more impatiently will the existing evils be endured.

[Contrast with English colonies.] England can and does open her

possessions unconcernedly to the world. The British colonies are

united to the mother country by the bond of mutual advantage,

viz. the production of raw material by means of English capital,

and the exchange of the same for English manufactures. The wealth

of England is so great, the organization of her commerce with the

world so complete, that nearly all the foreigners even in the British

possessions are for the most part agents for English business houses,

which would scarcely be affected, at least to any marked extent,

by a political dismemberment. It is entirely different with Spain,

which possesses the colony as an inherited property, and without the

power of turning it to any useful account.

[Menaces to Spanish rule.] Government monopolies rigorously maintained,

insolent disregard and neglect of the mestizos and powerful creoles,

and the example of the United States, were the chief reasons of the

downfall of the American possessions. The same causes threaten ruin

to the Philippines: but of the monopolies I have said enough.

[Growing American influence.] Mestizos and creoles, it is true, are

not, as they formerly were in America, excluded from all official

appointments; but they feel deeply hurt and injured through the

crowds of place-hunters which the frequent changes of ministries

send to Manila. The influence, also, of the American element is at

least visible on the horizon, and will be more noticeable when the

relations increase between the two countries. At present they are

very slender. The trade in the meantime follows in its old channels to

England and to the Atlantic ports of the United States. Nevertheless,

whoever desires to form an opinion upon the future history of the

Philippines, must not consider simply their relations to Spain,

but must have regard to the prodigious changes which a few decades

produce on either side of our planet.

[Powerful neighbors] For the first time in the history of the world

the mighty powers on both sides of the ocean have commenced to enter

upon a direct intercourse with one another--Russia, which alone is

larger than any two other parts of the earth; China, which contains

within its own boundaries a third of the population of the world;

and America, with ground under cultivation nearly sufficient to feed

treble the total population of the earth. Russia's future role in

the Pacific Ocean is not to be estimated at present.

[China and America.] The trade between the two other great powers will

therefore be presumably all the heavier, as the rectification of the

pressing need of human labor on the one side, and of the corresponding

overplus on the other, will fall to them.

[Nearing predominance of the Pacific.] The world of the ancients was

confined to the shores of the Mediterranean; and the Atlantic and

Indian Oceans sufficed at one time for our traffic. When first the

shores of the Pacific re-echoed with the sounds of active commerce,

the trade of the world and the history of the world may be really

said to have begun. A start in that direction has been made; whereas

not so very long ago the immense ocean was one wide waste of waters,

traversed from both points only once a year. From 1603 to 1769 scarcely

a ship had ever visited California, that wonderful country which,

twenty-five years ago, with the exception of a few places on the coast,

was an unknown wilderness, but which is now covered with flourishing

and prosperous towns and cities, served by a sea-to-sea railway, and

its capital already ranking the third of the seaports of the Union;

even at this early stage of its existence a central point of the

world's commerce, and apparently destined, by the proposed junction

of the great oceans, to play a most important part in the future.

[The mission of America.] In proportion as the navigation of the west

coast of America extends the influence of the American element over

the South Sea, the captivating, magic power which the great republic

exercises over the Spanish colonies [267] will not fail to make itself

felt also in the Philippines, The Americans are evidently destined to

bring to a full development the germs originated by the Spaniards. As

conquerors of modern times, representing the age of free citizens in

contrast to the age of knighthood, they follow with the plow and the

axe of the pioneer, where the former advanced under the sign of the

cross with their swords.

[Superiority over Spanish system.] A considerable portion of

Spanish-America already belongs to the United States, and has since

attained an importance which could not possibly have been anticipated

either under the Spanish Government or during the anarchy which

followed. With regard to permanence, the Spanish system cannot for a

moment be compared with that of America. While each of the colonies,

in order to favor a privileged class by immediate gains, exhausted

still more the already enfeebled population of the metropolis by the

withdrawal of the best of its ability, America, on the contrary, has

attracted to itself from all countries the most energetic element,

which, once on its soil and, freed from all fetters, restlessly

progressing, has extended its power and influence still further and

further. The Philippines will escape the action of the two great

neighboring powers all the less for the fact that neither they nor

their metropolis find their condition of a stable and well-balanced

nature.

[Need of Philippine awakening.] It seems to be desirable for the

Filipinos that the above-mentioned views should not speedily become

accomplished facts, because their education and training hitherto

have not been of a nature to prepare them successfully to compete

with either of the other two energetic, creative, and progressive

nations. They have, in truth, dreamed away their best days.

PART II

State of the Philippines in 1810

By Tomas de Comyn

[Population.] The enumeration of the natives for the assessment

of tributes, in the manner ordained by the standing regulations

of the Intendants of New Spain, is not observed in the Philippine

Islands; nor indeed would this be an easy task. The wide extent of

the twenty-seven provinces of which they are composed, scattered, as

they are, through the great space comprehended between the southern

part of Mindanao, and the almost desert islands known by the name of

Batanes and Babuyanes, to the north of that of Luzon, presents almost

insurmountable obstacles, and in some measure affords an excuse for

the omission. Among these obstacles may be mentioned the necessity of

waiting for the favorable monsoon to set in, in order to perform the

several voyages from one island to the other; the encumbered state

of the grounds in many parts, the irregular and scattered situations

of the settlements and dwellings, the variety among the natives and

their dialects, the imperfect knowledge hitherto obtained of the

respective limits and extent of many districts, the general want of

guides and auxiliaries, on whom reliance can be placed, and, above all,

the extreme repugnance the natives evince to the payment of tributes,

a circumstance which induces them to resort to all kinds of stratagems,

in order to elude the vigilance of the collectors, and conceal their

real numbers.

[Estimates.] The quinquennial census, as regularly enjoined, being

thus found impracticable, no other means are left than to deduce from

the annual lists, transmitted by the district magistrates to the

superintendent's office, and those formed by the parish curates, a

prudent estimate of the total number of inhabitants subject to our laws

and religion; yet these data, although the only ones, and also the most

accurate it is possible to obtain, for this reason, inspire so little

confidence, that it is necessary to use them with great caution. It is

evident that all the district magistrates and curates do not possess

the same degree of care and minuteness in a research so important,

and the omission or connivance of their respective delegates, more

or less general, renders it probable that the number of tributes,

not included in the annual returns, is very considerable. If to

this we add the leged exemptions from tribute, justly granted to

various individuals for a certain number of years, or during the

performance of special service, we shall easily be convinced of the

imperfection of results, derived from such insecure principles. * * *

I have carefully formed my estimates corresponding to the year 1810,

and by confronting them with such data as I possess relating to the

population of 1791, I have deduced the consoling assurance that,

under a parity of circumstances, the population of these Islands,

far from having diminished, has, in the interval, greatly increased.

[Ratio to tributes.] From the collective returns recently made

out by the district magistrates, it would appear that the total

number of tributes amounts to 386,654, which multiplied by six and

one-half produces the sum of 2,515,406, at which I estimate the

total population, including old men, women and children. I ought

here to observe, that I have chosen this medium of six and one-half

between the five persons estimated in Spain and eight in the Indies,

as constituting each family, or entire tribute; for although the

prodigious fecundity of the women in the latter hemisphere, and the

facility of maintaining their numerous offspring, both the effects

of the benignity of the climate and their sober way of living,

sufficiently warrant the conclusion, that a greater number of persons

enter into the composition of each family, I have, in this case, been

induced to pay deference to the observations of religious persons,

intrusted with the care of souls, who have assured me that, whether

it be owing to the great mortality prevailing among children, or

the influence of other local causes, in many districts each family,

or entire tribute, does not exceed four and one-half persons.

[Foreigners and wild tribes.] To the above amount it is necessary to

add 7,000 Sangleys (Chinese), who have been enumerated and subjected to

tribute, for, although in the returns preserved in the public offices,

they are not rated at more than 4,700, there are ample reasons for

concluding, that many who are wandering about, or hidden in the

provinces, have eluded the general census. The European Spaniards,

and Spanish creoles and mestizos, do not exceed 4,000 persons, of both

sexes and all ages, and the distinct castes or modifications known in

America under the name of mulattos, quadroons, etc., although found

in the Philippine Islands, are generally confounded in the three

classes of pure natives, Chinese mestizos, and Chinese. Besides the

above distinctions, various infidel and independent nations or tribes

exist, more or less savage and ferocious, who have their dwellings in

the woods and glens, and are distinguished by the respective names of

Aetas, Ingolots, Negrillos, Igorots, Tinguianes, etc., nor is there

scarcely a province in Luzon, that does not give shelter to some of

those isolated tribes, who inhabit and possess many of the mountainous

ranges, which ramificate and divide the wide and extended plains of

that beautiful island.

[Origin of race.] The original race by which the Philippines are

peopled, is beyond doubt Malayan, and the same that is observed

in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the other islands of this immense

archipelago. The Philippine Islanders, very different from the

Malabars, whose features possess great regularity, sweetness, and even

beauty, only resemble the latter in color, although they excel them in

stature, and the good proportion of their limbs. The local population

of the capital, in consequence of its continual communication with

the Chinese and other Asiatics, with the mariners of various nations,

with the soldiery and Mexican convicts, who are generally mulattos,

and in considerable numbers sent to the Islands yearly in the way

of transportation, has become a mixture of all kinds of nations and

features, or rather a degeneration from the primitive races.

[Manila's population.] Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands,

at present contains a population of from one hundred forty to one

hundred fifty thousand inhabitants, of all classes; but it ought,

however, to be understood, that in this computation are included

the populous suburbs of Santa Cruz, San Fernando, Binondo, Tondo,

Quiapo, San Sebastian, San Anton, and Sampaloc; for although each is

considered as a distinct town, having a separate curate, and civil

magistrate of its own, the subsequent union that has taken place rather

makes them appear as a prolongation of the city, divided into so many

wards and parishes, in the center of which their respective churches

are built. Among the chief provincial towns, several are found to

contain a population of from twenty to thirty thousand souls, and

many not less than ten to twelve thousand. Finally, it is a generally

received opinion that, besides the Moros and independent tribes, the

total population of the Philippine Islands, subject to the authority

of the king, is equal to three millions.

