Chapter V: Part 5

The sailing of the annual galleon took place usually in July; and the voyage occupied about five months. The route to be followed was strictly laid down, and even the vagaries of the winds were scarcely an excuse for deviating from it. As has been said, all was carefully arranged as to size and number of bales and weight of cargo. For a century and a half there was practically no competition in this trade, and everything could be officially regulated, even to the selling-price of the goods in the Mexican market. The departure and arrival of the galleon at Manila formed the great events of the year. At these single dates the bars of exclusion were thrown down,--goods left, and wealth returned to, the colony; new faces appeared, and rejoicing was general. Te Deums were chanted in the churches, musicians paraded the streets, filling the air with melody, and bunting by day and illumination by night testified to the public joy.

Life was an easy affair with the merchants of Manila. Business was never a distressing occupation. One or two days in each week were Saint's days--to be strictly kept. While the galleon was away, there was little to do except to await the Chinese junks and prepare the bales for shipment. There was no rise or fall of market-price, no need of smartness, tact, or enterprise, and only three months in the year when active labor was needed. During the remaining nine months the merchants were cut off from the world, and enjoyed life in their quiet way, with little regard to the doings of mankind.

Disasters to Spanish Commerce.

Now and then, however, a change came over the spirit of their dreams. The seas are notoriously uncertain, and ship-captains appointed by favor are not overmuch to be trusted. Disasters came. Galleons went to sea and never came to port; shattered bones lay on some inhospitable coast or found a grave on the bottom of the ocean. And as time went on, hostile ships visited the Pacific and made prizes of the rich galleons of Spain. Now the remittance from the Philippines failed to reach Mexico. Now the scores of broad dollars sent back, vanished on the seas.

The loss of the invincible Armada in 1588 put an end to Spain's naval supremacy, and the richly-freighted American galleons often became the prey of British buccaneers. The colony of the Philippines had then just been formed, and was not disturbed until the series of Anglo-Spanish wars before 1760, when its treasure-laden galleons were frequently swept away. This was notably the case after 1743, when Admiral Anson's fleet infested the coast and became the terror of the Spanish islanders. His exploits filled Manila with consternation, and councils were held to devise some method of getting rid of him; but he set all their efforts at naught. The captured galleon Pinar put a million and a half of dollars into his treasure-chest: the Covadouga yielded him immense wealth. Spies upon high promontories watched the seas for the dreaded British ships; the people of Manila were held ready to defend the city from assault; every one was on the alert.

For each lost galleon another was sent, and in some instances several galleons had to be despatched in a single year. Yet there were three or four occasions in which no galleon reached the Philippines for two or three years; while, after the capture of the Covadouga six years passed without a ship reaching the islands. The effect was disastrous: coin grew scarce, misery prevailed, the Chinese traders broke into open rebellion. There were other sources of revenue besides the Mexican subsidy, but the officials felt their incomes seriously straitened in these periods of want.

Other Nations Enter Into Competition.

Spain lost not only through war, but through peace. Her inelastic commerce invited competition, and British, Dutch, and other merchants began to cut down the great profits of the Philippine trade. These nations sent their ships to Canton, established factories, and bought goods for themselves, cutting off the Spanish monopoly of the traffic with the East. In 1731 foreign ships expended over $3,000,000 of Mexican coin in China for goods. These were smuggled into New Spain, not without help from Spaniards on shore. This proved a serious competition. The old hundred-per-cent. profit was no longer to be had. Acapulco was so beset with smugglers, whose merchandise found its way clandestinely to the city of Mexico, that, at times, buyers could not be found for the galleon-goods except at much reduced rates.

Fraud and Speculation.

Fraud now stepped in. Goods of inferior quality were sent and offered at old prices. Government inspectors were appointed at Manila to examine goods; but they filled their own pockets at the expense of the public service, and the frauds went on. Contraband goods were taken on the State-galleon itself, concealed in water-jars. The misfortunes that came to the Manila merchants in consequence, were due largely to their own fault: they had "sown the wind and reaped the whirlwind."

There were certain public funds in Manila that offered themselves to speculative uses. These--known as the Obras Pias--were legacies left by pious persons whose interest was to be used to pay for masses for their souls. Two-thirds were to be lent at interest to traders, the remainder being held to cover losses. The Casa Misericordia was another pious fund that was lent at 40 per cent., sinking to 20 per cent. as trade grew less profitable. In the end, speculative ventures made way with much of this accumulated cash; sorely, it may be, to the misery of the poor souls in Purgatory, waiting to be prayed into Paradise.

The Merchants of Cádiz.

A new competition with Philippine commerce came into play at the beginning of the eighteenth century,--that of the merchants of Cádiz, who had grown jealous of the shipments from Manila to Mexico, which they claimed were injurious to the home-trade. Petitions were therefore sent to the King, who, in response, put a new curb on the scanty island-commerce, prohibiting trade with China in woven goods, skins, silk, and clothing, except fine linen. The imports from China were limited to fine linen, porcelain, wax, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Six months' grace was given, after which all stocks of prohibited goods in Manila were to be burned, and all sent to Mexico to be confiscated. There was nothing strange in this decree. England was at that time practising the same restriction toward her American colonies, though she did not order any goods to be burned.

