State of the Philippines in 1810
By Tomas de Comyn
Population.The enumeration of the natives for the assessment of tributes, in the manner ordained by the standing regulations of the Intendants of New Spain, is not observed in the Philippine Islands; nor indeed would this be an easy task. The wide extent of the twenty-seven provinces of which they are composed, scattered, as they are, through the great space comprehended between the southern part of Mindanao, and the almost desert islands known by the name of Batanes and Babuyanes, to the north of that of Luzon, presents almost insurmountable obstacles, and in some measure affords an excuse for the omission. Among these obstacles may be mentioned the necessity of waiting for the favorable monsoon to set in, in order to perform the several voyages from one island to the other; the encumbered state of the grounds in many parts, the irregular and scattered situations of the settlements and dwellings, the variety among the natives and their dialects, the imperfect knowledge hitherto obtained of the respective limits and extent of many districts, the general want of guides and auxiliaries, on whom reliance can be placed, and, above all, the extreme repugnance the natives evince to the payment of tributes, a circumstance which induces them to resort to all kinds of stratagems, in order to elude the vigilance of the collectors, and conceal their real numbers.
Estimates.The quinquennial census, as regularly enjoined, being thus found impracticable, no other means are left than to deduce from the annual lists, transmitted by the district magistrates to the superintendent’s office, and those formed by the parish curates, a prudent estimate of the total number of inhabitants subject to our laws and religion; yet these data, although the only ones, and also the most accurate it is possible to obtain, for this reason, inspire so little confidence, that it is necessary to use them with great caution. It is evident that all the district magistrates and curates do not possess the same degree of care and minuteness in a research so important, and the omission or connivance of their respective delegates, more or less general, renders it probable that the number of tributes, not included in the annual returns, is very considerable. If to this we add the leged exemptions from tribute, justly granted to various individuals for a certain number of years, or during the performance of special service, we shall easily be convinced of the imperfection of results, derived from such insecure principles. * * * I have carefully formed my estimates corresponding to the year 1810, and by confronting them with such data as I possess relating to the population of 1791, I have deduced the consoling assurance that, under a parity of circumstances, the population of these Islands, far from having diminished, has, in the interval, greatly increased.
Ratio to tributes.From the collective returns recently made out by the district magistrates, it would appear that the total number of tributes amounts to 386,654, which multiplied by six and one-half produces the sum of 2,515,406, at which I estimate the total population, including old men, women and children. I ought here to observe, that I have chosen this medium of six and one-half between the five persons estimated in Spain and eight in the Indies, as constituting each family, or entire tribute; for although the prodigious fecundity of the women in the latter hemisphere, and the facility of maintaining their numerous offspring, both the effects of the benignity of the climate and their sober way of living, sufficiently warrant the conclusion, that a greater number of persons enter into the composition of each family, I have, in this case, been induced to pay deference to the observations of religious persons, intrusted with the care of souls, who have assured me that, whether it be owing to the great mortality prevailing among children, or the influence of other local causes, in many districts each family, or entire tribute, does not exceed four and one-half persons.
Foreigners and wild tribes.To the above amount it is necessary to add 7,000 Sangleys (Chinese), who have been enumerated and subjected to tribute, for, although in the returns preserved in the public offices, they are not rated at more than 4,700, there are ample reasons for concluding, that many who are wandering about, or hidden in the provinces, have eluded the general census. The European Spaniards, and Spanish creoles and mestizos, do not exceed 4,000 persons, of both sexes and all ages, and the distinct castes or modifications known in America under the name of mulattos, quadroons, etc., although found in the Philippine Islands, are generally confounded in the three classes of pure natives, Chinese mestizos, and Chinese. Besides the above distinctions, various infidel and independent nations or tribes exist, more or less savage and ferocious, who have their dwellings in the woods and glens, and are distinguished by the respective names of Aetas, Ingolots, Negrillos, Igorots, Tinguianes, etc., nor is there scarcely a province in Luzon, that does not give shelter to some of those isolated tribes, who inhabit and possess many of the mountainous ranges, which ramificate and divide the wide and extended plains of that beautiful island.
Origin of race.The original race by which the Philippines are peopled, is beyond doubt Malayan, and the same that is observed in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the other islands of this immense archipelago. The Philippine Islanders, very different from the Malabars, whose features possess great regularity, sweetness, and even beauty, only resemble the latter in color, although they excel them in stature, and the good proportion of their limbs. The local population of the capital, in consequence of its continual communication with the Chinese and other Asiatics, with the mariners of various nations, with the soldiery and Mexican convicts, who are generally mulattos, and in considerable numbers sent to the Islands yearly in the way of transportation, has become a mixture of all kinds of nations and features, or rather a degeneration from the primitive races.
Manila’s population.Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands, at present contains a population of from one hundred forty to one hundred fifty thousand inhabitants, of all classes; but it ought, however, to be understood, that in this computation are included the populous suburbs of Santa Cruz, San Fernando, Binondo, Tondo, Quiapo, San Sebastian, San Anton, and Sampaloc; for although each is considered as a distinct town, having a separate curate, and civil magistrate of its own, the subsequent union that has taken place rather makes them appear as a prolongation of the city, divided into so many wards and parishes, in the center of which their respective churches are built. Among the chief provincial towns, several are found to contain a population of from twenty to thirty thousand souls, and many not less than ten to twelve thousand. Finally, it is a generally received opinion that, besides the Moros and independent tribes, the total population of the Philippine Islands, subject to the authority of the king, is equal to three millions.
Cotton.Among the varied productions of the Philippines, for many reasons, none is so deserving of attention as cotton. Its whiteness and find staple give to it such a superiority over that of the rest of Asia, and possibly of the world, that the Chinese anxiously seek it, in order pereferably to employ it in their most perfect textures, and purchase it thirty per cent dearer than the best from British India. Notwithstanding this extraordinary allurement, the vicinity of a good market, and the positive certainty that, however great the exportation, the growth can never equal the consumption and immense demand for this article, it has, nevertheless, hitherto been found impossible to extend and improve its cultivation, in such a way as to render it a staple commodity of the country. Owing to this lamentable neglect, is it, that the annual exportation does not exceed five thousand “arrobas” (125,000 lbs.) whereas the British import into China at the annual rate of 100,000 bales, or 1,200,000 “arrobas,” produced in their establishments at Bombay and Calcutta, and which, sold at the medium price of fifteen “taels,” for one hundred thirty pounds, yield the net amount of $4,800,000.
Its advantages.This want of attention to so important a branch of agriculture is the more to be regretted, as the Islands abound in situations peculiarly adapted for the cultivation of cotton, and the accidental failure of the crops in some provinces, might easily be made up by their success in others. The culture of this plant is besides extremely easy, as it requires no other labor than clearing the grounds from brush-wood, and lightly turning up the earth with a plough, before the seeds are scattered, which being done, the planter leaves the crop to its own chance, and in five months gathers abundant fruit, if, at the time the bud opens, it is not burnt by the north winds, or rotted with unseasonable showers.
Restricted cultivation.The provinces of Ilocos and Batangas are the only ones in which the cultivation of cotton is pursued with any degree of zeal and care, and it greatly tends to enrich the inhabitants. This successful example has not, however, hitherto excited emulation in those of the other provinces; and thus the only production of the Philippine Islands, of which the excellence and superior demand in trade are as well known as its culture is easy, owing to strange fatality and causes which will be hereafter noticed, is left almost in a neglected state, or, at most, confined to the narrow limits of local consumption.