[Cotton.] Among the varied productions of the Philippines, for many

reasons, none is so deserving of attention as cotton. Its whiteness

and find staple give to it such a superiority over that of the rest of

Asia, and possibly of the world, that the Chinese anxiously seek it,

in order pereferably to employ it in their most perfect textures,

and purchase it thirty per cent dearer than the best from British

India. Notwithstanding this extraordinary allurement, the vicinity

of a good market, and the positive certainty that, however great the

exportation, the growth can never equal the consumption and immense

demand for this article, it has, nevertheless, hitherto been found

impossible to extend and improve its cultivation, in such a way as to

render it a staple commodity of the country. Owing to this lamentable

neglect, is it, that the annual exportation does not exceed five

thousand "arrobas" (125,000 lbs.) whereas the British import into

China at the annual rate of 100,000 bales, or 1,200,000 "arrobas,"

produced in their establishments at Bombay and Calcutta, and which,

sold at the medium price of fifteen "taels," for one hundred thirty

pounds, yield the net amount of $4,800,000.

[Its advantages.] This want of attention to so important a branch

of agriculture is the more to be regretted, as the Islands abound

in situations peculiarly adapted for the cultivation of cotton, and

the accidental failure of the crops in some provinces, might easily

be made up by their success in others. The culture of this plant is

besides extremely easy, as it requires no other labor than clearing

the grounds from brush-wood, and lightly turning up the earth with a

plough, before the seeds are scattered, which being done, the planter

leaves the crop to its own chance, and in five months gathers abundant

fruit, if, at the time the bud opens, it is not burnt by the north

winds, or rotted with unseasonable showers.

[Restricted cultivation.] The provinces of Ilocos and Batangas

are the only ones in which the cultivation of cotton is pursued

with any degree of zeal and care, and it greatly tends to enrich

the inhabitants. This successful example has not, however, hitherto

excited emulation in those of the other provinces; and thus the only

production of the Philippine Islands, of which the excellence and

superior demand in trade are as well known as its culture is easy,

owing to strange fatality and causes which will be hereafter noticed,

is left almost in a neglected state, or, at most, confined to the

narrow limits of local consumption.

[Indigo.] Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bataan, La Laguna, Tayabas and

Camarines produce indigo of various classes, and, although its

preparation or the extraction of the dye, is in most of the above

provinces still performed in an equally imperfect manner, several

small improvements have recently been made, which have bettered the

quality, more particularly in La Laguna, the only district in which

attempts have been made to imitate the process used in Guatemala,

as well with regard to the construction and number of vats necessary,

as the precipitation of the coloring particles--detached from the plant

by the agitation of the water. In the other places, the whole of the

operations are performed in a single vat, and the indigo obtained is

not unfrequently impregnated with lime and other extraneous substances.

[Increasing culture.] Whatever may have been the causes of this evident

backwardness, from the period of the establishment of the Philippine

Company in these Islands, and in consequence of the exertions of some

of the directors to promote the cultivation of indigo, at that time

very little known, the natives have slowly, though gradually, been

reconciled to it; and discovering it to be one of the most advantageous

branches of industry, although accompanied with some labor and exposed

to the influence of droughts and excessive heats, as well as to the

risks attendant on the extraordinary anticipation of the rainy seasons,

have of late years paid more attention to it. The quintal of indigo

of the first class costs the planter from $35 to $40 at most; and in

the market of Manila it has been sold from $60 to $130, according to

the quality and the greater or lesser demand for the article at the

season. As, however, everything in this colony moves within a small

circle, it is not possible to obtain large quantities for exportation;

not only because of the risk in advancing the Indian sums of money

on account of his crop, but also owing to the annual surplus seldom

exceeding from two to two thousand five hundred distributed in many

hands, and collected by numerous agents, equally interested in making

up their return-cargoes.

[Sugar.] The cultivation of the sugar-cane is more or less extended

to all the provinces of these Islands, owing to its consumption among

the natives being both great and general; but those of La Pampanga and

Pangasinan are more particularly devoted to it. These two provinces

alone annually produce about 550,000 arrobas (13,750,000 lbs.) of

which one-third is usually exported in Chinese and other foreign

vessels. In extraordinary seasons, the amount exported greatly

exceeds the quantity above stated, as, for example, happened in the

monsoon of 1796, when the planters came down to the port of Manila,

and by contract exported upwards of nine millions weight, of the first

and second qualities. The price of this article has experienced many

variations of late years; but the medium may be estimated at $6 for one

hundred twenty-five pounds of the first quality, and $5 for the second.

[Method of Manufacture.] The superior quality of the sugar of

the Philippines is acknowledged, when compared to that produced

in the Island of Java, China, or Bengal; notwithstanding in the

latter countries it may naturally be concluded that greater pains

and care are bestowed on its manufacture. The pressure of the cane

in the Philippine Islands is performed by means of two coarse stone

cylinders, placed on the ground, and moved in opposite directions by

the slow and unequal pace of a "carabao," a species of ox or buffalo,

peculiar to this and other Asiatic countries. The juice is conveyed to

an iron caldron, and in this the other operations of boiling, skimming

and cleansing take place, till the crystallization or adhering of

the sugar is completed. All these distinct parts of the process, in

other colonies, are performed in four separate vessels, confided to

different hands, and consequently experience a much greater degree of

care and dexterity. After being properly clayed, the sugars acquire

such a state of consistency that, when shipped in canvas bags, they

become almost petrified in the course of the voyage, without moistening

or purging, as I understand is the case with those of Bengal.

[Silk.] Among the useful objects to which the Patriotic Society of

Manila (Amigos del Pais) directed their attention, from the very

moment of their formation, the planting of mulberry trees seems to

have met with peculiar encouragement. The society rightly judged that

the naturalization of so valuable a commodity as silk in these Islands

would materially increase the resources of the colony, and there was

reason to hope that, besides local consumption, the growth might in

time be so much extended as to supply the wants of New Spain, which

are not less than 80,000 lbs., amounting to from $350,000 to $400,000,

conveyed there in the galleon annually sent to the port of Acapulco,

by the Manila merchants, which article they are now compelled to

contract for in China.

[Mulberry trees.] The Society gave the first impulse to this laudable

project, and then the governor of the Islands, Don José Basco, anxious

to realize it, with this view sent Colonel Charles Conely on a special

commission to the province of Camarines. This zealous officer and

district magistrate, in the years 1786-1788 caused 4,485,782 mulberry

trees to be planted in the thirty districts under his jurisdiction;

and incalculable are the happy results which would have attended a

plan so extensive, and commenced with so much vigor, if it could have

been continued with the same zeal by his successor, and not at once

destroyed, through a mistaken notion of humanity, with which, soon

after the departure of Governor Basco, they proceeded to exonerate

the Filipinos from all agricultural labor that was not free and

spontaneous, in conformity, as was then alleged, to the general spirit

of our Indian legislation. As it was natural to expect, the total

abandonment of this valuable branch followed a measure so fatal, and

notwithstanding the efforts subsequently made by the Royal Company, in

order to obtain its restoration, as well in Camarines as the Province

of Tondo, all their exertions were in vain, though it must be allowed

that at the time several untoward circumstances contributed to thwart

their anxious wishes. Notwithstanding this failure, the project, far

from being deemed impracticable, would beyond all doubt succeed, and,

under powerful patronage, completely answer the well-founded hopes of

its original conceivers and promoters. The natives themselves would

soon be convinced of the advantages to be derived from the possession

of an article, in so many ways applicable to their own fine textures,

and besides the variety of districts in the Islands, proved to be

suitable to the cultivation of this interesting tree, it is a known

fact that many of the old mulberry groves are still in existence.

[Beeswax.] The Bisayas, Cagayan, and many other provinces, produce wax

in considerable abundance, which the Indians collect from the natural

hives formed in the cavities of the trees, and it is also brought down

by the infidel natives from the mountains to the neighboring towns. The

quality certainly is not the best, and notwithstanding attempts have

been made to cleanse it from the extraneous particles with which it

is mixed, it always leaves a considerable sediment on the lower part

of the cakes, and never acquires an entire whiteness. Its consumption

is great, especially in the capital, and after supplying the wants of

the country, an annual surplus of from six hundred to eight hundred

quintals is appropriated for exportation.

[Neglected market.] This certainly might be converted into an article

of extreme importance, especially for the kingdom of Peru, which

in peaceable times receives its supplies from Spain, and even from

the Island of Cuba; but for this purpose it would be necessary to

adopt the plan recommended by the enlightened zeal of the Patriotic

Society and previously encourage the establishment of artificial

hives and the plantation of aromatic and flowering shrubs, which so

easily attract and secure the permanency of the roving swarms, always

ready to undertake fresh labors. This, as well as many other points,

has hitherto been entirely overlooked.

[Black pepper.] The production is cultivated in the Provinces of

Tayabas, Batangas, and La Laguna, but in such small quantities, that,

notwithstanding the powerful allurements of all kinds constantly held

out by the Royal Company during the long period of twenty years,

their agents have never been able to collect in more than about

64,000 lbs. annually. After every encouragement, the most that

has been attained with the natives, is confined to their planting

in some districts fifty to one hundred pepper-vines round their

huts, which they cultivate in the same way as they would plots of

flowers, but without any other labor than supporting the plant with

a proportioned stake, clearing the ground from weeds, and attending

to daily irrigation.

[A possibility.] This article therefore scarcely deserves a place

amongst the flourishing branches of agriculture, at least till it has

been raised from its present depressed state, and the grounds laid

out in regular and productive pepper-groves. Till this is done, to

a corresponding extent, it must also be excluded from the number of

productions furnished by these Islands to commerce and exportation;

more particularly if we consider that, notwithstanding the great

fragrance of the grain, as well as its general superiority over the

rest of Asia, so great a difference exists in the actual price, that

this can never be compensated by its greater request in the markets of

Europe, and much less enable it to compete with that of the British and

Dutch, till its abundance has considerably lowered its primitive value.