Royal Restrictions on Trade.

Decree followed decree during the ensuing years, all pointing to the same end. In 1720 it was decreed that in future two galleons might annually be sent to Mexico, but these were to be of only 500 tons, and their cargoes to be valued at $300,000, made up of non-prohibited goods. Ecclesiastics and foreigners were forbidden to have anything to do with trade. In 1726 the prohibition on silks was removed, but only one galleon was permitted to cross. A protest arose from Spain against the Philippine trade in woven goods, which was declared to be ruinous to the Spanish weaving industries, particularly as the galleons took back Mexican coin instead of Spanish goods. As a result, the 1720 decree was restored in 1731, to the dismay of the Philippine merchants and the people of Mexico. For they had to pay higher prices for Spanish goods, while their coffers were drained to meet the Philippine deficit.

Other Royal decrees were issued from time to time, favoring or injuring trade, and all with the general effect sure to arise from interference with the natural course of commerce. Among these were enactments intended to prevent Mexican capital from being invested in the Philippines. All was done that could be to keep the islands in a state of poverty and decadence.

To mention one further example of Spanish blindness--the priests. Their meddling proved worse than that of the King. Through their influence the non-Christian Chinese were expelled from the islands in 1755, and with them went an industry that caused a deficit of $30,000 a year in the taxes. Trade grew stagnant in consequence of the loss of these active shopkeepers, and the Philippines experienced what Spain had experienced when Philip II. banished the Moorish agriculturists and artisans. In both cases this concession to bigotry threw the country into a deplorable state, and years passed before prosperity returned.

COMMERCE DURING THE PRESENT CENTURY.

The Royal Company.

The closing of the Chinese shops in Manila and the expulsion of the Chinese merchants was the beginning of a new state of things in the islands. A joint-stock company was formed to buy clothing and staple goods for the Philippines, and sell at 30 per cent. advance. But the Spaniards lacked the keenness at bargaining that their predecessors possessed, and the company soon failed. Another company followed, under the favor of the King of Spain, who took a large block of its shares and gave it abundant privileges and monopolies. It--the Royal Company of the Philippines, fully organized in 1785--was given exclusive rights of trade, aside from the galleon trade with Acapulco. Foreign ships were not allowed to bring goods from Europe to the Philippines, though they could land Chinese and Indian goods.

There were old treaties that prohibited Spain from seeking the Pacific by the eastern route, her trade being via Cape Horn and Mexico. Charles III. quashed these treaties in favor of the Royal Company, whose ships were allowed to sail by way of the Cape of Good Hope. No one seriously objected--Spanish commerce was not worth an objection. With its large capital and its privileges the Royal Company should have flourished. But it never did. Yet it benefited the Philippines, and gave a great impulse to agriculture, on which large sums of money were expended. The culture of sugar, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and pepper was much developed, and these long remained the staples of many provinces.

The company had splendid opportunities, but failed to make the most of them. It broke down the vexatious prohibition to trade with the East and with Spain, which had checked Philippine enterprise, but the dry rot of Spanish incapacity caused its decay. Influence and intrigue brought men into the company that lacked ability, but received large salaries. As a result, it lost the power to compete with experts, while the contraband trade ate into its profits, and the merchants of Manila opposed its monopolies. Finally, in 1830, its privileges were taken away, and the island-colony was opened to the trade of the world. Five years afterward the Company ceased to exist.

The Restrictions Are Gradually Abolished.

Early in the nineteenth century foreigners made their way past the bars of restriction. A Mr. Butler first asked the privilege of residing in Manila, and opening up trade with Europe; but his humble petition was rejected as something monstrous,--an innovation that would put an end to the political security of the colony. Yet the needs of commerce forced Spain out of this illiberal attitude, and an American firm, Russell and Sturgis, was soon after admitted by favor of the Governor-General. Then Mr. Butler came back. Many others have since followed, and there are, to-day, about a dozen British and as many German and Swiss firms in the ports of Manila, Iloilo, and Cebú, together with firms of other nations.

The house of Russell & Sturgis was long prominent in Philippine trade. It opened up the sugar culture in the isle of Negros, invested a large amount of money in agriculture, and was long the mainspring of Philippine enterprise. But it was, in the end, victimized by the natives, to whom its capital had been largely advanced, and in 1875, to the amazement and consternation of the people, the great firm failed. For a time its failure paralyzed trade, but the minor firms it had overshadowed soon expanded, and business grew brisker than before.

Vexatious Duties on Foreign Imports.

But while foreign merchants were thus forcing their way into the Philippines, they had to contend against the peculiar Spanish ideas of commercial enterprise. The customs duties--at that time seven per cent. on goods in Spanish ships--were double that in foreign vessels. And the most vexatious regulations prevailed. Thus there was a system of levying tonnage-dues on foreign vessels in addition to duties, a cargo-ship being charged double the dues of one in ballast. If a ship in ballast should land the smallest parcel, it was at once charged the higher rate. And it is said that the officials sometimes bribed a sailor to carry a small bundle on shore, to give them a pretext to make the higher charge. The story is told, that, one shipmaster, who had brought a cargo of cobble-stones to Manila, was severely fined because his cargo proved to be one stone short of the number on his manifest.