Indigo.Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bataan, La Laguna, Tayabas and Camarines produce indigo of various classes, and, although its preparation or the extraction of the dye, is in most of the above provinces still performed in an equally imperfect manner, several small improvements have recently been made, which have bettered the quality, more particularly in La Laguna, the only district in which attempts have been made to imitate the process used in Guatemala, as well with regard to the construction and number of vats necessary, as the precipitation of the coloring particles—detached from the plant by the agitation of the water. In the other places, the whole of the operations are performed in a single vat, and the indigo obtained is not unfrequently impregnated with lime and other extraneous substances.
Increasing culture.Whatever may have been the causes of this evident backwardness, from the period of the establishment of the Philippine Company in these Islands, and in consequence of the exertions of some of the directors to promote the cultivation of indigo, at that time very little known, the natives have slowly, though gradually, been reconciled to it; and discovering it to be one of the most advantageous branches of industry, although accompanied with some labor and exposed to the influence of droughts and excessive heats, as well as to the risks attendant on the extraordinary anticipation of the rainy seasons, have of late years paid more attention to it. The quintal of indigo of the first class costs the planter from $35 to $40 at most; and in the market of Manila it has been sold from $60 to $130, according to the quality and the greater or lesser demand for the article at the season. As, however, everything in this colony moves within a small circle, it is not possible to obtain large quantities for exportation; not only because of the risk in advancing the Indian sums of money on account of his crop, but also owing to the annual surplus seldom exceeding from two to two thousand five hundred distributed in many hands, and collected by numerous agents, equally interested in making up their return-cargoes.
Sugar.The cultivation of the sugar-cane is more or less extended to all the provinces of these Islands, owing to its consumption among the natives being both great and general; but those of La Pampanga and Pangasinan are more particularly devoted to it. These two provinces alone annually produce about 550,000 arrobas (13,750,000 lbs.) of which one-third is usually exported in Chinese and other foreign vessels. In extraordinary seasons, the amount exported greatly exceeds the quantity above stated, as, for example, happened in the monsoon of 1796, when the planters came down to the port of Manila, and by contract exported upwards of nine millions weight, of the first and second qualities. The price of this article has experienced many variations of late years; but the medium may be estimated at $6 for one hundred twenty-five pounds of the first quality, and $5 for the second.
Method of Manufacture.The superior quality of the sugar of the Philippines is acknowledged, when compared to that produced in the Island of Java, China, or Bengal; notwithstanding in the latter countries it may naturally be concluded that greater pains and care are bestowed on its manufacture. The pressure of the cane in the Philippine Islands is performed by means of two coarse stone cylinders, placed on the ground, and moved in opposite directions by the slow and unequal pace of a “carabao,” a species of ox or buffalo, peculiar to this and other Asiatic countries. The juice is conveyed to an iron caldron, and in this the other operations of boiling, skimming and cleansing take place, till the crystallization or adhering of the sugar is completed. All these distinct parts of the process, in other colonies, are performed in four separate vessels, confided to different hands, and consequently experience a much greater degree of care and dexterity. After being properly clayed, the sugars acquire such a state of consistency that, when shipped in canvas bags, they become almost petrified in the course of the voyage, without moistening or purging, as I understand is the case with those of Bengal.
Silk.Among the useful objects to which the Patriotic Society of Manila (Amigos del Pais) directed their attention, from the very moment of their formation, the planting of mulberry trees seems to have met with peculiar encouragement. The society rightly judged that the naturalization of so valuable a commodity as silk in these Islands would materially increase the resources of the colony, and there was reason to hope that, besides local consumption, the growth might in time be so much extended as to supply the wants of New Spain, which are not less than 80,000 lbs., amounting to from $350,000 to $400,000, conveyed there in the galleon annually sent to the port of Acapulco, by the Manila merchants, which article they are now compelled to contract for in China.
Mulberry trees.The Society gave the first impulse to this laudable project, and then the governor of the Islands, Don José Basco, anxious to realize it, with this view sent Colonel Charles Conely on a special commission to the province of Camarines. This zealous officer and district magistrate, in the years 1786–1788 caused 4,485,782 mulberry trees to be planted in the thirty districts under his jurisdiction; and incalculable are the happy results which would have attended a plan so extensive, and commenced with so much vigor, if it could have been continued with the same zeal by his successor, and not at once destroyed, through a mistaken notion of humanity, with which, soon after the departure of Governor Basco, they proceeded to exonerate the Filipinos from all agricultural labor that was not free and spontaneous, in conformity, as was then alleged, to the general spirit of our Indian legislation. As it was natural to expect, the total abandonment of this valuable branch followed a measure so fatal, and notwithstanding the efforts subsequently made by the Royal Company, in order to obtain its restoration, as well in Camarines as the Province of Tondo, all their exertions were in vain, though it must be allowed that at the time several untoward circumstances contributed to thwart their anxious wishes. Notwithstanding this failure, the project, far from being deemed impracticable, would beyond all doubt succeed, and, under powerful patronage, completely answer the well-founded hopes of its original conceivers and promoters. The natives themselves would soon be convinced of the advantages to be derived from the possession of an article, in so many ways applicable to their own fine textures, and besides the variety of districts in the Islands, proved to be suitable to the cultivation of this interesting tree, it is a known fact that many of the old mulberry groves are still in existence.
Beeswax.The Bisayas, Cagayan, and many other provinces, produce wax in considerable abundance, which the Indians collect from the natural hives formed in the cavities of the trees, and it is also brought down by the infidel natives from the mountains to the neighboring towns. The quality certainly is not the best, and notwithstanding attempts have been made to cleanse it from the extraneous particles with which it is mixed, it always leaves a considerable sediment on the lower part of the cakes, and never acquires an entire whiteness. Its consumption is great, especially in the capital, and after supplying the wants of the country, an annual surplus of from six hundred to eight hundred quintals is appropriated for exportation.
Neglected market.This certainly might be converted into an article of extreme importance, especially for the kingdom of Peru, which in peaceable times receives its supplies from Spain, and even from the Island of Cuba; but for this purpose it would be necessary to adopt the plan recommended by the enlightened zeal of the Patriotic Society and previously encourage the establishment of artificial hives and the plantation of aromatic and flowering shrubs, which so easily attract and secure the permanency of the roving swarms, always ready to undertake fresh labors. This, as well as many other points, has hitherto been entirely overlooked.
Black pepper.The production is cultivated in the Provinces of Tayabas, Batangas, and La Laguna, but in such small quantities, that, notwithstanding the powerful allurements of all kinds constantly held out by the Royal Company during the long period of twenty years, their agents have never been able to collect in more than about 64,000 lbs. annually. After every encouragement, the most that has been attained with the natives, is confined to their planting in some districts fifty to one hundred pepper-vines round their huts, which they cultivate in the same way as they would plots of flowers, but without any other labor than supporting the plant with a proportioned stake, clearing the ground from weeds, and attending to daily irrigation.
A possibility.This article therefore scarcely deserves a place amongst the flourishing branches of agriculture, at least till it has been raised from its present depressed state, and the grounds laid out in regular and productive pepper-groves. Till this is done, to a corresponding extent, it must also be excluded from the number of productions furnished by these Islands to commerce and exportation; more particularly if we consider that, notwithstanding the great fragrance of the grain, as well as its general superiority over the rest of Asia, so great a difference exists in the actual price, that this can never be compensated by its greater request in the markets of Europe, and much less enable it to compete with that of the British and Dutch, till its abundance has considerably lowered its primitive value.