[Not popular.] Finally, although an infinity of grounds are to be found

adapted to the rapid propagation of pepper-vines, as may easily be

inferred from the analogy and proximity of the Philippine Islands to

the others of this same archipelago, so well known for their growth

of spices, it must be confessed that it is a species of culture by

no means popular among the Philippine natives, and it would be almost

requiring too much from their inconstancy of character, to wish them

to dedicate their lands and time to the raising of a production which,

besides demanding considerable care, is greatly exposed to injury,

and even liable to be destroyed by the severity of the storms, which

frequently mark the seasons. With difficulty would they be induced to

wait five years before they were able to gather the uncertain fruits

of their labor and patience. If, therefore, it should ever be deemed

a measure of policy to encourage the growth of black pepper, it will

be necessary for the government to order the commons belonging to each

town, and adapted to this species of plantation, to be appropriated to

this use, by imposing on the inhabitants the obligation of taking care

of them, and drawing from the respective coffers of each community the

necessary funds for the payment of the laborers, and the other expenses

of cultivation. If this cannot be done, it will be necessary to wait

till the general condition of the country is improved, when through

the spirit of emulation, and the enterprises of the planters being duly

patronized and supported, present difficulties may be overcome, and the

progressive results of future attempts will be then found to combine

the interests of individuals with the general welfare of the colony.

[Coffee.] So choice is the quality of the coffee produced in the

Island of Luzon, especially in the districts of Indang and Silang,

in the province of Cavite, that if it is not equal to that of Mocha,

I at least consider it on parallel with the coffee of Bourbon; but,

as the consumption and cultivation are extremely limited, it cannot

with any propriety be yet numbered among the articles contributing

to the export-trade.

[Cocoa.] Cocoa is something more attended to, in consequence of the

use of chocolate being greatly extended among the natives of easy

circumstances. That of the Island of Cebu, is esteemed superior to

the cocoa of Guayaquil, and possibly it is not excelled by that of

Soconusco. As, however, the quantity raised does not suffice for

the local consumption, Guayaquil cocoa meets a ready sale, and is

generally brought in return-cargo by the ships coming from Acapulco,

and those belonging to the Philippine company dispatched from Callao,

the shipping port of Lima.

The cultivation of these two articles in the Philippines is on the

same footing as that of pepper, which, as above stated, is rather an

object of luxury and recreation than one of speculation among the

Filipinos. The observations and rules pointed out in the preceding

article, are, in a general sense, applicable to both these branches

of industry.

[Cinnamon.] Cinnamon groves, or trees of wild cinnamon, are to be

found in every province. In Mindanao, a Dutchman, some years ago,

was employed by orders of the government, in examining the forests

and making experiments, with a view to discover the same tree of

this species that has given so much renown to Ceylon; but, whether

it was owing to a failure in the discovery, or, when the plant was

found, as at the time was said to be the case, the same results were

not produced, from the want of skill in preparing, or stripping off

the bark; certain it is, that the laudable attempt totally failed,

or rather the only advantage gained, has been the extracting from

the bark and more tender parts of the branches of the tree, an oil

or essence of cinnamon, vigorous and aromatic in the extreme.

[Experiment in Laguna.] About the same time, a land-owner of the name

Salgado, undertook to form an extensive plantation of the same species

in the province of La Laguna, and succeeded in seeing upwards of a

million cinnamon trees thrive and grow to a considerable size; but

at last, he was reluctantly compelled to desist from his enterprise,

by the same reasons which led to the failure of Mindanao.

[Need of experienced cultivators.] These facts are of sufficient

authority for our placing the cinnamon tree among the indigenous

productions of the Philippine Islands and considering their general

excellence above those of the same nature in the rest of Asia, it may

reasonably be concluded that, without the tree being identically the

same, the cinnamon with which it is clothed will be found finer than

that yielded by the native plant of the Island of Ceylon, and this

circumstance, consequently, holds out a hope that, in the course of

time, it may become an article of traffic, as estimable as it would be

new. In order, however, that this flattering prospect may be realized,

it will be requisite for the government to procure some families,

or persons from the above island, acquainted with the process of

stripping off the bark and preparing the cinnamon, by dexterously

offering allurements, corresponding to the importance of the service,

which, although in itself it may probably be an extremely simple

operation, as long as it is unknown, will be an insuperable obstacle

to the propagation of so important an agricultural pursuit.

[Nutmeg.] Two species of nutmeg are known here, the one in shape

resembling a pigeon's egg, and the other of a perfectly spherical

form; but both are wild and little aromatic, and consequently held

in no great esteem.

[Rice.] Rice is the bread and principal aliment of these natives, for

which reason, although its cultivation is among the most disagreeable

departments of husbandry, they devote themselves to it with astonishing

constancy and alacrity, so as to form a complete contrast with their

characteristic indifference in most other respects. This must, however,

be taken as a certain indication of the possibility of training them

up to useful labor; whenever they can be led on in a proper manner.

[High yield.] The earth corresponds with surprising fertility to

the labors of the Filipino, rewarding him, in the good seasons, with

ninety, and even as high as one hundred per cent; a fact I have fully

ascertained and of which I besides possess undoubted proofs, obtained

from the parish-curates of La Pampanga. As, however, the provinces are

frequently visited with dreadful hurricanes (called in the country,

baguios), desolated by locusts, and exposed to the effects of the

great irregularities of nature, which, in these climes, often acts

in extreme, the crops of this grain are precarious, or at least,

no reliance can be placed on a certain surplus allowing an annual

exportation to China. On this account, rice cannot be placed in the

list of those articles which give support to the external trade.

[Dye and cabinet woods.] The "sibucao," or logwood, and ebony, in

both which these islands abound, are the only woods in any tolerable

request. The first is sold with advantage in Bengal, and the other

meets a ready sale in the ports of China, in the absence of that

brought from the Island of Bourbon, which is a quality infinitely

superior. Both are however, articles of no great consumption, for,

being bulky and possessing little intrinsic value, they will not

bear the high charges of freight and other expenses, attendant on

the navigation of the Asiatic seas, and can only suit the shipper,

as cargo, who is anxious not to return to the above countries in

ballast. Hence, as an object of export trade, these articles cannot

be estimated at more than $30,000 per annum.

[Timber.] I deem it superfluous to dwell on a multitude of other

good and even precious woods in timber, with which the Philippine

Islands are gifted, because this is a subject already sufficiently well

understood, and a complete collection of specimens, as well as some

large blocks, were besides transmitted some years ago to the king's

dockyard. It may, however, be proper to remark, that the establishment

near the capital for shipbuilding and masts, are much more expensive

than is generally supposed, as well on account of the difficulties

experienced in dragging the trees from the interior of the mountains

to the water's edge, as the want of regularity and foresight with

which these operations have been usually conducted. Besides these

reasons, as it is necessary that the other materials requisite for

the construction and complete armament of vessels of a certain

force, should come from Europe, it is neither easy, nor indeed,

would it be economical, as was erroneously asserted, to carry into

effect the government project of annually building, in the colony,

a ship of the line and a frigate. It ought further to be observed,

that no stock of timber, cut at a proper season and well cured, has

been lain in, and although the wages of the native carpenters and

caulkers are moderate, no comparison whatever can be made between the

daily work they perform, and that which is done in the same space of

time in our dock-yards of Spain.

[Ship building advantages.] Notwithstanding, however, the impediments

above stated, as it is undeniable that abundance of suitable timber is

to be obtained, and as the conveyance of the remainder of the necessary

naval stores to the Philippine Islands is shorter and more economical

than to the coast of California, it possibly might answer, at least,

many mariners are of this opinion, in case it is deemed expedient to

continue building at San Blas the brigs and corvettes necessary for the

protection of the military posts and missions, situated along the above

coasts, to order them preferably to be built in Cavite giving timely

advice, and previously taking care to make the necessary arrangements.

[Gold.] Gold abounds in Luzon and in many of the other islands; but as

the mountains which conceal it are in possession of the pagan tribes,

the mines are not worked; indeed it may be said they are scarcely

known. These mountaineers collect it in the brooks and streamlets,

and in the form of dust, offer it to the Christians who inhabit the

neighboring plains, in exchange for coarse goods and fire-arms; and it

has sometimes happened that they have brought it down in grains of one

and two ounces weight. The natives of the province of Camarines partly

devote themselves to the working of the mines of Mambulao and Paracale,

which have the reputation of being very rich; but, far from availing

themselves in the smallest degree of the advantages of art, they

content themselves with extracting the ore by means of an extremley

imperfect fusion, which is done by placing the mineral in shells and

then heating them on embers. A considerable waste consequently takes

place, and although the metal obtained is good and high colored,

it generally, passes into the hands of the district-magistrate, who

collects it at a price infinitely lower than it is worth in trade. It

is a generally received opinion that gold mines are equally to be

met with in the Province of Caraga, situated on the coasts of the

great Island of Mindanao, where, as well as in other points, this

metal is met with equal to twenty-two karats. The quantity, however,

hitherto brought down from the mountains by the pagan tribes, and

that obtained by the tributary Filipinos, has not been an object of

very great importance.

[Copper.] Well-founded reasons exist for presuming that, in

the Province of Ilocos, mines of virgin copper exist, a singular

production of nature, or at least, not very common, if the generality

of combinations under which this metal presents itself in the

rest of the globe, are duly considered. This is partly inferred

from the circumstance of its having been noticed that the Igorots,

who occasionally come down from the mountains to barter with the

Christians, use certain coarse jars or vessels of copper, evidently

made by themselves with the use of a hammer, without any art or

regularity; and as the ignorance of these demi-savages is too great

for them to possess the notions necessary for the separation of the

component parts which enter into the combination of minerals, and much

less for the construction of furnaces suitable to the smelting and

formation of the moulds, it is concluded they must have found some

vein of copper entirely pure, which, without the necessity of any

other preparation, they have been able to flatten with the hammer and

rendered maleable, so as to convert it into the rough vessels above

spoken of.