In 1896 the collector of customs at Manila made $82,000 in this way, all of which went into his private purse. By exactions like these the Spanish officials managed to make their positions profitable, but they drove away trade, foreign shippers avoiding Manila.

Duties Made Uniform.

In 1869 a Royal decree was passed, making all decrees uniform, abolishing export duties, and doing away with the obnoxious port-charges. Since then foreign trade has been less hampered by Spanish privilege.

To-day subsidized Spanish steamers have most of the import trade, though the export trade is done mainly by foreign vessels. These carry cargoes to Asiatic ports, discharge them, and proceed in ballast to the islands. No foreigner is permitted to own a vessel trading between Spain and any of her colonies, or between one colony and another, or doing a coast-trade from island to island. But this law is readily evaded, by foreigners giving to Spaniards the nominal ownership of their vessels. In this way a large part of the internal trade of the Philippines has fallen into foreign hands.

Spanish Opposition to Foreign Trade.

Despite the fact that foreign trade has forced its way into the Philippines, every step has been gained against Spanish distrust and opposition. Spain is not a mercantile nation, and its commercial ideas are centuries behind the age. Only constant pressure forced the Philippine authorities into more liberal measures, yet the island-trade remained deplorably fettered, as compared with general commerce. Proposed reforms, demands to introduce modern improvements, were alike unwelcome, the Church especially resisting innovation. Useless and obstructive formalities stood in the way of trade; vexatious delays were made; and the development of the colony seems to have been the last thought in the Governor-General's mind.

By a Royal decree, in 1844, strangers were excluded from the interior of the islands. In 1857 old decrees were used to prevent foreign establishments in the colony. In 1886 foreign trade was declared prejudicial to the "material interests of the country."

Trade with the Natives.

The conservatism and ignorance of the natives have similarly stood in the way of commercial progress. They could not be made to understand that the change in quotations was not due to the caprice of buyers. Many of them lost by withholding goods when the quotations did not please them. Only in 1884, when the whole world was affected by the crisis in the sugar trade, could they be made to perceive that quotations were quite beyond the control of the merchants.

Accustomed to deal with the Chinese, the natives have no fixed prices for their products. The Chinese understand them, and put prices on their goods that will allow for a large reduction. In the end, the native goes away contented, though the shrewd Chinaman has usually the best of the bargain. Even important mercantile houses seldom state prices, business being conducted on the shifting Asiatic scale. Foreign capitalists distrust trade with the natives, whose word usually cannot be depended upon, and employ middlemen to collect produce. These are persons born in the colony, who understand at once the business methods of the foreigner and the shifty customs of the natives. And they generally bring the opposite parties to terms.

The only real basis of wealth in the Philippines is the raw material of agriculture and the forest. Nothing has been done to foster the industrial arts, and the manufactures are insignificant, the cigar product being the principal one.

The Decline of American Trade.

From the opening of the large export trade until recently, Americans were supreme. But the failure of the great house of Russell & Sturgis made a change. Other traders rose upon their ruins, and of late years England has gained the bulk of the trade. The downfall of the Americans was completed after the outbreak of the Cuban troubles in 1895. The Spanish hatred of the Yankee was reflected in these far-off islands, and, by petty annoyances that soon became intolerable, the last American firms were crowded out.

Recent Measures and Statistics.

In 1891 a protective tariff was laid by Spain on the trade of the Philippines. This diverted to the home-country most of the traffic formerly enjoyed by England and other countries. Iron goods and hardware are now furnished principally by Germany and Switzerland, but the Manchester cotton goods are supplemented by similar fabrics made in Barcelona. The imports from the United States are chiefly kerosene oil and flour.

As an indication of the growth of Philippine trade since the intrusion of foreign shippers put an end to the mediæval obstructions of Spain, some figures may be quoted:

In 1841 the imports of the islands aggregated in value $3,230,000, the exports, $4,370,000. In 1885 the imports had increased to $19,171,468; the exports to $24,553,686. In 1893 the imports aggregated $25,500,000; the exports $30,000,000. These figures are estimated, however, in Mexican dollars, the currency of the islands, which is at a large discount elsewhere.

In 1895 the principal exports of the Philippines were: Hemp, $14,517,000; sugar, $10,975,000; tobacco, $3,159,000; cocoanuts, $356,000. This fell off greatly in 1896, on account of the increased scale of export duties, hemp declining to $7,500,000, and sugar to $10,975,000.

On August 21, 1897, a decree went into effect that imposed an extraordinary customs duty of 6 per cent. ad valorem on all merchandise imports, without regard to the country whence they came.

The trade of the United States with the Philippines has been steadily on the decline within recent years. In 1888 their imports from the islands were valued at $10,268,278; in 1897, at $4,383,760. The export trade has always been insignificant, as compared with European countries. In 1889 it aggregated $165,903; in 1897 it was only $94,567. During the same period the exports of Spain to the islands increased from $890,000 to $7,972,583. These were principally cotton fabrics. The exports from the United States embraced mineral oil, bread stuffs, cotton goods, chemicals, iron and steel goods. Of the imports, the most important were Manila hemp and sugar; other imports include cigars, tobacco, woods, hides, shells, indigo, and coffee.

Bad Result of Spanish Rule.

