Poll Tax 638,976
Rentas (monopolies, farms, &c.) 810,784
=========
Total 1,449,760 [77]
of which a surplus would remain when all the expenses were
liquidated. In preceding years, some surplus has been remitted
to Spain.
The military establishment consists of three regiments of infantry,
one of dragoons, a squadron of hussars, and a battalion of artillery,
in all about 4500 regulars. The militia are numerous, but only one
regiment is under arms: the total of men may be estimated at 5000,
but on an emergency, large bodies of irregulars can be called into
activity. In 1804, the governor, Don J. M. de Anguilar, [i.e.,
Aguilar] is said to have had upwards of 20,000 men under arms, being
in expectation of an attack from the English.
These troops (which are all natives) are in general badly disciplined
and officered, mostly by country-born officers, without the advantage
of an European education, ignorant of their military duties to the
last degree, many of them (more especially in the Mestizo regiments)
connected with the soldiers by relationship, or at least by the tie
of mutual indulgence, the soldier performing every menial office for
the officer, who in return winks at the excesses of the soldier. This
is carried to such an extent, that, not to mention such trifles as
a garden wall or gate, a bathing house, or a stable, or at times a
little smuggling; there are instances on record, where the commanding
officer of a regiment has built himself a country house! the whole
of the masonry and carpentry being performed by soldiers of his
regiment! Another is of a captain collecting his debts by means of
a piquet of infantry; taking possession of his debtor's house until
payment was made!
It will be easily conceived, that where these things are permitted,
the soldiers are made subservient to other purposes; accordingly
they have been employed to punish the paramours of their officers'
wives--to eject a troublesome tenant--or at times to take vengeance
for affronts, in cases where it might not be safe for the injured
person to do so. [78]
These remarks apply more particularly to the Mestizo officers. The
Spaniards, and some of the creoles, who are but very few in number,
form a respectable class of military men, of whom some few may be cited
as models of spirit and discipline: but they are not sufficiently
numerous for their example to influence the despicable beings with
whom they are unavoidably associated; and the wealth and influence
being generally on the side of the native-born officers, these abuses
are permitted, and the complaints of others disregarded.
It is but just, however, to remark, that their pay is excessively
mean; it is a bare, and miserable subsistence; and due weight should
be given to this circumstance in extenuation. A captain of regulars
has not more than 80 dollars per month! and so on in proportion, and
when we reflect, that from the low value of the circulating medium,
a dollar will barely command more than a rupee in any part of India,
much must be allowed for men so situated.
Hence, though the men, arms, and accoutrements are not bad, the troops
are, from abuses, embezzlement, and neglect, miserably deficient in
a military point of view, and but poorly calculated to answer any
efficient purpose. To this description, the regiment of artillery and
Pampango militia are exceptions: the style of equipment and discipline
of the first are a high testimony of the activity and military talents
of their colonel. The queen's regiment is by far the most respectable
of the infantry.
Their cavalry are badly mounted, the horses being very small, and by no
means good. The men too are clumsily equipped, with swords manufactured
apparently in the 14th century, being straight, disproportionably long,
and furnished with a steel poignet or basket, above which is a cross,
resembling the rapiers of that time.
Their marine is still more miserably deficient in the requisite
qualities for essential service, and suffers more from the
mal-administration of its various branches. All work done in the royal
arsenal is computed to cost at least 40 per cent. more than that by
individuals! The marine consists of a flotilla of 40 or 50 gun-boats,
and as many feluccas, [79] of which about one half, or fewer, may be
in constant activity; with what effect has been already remarked.
Like the army, the navy is almost entirely officered by creoles
and Mestizos, whose pay is but a subsistence, and consequently no
prospect is offered to young men of family and enterprise who may
have other resources.
The arsenal at Cavite, about 10 miles from Manila, is well provided
with officers and workmen, but has no docks. Vessels, however,
may heave down with great safety; and the work, though expensive,
is remarkably well executed.
The agriculture of this very fertile country is yet in its
infancy. Oppressed with so many enemies to his advancement, and
placed in a climate where the slightest exertion insures subsistence,
the Indian has, like the majority of his Malay brethren, been content
with supplying his actual wants, without seeking for luxuries. Hence,
and from the expulsion of the Jesuits, they have made no advances
beyond the common attainments of the surrounding islanders.