[Cinnabar.] The district-magistrate of Caraga, Don Augustin de Ioldi,

received a special commission from the government to explore and

obtain information respecting a mine of cinnabar, which was said

to be situated under his jurisdiction; and I have been informed of

another of the same species in the Island of Samar, the working of

which has ceased for a considerable time, not because the prospect was

unfavorable, but for the want of an intelligent person to superintend

and carry on the operations. The utility of such a discovery is too

obvious not to deserve, on the part of government, the most serious

attention and every encouragement to render it available; and it is

to be hoped that, as the first steps have already been taken in this

important disclosure, the enterprise will not be abandoned, but, on

the contrary, that exertions will be made to obtain aid and advice

from the Miners' College of Mexico, as the best means of removing

doubt, and acting with judgment in the affair.

[Iron.] Iron in mineral form is to be found at various points on Luzon,

and those engaged in working it, without the necessity of digging;

collect the iron-bearing stones that constitute the upper stratum,

these, when placed in fusion, generally yield about forty per cent

clear metal. This is the case in the mountains of Angat, situated

in the Province of Bulacan, and also in the vicinity of the Baliwag

River. In Morong, however, belonging to the Province of La Laguna,

where the cannon-ball factory is established, the ore yields under

twenty-two per cent. Its quality is in general better than the Biscayan

iron, according to formal experiments and a report, made in 1798 to

Governor Don Rafael Maria de Aguilar, by two Biscayan master-smiths

from the squadron of Admiral Alava. Witnesses to this test were the

Count de Aviles and Don Felix de la Rosa, proprietors of the mines of

Morong and Angat, and the factor of the Philippine Company, Don Juan

Francisco Urroroz. Notwithstanding its advantages, this interesting

branch of industry has not yet passed beyond the most rude principles

and imperfect practice, owing to the want of correct information

as to the best process, and scarcity of funds on the part of the

proprietors to carry on their works. Without the aid of rolling or

slitting mills, indeed unprovided with the most essential instruments,

they have hitherto confined themselves to converting their iron into

plow shares, bolos, hoes, and such other agricultural implements;

leaving the Chinese of Amoy in quiet possession of the advantages

of being allowed to market annual supplies of all kinds of nails,

the boilers used on the sugar plantations, pots and pans, as well as

other articles in this line, which might easily be manufactured in

the Islands.

[Sulphur.] In the Island of Leyte, abundance of sulphur is met with,

and from thence the gunpowder works of Manila are supplied at very

reasonable prices. Jaspers, cornelians and agates, are also found in

profusion in many of these provinces; everything, indeed, promises

varied mineral wealth worthy of exciting the curiosity and useful

researches of mineralogists, who, unfortunately, have not hitherto

extended their labors to these remote parts of the globe.

[Pearls.] Pearl fisheries are, from time to time, undertaken off the

coast of the Island of Mindanao, and also near smaller islands not

far from Cebu, but with little success and less constancy, not because

there is a scarcity of fine pearls of a bright color and considerable

size, but on account of the divers' want of skill and their just dread

of the sharks, which, in great numbers infest these seas. Amber is

frequently gathered in considerable lumps in the vicinity of Samar and

the other Visayan Islands as well as mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell,

and red and black coral, of the latter kind of which, I have seen

shafts as thick as my finger and six or eight feet long.

[Estates.] The proprietors of estates in the Philippines are of

four classes. The most considerable is that of the religious orders,

Augustinians and Dominicans, who cultivate their respective lands on

joint account, or let them out at a moderate ground-rent, which the

planters pay in kind; but far from living in opulence, and accumulating

the immense revenues some of the religious communities enjoy in

America, they stand in need of all they earn and possess for their

maintenance, and in order to be enabled to discharge the various duties

and obligations annexed to the missions with which they are entrusted.

[Spanish planters.] The second class comprehends the Spanish

proprietors, whose number possibly does not exceed a dozen of persons,

and even they labor under such disadvantages, and have to contend with

so many obstacles, under the existing order of things, that, compelled

to divide their lands into rice plantations, in consequence of this

being the species of culture to which the natives are most inclined,

and to devote a considerable portion of them to the grazing of horned

cattle, no one of them is in a situation to give to agriculture the

variety and extent desired, or to attain any progress in a pursuit

which in other colonies rapidly leads to riches.

[Filipino farmers.] The third consists of the principal mestizos

and natives, and is in fact that which constitutes the real body of

farming proprietors. In the fourth and last may be included all the

other natives, who generally possess a small strip of land situated

round their dwellings, or at the extremities of the various towns

and settlements formed by the conquerors; besides what they may

have obtained from their ancestors in the way of legal inheritance,

which rights have been confirmed to them by the present sovereign of

the colony.

[Aids to agriculture.] It will beyond doubt, in some measure dissipate

the distrust by which the Filipino is actuated, when the new and

paternal exertions of the superior government, to ameliorate his

present situation, are fully known, and when that valuable portion of

our distant population is assured that their rights will henceforth be

respected, and those exactions and compulsory levies which formerly

so much disheartened them, are totally abolished. On the other

hand, a new stimulus will be given by the living example and fresh

impulse communicated to the provinces by other families emigrating

and settling there, nurtured in the spirit and principles of those

reforms in the ideas and maxims of government by which the present

era is distinguished. A practical participation in these advantages

will, most assuredly, awaken a spirit of enterprise and emulation

that may be extremely beneficial to agriculture, and as the wants

of the natives increase in proportion as they are enabled to know

and compare the comforts arising out of the presence and extension

of conveniences and luxuries in their own towns, they will naturally

be led to possess and adopt them.

[Plans for progress.] So salutary a change, however, can only be

the work of time, and as long as the government confines itself

to a system merely protecting, the effects must consequently be

slow. As it is therefore necessary to put in action more powerful

springs than the ordinary ones, it will be found expedient partly to

relax from some of those general principles which apply to societies,

differently constituted, or rather formed of other perfectly distinct

elements. As relating to the subject under discussion, I fortunately

discover two means, pointed out in the laws themselves, essentially

just, and at the same time capable of producing in this populous

colony, more than in any other, the desired results. The legislator,

founding himself on the common obligation of the subject to contribute

something in return for the protection he receives, and to co-operate

in the increase of the power and opulence of the State, proscribes

idleness as a crime, and points out labor as a duty; and although

the regulations touching the natives breathe the spirit of humanity,

and exhibit the wisdom with which they were originally formed, they

nevertheless concur and are directed to this primary object. In them

the distribution of vacant lands, as well as of the natives at fair

daily wages to clear them, is universally allowed, and these it seems

to me, are the means from an equitable and intelligent application

of which the most beneficial consequences may be expected.

[Confiscating unused lands.] The first cannot be attended with any

great difficulty, because all the provinces abound in waste and vacant

lands, and scarcely is there a district in which some are not to be

found of private property completely uncultivated and neglected,

and consequently susceptible, as above stated, of being legally

transferred, for this reason alone, to the possession of an active

owner. Let their nature however, be what it may, in their adjudication,

it is of the greatest importance to proceed with uniformity, by

consecrating, in a most irrevocable manner, the solemnity of all

similar grants. Public interest and reason, in the Philippine Islands,

require that in all such cases deference only should be paid to

demands justly interposed, and formally established within a due and

fixed period; but after full and public notice has been given by the

respective judicial authorities, of the titles about to be granted,

the counter claims the natives may seek to put in after the lapse of

the period prefixed, should be peremptorily disregarded. Although at

first sight this appears a direct infringement on the imprescriptible

rights of property, it must be considered that in some cases individual

interests ought to be sacrificed to the general good, and that the

balance used, when treating of the affairs of State, is never of

that rigid kind as if applied to those of minor consideration. The

fact is, that by this means many would be induced to form estates,

who have hitherto been withheld by the dread of involving themselves,

and spending their money in law suits; at the same time the natives,

gradually accustoming themselves to this new order of things, would

lay aside that disposition to strife and contention, which forms so

peculiar a trait in their character, and that antipathy and odium would

also disappear with which they have usually viewed the agricultural

undertakings of Spaniards.

[Compulsory labor.] Proceeding to the consideration of the second

means of accelerating the improvement of agriculture, viz., the

distribution of the natives, it will suffice to say that it would be

equally easy to show that it is absolutely necessary rigorously to

carry into effect, in the Philippine Islands, whatever the laws on this

subject prescribed, otherwise we must give up all those substantial

hopes entertained of the felicity of the colony. We are no longer in

a situation to be restricted to the removal of ordinary obstacles,

and the season is gone by in which, as heretofore, it entered into

our policy to employ no other than indirect stimulants--in order to

incline the Filipino to labor. It is evident that admonitions and

offers of reward no longer suffice; nor indeed have the advantageous

terms proposed to them by some planters, with a view to withdraw

the lower orders of the natives, such as the timauas and caglianes

plebeians, from the idle indifference in which they are sunk, been of

any avail. Their wants and wishes being easily supplied, the whole

of their happiness seems to depend on quiet and repose, and their

highest enjoyment on the pleasure of sleep. Energy, however, and a

certain degree of severity must be employed, if permanent resources

are to be called forth, and if the progressive settlement of European

families and the formation of estates proportioned to the fertility

of the soil and capabilities of the country are to enter into the

views of government. In vain would grants and transfers of vacant and

useless lands be made to new and enterprising proprietors, unless at

the same time they can be provided with laborers, and experience every

other possible facility, in order to clear, enclose, and cultivate

them. Hence follows the indispensable necessity of appealing to the

system of distributions, as above pointed out; for what class of

laborers can be obtained in a country where the whites are so few,

unless it be the natives? Should they object to personal service,

should they refuse to labor for an equitable and daily allowance,

by which means they would also cease to be burdens to the State

and to society, are they not to be compelled to contribute by this

means to the prosperity of which they are members; in a word, to

the public good, and thus make some provision for old age? If the

soldier, conveyed away from his native land, submits to dangers, and

is unceasingly exposed to death in defence of the State, why should

not the Filipino moderately use his strength and activity in tilling

the fields which are to sustain him and enrich the commonwealth?