Not popular.Finally, although an infinity of grounds are to be found adapted to the rapid propagation of pepper-vines, as may easily be inferred from the analogy and proximity of the Philippine Islands to the others of this same archipelago, so well known for their growth of spices, it must be confessed that it is a species of culture by no means popular among the Philippine natives, and it would be almost requiring too much from their inconstancy of character, to wish them to dedicate their lands and time to the raising of a production which, besides demanding considerable care, is greatly exposed to injury, and even liable to be destroyed by the severity of the storms, which frequently mark the seasons. With difficulty would they be induced to wait five years before they were able to gather the uncertain fruits of their labor and patience. If, therefore, it should ever be deemed a measure of policy to encourage the growth of black pepper, it will be necessary for the government to order the commons belonging to each town, and adapted to this species of plantation, to be appropriated to this use, by imposing on the inhabitants the obligation of taking care of them, and drawing from the respective coffers of each community the necessary funds for the payment of the laborers, and the other expenses of cultivation. If this cannot be done, it will be necessary to wait till the general condition of the country is improved, when through the spirit of emulation, and the enterprises of the planters being duly patronized and supported, present difficulties may be overcome, and the progressive results of future attempts will be then found to combine the interests of individuals with the general welfare of the colony.
Coffee.So choice is the quality of the coffee produced in the Island of Luzon, especially in the districts of Indang and Silang, in the province of Cavite, that if it is not equal to that of Mocha, I at least consider it on parallel with the coffee of Bourbon; but, as the consumption and cultivation are extremely limited, it cannot with any propriety be yet numbered among the articles contributing to the export-trade.
Cocoa.Cocoa is something more attended to, in consequence of the use of chocolate being greatly extended among the natives of easy circumstances. That of the Island of Cebu, is esteemed superior to the cocoa of Guayaquil, and possibly it is not excelled by that of Soconusco. As, however, the quantity raised does not suffice for the local consumption, Guayaquil cocoa meets a ready sale, and is generally brought in return-cargo by the ships coming from Acapulco, and those belonging to the Philippine company dispatched from Callao, the shipping port of Lima.
The cultivation of these two articles in the Philippines is on the same footing as that of pepper, which, as above stated, is rather an object of luxury and recreation than one of speculation among the Filipinos. The observations and rules pointed out in the preceding article, are, in a general sense, applicable to both these branches of industry.
Cinnamon.Cinnamon groves, or trees of wild cinnamon, are to be found in every province. In Mindanao, a Dutchman, some years ago, was employed by orders of the government, in examining the forests and making experiments, with a view to discover the same tree of this species that has given so much renown to Ceylon; but, whether it was owing to a failure in the discovery, or, when the plant was found, as at the time was said to be the case, the same results were not produced, from the want of skill in preparing, or stripping off the bark; certain it is, that the laudable attempt totally failed, or rather the only advantage gained, has been the extracting from the bark and more tender parts of the branches of the tree, an oil or essence of cinnamon, vigorous and aromatic in the extreme.
Experiment in Laguna.About the same time, a land-owner of the name Salgado, undertook to form an extensive plantation of the same species in the province of La Laguna, and succeeded in seeing upwards of a million cinnamon trees thrive and grow to a considerable size; but at last, he was reluctantly compelled to desist from his enterprise, by the same reasons which led to the failure of Mindanao.
Need of experienced cultivators.These facts are of sufficient authority for our placing the cinnamon tree among the indigenous productions of the Philippine Islands and considering their general excellence above those of the same nature in the rest of Asia, it may reasonably be concluded that, without the tree being identically the same, the cinnamon with which it is clothed will be found finer than that yielded by the native plant of the Island of Ceylon, and this circumstance, consequently, holds out a hope that, in the course of time, it may become an article of traffic, as estimable as it would be new. In order, however, that this flattering prospect may be realized, it will be requisite for the government to procure some families, or persons from the above island, acquainted with the process of stripping off the bark and preparing the cinnamon, by dexterously offering allurements, corresponding to the importance of the service, which, although in itself it may probably be an extremely simple operation, as long as it is unknown, will be an insuperable obstacle to the propagation of so important an agricultural pursuit.
Nutmeg.Two species of nutmeg are known here, the one in shape resembling a pigeon’s egg, and the other of a perfectly spherical form; but both are wild and little aromatic, and consequently held in no great esteem.
Rice.Rice is the bread and principal aliment of these natives, for which reason, although its cultivation is among the most disagreeable departments of husbandry, they devote themselves to it with astonishing constancy and alacrity, so as to form a complete contrast with their characteristic indifference in most other respects. This must, however, be taken as a certain indication of the possibility of training them up to useful labor; whenever they can be led on in a proper manner.
High yield.The earth corresponds with surprising fertility to the labors of the Filipino, rewarding him, in the good seasons, with ninety, and even as high as one hundred per cent; a fact I have fully ascertained and of which I besides possess undoubted proofs, obtained from the parish-curates of La Pampanga. As, however, the provinces are frequently visited with dreadful hurricanes (called in the country, baguios), desolated by locusts, and exposed to the effects of the great irregularities of nature, which, in these climes, often acts in extreme, the crops of this grain are precarious, or at least, no reliance can be placed on a certain surplus allowing an annual exportation to China. On this account, rice cannot be placed in the list of those articles which give support to the external trade.
Dye and cabinet woods.The “sibucao,” or logwood, and ebony, in both which these islands abound, are the only woods in any tolerable request. The first is sold with advantage in Bengal, and the other meets a ready sale in the ports of China, in the absence of that brought from the Island of Bourbon, which is a quality infinitely superior. Both are however, articles of no great consumption, for, being bulky and possessing little intrinsic value, they will not bear the high charges of freight and other expenses, attendant on the navigation of the Asiatic seas, and can only suit the shipper, as cargo, who is anxious not to return to the above countries in ballast. Hence, as an object of export trade, these articles cannot be estimated at more than $30,000 per annum.
Timber.I deem it superfluous to dwell on a multitude of other good and even precious woods in timber, with which the Philippine Islands are gifted, because this is a subject already sufficiently well understood, and a complete collection of specimens, as well as some large blocks, were besides transmitted some years ago to the king’s dockyard. It may, however, be proper to remark, that the establishment near the capital for shipbuilding and masts, are much more expensive than is generally supposed, as well on account of the difficulties experienced in dragging the trees from the interior of the mountains to the water’s edge, as the want of regularity and foresight with which these operations have been usually conducted. Besides these reasons, as it is necessary that the other materials requisite for the construction and complete armament of vessels of a certain force, should come from Europe, it is neither easy, nor indeed, would it be economical, as was erroneously asserted, to carry into effect the government project of annually building, in the colony, a ship of the line and a frigate. It ought further to be observed, that no stock of timber, cut at a proper season and well cured, has been lain in, and although the wages of the native carpenters and caulkers are moderate, no comparison whatever can be made between the daily work they perform, and that which is done in the same space of time in our dock-yards of Spain.
Ship building advantages.Notwithstanding, however, the impediments above stated, as it is undeniable that abundance of suitable timber is to be obtained, and as the conveyance of the remainder of the necessary naval stores to the Philippine Islands is shorter and more economical than to the coast of California, it possibly might answer, at least, many mariners are of this opinion, in case it is deemed expedient to continue building at San Blas the brigs and corvettes necessary for the protection of the military posts and missions, situated along the above coasts, to order them preferably to be built in Cavite giving timely advice, and previously taking care to make the necessary arrangements.