This spirited and indefatigable order of men, who, both by precept
and example, encouraged agriculture, not only as the source of
national greatness, but as preparatory to, and inseparable from,
conversion to Christianity, which they well knew did not consist
alone in ceremonies, but in fulfilling the duties of citizens and men,
and who, whatever were their political sins, certainly possessed more
than any other the talent of converting men from savage to civilized
life, have left in the Phillippines some striking monuments of their
wide-spreading and well-directed influence. Extensive convents (the
ground stories of which were magazines), in the centre of fertile
districts formerly in the highest state of cultivation, but now more
than half abandoned,--tunnels,--canals,--reservoirs and dams, by which
extensive tracts were irrigated for the purposes of cultivation,
attest the spirit with which they encouraged this science; and if
their expulsion was a political necessity, it certainly appears to
have been in this country a moral evil.
The restraints imposed on commerce were another insuperable
bar to their prosperity, as depriving them of a market for their
produce. Since foreigners have been allowed free intercourse with them,
their agriculture has in some degree improved by the increased demand
of produce; but under the present system, but little can be expected
from it. [80]
The soil is in general a rich red mould, with a great proportion of
iron, and in some districts volcanic matters; it is easily worked
and very productive: that in the immediate vicinity of Manila, and
for four or five miles round it, extending to that distance from the
coast of the Bay, is an alluvial soil, formed by the confluence of
the numerous rivers with the ocean; it is stiff, and in all respects
very inferior to the other. In some parts are extensive tracts, the
reservoirs of the waters from the mountains in the rainy season,
which first yield an amazing supply of fish, [81] and then a good
crop of rice or pasture for the buffaloes.
The frequent rains, and the numerous rivers and streams with which
the country is every-where intersected, adds to its extraordinary
fertility: it is seldom, if ever, afflicted with droughts, but is
at times devastated by locusts (perhaps once in 10 or 15 years), and
these make dreadful havoc amongst the canes. Their attacks, however,
are partial, and generally take place after the rice is harvested,
in December, disappearing before the rains. In 1818, nearly the whole
of the canes were destroyed by them, and the Ayuntamiento of Manila
expended from 60 to 80,000 dollars in purchasing large quantities of
them, which were thrown into the sea. [82]
The buffalo is universally used in all field labours, for which,
however, he is but poorly calculated: the slowness of his pace,
and his great suffering from heat, which obliges the labourer to
bathe him frequently, occasion a very considerable loss of time,
which is scarcely compensated by his great strength and little
expense in keeping. Indeed, the bullock should perhaps be on all
occasions substituted for him, excepting only in the cultivation of
rice fields. In a few districts, this is the case; but it is with
reluctance that the native uses him in preference to the buffalo.
Their breed of horses is small, but very hardy: they are never used
for agricultural purposes, though but few of the peasants are without
one for riding, and many of them have two or three. In the province
of Pampanga (the finest tribe of Indians in the Phillippines), they
risk considerable sums on races! of which they are very fond.
Their plough is of Chinese origin: it has but one handle, and no
coulter or mould-board, the upper part of the share, which is flat,
and turned to one side, performing this part of the work. The common
harrow is composed of five or six pieces of the stems of the thorny
bamboos, which at the lower part are almost solid; these are united
by a long peg of the same, passing through all the pieces: to these
the hard branches of thorns are left appending, and being cut off at
a short distance from the stem, form the teeth of the instrument,
which, rude as it is, performs its work well, and usefully, and is
seldom out of order.
For cleaning and finally pulverizing the ground, they have another
harrow of Chinese origin, (or an invention of the Jesuits?) It is
of wrought iron, and for simplicity and utility it is, I think,
unequalled. By means of it they can extirpate the Lallang grass
(Andropogon caricosum), called by them Cogon, [83] and which no other
instrument will perform so well, that I am acquainted with.
A hoe, like that of the West Indies, answers the purposes of a
spade; and (with the basket) of a shovel. A large knife (the Malay
Parang), called "Bolo," completes the list of their agricultural
instruments. Machinery they cannot be said to possess, except a rude
mill of two cylinders for cane, and another for grinding their rice,
can be called such. The greater part of the rice is beaten from the
husk in wooden mortars, and by hand.
The rainy season commences with the S. W. monsoon, and ends in
October. The rice (the aquatic sorts) is planted by hand in July and
August, and reaped in December. The upland rice, of which they have two
varieties, is planted earlier, and comes sooner to maturity. The cane
is planted in the manner called "en canon" by the French, that is,
the plant piece is stuck diagonally into the ground; and thus, from
the roots being often on the surface, the plant suffers frequently
from drought, and they have seldom two crops from a piece of cane:
their sugar, though clumsily manufactured, is of excellent grain,
and highly esteemed by the refiners of Europe.