[The undeveloped Philippines.] Besides, things in the Philippine

Islands wear a very different aspect to what they do on the American

continent, where, as authorized by the said laws, a certain number

of natives may be impressed for a season, and sent off inland to a

considerable distance from their dwellings, either for the purpose of

agriculture, or working the mines, provided only they are taken care of

during their journeys, maintained, and the price of their daily labor,

as fixed by the civil authorities, regularly paid to them. The immense

valleys and mountains susceptible of cultivation, especially in the

Island of Luzon, being once settled, and the facilities of obtaining

hands increased, such legal acts of compulsion, far from being any

longer necessary, will have introduced a spirit of industry that

will render the labors of the field supportable and even desirable;

and in this occupation all the tributary natives of the surrounding

settlements can be alternately employed, by the day or week, and thus

do their work almost at the door of their own huts, and as it were

in sight of their wives and children.

[No legal obstacle to forced labor.] If, after what has been above

stated, the apparent opposition obstacle to which at first sight

strikes the eye, in Law 40, Title 12, Book 6, speaking on this subject,

and expressly referring to the Philippine Islands, should be alleged,

no more will be necessary than to study its genuine sense, or read it

with attention, in order to be convinced of its perfect concordance

with the essential parts of the other laws of the Indies, already

quoted in explanation and support of the system of distributing

the laborers. The above-mentioned law does indeed contain a strict

recommendation to employ the Chinese and Japanese, not domiciliated,

in preference to the natives, in the establishments for cutting timber

and other royal works, and further enjoins that use is only to be made

in emergencies, and when the preservation of the state should require

it. It has, however, happened that, since the remote period at which

the above was promulgated, not only all contracts and commerce have

ceased, but also every communication with Japan has been interrupted,

and for a number of years not a single individual of that ferocious

race has existed in the Philippine Islands. With regard to the Chinese,

who are supposed to be numerous in the capital, of late years they have

diminished so much, that according to a census made by orders of the

government in the year 1807, no more than four thousand seven hundred

are found on the registers; and, if in consequence of their secreting

themselves, or withdrawing into the interior, a third more might be

added to the above amount, their total numbers would still remain

very inconsiderable, and infinitely inferior to what is required,

not only for the tillage of the estates, but even for the royal works.

[Substitute laborers wanting.] As, therefore, the Japanese have totally

disappeared, and the number of Chinese is evidently inadequate to the

wants of agriculture, it almost necessarily follows that the practice

of distributing the Filipino laborers, as allowed by the aforesaid

laws of the Indies, under all circumstances, is the only alternate

left. Even if, against the adoption of this measure, it should be

attempted to urge the ambiguous sense of the concluding part of the

second clause, it would be easy to comprehend its true intent and

meaning, by referring to Law 1, Title 13, Book 5, which says:

"That, considering the inconveniences which would arise from doing

away with certain distributions of grounds, gardens, estates, and

other plantations, in which the Indians are interested, as a matter

on which the preservation of those distant dominions and provinces

depends, it is ordained that compulsory labor, and such distributions

as are advantageous to the public good, shall continue."

After so pointed an explanation, and a manifestation so clear of

the spirit of our legislation in this respect, all further comments

would be useless, and no doubt whatever can be any longer entertained

of the expediency, and even of the justice of putting the plan of

well-regulated distributions in practice, as a powerful means to

promote the agriculture, and secure to Spain the possession of these

valuable dominions of the Indian Seas. ....

[Manufactures.] .... It would be impossible to gainsay Don Juan

Francisco Urroz, of the Philippine Company, in his detailed and

accurate report to the managing committee in 1802, when he observes:

"That the Philippine Islands, from time immemorial, were acquainted

with, and still retain, that species of industry peculiar to the

country, adapted to the customs and wants of the natives, and which

constitutes the chief branch of their clothing. This, although

confined to coarse articles, may in its class be called perfect, as

far as it answers the end for which it is intended; and if an attempt

were made to enumerate the quantity of mats, handkerchiefs, sheeting,

and a variety of other cloths manufactured for this purpose only in

the Provinces of Tondo, Laguna, Batangas, Ilocos, Cagayan, Camarines,

Albay, Visaya, etc., immense supplies of each kind would appear, which

give occupation to an incalculable number of looms, indistinctly worked

by Indians, Chinese, and Sangleyan mestizos, indeed all the classes,

in their own humble dwellings, built of canes and thatched with palm

leaves, without any apparatus of regular manufacture."

[Native cloth weaving.] With equal truth am I enabled to add, that the

natural abilities of these natives in the manufacture of all kinds of

cloths, fine as well as coarse, are really admirable. They succeed

in reducing the harsh filaments of the palm-tree, known by the name

of abaca, to such a degree of fineness, that they afterwards convert

them into textures equal to the best muslins of Bengal. The beauty

and evenness of their embroideries and open work excite surprise;

in short, the damask table-cloths, ornamental weaving, textures of

cotton and palm-fibres, intermixed with silk, and manufactured in the

above-mentioned provinces, clearly prove how much the inhabitants of

the Philippine Islands, in natural abilities and dexterity, resemble

the other people of the Asiatic regions. It must nevertheless be

allowed, that a want is noticed of that finish and polish which the

perfection of art gives to each commodity; but this circumstance

ought not to appear strange, if we consider that, entirely devoid of

all methodical instruction, and ignorant also of the importance of

the subdivision of labor, which contributes so greatly to simplify,

shorten, and improve the respective excellence of all kinds of works,

the same natives gin and clean the cotton, and then spin and weave it,

without any other instruments than their hands and feet, aided only by

the course and unsightly looms they themselves construct in a corner

of their huts, with scarcely anything else than a few canes and sticks.

[Aptitude for, but no development of, manufacturing.] From the

preceding observations it may easily be deduced that, although

the natives succeed in preparing, with admirable dexterity, the

productions of their soil, and therewith satisfy the greatest part of

their domestic wants, facts which certainly manifest their talents

and aptitude to be employed in works of more taste and delicacy,

manufacturing industry is nevertheless far from being generalized,

nor can it be said to be placed with any degree of solidity on its

true and proper basis. Hence arise those great supplies of goods

annually imported into the country, for the purpose of making up the

deficiencies of the local manufactures.

[Improved methods and machinery needed.] The regular distribution or

classification of the assemblage of operations which follow each other

in graduation, from the rough preparation of the first materials, till

the same have arrived at their perfect state of manufacture, instead

of being practiced, is entirely unknown. The want of good machinery

to free the cotton from the multitude of seeds with which it is

encumbered, so as to perform the operation with ease and quickness, is

the first and greatest obstacle that occurs; and its tediousness to the

natives is so repugnant, that many sell their crops to others, without

separating the seeds, or decline growing the article altogether, not

to be plagued with the trouble of cleaning it. As the want of method

is also equal to the superabundance or waste of time employed, the

expenses of the goods manufactured increased in the same proportion,

under such evident and great disadvantages; for which reason, far from

being able to compete with those brought from China and British India,

they only acquire estimation in the interior, when wanted to supply

the place of the latter, or in cases of accidental scarcity.

[Scanty exports.] In a word, the only manufactured articles annually

exported from the Philippine Islands are eight to twelve thousand

pieces exports of light sail cloth, two hundred thousand pounds of

abaca cordage assorted, and six hundred carabao hides and deer skins,

which can scarcely be considered in a tanned state/ for, although the

Royal Company, from the time of their establishment, long continued to

export considerable quantities of dimities, calicos, stripes, checks,

and coverlids, as well as other cotton and silk goods, it was more

with a view to stimulate the districts of Ilocos to continue in the

habit of manufacturing, and thus introduce among the inhabitants of

that province a taste for industry, than the expectation of gain by

the sale of this kind of merchandise either in Spain or any of the

sections of America. At length, wearied with the losses experienced by

carrying on this species of mercantile operations, without answering

the principal object in view, they resolved, for the time being,

to suspend ventures attended with such discouraging circumstances.

[Need of encouragement.] Notwithstanding so many impediments, it

would not, however, be prudent in the government entirely to abandon

the enterprise, and lose sight of the advantages the country offers,

or indeed, to neglect turning the habitual facilities of the natives

to some account. Far from there existing any positive grounds for

despairing of the progress of manufacturing industry, it may justly

be presumed that, whenever the sovereign, by adopting a different line

of policy, shall allow the unlimited and indistinct settlement of all

kinds of foreign colonists, and grant them the same facilities and

protection enjoyed by national ones, they will be induced to flock to

the Philippine Islands in considerable numbers, lured by the hope of

accumulating fortunes in a country that presents a thousand attractions

of every kind. Many, no doubt, will preferably devote themselves

to commerce, others to agricultural undertakings and also to the

pursuits of mining, but necessarily some will turn their attention

and employ their funds in the formation of extensive manufactures,

aided by intelligent instructors and suitable machinery. The

newly-introduced information and arts being thus diffused, it is

natural to expect they will be progressively adopted by a people

already possessing a taste and genius for this species of labor,

by which means manufacturing industry will soon be raised from the

state of neglect and unprofitableness in which it is now left.

[Internal commerce handicapped.] The circulation of the country

productions and effects of all kinds among the inhabitants of the

provinces, which, properly speaking, constitutes their internal

commerce, is tolerably active and considerable. Owing to the great

facilities of conveyance afforded by the number of rivers and lakes, on

the margins of which the Filipinos are fond of fixing their dwellings,

this commerce might be infinitely greater, if it was not obstructed

by the monopoly of the magistrates in their respective districts

and the unjust prerogative, exercised by the city, of imposing

rates and arbitrary prices on the very persons who come to bring the

supplies. Nevertheless, as the iniquituous operations of the district

magistrates, however, active they may be, besides being restricted

by their financial ability, regularly consist of arrangements to buy

up only the chief articles, and those which promise most advantage,

with least trouble; as that restless inquietude which impels man on,

under the hope of bettering his condition, acts even amidst rigor of

oppression, a certain degree of stimulus and scope is still left in

favor of internal trade.