The foreign trade of the Philippines has always been subject to great fluctuations, owing to insecurity under the Spanish administration, the dissatisfaction of the native population, and to the frequent insurrections. These influences have stood seriously in the way of developing the wealth of the islands. Under a new and progressive administration, there seems nothing to hinder this fertile region from becoming one of the garden spots of the earth.

The possession of the Philippines, on the other hand, has not been a bonanza for Spain. The expenses cut so deeply into the revenues that only a few hundred thousand dollars were left yearly for the Crown. The bulk of the proceeds fell into the hands of the clergy and the hidalgos sent out to rob and misgovern the islands. In addition to the revenue to the King, a few Spanish noblemen receive pensions from the islands. Among them are the Duke of Veragua and the Marquis of Barboles, both descendants of Columbus, and, as such, entitled to the consideration of the United States.

The Spanish receipts were obtained from everything that could be taxed. In truth, the people were crowded wherever possible, and kept in a state of chronic irritation. This made them ready at any time to break into rebellion.

As regards the expenditure of money raised by taxes and duties, while little came to the King, little also was spent on the islands. It was estimated that in 1897 $611,145 were expended on public works. If so, the result was not visible in the Philippines. If a bridge was needed, the neighboring nations had to raise the money to build it. More money was set aside for the transportation of priests than for the building of railroads, while ten times the sum was donated to the support of the Manila Cathedral than was spent for new improvements and for public instruction. Regarding the officials, from the Governor-General down to the lowest underling, they seem to have devoted themselves industriously to robbing the people with one hand and the Government with the other, sowing a crop of hatred of the Spaniard and of Spanish rule, which had its harvest in the fierce insurrection of 1896-98.

AGRICULTURE: THE SUGAR AND RICE CROPS.

Agriculture--The Chief Industry.

The land is the mainstay of the Philippines, and farming is the native occupation. Manufacture is a diversion to which the natives do not take kindly. The only industrial art that has made any progress is the rolling of tobacco into cigars and cigarettes. Many thousands of people are engaged in this occupation at Manila, but, otherwise, manufacture is almost at a standstill. A little cordage is made; some straw or split-bamboo hats are fashioned and shipped; in some provinces split-cane and Neto hats and straw mats are made. Iloilo yields a rough cloth,--sinamay, made from selected hemp fibre. Piña muslin, made of pure pine-leaf fibre, and husi, of mixed pine-leaf and hemp, are fabricated. Those, with a few other articles, make up the native manufactured products. They do not occupy the attention of the people, the greater part of the population getting their livelihood from the fields.

Plantation life is the industrial unit of the islands. The soil is divided up into plantations, large and small, according to the capital and enterprise of the planter. As a rule, the planters are of the Malay race, and the work of the fields is done by other Malays, as many as five or six hundred being employed on large plantations. The laborers live in little bamboo houses, the planters furnishing them both food and clothing. The food consists of rice and fish,--very cheap provender in the Philippines,--and the clothing is of a primitive character, that costs little. Yet, at the end of the season, the laborer has usually exhausted his wages and may be in debt to the planter.

On the other hand, though the planter holds the land, he is generally obliged to borrow the capital to work it. This he obtains from a middleman, who stands between him and the great merchants, the exporters of the island-produce. The middlemen are generally mestizos. They contract for the crop in advance, on behalf of the rich exporters, from whom they obtain the money lent to the planters. This capital is lent at an interest-rate of from ten to twelve per cent. They, in turn, lend it to the planters at a considerable advance,--say, twenty to thirty, and often as much as fifty, per cent. I have heard of even one hundred per cent. being demanded. Thus the planter is ground between the upper and nether millstone,--the exporter and the middlemen. They alone make any money, the producer being normally in debt, as his laborers are likewise to him.

The Principal Products of the Colony.

The products of the islands are various, including maize, rice, cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugar-cane, the cocoanut, the abacá, or manila hemp plant, and a large number of dye-woods, medicinal, and other useful plants, such as ebony, sapan-wood, tamarind, bamboo, numerous palms, fibrous plants, etc. But I am now concerned only with the agricultural products, and shall therefore confine this chapter to a consideration of two of the more important--rice and sugar.

In former years, the few that faced the obstacles to agriculture in an unworked country succeeded in obtaining fair returns in wealth from the cultivation of the main staples. But those palmy days exist no longer: prices have declined to one-third their former level, while the wages of the laborers have risen. The buffalo, the indispensable aid of the farmer, could then be obtained for one-fifth its present cost, on account of the limited demand. Trade in those days was much less than at present, but the native producers and traders occupied a sounder position, and comfort existed, where penury now prevails.

Of late years, hundreds have gone into agriculture with much too little capital. They hold the land, but frequently without the deeds to show for it. Hence, their property is not negotiable, and they are thrown into the hands of the money-lender, who squeezes the life-blood from the unlucky planter. As agriculture yields less than thirty per cent., and this or more has to be paid in interest on capital, the contract is likely to end in the money-lender getting the land. Few of the planters succeed in saving their estate and throwing off their load of debt.

The Cultivation of Sugar-cane.