The indigo plant is very fine; and though, as in all countries, a
precarious crop, yet it is far from being so much so as in India: it
has been manufactured equal to Guatemala, but in the present day is of
a very inferior quality: this arises from various causes, of which the
principal are ignorance in the manufacture of it, a want of capital,
and spirit of enterprise. They have no tanks of masonry, the whole
process being carried on in two wooden vats of a very moderate size,
from which the fecula is taken once a week. It is needless to remark,
that the quality of the indigo is materially injured by this alone:
it is also subject to many adulterations in the hands of the Mestizos,
before being brought to market.
The coffee plant was almost entirely unknown about 40 years ago, a few
plants only existing in the gardens about Manila. It was gradually
transported from thence to the towns in the neighbourhood of the
lake, where it has been since multiplied to an amazing degree by an
extraordinary method. A species of civet cat with which the woods
abound, swallows the berries, [84] and these passing through the
animal entire, take root, and thus the forests are filled with wild
plants. This fact may be depended upon, and the major part of all the
coffee exported from Manila is produced from the wild plants, and is
equal or superior in flavour to that of Bourbon. The government, in
1795 or 96, made an attempt to force its cultivation in the province of
Bulacan, but forgot, as one of their own officers naivement observes,
"Que no habia compradores ni consumidores"--that there were neither
consumers or customers for it! It of course fell to the ground, and in
the next passage of the same work, the Indian is partly blamed for it!
The cultivation of cotton is as yet but very partial. It is of the
herbaceous species, of a very fine quality, almost equalling the
Bourbon, but excessively adherent to the grain: so much so indeed,
that none of the attempts to separate it from the seed by machinery
have hitherto succeeded; the grains passing through the rollers,
and staining the cotton. It is cleared by the natives by means of a
hand-mill, very clumsy in its construction, and performing so little
work, that the cleaning costs six dollars per pekul.
The principal part of the cotton comes from the province of Ylocos,
where large quantities of stuffs are manufactured. The brown cotton,
for which a prize was offered in 1818 by the Society of Arts, grows
in great quantities, and is manufactured into durable cloths and
blankets. The prices of agricultural labour vary from 1 rial [85] per
day near Manila to 3/4 and 1/2 rial in the provinces--a plough with two
buffaloes and a man, 2 1/2 rials. The workmen, like day labourers in
all countries, are often "looking for sunset;" but when allowed task
work, are willing and industrious. A plough will go over rather more
than a loan [86] of ground in a day--about a quinion in three months.
Of the produce of any given cultivation, it is difficult to speak with
any degree of correctness: calculations of this kind are difficult
to make amongst a people labouring each for himself, and all for the
wants of the day: for, unaccustomed to generalize, each gives his own
as the average, and hence the discrepancy which every person must have
remarked who has had occasion to make inquiries of this description
in half civilized countries, where a main point, the value of the
labourer's time, and of that of his animals, is invariably left out, as
is also the difference of work for himself and for a master. The tables
given at the conclusion of Comyn's work are, as far as regards the
vicinity of the capital, very erroneous. They are also very deficient
in many points. [87] The following is a much nearer approximation.
A quinion of land requires four ploughings and three harrowings,
say six ploughings in all.
Ds. Rs.
Now as 1 Quinion will occupy a hired labourer about 90 days
at 2 1/2 Rials = 28 Dollars 1 Rial, which for six times is 168 6
Fencing, 12 Ds.; Grubbing, &c., 15; Cane Slips, 25;
Planting, 18; Weeding and Hoeing, 30; Carriage, 18;
Manufacture, 45; Pilones, &c., 12 175 0
Cost 343 6
Produce at low average, 150 Pilones, [88] salable at 3 1/2
Ds. 487 4
=======
Profit 143 6
This supposes the proprietor of the cane to be possessed of a mill,
buffaloes, &c. for the wear of which no estimate is made.
The 150 pilones of sugar, each weighing about 150 lbs. gross, will
produce the refiner who has purchased them about 100 piculs of sugar,
of which
S. Ds.
80 1st sort, worth 6 1/4 Dollars 500 0
20 2d ditto, and Molasses, &c. 3 3/4 75 0
=======
575 0
They have cost him about 487 4
Refiner's allowance on 100 Pilones, S. Ds. 47 8
The profits of the refiner would appear high; and they have been so;
but are far from what this statement appears to give, from various
reasons, of which the chief are, the heavy capital sunk in buildings,
interest on advances, &c. and from a want of knowledge, the enormous
waste of labour in the process. A glance at this may give an idea of
what trade is at these antipodes of commercial knowledge.
I have termed the process "refining;" it should rather be called
claying and sorting--and it is as clumsily managed as the ingenuity
of man could well devise. The trade is principally in the hands of
three or four capitalists; advances are made by these to brokers,
the provincial merchants, who annually bring their produce to the
capital in small vessels, [89] and to the masters of coasting traders,
in which the sugar merchants have shares. These are made to a large
amount, 80 to 100,000 dollars; and as the interest of this must at
least run for six months at 9 per cent. it forms a heavy item. Losses
and defaulters form another, say 1/2 per cent. in all 5 per cent.