[Inter-island traffic.] Hence it follows, that there is scarcely an

island or province, that does not carry on some traffic or other,

by keeping up relations with its neighbors, which sometimes extend

as far as the capital; where, in proportion as the produce and raw

materials find a ready market, returns suitable and adequate to the

consumption of each place, respectively, are obtained. If, however, it

would be difficult to form an idea, even in the way of approximation,

of the exchanges which take place between the various provinces,

a task that would render it necessary to enumerate them, one by one,

it is equally so to make an estimate of the total amount of this class

of operation carried on in Manila, their common center. Situated in

the bottom of an immense bay, bathed by a large river, and the country

round divided by an infinite number of streams and lakes descending

from the provinces by which the capital is surrounded, the produce and

effects are daily brought in and go out of suburbs so extended in a

diversity of small vessels and canoes, without its being possible to

obtain any exact account of the multiplicity of transactions carried

on at one and the same time, in a city built on so large a scale.

[Local markets.] Besides the traffic founded on ordinary consumption,

the necessity of obtaining assortments of home-manufactured as well

as imported goods, in order to supply the markets, known by the name

of tianguis, and which are held weekly in almost every town, there

is another species of speculation, peculiar to the rich natives

and Sangley mestizos, an industrious race, and also possessed of

the largest portion of the specie. This consists in the anticipated

purchase of the crops of indigo, sugar, rice, etc., with a view to fix

their own prices on the produce thus contracted for, when resold to the

second hand. A propensity to barter and traffic, in all kinds of ways,

is indeed universal among the natives, and as the principal springs

which urge on internal circulation are already in motion, nothing

more is wanting than at once to destroy the obstacles previously

pointed out, and encourage the extension of luxury and comforts,

in order that, by the number of the people's wants being increased,

as well as the means of supplying them, the force and velocity of

action may in the same proportion be augmented.

[External commerce.] Under "External Commerce" generally are comprised

the relations the Philippine Islands keep up with other nations, with

the Spanish possessions in America, and with the mother country; or,

in other words, the sum total of their imports and exports.

[Outside deterrents.] Many are the causes which, within the last

ten or twelve years, have influenced the mercantile relations of

these Islands, and prevented their organization on permanent and

known principles. The chief one, no doubt, has been the frequent and

unforeseen changes, from peace to war, which have marked that unhappy

period, and as under similar circumstances merchants, more than

any other class of persons, are in the habit of acting on extremes,

there have been occasions in which, misled by the exaggerated idea

of the galleon of Acapulco, and anxious to avail themselves of the

first prices, generally also the highest, foreign speculators have

inundated Manila with goods, by a competition from all quarters; and

others, owing to the channels being obstructed, when this market has

experienced an absolute scarcity of commodities, as well as of funds

necessary to continue the usual and almost only branch of commerce

left. The frequent failure of the sugar and indigo crops, has also

in many instances restrained the North Americans and other neutrals

from coming to these Islands with cargoes, and induced them to prefer

Java, where they are at all times sure of finding returns. Besides

the influence of these extraordinary causes on the uncertainty

and irregularity of external commerce, no small share must also be

attributed to the strangeness of the peculiar constitution of the

country, or the principles on which its trade is established.

[Domestic discouragements.] Scarcely will it be believed, in the

greater part of civilized Europe, that a Spanish colony exists between

Asia and America, whose merchants are forbidden to avail themselves

of their advantageous situation, and that, as a special favor only

are they allowed to send their effects to Mexico, once a year, but

under the following restrictions. It is a necessary condition, that

every shipper shall be a member of the Board of Trade (Consulado),

and therein entitled to a vote, which supposes a residence of some

years in the country, besides the possession of property of his own to

the amount of $8,000. He is compelled to join with the other members,

in order to be enabled to ship his goods in bales of a determined

form and dimensions, in one single vessel, arranged, fitted out,

and commanded by officers of the royal navy, under the character of a

war ship. He has also to contribute his proportion of $20,000, which,

in the shape of a present, are given to the commander, at the end of

every round voyage. He cannot in any way interfere in the choice or

qualities of the vessel, notwithstanding his property is to be risked

in her; and what completes the extravagance of the system, is, that

before anything is done he must pay down twenty-five or forty per cent

for freight, according to circumstances, which money is distributed

among certain canons of the church, aldermen, subalterns of the army,

and widows of Spaniards, to whom a given number of tickets or certified

permits to ship are granted, either as a compensation for the smallness

of their pay, or in the way of a privilege; but on express conditions

that, although they themselves are not members of the Board of Trade,

they shall not be allowed to negotiate and transfer them to persons

not having that quality. In the custom house nothing being admitted

unless the number of bales shipped are accompanied by corresponding

permits, and as it besides frequently happens that there is a degree

of competition between the parties seeking to try their fortune in

this way, the original holders of the permits very often hang back,

in such a manner that I have seen $500 offered for the transfer of

a right to ship three bales, which scarcely contained goods to the

amount of $1,000. Such, nevertheless, is the truth, and such the

exact description of the famous Acapulco ship, which has excited so

much jealousy among the merchants of Seville and Cadiz, and given

rise to such an infinite number of disputes and lawsuits.

[Business irregularities.] So complete a deviation from the rules

and maxims usually received in trade, could not fail to produce

in the Philippine Islands, as in fact it has, effects equally

extraordinary with regard to those who follow this pursuit. The

merchant of Manila is, in fact, entirely different from the one in

Cadiz or Amsterdam. Without any correspondents in the manufacturing

countries and consequently possessed of no suitable advices of the

favorable variations in the respective markets, without brokers and

even without regular books he seems to carry on his profession on

no one fixed principle, and to have acquired his routine of business

from mere habit and vague custom. His contracts are made out on stamped

paper, and his bills or promissory notes no other than long and diffuse

writings or bonds, of which the dates and amounts are kept more in

the shape of bundles than by any due entry on his books; and what at

once gives the most clear idea of this irregularity is the singular

fact that, for the space of twenty-five and possibly fifty years,

only one bankrupt has presented the state of his affairs to the Board

of Trade, in conformity to the regulations prescribed by the general

Statutes of Bankruptcy, whereas, numbers of cases have occurred in

which these merchants have wasted or secreted the property of others

with impunity. Hence have arisen those irregularities, subterfuges

and disputes, in a word, the absence of all mercantile business

carried on in a scrupulously punctual and correct manner. Hence, also,

have followed that distrust and embarrassment with which commercial

operations are attended, as well as the difficulty of calculating

their fluctuations. On the other hand, as in order to send off an

expedition by the annual ship to Acapulco, the previous consent

of the majority of the incorporated merchants is necessary, before

this point is decided, months are passed in intrigues and disputes,

the peremptory period arrives, and if the articles wanted are in the

market, they are purchased up with precipitation and paid for with

the monies the shippers have been able to obtain at an interest from

the administrators of pious and charitable funds. In this manner,

compelled to act almost always without plan or concert, yet accustomed

to gain in the market of Acapulco, notwithstanding so many impediments

and the exorbitant premiums paid for the money lent, these merchants

follow the strange maxim of risking little or no property of their

own; and unaware, or rather, disregarding the importance of economy

in the expenses and regularity of their general method of living,

it is not possible they can ever accumulate large fortunes, or form

solid and well-accredited houses.

[Merchants discouraged.] Thus oppressed by a system, as unjust as it

is absurd, and conducting their affairs in the way above described,

it is not strange that these gentlemen, at the same time yielding to

the indolence consequent on the climate, should neglect or behold with

indifference all the other secondary resources which the supplying

the wants of the country and the extensive scope and variety of its

produce offer to the man of active mind. Hence it follows, as already

observed, that the whole of the interior trade is at present absorbed

by the principal natives, the Sangley mestizos of both sexes, and a

few Chinese peddlers.

[The outlook brightening.] Notwithstanding, however, the defective

manner in which the generality of the merchants act, some already

are beginning to distinguish themselves by the prudence of their

conduct, by forwarding, in time, their orders to the manufacturers

of India and China, and, in other respects guiding themselves by the

principles which characterize the intelligent merchant. Finally, it

is to be presumed that, as soon as the government shall have thrown

down this singular and preposterous system that has been the cause of

so many disorders, and proclaimed the unlimited freedom of Philippine

commerce, the greater part of these people will rise up from the state

of inaction in which they now live, and the relations of the colony

will then assume the course and extent corresponding to its advantages

of position. At least, if our national merchants should not act up

to the impulse given to all kinds of mercantile enterprises by the

beneficial hand of the sovereign, foreigners will not be wanting, who,

relying on due toleration, will be induced to convey their fortunes

and families to the Philippine Islands, and, vigorously encouraging

the exportation of their valuable productions, amply secure the fruits

of their laudable activity and well-combined speculations.

[Capital employed in commerce.] Were a person, judging from the

numbers constituting the body of registered merchants, and supposing

all of them to possess the essential requisites prescribed by our

commercial regulations, to form a prudent estimate of the amount of

capital employed by them, his calculations would turn out extremely

erroneous, for besides the case with which regulations of this kind

are eluded, many are merely nominal traders, and there are others whose

mercantile existence is purely artificial for they are sustained in a

temporary manner, by means of a forced species of circulation peculiar

to this country. This consists in obtaining the acquiescence of the

administrators of pious and charitable funds, let out at interest,

to renew the bonds they hold during other successive risks, waiting,

as it were, till some fatal tempest has swallowed up the vessel in

which these merchants suppose their property to be embarked, and

at once cancel all their obligations. On the other hand, neither

excessive expenses nor the shipment of large quantities of goods to

Acapulco can in any way be taken as a just criterion whereby to judge

of the fortunes of individuals; because, in the first, there is great

uniformity, every one, more or less, enjoying, exteriorly, the same

easy circumstances, notwithstanding the disparity of real property;

and in the second, considerable fiction prevails, many persons

shipping under the same mark, and even when the shipper stands alone,

he might have been provided with the necessary funds from the pious

and charitable establishments, possibly without risking a dollar

of his own in the whole operation. Under circumstances so dubious,

far from presuming to give a decided opinion on the subject, I am

compelled to judge from mere conjectures, and guided only by the

knowledge and experience I have been able to acquire during my long

residence there. In conformity thereto, I am inclined to believe,

that the total amount of capital belonging to and employed in the

trade of the Philippine Islands, does not at present exceed two

and a half million dollars, with evident signs of rapid decline, if

the merchants do not in time abandon the ruinous systems of chiefly

carrying on their speculations with money obtained at interest.