The species of sugar-cane cultivated in the Philippines (saccharum violaceum) differs from that grown in the west, but it is the same as that found throughout Malaysia and Polynesia generally. The culture and manufacture are conducted in a very slovenly fashion, consequently the sugar produced is coarse of grain and poor in quality. The yield, however, is large, and leaves, after the demands of the islands are supplied, some 250,000 tons annually for export. With proper cultivation this could be very much increased and its quality greatly improved.

The culture of the cane extends through the islands of Negros, Panay, Cebú, Luzon, and, in some measure, throughout the entire Archipelago. The yellow variety is grown in Pampanga (Luzon), the purple in Panay and Negros. The price of cane-land varies considerably, according to its facilities for drainage, transportation, and the like. Thus, in the province of Bulacan, adjoining Manila, whose soil has been exhausted by long cultivation,--the yield being but 20 tons per acre,--land is held at the high figure of $115 per acre. In the more distant province of Pampanga, land can be had for $75, though the yield per acre is 30 tons. Nueva Eciji, still farther away, and presenting difficulties of transportation, yields 35 tons to the acre, yet the land-price is little over $30. The development of an extensive railroad-system would change all this.

The high price of land in Bulacan is due mainly to sentimental considerations. The cane plantations there were laid out centuries ago, and have been held in the same families for many generations. In consequence, the natives cling to them with the strength of hereditary affection, and will part with the family estates only for fancy prices. Nature has made the soil of the Philippines so wonderfully rich and fertile, that artificial fertilizers are never employed, the land being expected, year after year, and century after century, to do its duty and yield its full return. In view of these considerations, it need hardly be said that American capital and enterprise would make a remarkable change in the land.

The finest sugar-cane region is the island of Negros, in the Visaya district. This island is about equal to Porto Rico in size. The culture of the cane began there about 1850, in which year the crop was 625 tons. Not more than half its area is cultivated, from lack of capital, but it now sends to the port of Iloilo over 80,000 tons of sugar for exportation. Uncleared sugar-land there is held at $35 per acre, cleared land at $70, the average yield being estimated at 40 tons per acre on new, and 30 tons on old, estates. But the latter give sugar of much higher grade, and need less labor in handling, so that there is no loss in the value of the crop.

Methods of Manufacturing Sugar.

The process of manufacture differs in the north and the south. In Negros the cane-juice is evaporated to that point of concentration in which the molasses is incorporated with the grain. Then the liquid is placed in wooden troughs of about eight by four feet in size, and stirred with shovels until cooled sufficiently not to form a solid mass. When cold, the lumps are pounded and broken up, and the whole is packed in grass-bags for shipment. In the north the process is carried further, efforts being made to get rid of the molasses. When the boiled mass has set, the pots containing it are put over pots into which the molasses drains. If left thus for six months, twenty per cent. of the original weight will drain off. The molasses is sold to distillers to make alcohol, and there is some demand for it to mix with water for horses.

The Iloilo sugar generally comes to the United States, being shipped in the raw state, to be refined there. In Manila the manufacture of sugar has been more developed, and a quantity of crystal grain is produced there for export to Spain. The old method of grinding the cane, introduced by the Chinese, consists in the use of two rough vertical cutting mills,--cylinders of wood being used in the south; of stone in the north. These are fitted with wooden teeth, between which the grain is crushed. Mills of this primitive kind are still in use in parts of the country, but are being superseded by iron rollers sent from England, and, like the former, revolved by buffaloes. Steam mills are also being introduced. In Negros, where foreign influence is predominant, nearly all the mills are of European make.

It may be said, further, in this connection, that the sugar-estates are generally small, not a dozen in the country yielding more than 1,000 tons of raw sugar a year. One that yields 500 tons is declared large. And the lack of transportation, too, greatly checks enterprise. In Negros there are no canals or railroads to the coast, and the annual crop needs to be painfully hauled in buffalo carts, to be loaded on schooners, for carriage to the port of Iloilo. Buffaloes on this island, five years old, bring $30. In Luzon they can be bought for half that price. The wages paid to laborers average about one and a half dollars weekly. But, in estimating the comparative comfort to be derived from this, we must consider the low price of food and clothing, and the primitive habits of the islanders.

The highest table-lands are most suitable for cane-planting, good drainage being a necessity of the situation. The shoots are planted in February, and the cane is cut in the following December or January. In the West Indies the canes are planted widely, and the ratoons, or root-stocks, last from five to twenty years, sending up new shoots annually. In the Philippines, however, the planting is renewed annually, the canes being set much closer. After cutting, the milling should be done in ten weeks, delay causing much loss in sugar. The whole process of milling and planting should be completed by the middle of March, the remainder of the year being left to the growth and culture of the crop.

The Several Systems of Labor.

In the north the co-operative principle of labor is largely employed, each tenant being provided with the necessary buffaloes and implements, and attending to the cane as if it were his own. He provides the hands for cane-crushing and sugar-making, while the land-owner supplies other necessaries, and has to take the risk of typhoons, droughts, locusts, and the like. The tenants receive, as their share, from a third to a half of the crop, according to the bargain made. Nevertheless, they are generally in debt to the owner and are looked upon as his servants.