Gold.Gold abounds in Luzon and in many of the other islands; but as the mountains which conceal it are in possession of the pagan tribes, the mines are not worked; indeed it may be said they are scarcely known. These mountaineers collect it in the brooks and streamlets, and in the form of dust, offer it to the Christians who inhabit the neighboring plains, in exchange for coarse goods and fire-arms; and it has sometimes happened that they have brought it down in grains of one and two ounces weight. The natives of the province of Camarines partly devote themselves to the working of the mines of Mambulao and Paracale, which have the reputation of being very rich; but, far from availing themselves in the smallest degree of the advantages of art, they content themselves with extracting the ore by means of an extremely imperfect fusion, which is done by placing the mineral in shells and then heating them on embers. A considerable waste consequently takes place, and although the metal obtained is good and high colored, it generally, passes into the hands of the district-magistrate, who collects it at a price infinitely lower than it is worth in trade. It is a generally received opinion that gold mines are equally to be met with in the Province of Caraga, situated on the coasts of the great Island of Mindanao, where, as well as in other points, this metal is met with equal to twenty-two karats. The quantity, however, hitherto brought down from the mountains by the pagan tribes, and that obtained by the tributary Filipinos, has not been an object of very great importance.
Copper.Well-founded reasons exist for presuming that, in the Province of Ilocos, mines of virgin copper exist, a singular production of nature, or at least, not very common, if the generality of combinations under which this metal presents itself in the rest of the globe, are duly considered. This is partly inferred from the circumstance of its having been noticed that the Igorots, who occasionally come down from the mountains to barter with the Christians, use certain coarse jars or vessels of copper, evidently made by themselves with the use of a hammer, without any art or regularity; and as the ignorance of these demi-savages is too great for them to possess the notions necessary for the separation of the component parts which enter into the combination of minerals, and much less for the construction of furnaces suitable to the smelting and formation of the moulds, it is concluded they must have found some vein of copper entirely pure, which, without the necessity of any other preparation, they have been able to flatten with the hammer and rendered maleable, so as to convert it into the rough vessels above spoken of.
Cinnabar.The district-magistrate of Caraga, Don Augustin de Ioldi, received a special commission from the government to explore and obtain information respecting a mine of cinnabar, which was said to be situated under his jurisdiction; and I have been informed of another of the same species in the Island of Samar, the working of which has ceased for a considerable time, not because the prospect was unfavorable, but for the want of an intelligent person to superintend and carry on the operations. The utility of such a discovery is too obvious not to deserve, on the part of government, the most serious attention and every encouragement to render it available; and it is to be hoped that, as the first steps have already been taken in this important disclosure, the enterprise will not be abandoned, but, on the contrary, that exertions will be made to obtain aid and advice from the Miners’ College of Mexico, as the best means of removing doubt, and acting with judgment in the affair.
Iron.Iron in mineral form is to be found at various points on Luzon, and those engaged in working it, without the necessity of digging; collect the iron-bearing stones that constitute the upper stratum, these, when placed in fusion, generally yield about forty per cent clear metal. This is the case in the mountains of Angat, situated in the Province of Bulacan, and also in the vicinity of the Baliwag River. In Morong, however, belonging to the Province of La Laguna, where the cannon-ball factory is established, the ore yields under twenty-two per cent. Its quality is in general better than the Biscayan iron, according to formal experiments and a report, made in 1798 to Governor Don Rafael Maria de Aguilar, by two Biscayan master-smiths from the squadron of Admiral Alava. Witnesses to this test were the Count de Aviles and Don Felix de la Rosa, proprietors of the mines of Morong and Angat, and the factor of the Philippine Company, Don Juan Francisco Urroroz. Notwithstanding its advantages, this interesting branch of industry has not yet passed beyond the most rude principles and imperfect practice, owing to the want of correct information as to the best process, and scarcity of funds on the part of the proprietors to carry on their works. Without the aid of rolling or slitting mills, indeed unprovided with the most essential instruments, they have hitherto confined themselves to converting their iron into plow shares, bolos, hoes, and such other agricultural implements; leaving the Chinese of Amoy in quiet possession of the advantages of being allowed to market annual supplies of all kinds of nails, the boilers used on the sugar plantations, pots and pans, as well as other articles in this line, which might easily be manufactured in the Islands.
Sulphur.In the Island of Leyte, abundance of sulphur is met with, and from thence the gunpowder works of Manila are supplied at very reasonable prices. Jaspers, cornelians and agates, are also found in profusion in many of these provinces; everything, indeed, promises varied mineral wealth worthy of exciting the curiosity and useful researches of mineralogists, who, unfortunately, have not hitherto extended their labors to these remote parts of the globe.
Pearls.Pearl fisheries are, from time to time, undertaken off the coast of the Island of Mindanao, and also near smaller islands not far from Cebu, but with little success and less constancy, not because there is a scarcity of fine pearls of a bright color and considerable size, but on account of the divers’ want of skill and their just dread of the sharks, which, in great numbers infest these seas. Amber is frequently gathered in considerable lumps in the vicinity of Samar and the other Visayan Islands as well as mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, and red and black coral, of the latter kind of which, I have seen shafts as thick as my finger and six or eight feet long.
Estates.The proprietors of estates in the Philippines are of four classes. The most considerable is that of the religious orders, Augustinians and Dominicans, who cultivate their respective lands on joint account, or let them out at a moderate ground-rent, which the planters pay in kind; but far from living in opulence, and accumulating the immense revenues some of the religious communities enjoy in America, they stand in need of all they earn and possess for their maintenance, and in order to be enabled to discharge the various duties and obligations annexed to the missions with which they are entrusted.
Spanish planters.The second class comprehends the Spanish proprietors, whose number possibly does not exceed a dozen of persons, and even they labor under such disadvantages, and have to contend with so many obstacles, under the existing order of things, that, compelled to divide their lands into rice plantations, in consequence of this being the species of culture to which the natives are most inclined, and to devote a considerable portion of them to the grazing of horned cattle, no one of them is in a situation to give to agriculture the variety and extent desired, or to attain any progress in a pursuit which in other colonies rapidly leads to riches.
Filipino farmers.The third consists of the principal mestizos and natives, and is in fact that which constitutes the real body of farming proprietors. In the fourth and last may be included all the other natives, who generally possess a small strip of land situated round their dwellings, or at the extremities of the various towns and settlements formed by the conquerors; besides what they may have obtained from their ancestors in the way of legal inheritance, which rights have been confirmed to them by the present sovereign of the colony.
Aids to agriculture.It will beyond doubt, in some measure dissipate the distrust by which the Filipino is actuated, when the new and paternal exertions of the superior government, to ameliorate his present situation, are fully known, and when that valuable portion of our distant population is assured that their rights will henceforth be respected, and those exactions and compulsory levies which formerly so much disheartened them, are totally abolished. On the other hand, a new stimulus will be given by the living example and fresh impulse communicated to the provinces by other families emigrating and settling there, nurtured in the spirit and principles of those reforms in the ideas and maxims of government by which the present era is distinguished. A practical participation in these advantages will, most assuredly, awaken a spirit of enterprise and emulation that may be extremely beneficial to agriculture, and as the wants of the natives increase in proportion as they are enabled to know and compare the comforts arising out of the presence and extension of conveniences and luxuries in their own towns, they will naturally be led to possess and adopt them.
Plans for progress.So salutary a change, however, can only be the work of time, and as long as the government confines itself to a system merely protecting, the effects must consequently be slow. As it is therefore necessary to put in action more powerful springs than the ordinary ones, it will be found expedient partly to relax from some of those general principles which apply to societies, differently constituted, or rather formed of other perfectly distinct elements. As relating to the subject under discussion, I fortunately discover two means, pointed out in the laws themselves, essentially just, and at the same time capable of producing in this populous colony, more than in any other, the desired results. The legislator, founding himself on the common obligation of the subject to contribute something in return for the protection he receives, and to co-operate in the increase of the power and opulence of the State, proscribes idleness as a crime, and points out labor as a duty; and although the regulations touching the natives breathe the spirit of humanity, and exhibit the wisdom with which they were originally formed, they nevertheless concur and are directed to this primary object. In them the distribution of vacant lands, as well as of the natives at fair daily wages to clear them, is universally allowed, and these it seems to me, are the means from an equitable and intelligent application of which the most beneficial consequences may be expected.