[Large sums hoarded.] The two and a half million dollars thus

attributed to the merchants, form, however, the smaller part of the

funds distributed among the other classes, and the total amount of

the circulating medium of the colony might be considered an object

sufficiently worthy of being ascertained, owing to the great light

it would throw on the present state of the inhabitants; but it is in

vain to attempt any calculation of the kind, at least without the aid

of data possessing a certain degree of accuracy. The only thing that

can be affirmed is, that during the period of more than two hundred

and fifty years which have elapsed since the conquest, the ingress of

specie into the Philippine Islands has been constant. Their annual

ships have seldom come from New Spain without bringing considerable

sums in return, and if some of them have been lost, many others,

without being confined to the one million of dollars constituting

the ordinary amount of the permit, have not unfrequently come back

with triple that sum; for which reason there are ample grounds of

judging the estimates correct, which fix the total importation of

dollars, during the whole of that long period of years, to be equal

to four hundred millions. It may further be observed that, as in

the Sangley mestizos economy and avarice compete with intelligence

and activity in accumulating wealth and as they are scattered, among

the principal islands, and in possession of the best lands and the

most lucrative business of the interior, there are ample motives for

presuming that these industrious and sagacious people have gradually,

although incessantly, amassed immense sums in specie; but it would

be impossible to point out their amount, distribution, or the secret

places in which they are hoarded.

[Pious and charitable funds' capital.] The assemblage of pious

legacies, temporalities, and other funds and property placed under

the care of several administrative committees, for purposes as well

religious as charitable, constitute the chief capital employed in

external trade; and notwithstanding the failures, which from time

to time occur, the subsequent accumulation of the enormous premiums

obtained for funds laid out in maritime speculations, both in time of

peace and war, not only suffices to make up all losses of the above

kind, but also to secure the punctual payment of such charitable

pensions and other charges as are to be deducted from the respective

profits of this species of stock, its total amount, according to an

official report made by order of the head committee of the sinking

fund, including temporalities, and Queen Maria of Austria's endowment

for the College of Las Marianas, together with other funds of the same

kind, not comprehended in the decree of abolition, at the commencement

of the year 1809, amounted to $2,470,390, and as the sea-risks of that

and the following year were successful, and the outstanding amounts

punctually recovered, the aggregate sum, arising out of the above

description of property, may now be estimated at more than three

millions. Of these funds three distributions are generally made,

viz., one part is appropriated to the China risks, at from twelve

to eighteen per cent. premium, according to circumstances, and also

those to Madras, Calcutta and Batavia, at from sixteen to twenty-two

per cent. The second, which generally is in the largest proportion,

is employed in risks to Acapulco, at various premiums, from 27 to 45

per cent.; and the third is left in hand, as a kind of guarantee of

the stability of the original endowments.

[Coveted by Spanish treasury.] In the great exigencies of the Royal

Treasury, experienced during the last years of the administration

of Sr. Soler, the royal decree of Consolidación was extended to the

Philippine Islands, under the pretext of guarding the funds belonging

to public charities and religious endowments ... sea-risks, the

income of which, when secured on good mortgages, does not generally

exceed five per cent, many in Spain not yielding above four; but the

remarkable difference between this plan and the one above described,

together with various and other weighty reasons alleged by the

administrators, caused the dreaded effect of this new regulation to

be suspended, and whilst the head committee of Manila were consulting

their doubts and requesting fresh instructions from the court at home,

orders came out not to make any alteration in measures relating to

this description of property.

[Easy capital but lessened profits.] Accustomed, in their limited

calculations, to identify the resources, offered by the funds belonging

to this class of establishments, with the very existence of the

colony, the needy merchants easily confound their personal with the

general interest; and few stop to consider that the identical means

of carrying on trade, without any capital of their own, although they

have accidentally enriched a small number of persons, eventually have

absorbed the principal profits, and possibly been the chief cause

of the unflourishing state of the colony at large. Without fearing

the charge of rashness, it may, in fact, be asserted, that if these

charities and pious endowments had never existed, public prosperity

in the Philippine Islands would, as in other parts, have been the

immediate effect of the united efforts of the individual members

of the community and of the experience acquired in the constant

prosecution of the same object. As, however, a progress of this kind,

although certain, must necessarily have been at first extremely

slow, and as, on the other hand, the preference given to mercantile

operations undertaken with the funds belonging to public charities,

has its origin in the assemblage of vices so remarkable in the very

organization of the body of Philippine merchants, any new measure on

this subject might be deemed inconsistent, that at once deprived them

of the use of resources on which they had been accustomed to rely,

without removing those other defects which excuse, if not encourage,

the continuation of the present system. Without, therefore, appealing

to violent remedies, it is to be hoped that, in order to render plans

of reform effectual, it will be sufficient, under more propitious

circumstances, to see property brought from other countries to these

Islands, as well as persons coming to settle in them, capable of

managing it with that intelligence and economy required by trade. The

competition of those who speculate at random would then cease, or

what is the same, as money obtained at a premium could not then be

laid out with the same advantages by the merchants as if it was their

own, it will be necessary to renounce the fallacious profits held out

by the public charities, till at least they are placed on a level

with existing circumstances, and brought in to be of real service

to the honorable planter and laborious merchant, in their accidental

exigencies, ceasing to be, as hitherto, the indirect cause of idleness,

dissipation, and the ruin of an infinite number of families.

[Mercantile shipping.] The vessels which the district magistrates of

the provinces employ in carrying on their trade with the capital and

those belonging to some of the richer merchants, together with such as

are owned by the natives and mestizos, on an approximate calculation,

amount to twelve thousand tons, including ships, brigs, schooners,

galleys, barges, etc. For the want of better data, this estimate

is founded only on reasonable conjecture, aided by the advice of

experienced persons, for although the greatest part of these vessels

are built by the natives in the neighborhood of their own towns, no

register is kept of their number and dimensions, nor do they carry

with them the usual certificates. Those belonging to the merchants,

that is, ships and brigs of a certain size, have already begun to

frequent the ports of China, Java, the coast of Coromandel, Bengal,

and the Isle of France, availing themselves of the lucrative freights

which formerly enriched and encouraged foreign shipping. The other

class of vessels, although perfectly adequate to the coasting trade,

cannot in general be applied to larger enterprises, on account of

their not being sufficiently strong and capacious. The seamen are

not apprenticed, or as it is usually called, matriculated, but

their frequent crossing from island to island, their familiarity

with regional tempests, voyages to various parts of America, and

the occupation of fishing followed by the inhabitants of the coast,

serve to train up a large body of dexterous and able mariners who at

all times can be had, without any compulsion, to complete the crews.

[Need of nautical school.] The want of a public school for the

teaching of navigation, is, however, sensibly felt, as well as great

inconvenience from the scarcity of persons capable of being trusted

with the command of vessels, and the ignorance that prevails of the

waters of this dangerous Archipelago. Repeated royal orders have

been sent over for the board of trade to proceed to the institution

of so useful an establishment, and in the meantime, a medium has

been resorted to in order to supply the deficiency, by allowing

the free admission of foreign mates, provided they exhibit proofs

of their acquaintance with navigation, and profess the Catholic

worship. Shipowners nevertheless experience great difficulties,

particularly at times when the Acapulco ship is fitting out, for

although she is considered as a vessel of war, and commanded by

officers of the royal navy, the plan of her equipment is so singular,

that in addition, she requires the extra aid of one chief mate,

and three under ones.

[Royal Phillipine company.] The various modifications this corporate

body has successively experienced, have, in great measure, changed

the essence of its original constitution, and the remonstrances of

its directors, founded on the experience of a long series of years, at

length induced the government at home to sanction alterations dictated

by existing circumstances. The project of raising these Islands

from the neglected state in which they were, and in some measure to

place them in contact with the mother country, accompanied by a wish

to give a new and great impulse to the various branches of industry

which constitute the importance of a colony, could not have been more

laudable; but, as was afterwards seen, the instrument employed was

not adequate to the object in view. At the same time that the company

were charged to promote, and, by means of their funds, to vivify the

agriculture and industry of these provinces, the necessary powers

and facilities to enable them to reap the fruits of their sacrifices

were withheld. The protection granted to this establishment, did not

go beyond a general recommendation in favor of its enterprises, and,

in short, far from enjoying the exclusive preponderance obtained at

their commencement by all the other Asiatic companies, that of the

Philippine Islands labored under particular disadvantages.

[Local progress under adverse conditions.] Notwithstanding an

organization so imperfect, scarcely had the agents of the new

Company arrived at Manila, when they distributed through the country

their numerous dependents, commissioned to encourage the natives

by advances of money. They established subaltern factories in the

Provinces of Ilocos, Bataan, Cavite, and Camarines; purchased lands;

delivered out agricultural implements; founded manufacturies of cotton

cloths; contracted for the crops of produce at very high prices;

offered rewards and, in short, they put in motion every partial

resources they were able to avail themselves of and their limited

means allowed. It would be extremely easy for me, in this place,

to enter a particular enumeration of the important services of this

kind rendered by the company, and to exhibit, in the most evident

point of view, the advantages thence derived to these Islands,

if, besides being slightly touched upon in the preceding articles,

this task had not been already ably performed by the Factor Don Juan

Francisco Urroz, in his accurate report on this subject, addressed

to the governing committee of the company, in 1803. In justice I will

nevertheless observe, that this establishment, anxiously resolved to

attain the end proposed, in spite of so many obstacles, constantly

followed up its expensive system without being disheartened; nor

did the contrarieties with which the Royal Audiencia, or High Court

of Justice, frequently paralyzed its plans, the indifference of the

governors, or the general opposition and jealousy of the other classes,

in any way tend to relax its efforts, till at length, convinced of

the impossibility of successfully contending, alone and without any

other arms than its own reduced capital; and, on the other hand,

well aware that a political body of this kind in vain seeks to unite

within itself the triple and opposite characters of agriculturalist,

manufacturer, and merchant, a determination was taken to alter the

plan, and withdraw the factories established in the provinces, and

by adopting a rigid economy and confining the operations in future

to the purchase of such produce and manufactured articles as suited

their trade, and were voluntarily brought by the natives to their

stores, the expenses of the Company were curtailed, and a plan of

reform introduced into all their speculations. By this means also

they always secured an advantageous vent for the productions of the

country, after having been the chief spring by which agriculture was

promoted and encouraged in a direct manner.