In the south the plantations are worked on the wage system. Here great vigilance is needed to keep the men properly to their tasks, overseers being employed, who have an interest in the crop. The overseer in some instances provides his own capital, and receives two-thirds of the yield as his share. In 1877 a British company, with large capital, organized, to buy the cane-juice and to extract from it highly-refined sugar. Every preparation was made, but from the first the enterprise was a failure, and the concern wound up in 1880, the stockholders suffering severely for their faith. Yet fortunes have been made in Philippine sugar, and until 1883 the crop could usually be depended on to pay a good profit to the capitalist and leave something for the borrower. The custom introduced in Europe, in 1884, of paying subsidies to the beet-root cultivator, proved ruinous to the islanders, and interest on capital is now the only return to be looked for.

The Rice Crop.

Turning now from the sugar to the rice crop, I may say that it is the staple food of the people, the crop upon which the very existence of the people depends. It is grown in every province, rice-cultivation being the only branch of agriculture that the people thoroughly understand, and into which they enter with the zest of evident enjoyment. Rice, a native plant of the East, has from time immemorial been the leading food-product of all the nations of Eastern Asia. The wild plant, from which all the cultivated varieties have been derived, is still plentiful in the marshy, tropical countries of southern Asia and northern Australia; while the people of India, China, and the islands of the ocean live very largely on this nutritive grain. It is known by as many as 1,300 different local names, and it is said that Bengal alone has displayed 4,000 distinct forms of rice. These differences are in color, shape, and size, and may be all referred to a few well-marked varieties of Oryza sativa, the rice plant. In India and the Philippines rice in the husk is called paddy, and this word comes constantly into play in speaking of the cultivation of the plant.

Formerly, rice was the main crop of the Philippines; a considerable quantity being exported. Twenty years ago Sual was an important port for the shipment of rice to China. It has now declined to an insignificant village. In fact, the extension of sugar culture has so reduced that of rice, that not enough is now produced for use, and large quantities are imported from Siam, Burmah, and China. Pangasinan is still a large rice-growing province, but all its product is consumed within the country. Sugar is a much better-paying crop, its minimum profit being equal to the maximum profit on rice. Rice-planting, in fact, is not profitable, and few carry it on largely; yet, inasmuch as it is necessary for the subsistence of the populace, some degree of attention compels its culture.

Methods of Rice-cultivation.

There are over twenty different kinds of rice-paddy grown in the Philippines. These constitute two groups,--the highland rice, grown in localities where inundation cannot be used, and the lowland, with which inundation is easy. The latter, known as Macan, is of much the finer quality, the most esteemed variety being that of white grain. Paga, or highland rice, is in large proportion of red grain. Its return is but half that of the Macan rice, but only one crop of the latter can be grown annually, while usually three crops of Paga rice are raised. One difficulty in Paga rice-cultivation is the presence of a fly that sucks the flower and prevents seeding. These the planters whisk off morning and evening with a bunch of straw, tied to the end of a stick.

The Macan grain is sown in June, in a plot set aside for seeding, and saturated with water until it is a mass of mud. Here in six weeks the plants grow to the height of a foot. They are then pulled up by the roots and transplanted in the flooded fields, in which the final growth is to be attained. Around these fields banks of earth are raised to prevent the water from flowing off. The men raise and separate the plants, and the women set them out again, one plant at a time, wading through the soft mud, in which they often sink to the knees. The process seems a tedious one, but I have often been surprised to see the rapidity with which the natives perform it. It is a process in which they are thoroughly trained, and at which they are remarkably quick.

Four months more are needed for the ripening of the grain, during which the fields are kept clear of weeds, the natives wading back and forth through the mud in their task. After cutting and heaping, the paddy is made into stacks. In six weeks more the grain is separated from the straw by treading or by the use of the flail, or by causing ponies to trot over it. It may be said that there is nothing in nature more beautiful than a valley of green ripening rice in the midst of verdant hills. In the flood of rich color beneath my eyes, I have gazed upon such a scene with inexpressible delight.

Primitive Machines, and Importance of the Rice Crop.

No rice-husking, winnowing or pearling-machines are in use in the Philippines other than some small ones for domestic use. The great number of kinds of rice-paddy hinders their use on a large scale, since the mill adapted to one field would not clean the crop of another. The grain is generally husked in a large hard-wood mortar, where it is beaten with a pestle, several men and women at times working over one mortar. There is also in use a primitive wooden mill worked by buffaloes. In this a series of pins engage with each other, causing a column to lift and fall, thereby serving as a pestle as it falls. Steam and water-power have recently been brought into use in some localities.

It is said that one quinon (about seven acres) of land will yield from 250 to 300 cavans (about 96 pounds each) of rice, but the yield could be greatly increased if a system of irrigation were generally in use. At present, the dependence is largely on the rains. The yield from seed varies from 40 to 100 grains of crop to one seed, 50 grains being a good average. A family of five persons will consume about 250 pounds of rice per month. It is used in almost every native dish, and takes the place of bread. The paddy, or unhulled rice, is to feed horses, cattle, and fowls.

It may be said in conclusion, that the rice and sugar planters have many insect enemies to contend against. One of the worst is the locust, which makes its appearance at times in overwhelming multitudes, and whose ravages I have elsewhere described. In some degree it replaces the food it destroys, the natives cooking and eating their foes, and in some districts, looking upon them as a luxury whose coming is worth praying for.

The average annual production of rice is a million and a half piculs, and almost a million piculs are imported.

THE HEMP PLANT AND ITS USES.