The pilones are delivered from November to May and June, and are
received into extensive warehouses, which are provided with large
court-yards and terraced roofs. Here the upper part of the pilone
is cut off, and a quantity of manufactured sugar being pressed
down on the top of it, a thin layer of the river mud is put on it;
this is watered from time to time and changed once or twice, the
pilone standing on a small foot, with the small hole at its apex
left open, through which the molasses slowly drains, leaving the
upper and broader part of the pilone of a fine white, gradually
decreasing in goodness to the bottom, where it is little more than
molasses--the pilone is then cut in two; the darker part is put by
as second quality (or reboiled), and the whiter portion as firsts,
of the sugar, the care taken in the process, the kind of mud used,
&c. About two piculs of sugar from three pilones is a fair average,
when these are of a good size. That from the province of Pampanga is
by far the best; it is produced from a small red cane [90] about four
feet high, and of the thickness of a good walking stick.
The sugar being thus clayed, is now to be mixed, pounded, and
dried. The last process is performed by laying it on small mats in
the sun, on the terraces and pavements of the court-yards. On the
slightest appearance of rain, it must be hurried under cover, and
brought out again when this is past. So that in a manufacture of
any size, when from 3 to 400 Chinese are employed at 4 1/2 dollars
per month, fully 1/3d of their labour is expended on this operation
alone. The management of the rest requires no comment.
The cost of production of any of the other articles cannot be
estimated to any degree of correctness, from the very small scale on
which they are cultivated, and the limited knowledge of the writer
of these remarks. Those of Comyn are erroneous.
The Indians are the principal and almost the only cultivators of
the soil, very few Mestizos or Chinese [91] being engaged in it. The
few Spaniards and other Europeans who have attempted it, have been
obliged to abandon their attempts to form plantations. These failures,
or rather determination to abandon their speculations (even when in a
promising state), have arisen from various causes; but the general one
may be stated to be the very little security for life and property,
in a country such as has been described. This is with the major part
an insuperable objection; for from the moment they are established,
and known to possess money for the payment of their workmen, they must
be in expectation of an attack, and prepared to defend themselves;
nor can they lie down at night free from the apprehension of seeing
their establishments in flames before morning! either from robbers,
or from malice of any individual who may think himself aggrieved:--the
impossibility of obtaining justice so generally experienced by the
Indians, and the many chances of escaping punishment, being strong
inducements to the ill-disposed to adopt these modes of revenge. To
this it may be added, that even were the foreigner to kill the most
determined robber in the country, the circumstance of having done so
in defence of his life and property, would by no means exonerate him
from a fleecing by the inferior officers of justice, and from a long
and tiresome process of depositions, declarations, &c. during which
his affairs must be entirely neglected. [92]
In addition to this he must lay his account with another obstacle,
and this none of the smallest--the chance of bad faith on the part
of those with whom he is connected; a chance which by no means will
diminish in proportion to his success; for, let no foreigner deceive
himself on this head in Manila; if he cannot flatter as low, or bribe
as high as his adversary, his cause is lost by some means or other.
The Phillippines also produce cacao of an excellent quality, though
not sufficient for their consumption, a large quantity being imported
from New Spain.
Pepper is also an article of exportation, but in very limited
quantities, the utmost the Phillippine Company have been able to
procure being about 60,000 lbs. in favourable years.
To these may be added the Abaca (Musa textilis), a species of plantain,
from which the beautiful fibres are procured known by that name. This
is becoming a very considerable article of exportation, both raw, and
manufactured into cordage. The natives also consume large quantities
of it in cordage, and as shirting cloth, into which a large portion
of the interior and finer fibres are manufactured. Some of it is
equal to the coarser sort of China grass cloth. [93]
In Gogo, [94] a gigantic climbing plant, whose trunk attains the
size of a man's body, is another remarkable production of these
islands. Its branches being cut out into lengths, are coarsely pounded
and dried in the sun: they are used as soap by all classes of people,
the saponaceous fluid which is extracted from them being remarkably
cleansing, and the fibres answering the purpose of a brush.
It is also used in large quantities in washing the earth of rivers
and streams, to separate the gold from them. It is not cultivated,
but exists in great abundance in the forests, in which are also the
sapan-wood (called Sibacao), the sandal, ebony, and vanilla. They
abound in gums and resins, large portions of which are washed down
by the torrents; but these are for the most part useless, either from
the ignorance of the natives, or from the impossibility of venturing
far in the interior.