Confiscating unused lands.The first cannot be attended with any great difficulty, because all the provinces abound in waste and vacant lands, and scarcely is there a district in which some are not to be found of private property completely uncultivated and neglected, and consequently susceptible, as above stated, of being legally transferred, for this reason alone, to the possession of an active owner. Let their nature however, be what it may, in their adjudication, it is of the greatest importance to proceed with uniformity, by consecrating, in a most irrevocable manner, the solemnity of all similar grants. Public interest and reason, in the Philippine Islands, require that in all such cases deference only should be paid to demands justly interposed, and formally established within a due and fixed period; but after full and public notice has been given by the respective judicial authorities, of the titles about to be granted, the counter claims the natives may seek to put in after the lapse of the period prefixed, should be peremptorily disregarded. Although at first sight this appears a direct infringement on the imprescriptible rights of property, it must be considered that in some cases individual interests ought to be sacrificed to the general good, and that the balance used, when treating of the affairs of State, is never of that rigid kind as if applied to those of minor consideration. The fact is, that by this means many would be induced to form estates, who have hitherto been withheld by the dread of involving themselves, and spending their money in law suits; at the same time the natives, gradually accustoming themselves to this new order of things, would lay aside that disposition to strife and contention, which forms so peculiar a trait in their character, and that antipathy and odium would also disappear with which they have usually viewed the agricultural undertakings of Spaniards.
Compulsory labor.Proceeding to the consideration of the second means of accelerating the improvement of agriculture, viz., the distribution of the natives, it will suffice to say that it would be equally easy to show that it is absolutely necessary rigorously to carry into effect, in the Philippine Islands, whatever the laws on this subject prescribed, otherwise we must give up all those substantial hopes entertained of the felicity of the colony. We are no longer in a situation to be restricted to the removal of ordinary obstacles, and the season is gone by in which, as heretofore, it entered into our policy to employ no other than indirect stimulants—in order to incline the Filipino to labor. It is evident that admonitions and offers of reward no longer suffice; nor indeed have the advantageous terms proposed to them by some planters, with a view to withdraw the lower orders of the natives, such as the timauas and caglianes plebeians, from the idle indifference in which they are sunk, been of any avail. Their wants and wishes being easily supplied, the whole of their happiness seems to depend on quiet and repose, and their highest enjoyment on the pleasure of sleep. Energy, however, and a certain degree of severity must be employed, if permanent resources are to be called forth, and if the progressive settlement of European families and the formation of estates proportioned to the fertility of the soil and capabilities of the country are to enter into the views of government. In vain would grants and transfers of vacant and useless lands be made to new and enterprising proprietors, unless at the same time they can be provided with laborers, and experience every other possible facility, in order to clear, enclose, and cultivate them. Hence follows the indispensable necessity of appealing to the system of distributions, as above pointed out; for what class of laborers can be obtained in a country where the whites are so few, unless it be the natives? Should they object to personal service, should they refuse to labor for an equitable and daily allowance, by which means they would also cease to be burdens to the State and to society, are they not to be compelled to contribute by this means to the prosperity of which they are members; in a word, to the public good, and thus make some provision for old age? If the soldier, conveyed away from his native land, submits to dangers, and is unceasingly exposed to death in defence of the State, why should not the Filipino moderately use his strength and activity in tilling the fields which are to sustain him and enrich the commonwealth?
The undeveloped Philippines.Besides, things in the Philippine Islands wear a very different aspect to what they do on the American continent, where, as authorized by the said laws, a certain number of natives may be impressed for a season, and sent off inland to a considerable distance from their dwellings, either for the purpose of agriculture, or working the mines, provided only they are taken care of during their journeys, maintained, and the price of their daily labor, as fixed by the civil authorities, regularly paid to them. The immense valleys and mountains susceptible of cultivation, especially in the Island of Luzon, being once settled, and the facilities of obtaining hands increased, such legal acts of compulsion, far from being any longer necessary, will have introduced a spirit of industry that will render the labors of the field supportable and even desirable; and in this occupation all the tributary natives of the surrounding settlements can be alternately employed, by the day or week, and thus do their work almost at the door of their own huts, and as it were in sight of their wives and children.
No legal obstacle to forced labor.If, after what has been above stated, the apparent opposition obstacle to which at first sight strikes the eye, in Law 40, Title 12, Book 6, speaking on this subject, and expressly referring to the Philippine Islands, should be alleged, no more will be necessary than to study its genuine sense, or read it with attention, in order to be convinced of its perfect concordance with the essential parts of the other laws of the Indies, already quoted in explanation and support of the system of distributing the laborers. The above-mentioned law does indeed contain a strict recommendation to employ the Chinese and Japanese, not domiciliated, in preference to the natives, in the establishments for cutting timber and other royal works, and further enjoins that use is only to be made in emergencies, and when the preservation of the state should require it. It has, however, happened that, since the remote period at which the above was promulgated, not only all contracts and commerce have ceased, but also every communication with Japan has been interrupted, and for a number of years not a single individual of that ferocious race has existed in the Philippine Islands. With regard to the Chinese, who are supposed to be numerous in the capital, of late years they have diminished so much, that according to a census made by orders of the government in the year 1807, no more than four thousand seven hundred are found on the registers; and, if in consequence of their secreting themselves, or withdrawing into the interior, a third more might be added to the above amount, their total numbers would still remain very inconsiderable, and infinitely inferior to what is required, not only for the tillage of the estates, but even for the royal works.
Substitute laborers wanting.As, therefore, the Japanese have totally disappeared, and the number of Chinese is evidently inadequate to the wants of agriculture, it almost necessarily follows that the practice of distributing the Filipino laborers, as allowed by the aforesaid laws of the Indies, under all circumstances, is the only alternate left. Even if, against the adoption of this measure, it should be attempted to urge the ambiguous sense of the concluding part of the second clause, it would be easy to comprehend its true intent and meaning, by referring to Law 1, Title 13, Book 5, which says:
“That, considering the inconveniences which would arise from doing away with certain distributions of grounds, gardens, estates, and other plantations, in which the Indians are interested, as a matter on which the preservation of those distant dominions and provinces depends, it is ordained that compulsory labor, and such distributions as are advantageous to the public good, shall continue.”
After so pointed an explanation, and a manifestation so clear of the spirit of our legislation in this respect, all further comments would be useless, and no doubt whatever can be any longer entertained of the expediency, and even of the justice of putting the plan of well-regulated distributions in practice, as a powerful means to promote the agriculture, and secure to Spain the possession of these valuable dominions of the Indian Seas. ....
Manufactures..... It would be impossible to gainsay Don Juan Francisco Urroz, of the Philippine Company, in his detailed and accurate report to the managing committee in 1802, when he observes:
“That the Philippine Islands, from time immemorial, were acquainted with, and still retain, that species of industry peculiar to the country, adapted to the customs and wants of the natives, and which constitutes the chief branch of their clothing. This, although confined to coarse articles, may in its class be called perfect, as far as it answers the end for which it is intended; and if an attempt were made to enumerate the quantity of mats, handkerchiefs, sheeting, and a variety of other cloths manufactured for this purpose only in the Provinces of Tondo, Laguna, Batangas, Ilocos, Cagayan, Camarines, Albay, Visaya, etc., immense supplies of each kind would appear, which give occupation to an incalculable number of looms, indistinctly worked by Indians, Chinese, and Sangleyan mestizos, indeed all the classes, in their own humble dwellings, built of canes and thatched with palm leaves, without any apparatus of regular manufacture.”