Description of the Abacá.

First and foremost among the useful plants of the Philippines stands musa textilis, a species of plantain that grows wild in many of the islands and is the source of the well-known Manila hemp, the most valuable of all fibres for cordage. The native name for the plant is abacá. In appearance it is not easy to distinguish it from the plant of the same genus that yields us that useful and agreeable fruit, the banana. The only visible difference really is that the banana tree is taller and its leaves are of a lighter green. The most marked distinction is in the fruit, that of the abacá being small and unfit for eating.

Properly considered, the abacá, like all the plantains, is an herb, not a tree; that is, it bears flowers and fruit once only, then perishes. The root survives, however, and a new plant springs up. The abacá attains an average height of ten feet, though it sometimes grows much higher. Its favorite location is on hilly land, and it refuses to grow in swampy situations. I have often found it growing wild on mountain slopes of volcanic formation, where the little depth of soil scarcely gave it room to root.

The value of this plant lies in its leaves, the petioles, or leaf-stalks, containing a long and strong fibre, for which it is widely cultivated. Little attention is given to the plant during its three years of growth. At the end of that time it sends up a central stem, upon which flowers appear. Now comes the work of the cultivator. Fruit is not permitted to appear, the flower-stem being cut away and the leaf-stalks that surround it torn into strips five or six inches wide, their length being over six feet.

The Process of Manufacture.

Bast, the name by which these strips are known, is made up of hemp-fibre and a soft pulpy substance enclosing it. The process of manufacture is a very simple one,--consisting in scraping this soft substance from the fibre. This work is done by the natives in a primitive fashion. Nevertheless, no one, so far, has been able to improve upon it.

The scraping instrument consists of a dull knife, which is attached by a hinge to a block of wood. To this is connected a treadle worked by the foot, by whose aid the operator scrapes the fresh leaf-strips under the knife, with the degree of force that may be thought necessary. The bast is drawn along between the knife and the block, forcing out the pulp, which remains on the side of the knife, while the fibre, as it is set free, is wound by the operator round a stick of wood.

Only one further process is necessary. The fibre in its fresh state is very moist, containing about fifty-six per cent. of water. To dispose of this, it is laid in the sun to dry and left for about five hours, when it is considered ready for use. All that remains to be done, then, is to prepare it for shipment, which is done by packing tightly in bales and binding with hoops of iron or rattan.

The method of cleaning the bast, as described, has long been practised by the islanders. Many attempts have been made to improve upon it, but with no shining success. In fact, the various machines that have been devised for the removal of the pulp usually have done more harm than good. A machine that seeks to clean the whole length of a strip of bast at once, is sure to break the fibre, which is not strong enough to bear the strain. In the machines a cylinder takes the place of the hand and the stick of the operator, and those cylinders, whether of steel or of glass, are always found to discolor the fibre, and thus reduce its marketable value. The only machine I know of that avoids this defect is the invention of Don Abelardo Cuesta, a Spaniard, brought out in 1886. This yielded excellent results, but required so many hands to run it that it did not pay. The result is, nearly all the fibre that is shipped is cleaned by the old native hand-process.

Some Facts about Hemp-growing.

Hemp-growing is the least troublesome of the agricultural operations in the Philippines, and gives the best returns for the expense involved. In starting a plantation the colonist chooses forest land, clearing away the smaller growth, but leaving the large trees to shade the plants and the young shoots. Where the soil is virgin, each shoot occupies, at first, a space of ground thirty-six Spanish square feet in extent. When the original plant is felled, the suckers come up anywhere, growing spontaneously from the parent root, and yielding a much denser plantation.

The abacá can be raised from seed; in which case it requires four years to flower. Planters, however, generally transplant the six-months-suckers, which, as I have said, reach maturity in three years. Maturity, for commercial purposes, signifies the flowering stage. In no case is the plant allowed to bear fruit, because fruit-bearing weakens the outer fibre.

Ample capital is necessary for success in hemp-growing, inasmuch as three years or more must pass before any profit can be had. After that, the grower can depend upon an annual yield. But even then, when he is the owner of a flourishing plantation, he has serious difficulties to contend with. The amount of waste is enormous, some thirty per cent. of the fibre being lost through carelessness and negligence. The natives often cut the leaf-stalks before they reach maturity. In other cases, they fail to do so till they have rotted on the plant.

Inefficiency takes still other forms, but, despite this, there is abundant margin for gain, since no agricultural operation is conducted with less risk. The dense protecting forest-growth shields the plants from hurricanes, while the high land on which they grow is safe from inundation. Fire can make no headway among their green leaves and moist stems. Locusts will not touch the hemp plant, and beetles and other insects harm it but little. As the crop comes to maturity at successive periods, it can be leisurely gathered, from time to time, the year round. No ploughing is needed, and therefore there is no live-stock to be purchased, fed, and cared for. There is no expensive machinery, and no highly-priced machinists needed to run it. Weeding must be carefully attended to, but this is the work of the natives, and is done very cheaply. The enemies of the hemp planter are an occasional drought when his plants are in the ground, and the danger of fire to his dried bales before they reach their destination. His greatest annoyance must come from the steady thirty per cent. of what seems like unnecessary waste, due to the causes stated.

Difficulties with Native Labor.