Their timber is excellent, and in a country so covered with forests,
of course plentiful; but the want of roads and other conveniences of
transport, renders it, in Manila, rather an expensive article.
The principal timber woods are, the "Mulave" [i.e., Molave], a
compact, heavy, yellowish wood, and almost incorruptible, perhaps
from the very great portion of tannin it contains. Tindalo, [95] a
hard wood, much resembling the iron-wood of the Brasils, and like it
used for screws, &c., &c. when great hardness is required. "Betis,"
an excellent timber tree, which grows to a very great size, and for
its durability is generally used for the main beams of churches,
convents, and other large buildings. The "Narra," of which there are
two kinds, the white and red: this last is almost equal to mahogany in
polish and durability. Banaba, a red wood resembling cedar; and many
others of equal goodness. Of these the Banaba and Mulave are most
used in shipbuilding, the first for planking, and the last for the
framework. For masts, the Manga-chapuy and Palo-maria are generally
used: the last is equal or superior to pine, both in strength and
lightness.
Their forests are not infested with those ferocious animals which are
the terror of those of other Asiatic countries. The tiger, elephant,
and rhinoceros are unknown: the wild buffalo and hog are the only ones
of which the native has any dread. These attain an enormous size,
but are not mischievous, unless provoked. The dried flesh and hides
of these animals, as well as of deer and wild cattle, which are in
immense numbers, form a considerable article of trade amongst the
natives, the "tappa" or dried flesh being used for food, and the
hides for exportation.
Their serpents, however, attain an enormous size: the largest are those
of the Boa species (Constrictor), and will devour a horse or a cow at a
meal. [96] Of this genus there is one variety very beautifully marked,
which frequents the houses, and is called by the Spaniards (Culebra
casera), the house snake, [97] and by the Indians "Sawa." These are
often seen from 10 to 12 feet in length, but are very harmless. Few
houses are without one or more of them in the cellars, stables, &c. but
they are seldom disturbed, as they are said to devour rats and other
noxious animals; though, when these fail them, they attack fowls, or
even goats. They form a favourite article of food with the Chinese,
who keep them in jars to fatten, and the Indians may be often seen
carrying them through the streets for sale.
Of other varieties they have great numbers; some of which, as the
"dahun palay," or leaf of rice, of a deep green and yellow, which
frequents the rice fields, and the "mandadalag," or whip-snake, are
excessively venomous: accidents from these animals are not, however,
very frequent; from whence it may be concluded, that the superstition
of the natives has greatly exaggerated the number of venomous ones: and
this may be the more readily inferred, not only from their excessively
superstitious character, and the common custom of all nations in this
particular; but also from the thousand ridiculous fables told by them
of the cameleon, which is very common in the woods, and perfectly
harmless. The Indian name for it is "Ynyano."
Of minerals they have an inexhaustible supply: gold is found in almost
all the streams, and even in the sands of the shores of the Bay after
blowing weather: no mines of it have as yet been wrought, though they
are known to exist. The quantity obtained by the rude efforts of the
natives merely washing the sands of the torrents, is very great, and
certainly does not fall short of 4 to 500,000 dollars worth annually,
as great quantities are expended in gilding for the churches, &c. &c.
Silver is also found, but in small quantities. Virgin copper is
another produce of their mountains: pieces of it are frequently
met with in the torrents, and on the shores of some of the islands
(Masbate, Burias, and Ambil). The negroes have also been seen with
rude ornaments, and even with utensils made from it.
Of iron they have whole mountains in the very vicinity of
Manila! (provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan), some of the ores
yielding 75 per cent. of metal, and of an excellent quality, this
having been ascertained by some Biscayan iron-masters sent out for
that purpose. It contains great numbers of magnets. There are some
miserable establishments for working and smelting these ores, but
on a very small scale; they have only produced cast iron articles,
and those of an inferior quality. They have no forging machinery. [98]
Cinnabar, lead, and tin are supposed to exist; but of these last
there is no certainty.
Sulphur is found in the neighbourhood of the volcanoes in considerable
quantities, and is an article of export to Bengal and other places:
the principal part of it is collected on the island of Leyté, which is
next to Samar on the south side of the strait of St. Bernardino. It
is collected on the edges of numerous small apertures, which emit
at times flames and smoke. These are situated in an extensive plain
near the sea-coast in the vicinity of the village of Dulag, on the
eastern side of the island. With these natural advantages, and those
are not few that still remain to be enumerated, the commerce of this
country, like its agriculture, is still in its infancy: and this has
been principally owing to two great causes--the trade to Acapulco,
and the prohibitory system invariably pursued by Spain in regulating
the intercourse with her colonies, and which here has been burdened
with an additional weight, the monopoly of the Phillippine Company.