Native cloth weaving.With equal truth am I enabled to add, that the natural abilities of these natives in the manufacture of all kinds of cloths, fine as well as coarse, are really admirable. They succeed in reducing the harsh filaments of the palm-tree, known by the name of abaca, to such a degree of fineness, that they afterwards convert them into textures equal to the best muslins of Bengal. The beauty and evenness of their embroideries and open work excite surprise; in short, the damask table-cloths, ornamental weaving, textures of cotton and palm-fibres, intermixed with silk, and manufactured in the above-mentioned provinces, clearly prove how much the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, in natural abilities and dexterity, resemble the other people of the Asiatic regions. It must nevertheless be allowed, that a want is noticed of that finish and polish which the perfection of art gives to each commodity; but this circumstance ought not to appear strange, if we consider that, entirely devoid of all methodical instruction, and ignorant also of the importance of the subdivision of labor, which contributes so greatly to simplify, shorten, and improve the respective excellence of all kinds of works, the same natives gin and clean the cotton, and then spin and weave it, without any other instruments than their hands and feet, aided only by the course and unsightly looms they themselves construct in a corner of their huts, with scarcely anything else than a few canes and sticks.
Aptitude for, but no development of, manufacturing.From the preceding observations it may easily be deduced that, although the natives succeed in preparing, with admirable dexterity, the productions of their soil, and therewith satisfy the greatest part of their domestic wants, facts which certainly manifest their talents and aptitude to be employed in works of more taste and delicacy, manufacturing industry is nevertheless far from being generalized, nor can it be said to be placed with any degree of solidity on its true and proper basis. Hence arise those great supplies of goods annually imported into the country, for the purpose of making up the deficiencies of the local manufactures.
Improved methods and machinery needed.The regular distribution or classification of the assemblage of operations which follow each other in graduation, from the rough preparation of the first materials, till the same have arrived at their perfect state of manufacture, instead of being practiced, is entirely unknown. The want of good machinery to free the cotton from the multitude of seeds with which it is encumbered, so as to perform the operation with ease and quickness, is the first and greatest obstacle that occurs; and its tediousness to the natives is so repugnant, that many sell their crops to others, without separating the seeds, or decline growing the article altogether, not to be plagued with the trouble of cleaning it. As the want of method is also equal to the superabundance or waste of time employed, the expenses of the goods manufactured increased in the same proportion, under such evident and great disadvantages; for which reason, far from being able to compete with those brought from China and British India, they only acquire estimation in the interior, when wanted to supply the place of the latter, or in cases of accidental scarcity.
Scanty exports.In a word, the only manufactured articles annually exported from the Philippine Islands are eight to twelve thousand pieces exports of light sail cloth, two hundred thousand pounds of abaca cordage assorted, and six hundred carabao hides and deer skins, which can scarcely be considered in a tanned state/ for, although the Royal Company, from the time of their establishment, long continued to export considerable quantities of dimities, calicos, stripes, checks, and coverlids, as well as other cotton and silk goods, it was more with a view to stimulate the districts of Ilocos to continue in the habit of manufacturing, and thus introduce among the inhabitants of that province a taste for industry, than the expectation of gain by the sale of this kind of merchandise either in Spain or any of the sections of America. At length, wearied with the losses experienced by carrying on this species of mercantile operations, without answering the principal object in view, they resolved, for the time being, to suspend ventures attended with such discouraging circumstances.
Need of encouragement.Notwithstanding so many impediments, it would not, however, be prudent in the government entirely to abandon the enterprise, and lose sight of the advantages the country offers, or indeed, to neglect turning the habitual facilities of the natives to some account. Far from there existing any positive grounds for despairing of the progress of manufacturing industry, it may justly be presumed that, whenever the sovereign, by adopting a different line of policy, shall allow the unlimited and indistinct settlement of all kinds of foreign colonists, and grant them the same facilities and protection enjoyed by national ones, they will be induced to flock to the Philippine Islands in considerable numbers, lured by the hope of accumulating fortunes in a country that presents a thousand attractions of every kind. Many, no doubt, will preferably devote themselves to commerce, others to agricultural undertakings and also to the pursuits of mining, but necessarily some will turn their attention and employ their funds in the formation of extensive manufactures, aided by intelligent instructors and suitable machinery. The newly-introduced information and arts being thus diffused, it is natural to expect they will be progressively adopted by a people already possessing a taste and genius for this species of labor, by which means manufacturing industry will soon be raised from the state of neglect and unprofitableness in which it is now left.
Internal commerce handicapped.The circulation of the country productions and effects of all kinds among the inhabitants of the provinces, which, properly speaking, constitutes their internal commerce, is tolerably active and considerable. Owing to the great facilities of conveyance afforded by the number of rivers and lakes, on the margins of which the Filipinos are fond of fixing their dwellings, this commerce might be infinitely greater, if it was not obstructed by the monopoly of the magistrates in their respective districts and the unjust prerogative, exercised by the city, of imposing rates and arbitrary prices on the very persons who come to bring the supplies. Nevertheless, as the iniquituous operations of the district magistrates, however, active they may be, besides being restricted by their financial ability, regularly consist of arrangements to buy up only the chief articles, and those which promise most advantage, with least trouble; as that restless inquietude which impels man on, under the hope of bettering his condition, acts even amidst rigor of oppression, a certain degree of stimulus and scope is still left in favor of internal trade.
Inter-island traffic.Hence it follows, that there is scarcely an island or province, that does not carry on some traffic or other, by keeping up relations with its neighbors, which sometimes extend as far as the capital; where, in proportion as the produce and raw materials find a ready market, returns suitable and adequate to the consumption of each place, respectively, are obtained. If, however, it would be difficult to form an idea, even in the way of approximation, of the exchanges which take place between the various provinces, a task that would render it necessary to enumerate them, one by one, it is equally so to make an estimate of the total amount of this class of operation carried on in Manila, their common center. Situated in the bottom of an immense bay, bathed by a large river, and the country round divided by an infinite number of streams and lakes descending from the provinces by which the capital is surrounded, the produce and effects are daily brought in and go out of suburbs so extended in a diversity of small vessels and canoes, without its being possible to obtain any exact account of the multiplicity of transactions carried on at one and the same time, in a city built on so large a scale.
Local markets.Besides the traffic founded on ordinary consumption, the necessity of obtaining assortments of home-manufactured as well as imported goods, in order to supply the markets, known by the name of tianguis, and which are held weekly in almost every town, there is another species of speculation, peculiar to the rich natives and Sangley mestizos, an industrious race, and also possessed of the largest portion of the specie. This consists in the anticipated purchase of the crops of indigo, sugar, rice, etc., with a view to fix their own prices on the produce thus contracted for, when resold to the second hand. A propensity to barter and traffic, in all kinds of ways, is indeed universal among the natives, and as the principal springs which urge on internal circulation are already in motion, nothing more is wanting than at once to destroy the obstacles previously pointed out, and encourage the extension of luxury and comforts, in order that, by the number of the people’s wants being increased, as well as the means of supplying them, the force and velocity of action may in the same proportion be augmented.
External commerce.Under “External Commerce” generally are comprised the relations the Philippine Islands keep up with other nations, with the Spanish possessions in America, and with the mother country; or, in other words, the sum total of their imports and exports.