[Handicapped in outside trade] The most beneficial reform, however,

introduced by this establishment into its system, has, in reality,

been derived from the variation or rather correction of its plans and

enterprises, purely maritime. The government being desirous to increase

the relations of this colony by every possible means, and to convert it

into a common center of all the operations of the new company, at first

required of the agents that the purchases and collection of goods from

the coast of Coromandel, Bengal, and China, destined for Spain, should

take place at Manila, either by purchasing the articles in that market,

or through the medium of previous contracts to deliver them there. From

this it is easy to infer, that the company was infallibly exposed to

the harsh terms the respective contractors sought to impose upon them,

as well with regard to prices as qualities, unless, in many cases,

they preferred being left without the necessary assortments. Hence may

it, without the smallest exaggeration, be affirmed, that, summing up

all the surcharges under which the shipments left the port of Manila,

and comparing them with those which might have been sent direct from

the above-mentioned points, and without so extraordinary a détour

as the one prescribed by law, the difference that followed in the

prime cost of the cargos was not less than 80 per cent. The urgent

manner, however, in which the directors of the company did not

cease to deplore and complain of so evident a hardship, at length

had the desired effect, and after existing ten or twelve years, so

preposterous a system was successfully overthrown, and permission

obtained from the king for the establishment of Spanish factories in

the neighborhood of the China and India manufactures, as well as the

power of addressing shipments direct to those foreign dominions. The

enlightened policy of their respective governments did not allow them

to hesitate in giving a favorable reception to our factors and vessels,

and the purchases and shipments of Asiatic goods being thus realized

without the old obstructions, the Company was reasonably led to hope

being able soon to increase its operations, and progressively present

more satisfactory results to the shareholders, when those political

convulsions succeeding soon after, which have unhinged or destroyed

all the ordinary relations of trade, compelled them to abandon their

hopes, till the wished-for calm should be again restored.

[Temporary expedient of 1803.] In consequence of the new character

and route given to the commercial enterprises of the Company, as

authorized by a royal decree of July 12, 1803, the functions of

the Manila factors were reduced to the annual shipment of a cargo

of Asiatic goods to Peru, valued at $500,000, but only as long

as the war lasted, and till the expiration of the extraordinary

permits granted through the goodness of the king, and also to the

transmitting to China and Bengal of the specie brought from America,

and the collecting of certain quantities of indigo, sugar, or other

produce of the Islands, with a view to gain by reselling it in the

same market. Consequently, the moment things return to their pacific

and ordinary course, will be the period when the necessity of the

future existence of this establishment will cease, or at least,

when the propriety will be evident of its reform or assimilation to

the other commission houses, carrying on trade in Vera Cruz, Mexico,

etc., which, not being hired establishments, do not create expenses

when they cease to transact business.

[Competition of foreign merchants.] Against a measure of this kind

it would be useless to allege, that, "by the exclusive privilege to

introduce spirits and European effects into the colony, the Company

has contracted the obligation of always keeping it properly supplied;

that their very institution had for the basis the general improvement

of the Islands, and in order duly to comply with these duties, it

becomes indispensably necessary to keep up the present expensive

establishment;" for, in the first place, in order, to render it

incumbent on the company to introduce an indefinite quantity of

European articles, it previously would be necessary to provide a vent

for them, and this can never be the case, unless the exclusion of all

competitors in the market is rigorously carried into effect. As things

now are, the North Americans, English, French, and every other nation

that wishes, openly usurped this privilege, by constantly inundating

the Islands with spirits and all kinds of effects, and it is very

evident that this same abuse which authorizes the infraction of the

above privilege, if in that light it could in any way be considered,

totally exonerates the company from all obligations by them contracted

under a different understanding. Besides, the circumstances which

have taken place since the publication of the royal decree, creating

the above establishment into a corporate body, in the year 1785,

have entirely changed the order established in this respect. In the

first place, the port of Manila has been opened to foreign nations,

in consequence of the disinterested representations of the company

itself, and for the direct advantage of general trade; nor was it

necessary to prevent our new guests from abusing the facilities thus

granted to them, and much less to confine them to the mere introduction

of Asiatic goods, the original plea made use of. In the second, as

soon as the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands became familiar with

the more useful and elegant objects of convenience and luxury, which

they were enabled to purchase from foreigners, at reasonable prices,

it was natural for them to pay little regard to the superfluous aid

of the company, more particularly when the latter were no longer

able to sustain the competition, either in the sale or supply of a

multitude of articles, which, thanks to our own national simplicity,

are scarcely known in Spain, whence their outward-bound cargoes are

divided. Hence it follows that, far from the importation and supplies

of the company being missed, it may with great reason be presumed,

that this formal renunciation of this ideal privilege of theirs,

must rather have contributed to secure, in a permanent manner,

adequate supplies for all the wants and whims of the inhabitants of

the colony; and that the publicity of such a determination would act

as a fresh allurement successively to bring to the port of Manila a

host of foreign speculators, anxious to avail themselves of a fresh

opening for commercial pursuits.

[Company not a philanthropy.] The other objection, founded on the

mistaken notion of its being inherent in, and belonging to, the very

essence of the company, to promote the general improvement of the

Philippine Islands, if well considered, will appear equally unjust. It

is, in fact, a ridiculous, although too generally received, a prejudice

to suppose, that the founders of this establishment proposed to

themselves the plan of sinking the money of the shareholders in

clearing the lands, and perfecting the rude manufactures of these

distant Islands. To imagine this to have been one of the principal

objects of the institution, or to suppose that, on this hard condition,

their various privileges and exemptions were granted to them, is so

far from the reality of the fact, that it would only be necessary

to read with attention the 26th article of the quoted royal decree

of creation, in order more correctly to comprehend the origin and

constitutive system of this political body.

"The latter," says the Duke de Almodovar, "is reduced to two principal

points: the first of which is the carrying of the trade of Asia

with that of America and Europe; and the second, the encouragement

and improvement of the productions and manufacturing industry of

the Islands. The one is the essential attribute of the company,

constituting its real character of a mercantile society; and, in the

other respect, it becomes an auxiliary of the government, to whom

the duties alluded to more immediately belong." If to the above we

add the preamble of the 43rd article of the new decree of 1803, the

recommendation, made to the company, to contribute to the prosperity

of the agriculture and manufacturing industry of the Islands, will

appear as a limited and secondary consideration; for even if the

question were carried to extremes, it could never extend to any more

than the application of four per cent of the annual profits of the

company indistinctly to both branches. If, however, any doubts still

remained, the explanation or solution recently given to this question

would certainly remove them; because, by the simple fact of its being

expressed in the latter part of the aforesaid 43rd article, [Profit

percent to go to Spain.] "That the above-mentioned four per cent was to

be laid out, with the king's approbation, in behalf of the agriculture

and manufacturing industry of Spain and the Philippine Islands," it is

clear that the king reserves and appropriates to himself the investment

of the amount to be deducted from the general dividends, in order to

apply it where and how may be deemed most advisable. Consequently,

far from considering the company in that respect under an obligation to

contribute to the improvement of the Philippines exclusively, the only

thing that can be required of them, when their charter is withdrawn,

is, the repayment to the royal treasury of the four per cent on their

profits, for a purpose so vaguely defined. In following up this same

train of argument, it would seem that, in order to render the amount

to be deducted from the eventual profits of the company, in the course

of time, a productive capital in the hands of the sovereign, the funds

of the society not only ought not to be diverted to the continuation

of projects which consume them, but, on the contrary, it is necessary

to place at their disposal the direct means by which these funds can

be increased, in order to make up to the company in some measure the

enormous losses experienced of late years, and at once free their

commerce from the shackles with which it has hitherto been obstructed.

[Need of special privileges] Finally, after twenty-four years of

impotent and gratuitous efforts in the Philippines, and of the most

obstinate opposition on the part of their rivals, it is now time for

the company, by giving up the ungrateful struggle, to reform in every

respect their expensive establishment in Manila, and to direct their

principal endeavors to carry into effect the project so imperfectly

traced out in the new decree of 1803. The opinion of the most vehement

enemies of the privileged bodies tacitly approves this exception in

their favor. Adam Smith, avowedly hostile to all monopolies, feels

himself compelled to confess that, "without the incentives which

exclusive companies offer to the individuals of a nation carrying

on little trade, possibly their confined capitals would cease to be

destined to the remote and uncertain enterprises which constitute a

commerce with the East Indies."

[Spanish commerce in its infancy.] Our commerce, compared with that

of other nations, notwithstanding what may be said on this subject,

is most assuredly yet in a state of infancy. That with Asia, more

especially, with the exception of the Royal Company, is almost unknown

to all other classes. If it is, therefore, wished to exclude our many

rivals from so lucrative a branch of trade as that which constitutes

supplies for the consumption of the Peninsula and its dependencies, the

means are obvious. The most material fact is in fact already done. The

navigation to the various ports of Asia is familiar to the company's

navy; their factors and clerks have acquired a practical knowledge of

that species of trade, essential to the undertaking, as well as such

information as was at first unknown; but, after the great misfortune

this body has experienced, it will be indispensably necessary to aid

and invigorate them with large supplies of money, following the example

of other governments in similar cases; in order that the successful

issue of their future operations may compensate their past losses,

and worthily correspond with the magnitude of the object.