It were a task far exceeding the intention and ability of the writer
of these remarks to point out the causes and effects of these extensive
evils:--a few observations only will be made to elucidate such remarks
as may follow on the commerce of Manila.
Of the prohibitory system pursued by Spain towards her colonies, it
may perhaps be said, with as much justice as of her wars, that it was,
"en faire un desert pour s'en assurer l'empire;" [99] for few systems
could have been better calculated to assure the first object; the
last has miserably disappointed its advocates, and left a striking
lesson to the world, at which humanity has cause to rejoice.
With jealousy of foreigners exceeding even the bounds of credibility,
she invariably refused them admittance, [100] whether for scientific
or commercial purposes; [101] or when from accident or influence
this was obtained, the people following, and often exceeding the
lessons of their rulers, by civil and religious persecutions, and
contempt, contrived to render their existence almost a burden. It would
appear to have become an axiom amongst them, remarkable only for its
illiberality, that "a dollar gained by foreigners was one taken from
the pocket of a Spaniard;" [102] and that in all cases where the
interests of the merchants of the mother country and those of the
colonies were opposed, the latter were to be sacrificed. [103] Her
own subjects were, from the same miserable narrow policy, embarrassed
with restrictions and conditions--permissions from the Consejo de
las Yndias, &c. &c. that it became by no means a trifling affair to
be able to embark for the Phillippines, unless at the risk of being
sent home from there by the local authorities.
Unable herself, from the want of manufactures and energy, to profit
by her colonies, she obstinately refused to allow others to do so,
and in this she invariably persisted. The fruits of such a system
were such as might have been expected; the colonies submitted--(while
they were obliged by force to do so), smuggled to a large amount,
remonstrated, resisted, and declared themselves independent; and thus
has Spain forever lost those advantages which a more liberal policy
might have secured to her through a long course of time. [104]
In the Philippines, this system, though followed for a long time,
has been of late years successively relaxed, and the good effects
of this modification are visible to the most indifferent observer:
it has however left deep traces of its operations, and much is still
wanting: the foreign merchant or adventurer, how much soever he may
be smiled upon and caressed, has still to contend against a rooted
and long cherished jealousy of all that is not Spanish.
The Acapulco trade is another and a principal cause of the very
confined state of the commerce of this valuable colony. A few remarks
will be sufficient to justify the apparent paradox.
The merchant of Manila (says Comyn), is "entirely different from
the merchant of other parts of the world; he has no extensive
correspondence, no books, or intricate accounts; his operations are
confined to a shipment of bales to Acapulco, and to receiving the
silver in return: and in 40 years, only one or two instances have
occurred wherein bankrupts have been able to produce a correct set of
books to the Consulado (or Chamber of Commerce)!" This description
was doubtless correct at the time when it was written (1809); but
it is just to observe that they are now much improved, and though
not excessively enterprising, are better acquainted with the true
principles of commerce. Such were the merchants: let us examine a
little the trade.
The basis of it was, and is, the funds called "Obras Pias" [105]
(Pious Works). These are funds under various denominations, whose
origin was the piety of well-meaning Spaniards, who dying rich have
bequeathed large sums for the purpose of lending to deserving traders
to commence or continue their career with. The administration of
these is confided to various religious and charitable institutions,
or to civil associations--the trustees forming a board, at which
the sums to be lent, &c. are determined. Their statutes differ in
many unessential points; [106] but their general tenour is the same,
viz. that sums not exceeding two thirds of the fund shall be lent on
respondentia at certain rates of interest, which are fixed according
to the risk of the voyages; and these, when repaid, shall be added,
principal and interest, to the original fund. The interests are 25 per
cent. to Acapulco, 15 to Bengal, and so in proportion. The total of
the capitals of these establishments (there are 12 or 14 of them),
amounted to about three millions and a half of dollars in 1820,
of which about two millions are due to the funds on various risks,
principally those of New Spain: of this the major part is considered
as lost by those best qualified to judge of the subject.
