The Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País.
Basco’s idea was to make the Philippines economically self-sufficing, and not dependent on Mexico. For this reason, he encouraged the development of agriculture by offering prizes to those who would excel in the cultivation of cotton, spices, sugar and silk; those who would open up the various kinds of mines; those who invented useful things, and those who excelled in the arts and sciences. Likewise, he issued circulars and pamphlets explaining the method of cultivating the different Philippine crops. In order to get the community’s co-operation in carrying out his economic plan, he induced the King to issue a decree establishing the Economic Society. In spite of serious opposition on the part of many, the society was auspiciously inaugurated in 1782. It seemed, however, as if Basco’s ideas were too advanced for his time, for the society led a declining life up to 1822. A memoir published by the Society[2], and containing a list of its achievements, shows its activity to have consisted of discussions of economic subjects; the publication of pamphlets dealing with the cultivation of coffee, sugar, indigo, silk, gutta-percha, hemp, cacao, and other plants; the offering of prizes to persons who succeeded in weaving cloths, making dyes, inventing hemp-stripping machines, and contributing other useful things to agriculture; and the introduction of agricultural implements of various kinds from the United States. The Society lived for over a century, till 1890. Another means resorted to by Basco to free the Philippines from its dependence on Mexico was the establishment of the tobacco monopoly by the government. This proved to be a good source of revenue, and, at the same time, was instrumental in bringing into cultivation large tracts of land. However, the evils attending it were many; the abuses of the government officials in enforcing the regulations, and in trying to make profits for themselves; the lack of incentive on the part of the producer to improve the quality of his tobacco; the existence of smuggling and bribery, and the poverty of the farmer; all these were attributed to the tobacco monopoly.[3]