Work on an abacá estate is performed on the co-operative plan. The laborers are paid not in money but in kind, they receiving half the fibre they clean, while the other half goes to the owner of the estate. The workman, however, is not required to take the fibre for his pay, but receives, instead, its current cash value--if not cheated, which he frequently is. The law of the Philippines, however, is cheat for cheat, the native having become quite as tricky as his master. The value of the fibre depends upon its whiteness and its strength, and both are reduced by the indolence and dishonesty of the hands. My experience with the islanders is, I admit, that they are none too fond of work. A laborer on a hemp plantation, who finds himself pressed for money, is likely to take some method like the following to obtain it: he will seek an abacá plant, strip a few of its leaf-stalks, and leave them exposed to the rain and the air. As a result, the bast grows soft and rotten, and is more easily cleaned, but the fibre is weakened and discolored. In cleaning it, he uses a toothed knife,--a form forbidden by the trade, since it adds to the discoloration. As the fibre is sold by weight, the dishonest manipulator is careful to leave some of the pulp to dry upon it and so increase the number of pounds. Carrying his bundle of coarse, partly-cleaned, discolored, and weak fibre, he seeks the dealer at night, that he may be deceived as to the color of the fibre. These tricks are well known to the planter, his manager, and to the acopiadores, or dealers at large, and do not often succeed.

The plantation-owners make every effort to force the natives to use knives without teeth, in order that the fibre may be fine, perfectly clean, and white. The Filipino, though, if not closely watched, persists in using his serrated knife, because if he uses one with a smooth edge he loses in weight. He is too ignorant to perceive that the fibre properly treated is of higher value. It is quite possible, as is often claimed, that there is a difference in plants, some giving a whiter fibre than others. But it is generally conceded that if the natives would cut the plant only at maturity, cleanse the fibre under a toothless knife the same day, place the strips in a clean place, and sun-dry at once, the waste would be materially lessened, and there would be little third-class matter.

In other words, what the hemp-planter needs are honest, reliable hands and an efficient manager.

On some of the islands inspectors are appointed by the Governor, whose duty it is to travel about from place to place, intimidating hemp-laborers in the name of the law. But so far their efforts seem to have met with but little success, the plantations owned by foreigners being large, remote, and difficult to reach; they are, indeed, nearly always on the sides of mountains. In the extraction of the fibre the natives work in couples: one man strips the bast, another draws it under the knife. A fair week's work for the two, including selection and felling of plants, and cleansing and drying of bast, is 2-1/7 piculs--about 300 pounds. First-quality fibre brings in Manila $8.50 a picul, and third-quality $7.25; but while the former price remains firm, the latter falls as the poor quality increases. Nevertheless, as may be seen, the native gets good wages even for a poor quality of hemp.

The work of the laborers is by no means confined to treating the fibre, they being expected to devote some time every day to weeding the plants, and clearing out brushwood. This is part of their regular work and is not paid for extra. The baling of the fibre is done by means of a press, at which men and boys work, their rate of payment varying from 12-1/2 to 50 cents a day. Transportation from the plantations to the shipping points, such as Manila and Cebú, is also to be considered in estimating the outlay of the planter.

Tricks of the Natives.

I have not yet told all the tricks of the natives. They cheat also in the planting, by not making deep enough holes for setting out the shoots. In consequence, planters no longer pay at once for shoots and labor, as formerly, but reserve payment for three years, or until full growth is attained. Then $10 are paid for each hundred of live plants.

In addition to the large planters, many of the Filipinos produce bast in a small way, selling it to Chinese dealers. Or a Chinaman may, for a petty sum, gain the right to work a native plantation for a fixed term of years. With but one thought in mind--that of immediate gain--he strips the plants in their immature stage, producing a white but weak fibre, and returns the plantation to its owner ruined for the time being. The Chinese are, in consequence, held under suspicion, and their bast is severely inspected before purchase.

In fact, the whole process of hemp-production, from the proprietor down to the lowest laborer, seems permeated with fraud; and between efforts to cheat on the one hand, and efforts to escape being cheated on the other, life on a hemp plantation is not a state of beatitude.

Competition with Other Lands.

Manila hemp never fails of a market, particularly in the United States, where it is most largely used. No other fibre known is so valuable for cordage, and the production might be greatly increased without overstocking the market. To the various frauds practised in its production may be added another employed by the manufacturers of cordage: the free adulteration of the pure Philippine fibre by the admixture of New Zealand flax and Russian hemp.

The cultivation of the plant has been attempted outside the Philippines, but with no satisfactory result. Abacá planting, it is true, was tried successfully in the botanical gardens at Saigon, Cochin China, but the experiment was abandoned, for some reason unexplained. Abacá has also been planted in British India, and flourished as well there as at Saigon, but the effort to produce hemp from it failed through ignorance of the proper method of the drawing of the fibre.

The mode of extraction tried was that practised with the ordinary hemp of India, excepting that the stems were first passed through a sugar-cane mill, to get rid of the sap. By this means fifty per cent. of the whole weight was squeezed out; the stems were then immersed in water and left to rot for ten or more days; afterward they were washed by hand and dried in the sun. Less than two pounds of fibre were thus gained from one hundred pounds of stems, and this bad in color and lacking in strength.