The principal employ of these funds has been in the commerce to
Acapulco; and from the facility with which capital was procured,
the excessive gambling spirit which this introduced, as well as the
system of mutual accommodations from the trustees of different funds,
and the utter absence of the wholesome restraint of public examinations
of their accounts, it has resulted that more harm than good has been
done by these establishments. The original intentions are entirely
perverted, a few small sums being lent to young adventurers (when they
have powerful friends), but far the greatest part is employed by the
trustees themselves under the name of a relation or friend. [107]
When, without risking any capital of his own, the merchant might
thus share the enormous profits of this trade, with no more exertion
than signing the invoices and letters (they were written by Indian
clerks), and receiving the treasure on the return of the vessel,
it is not surprising that for nearly two centuries they neglected
all the other commercial advantages which surrounded them, or that
such a commerce produced such merchants: the history of it and of
them for that period may be confined to a few words:--they were the
agents of the merchants of Madras and Bengal, receiving and shipping
their goods, and returning their proceeds, while their profits were
confined to a large commission on them. [108]
This trade was anciently confined to a single ship annually, the
famous Galleon. She was fitted out, manned and armed, at the king's
expense, and commanded by a king's officer. This was reimbursed by
a duty of 33 1/3 per cent. on the registered cargo, the merchants
contributing to her provisionment, and to the payment of 20,000
dollars as a bounty to her commander. She was calculated to carry
3,000 bales of a certain size, and the privilege of shipping these
was confined to the holders of 1,000 tickets called "boletas," which
were divided amongst different public bodies, charitable and religious
institutions, the widows of the officers, &c., these tickets being
saleable to others: [109] and of the enormous profit on this trade,
some idea may be formed, when it is known, that with the very heavy
expenses attendant on every stage of it, 500 dollars have been paid
for a ticket entitling the holder to ship three bales!
By regulation, the invoice was not to exceed 500,000 dollars; but this
was always evaded. The vessels were crammed with goods, and generally
netted 100 per cent. or even 150 on every thing taken out. [110]
By applications from private merchants, the permissions have of late
years been extended to their ships, and even brigs; but they still
were encumbered with many useless restrictions and conditions, which
of course were evaded by every means that could be devised.
By the adoption of the new constitution, and the late declaration
of the independence of Mexico, [111] which began in the seizure of a
convoy of nearly a million of dollars belonging to the merchants of
Manila, this trade is now almost annihilated.
As has been remarked, their intercourse with the other countries is
very limited. The Phillippine Company, who were in possession of the
exclusive trade of Europe, have for many years taken no advantage of
their privilege (the last ship which arrived from Spain was in 1817);
[112] but private merchants were still debarred from doing so, till
the promulgation of the constitution. [113] Foreigners have been,
however, gradually admitted since 1800; and they have supplied the
wants of the country by introducing European articles, and carrying
off the surplus produce, when a sufficient quantity could be procured
to employ their capital, which rarely happens without much delay. So
rapid has been the augmentation of this trade, that though in 1813
only 15,000 pekuls of sugar were exported, it had increased in 1818
to 200,000, at from 6 1/2 to 9 dollars per pekul. The other exports
of the same year were as follows:--
Coffee, about 400 pekuls, at 28 dollars; Cotton, 1,000, at 20 to 25
dollars; Indigo, 1,000 quintals, at 90 to 110 dollars per quintal;
wax, 600 pekuls at 40 to 50 dollars; red wood, &c. &c. in large
quantities. In a printed account, the number of foreign vessels for
that year (1818) are stated to be, English, 18; American, 10; French,
4; Portuguese, 2; Chinese Junks, 10, and 8 Spanish vessels. The value
of imports as follows:
Goods, 2,296,272 dollars
Cash, 758,239
==========
$3,054,511
The exports, 1,205,649 dollars; but this last is any thing but correct,
not only from the very imperfect nature of the custom-house valuations,
but from the smuggling, which is carried on to an immense amount. It
will be nearer the truth to estimate the imports at about 3,8, or
3,900,000, and the exports at 3 1/4 or 3,500,000. [114]
The imports consist of piece-goods for the Acapulco market, and for
home consumption from Bengal; cambrics and handkerchiefs of plaided
patterns from Madras; woollens, wines, spirits, silks, printed cottons,
hosiery, hardware, &c. from Europe (principally from France); bird's
nests, tortoise and mother-of-pearl shell, bich-de-mar [i.e., balate],
wax, dried fish, &c. from Soolo, Borneo, and other islands of the
Archipelago; toys, silks, nankeens, teas, and dollars from China;
dollars from the United States; and from South America, silver,
cochineal, and cacao. Of these articles the specie and cochineal
are mostly exported to Bengal and Madras, and the produce of the
Soolos and Borneo to China; the other exports have been noticed in
a preceding page.
An active coasting trade [115] is carried on by the natives amongst
the islands, though they suffer dreadfully from the pirates; but
such is their enterprising turn, that with these in sight, they will
often cross from one island to another, when they have a fair start;
and frequently set out on a long trip in a small prow [i.e., prau],
armed only with their spears and "campilans," [116] though knowing
the pirates to be in the neighbourhood of their track. They are well
known in the piratical states, where a Manila slave always commands
a higher price than any other. They have been much stigmatized in
British country-ships, as the leaders of mutinies, &c.; but though no
doubt can exist that they have often assisted in cutting off vessels,
yet I question much whether the fault was not in a great measure to
be attributed to a want of discrimination between the high spirit
of the Philippine islander, and the meek sufferance of the patient
Lascar--a fatal mistake, when both are trampled on, as it is to be
feared they but too often are.