Outside deterrents.Many are the causes which, within the last ten or twelve years, have influenced the mercantile relations of these Islands, and prevented their organization on permanent and known principles. The chief one, no doubt, has been the frequent and unforeseen changes, from peace to war, which have marked that unhappy period, and as under similar circumstances merchants, more than any other class of persons, are in the habit of acting on extremes, there have been occasions in which, misled by the exaggerated idea of the galleon of Acapulco, and anxious to avail themselves of the first prices, generally also the highest, foreign speculators have inundated Manila with goods, by a competition from all quarters; and others, owing to the channels being obstructed, when this market has experienced an absolute scarcity of commodities, as well as of funds necessary to continue the usual and almost only branch of commerce left. The frequent failure of the sugar and indigo crops, has also in many instances restrained the North Americans and other neutrals from coming to these Islands with cargoes, and induced them to prefer Java, where they are at all times sure of finding returns. Besides the influence of these extraordinary causes on the uncertainty and irregularity of external commerce, no small share must also be attributed to the strangeness of the peculiar constitution of the country, or the principles on which its trade is established.
Domestic discouragements.Scarcely will it be believed, in the greater part of civilized Europe, that a Spanish colony exists between Asia and America, whose merchants are forbidden to avail themselves of their advantageous situation, and that, as a special favor only are they allowed to send their effects to Mexico, once a year, but under the following restrictions. It is a necessary condition, that every shipper shall be a member of the Board of Trade (Consulado), and therein entitled to a vote, which supposes a residence of some years in the country, besides the possession of property of his own to the amount of $8,000. He is compelled to join with the other members, in order to be enabled to ship his goods in bales of a determined form and dimensions, in one single vessel, arranged, fitted out, and commanded by officers of the royal navy, under the character of a war ship. He has also to contribute his proportion of $20,000, which, in the shape of a present, are given to the commander, at the end of every round voyage. He cannot in any way interfere in the choice or qualities of the vessel, notwithstanding his property is to be risked in her; and what completes the extravagance of the system, is, that before anything is done he must pay down twenty-five or forty per cent for freight, according to circumstances, which money is distributed among certain canons of the church, aldermen, subalterns of the army, and widows of Spaniards, to whom a given number of tickets or certified permits to ship are granted, either as a compensation for the smallness of their pay, or in the way of a privilege; but on express conditions that, although they themselves are not members of the Board of Trade, they shall not be allowed to negotiate and transfer them to persons not having that quality. In the custom house nothing being admitted unless the number of bales shipped are accompanied by corresponding permits, and as it besides frequently happens that there is a degree of competition between the parties seeking to try their fortune in this way, the original holders of the permits very often hang back, in such a manner that I have seen $500 offered for the transfer of a right to ship three bales, which scarcely contained goods to the amount of $1,000. Such, nevertheless, is the truth, and such the exact description of the famous Acapulco ship, which has excited so much jealousy among the merchants of Seville and Cadiz, and given rise to such an infinite number of disputes and lawsuits.
Business irregularities.So complete a deviation from the rules and maxims usually received in trade, could not fail to produce in the Philippine Islands, as in fact it has, effects equally extraordinary with regard to those who follow this pursuit. The merchant of Manila is, in fact, entirely different from the one in Cadiz or Amsterdam. Without any correspondents in the manufacturing countries and consequently possessed of no suitable advices of the favorable variations in the respective markets, without brokers and even without regular books he seems to carry on his profession on no one fixed principle, and to have acquired his routine of business from mere habit and vague custom. His contracts are made out on stamped paper, and his bills or promissory notes no other than long and diffuse writings or bonds, of which the dates and amounts are kept more in the shape of bundles than by any due entry on his books; and what at once gives the most clear idea of this irregularity is the singular fact that, for the space of twenty-five and possibly fifty years, only one bankrupt has presented the state of his affairs to the Board of Trade, in conformity to the regulations prescribed by the general Statutes of Bankruptcy, whereas, numbers of cases have occurred in which these merchants have wasted or secreted the property of others with impunity. Hence have arisen those irregularities, subterfuges and disputes, in a word, the absence of all mercantile business carried on in a scrupulously punctual and correct manner. Hence, also, have followed that distrust and embarrassment with which commercial operations are attended, as well as the difficulty of calculating their fluctuations. On the other hand, as in order to send off an expedition by the annual ship to Acapulco, the previous consent of the majority of the incorporated merchants is necessary, before this point is decided, months are passed in intrigues and disputes, the peremptory period arrives, and if the articles wanted are in the market, they are purchased up with precipitation and paid for with the monies the shippers have been able to obtain at an interest from the administrators of pious and charitable funds. In this manner, compelled to act almost always without plan or concert, yet accustomed to gain in the market of Acapulco, notwithstanding so many impediments and the exorbitant premiums paid for the money lent, these merchants follow the strange maxim of risking little or no property of their own; and unaware, or rather, disregarding the importance of economy in the expenses and regularity of their general method of living, it is not possible they can ever accumulate large fortunes, or form solid and well-accredited houses.
Merchants discouraged.Thus oppressed by a system, as unjust as it is absurd, and conducting their affairs in the way above described, it is not strange that these gentlemen, at the same time yielding to the indolence consequent on the climate, should neglect or behold with indifference all the other secondary resources which the supplying the wants of the country and the extensive scope and variety of its produce offer to the man of active mind. Hence it follows, as already observed, that the whole of the interior trade is at present absorbed by the principal natives, the Sangley mestizos of both sexes, and a few Chinese peddlers.
The outlook brightening.Notwithstanding, however, the defective manner in which the generality of the merchants act, some already are beginning to distinguish themselves by the prudence of their conduct, by forwarding, in time, their orders to the manufacturers of India and China, and, in other respects guiding themselves by the principles which characterize the intelligent merchant. Finally, it is to be presumed that, as soon as the government shall have thrown down this singular and preposterous system that has been the cause of so many disorders, and proclaimed the unlimited freedom of Philippine commerce, the greater part of these people will rise up from the state of inaction in which they now live, and the relations of the colony will then assume the course and extent corresponding to its advantages of position. At least, if our national merchants should not act up to the impulse given to all kinds of mercantile enterprises by the beneficial hand of the sovereign, foreigners will not be wanting, who, relying on due toleration, will be induced to convey their fortunes and families to the Philippine Islands, and, vigorously encouraging the exportation of their valuable productions, amply secure the fruits of their laudable activity and well-combined speculations.
Capital employed in commerce.Were a person, judging from the numbers constituting the body of registered merchants, and supposing all of them to possess the essential requisites prescribed by our commercial regulations, to form a prudent estimate of the amount of capital employed by them, his calculations would turn out extremely erroneous, for besides the case with which regulations of this kind are eluded, many are merely nominal traders, and there are others whose mercantile existence is purely artificial for they are sustained in a temporary manner, by means of a forced species of circulation peculiar to this country. This consists in obtaining the acquiescence of the administrators of pious and charitable funds, let out at interest, to renew the bonds they hold during other successive risks, waiting, as it were, till some fatal tempest has swallowed up the vessel in which these merchants suppose their property to be embarked, and at once cancel all their obligations. On the other hand, neither excessive expenses nor the shipment of large quantities of goods to Acapulco can in any way be taken as a just criterion whereby to judge of the fortunes of individuals; because, in the first, there is great uniformity, every one, more or less, enjoying, exteriorly, the same easy circumstances, notwithstanding the disparity of real property; and in the second, considerable fiction prevails, many persons shipping under the same mark, and even when the shipper stands alone, he might have been provided with the necessary funds from the pious and charitable establishments, possibly without risking a dollar of his own in the whole operation. Under circumstances so dubious, far from presuming to give a decided opinion on the subject, I am compelled to judge from mere conjectures, and guided only by the knowledge and experience I have been able to acquire during my long residence there. In conformity thereto, I am inclined to believe, that the total amount of capital belonging to and employed in the trade of the Philippine Islands, does not at present exceed two and a half million dollars, with evident signs of rapid decline, if the merchants do not in time abandon the ruinous systems of chiefly carrying on their speculations with money obtained at interest.