This trade is carried on in pontines, [117] galeras, feluccas, and
prows or boats of all sizes. The pontines are stout-built vessels
of European models, from 80 to 150 tons, with two long mat sails,
like a Chinese junk. The "galeras" are smaller, and carry a lateen
sail, like those of the Mediterranean. The feluccas have been already
described, and their prows and boats resemble nearly those of their
Malay brethren. Large property is often embarked in these vessels,
and they are conducted entirely by natives.
They have but a few manufactures: the principal one is that of coarse
gauzes, and rope from the Abaca plant, the first of which has a very
extensive consumption and is universally worn by all classes of the
natives. It is principally carried on in the province of Camarines,
at the S. E. angle of the island.
Considerable quantities of coarse canvas and striped cloths are
manufactured from cotton in the province of Ylocos; and in those
in the more immediate vicinity of the capital, the striped cloths
called "tapis" are universally worn by the native women over their
petticoat. None of these articles except the Abaca rope are exported,
and probably the whole of the cloths might be imported at a cheaper
rate than they are made. The Phillippine Company, by a mistaken policy,
expended large sums in endeavoring to render these manufactures
articles of export to Spain and the Americas; but after heavy and
repeated losses, the attempt was at length abandoned.
I am not certain whether there was not a clause in their charter,
obliging them to attempt this; and from the interfering spirit
of Spanish legislature throughout the last two centuries, it is
more than probable it was so. For the Company must have seen the
impropriety of endeavoring to establish manufactures in a country
so thinly populated, and where the little security for property or
power of enforcing contracts, must have exposed them to a thousand
losses unknown in Europe.
This last circumstance is one which is at all times a severe check on
the prosperity of any undertaking in this country. The most shameless
frauds are daily committed, particularly by the Chinese and Chinese
Mestizos, and for these there is no resource; complaint is unavailing,
for the trouble of obtaining redress is greater than the injury, and
it is a matter of common conversation--how so and so has been cheated
in his contracts. They appear to mistake indolence for compassion,
and allow themselves to be robbed with impunity, rather than pursue the
offender, or, should they do so, the magistrate to whom they apply is
but too apt, if the affair is intricate, to mistake procrastination
for deliberation, and thus the culprit escapes unpunished. The
losses of private merchants and the individuals in this way, would,
if enumerated, exceed belief. Another and a most serious drawback to
the commercial prosperity of the Phillippines, has been the negligence
or ignorance, or both which have prevented the establishment of bonded
warehouses, or a system of drawback duties on re-exportations. A glance
at their position, and the consideration of the monsoons, will convince
any one, that this was of all things that for which ample provision
should have been made; and it would be no exaggeration to say, that
this commerce would in a few years have increased tenfold with China
alone, had this plan been adopted. The enormous duties and vexatious
spirit of the Chinese government, together with, what must doubtless
be often the case, the fleecing combinations of the Hong merchants;
[118] would long ago have driven every vessel from their ports, could
another have been found near enough to insure a supply of goods,
which, from the enterprising spirit of the Chinese, could not have
failed. Manila is this port. From Amoy and Nankin, the granaries and
workshops of the eastern provinces, the most fertile and commercial
part of the empire, it is but a short run to Manila; and thus, when
the Chinese could freely trade in their favourite article, opium,
[119] and find too an assortment of European and Malay goods, while
the European could complete his investment of funds with the valuable
produce of China, [120] without the expense of the measurement duties,
and while the Malay could trade with both, an emporium might have
risen, inferior only perhaps to Batavia or Calcutta.
An attempt was made in 1817, by a Spanish merchant, to commence
something of this sort. He purchased a quantity of Turkey opium from
an American, with an understanding that it was to be reshipped, on
payment of a small additional duty. It was so, but a quantity of the
opium was plundered from the custom-house godowns, and the proprietor
was told "that the king was not responsible for losses."
It would be foreign to the object of a cursory sketch like the present
to enter farther into the details of this subject. Enough has been
said to bear out an assertion, which those who are acquainted with the
trade will not think exaggerated, that had this system been fairly and
equitably established, one half of the trade to China would before this
have centered at Manila; and it is only at Manila that the advantages
of such a transit could have been unknown or neglected in the 19th
century. I proceed to make some observations on the capital and its
inhabitants. [121]