Large sums hoarded.The two and a half million dollars thus attributed to the merchants, form, however, the smaller part of the funds distributed among the other classes, and the total amount of the circulating medium of the colony might be considered an object sufficiently worthy of being ascertained, owing to the great light it would throw on the present state of the inhabitants; but it is in vain to attempt any calculation of the kind, at least without the aid of data possessing a certain degree of accuracy. The only thing that can be affirmed is, that during the period of more than two hundred and fifty years which have elapsed since the conquest, the ingress of specie into the Philippine Islands has been constant. Their annual ships have seldom come from New Spain without bringing considerable sums in return, and if some of them have been lost, many others, without being confined to the one million of dollars constituting the ordinary amount of the permit, have not unfrequently come back with triple that sum; for which reason there are ample grounds of judging the estimates correct, which fix the total importation of dollars, during the whole of that long period of years, to be equal to four hundred millions. It may further be observed that, as in the Sangley mestizos economy and avarice compete with intelligence and activity in accumulating wealth and as they are scattered, among the principal islands, and in possession of the best lands and the most lucrative business of the interior, there are ample motives for presuming that these industrious and sagacious people have gradually, although incessantly, amassed immense sums in specie; but it would be impossible to point out their amount, distribution, or the secret places in which they are hoarded.
Pious and charitable funds’ capital.The assemblage of pious legacies, temporalities, and other funds and property placed under the care of several administrative committees, for purposes as well religious as charitable, constitute the chief capital employed in external trade; and notwithstanding the failures, which from time to time occur, the subsequent accumulation of the enormous premiums obtained for funds laid out in maritime speculations, both in time of peace and war, not only suffices to make up all losses of the above kind, but also to secure the punctual payment of such charitable pensions and other charges as are to be deducted from the respective profits of this species of stock, its total amount, according to an official report made by order of the head committee of the sinking fund, including temporalities, and Queen Maria of Austria’s endowment for the College of Las Marianas, together with other funds of the same kind, not comprehended in the decree of abolition, at the commencement of the year 1809, amounted to $2,470,390, and as the sea-risks of that and the following year were successful, and the outstanding amounts punctually recovered, the aggregate sum, arising out of the above description of property, may now be estimated at more than three millions. Of these funds three distributions are generally made, viz., one part is appropriated to the China risks, at from twelve to eighteen per cent. premium, according to circumstances, and also those to Madras, Calcutta and Batavia, at from sixteen to twenty-two per cent. The second, which generally is in the largest proportion, is employed in risks to Acapulco, at various premiums, from 27 to 45 per cent.; and the third is left in hand, as a kind of guarantee of the stability of the original endowments.
Coveted by Spanish treasury.In the great exigencies of the Royal Treasury, experienced during the last years of the administration of Sr. Soler, the royal decree of Consolidación was extended to the Philippine Islands, under the pretext of guarding the funds belonging to public charities and religious endowments ... sea-risks, the income of which, when secured on good mortgages, does not generally exceed five per cent, many in Spain not yielding above four; but the remarkable difference between this plan and the one above described, together with various and other weighty reasons alleged by the administrators, caused the dreaded effect of this new regulation to be suspended, and whilst the head committee of Manila were consulting their doubts and requesting fresh instructions from the court at home, orders came out not to make any alteration in measures relating to this description of property.
Easy capital but lessened profits.Accustomed, in their limited calculations, to identify the resources, offered by the funds belonging to this class of establishments, with the very existence of the colony, the needy merchants easily confound their personal with the general interest; and few stop to consider that the identical means of carrying on trade, without any capital of their own, although they have accidentally enriched a small number of persons, eventually have absorbed the principal profits, and possibly been the chief cause of the unflourishing state of the colony at large. Without fearing the charge of rashness, it may, in fact, be asserted, that if these charities and pious endowments had never existed, public prosperity in the Philippine Islands would, as in other parts, have been the immediate effect of the united efforts of the individual members of the community and of the experience acquired in the constant prosecution of the same object. As, however, a progress of this kind, although certain, must necessarily have been at first extremely slow, and as, on the other hand, the preference given to mercantile operations undertaken with the funds belonging to public charities, has its origin in the assemblage of vices so remarkable in the very organization of the body of Philippine merchants, any new measure on this subject might be deemed inconsistent, that at once deprived them of the use of resources on which they had been accustomed to rely, without removing those other defects which excuse, if not encourage, the continuation of the present system. Without, therefore, appealing to violent remedies, it is to be hoped that, in order to render plans of reform effectual, it will be sufficient, under more propitious circumstances, to see property brought from other countries to these Islands, as well as persons coming to settle in them, capable of managing it with that intelligence and economy required by trade. The competition of those who speculate at random would then cease, or what is the same, as money obtained at a premium could not then be laid out with the same advantages by the merchants as if it was their own, it will be necessary to renounce the fallacious profits held out by the public charities, till at least they are placed on a level with existing circumstances, and brought in to be of real service to the honorable planter and laborious merchant, in their accidental exigencies, ceasing to be, as hitherto, the indirect cause of idleness, dissipation, and the ruin of an infinite number of families.
Mercantile shipping.The vessels which the district magistrates of the provinces employ in carrying on their trade with the capital and those belonging to some of the richer merchants, together with such as are owned by the natives and mestizos, on an approximate calculation, amount to twelve thousand tons, including ships, brigs, schooners, galleys, barges, etc. For the want of better data, this estimate is founded only on reasonable conjecture, aided by the advice of experienced persons, for although the greatest part of these vessels are built by the natives in the neighborhood of their own towns, no register is kept of their number and dimensions, nor do they carry with them the usual certificates. Those belonging to the merchants, that is, ships and brigs of a certain size, have already begun to frequent the ports of China, Java, the coast of Coromandel, Bengal, and the Isle of France, availing themselves of the lucrative freights which formerly enriched and encouraged foreign shipping. The other class of vessels, although perfectly adequate to the coasting trade, cannot in general be applied to larger enterprises, on account of their not being sufficiently strong and capacious. The seamen are not apprenticed, or as it is usually called, matriculated, but their frequent crossing from island to island, their familiarity with regional tempests, voyages to various parts of America, and the occupation of fishing followed by the inhabitants of the coast, serve to train up a large body of dexterous and able mariners who at all times can be had, without any compulsion, to complete the crews.
Need of nautical school.The want of a public school for the teaching of navigation, is, however, sensibly felt, as well as great inconvenience from the scarcity of persons capable of being trusted with the command of vessels, and the ignorance that prevails of the waters of this dangerous Archipelago. Repeated royal orders have been sent over for the board of trade to proceed to the institution of so useful an establishment, and in the meantime, a medium has been resorted to in order to supply the deficiency, by allowing the free admission of foreign mates, provided they exhibit proofs of their acquaintance with navigation, and profess the Catholic worship. Shipowners nevertheless experience great difficulties, particularly at times when the Acapulco ship is fitting out, for although she is considered as a vessel of war, and commanded by officers of the royal navy, the plan of her equipment is so singular, that in addition, she requires the extra aid of one chief mate, and three under ones.
Royal Phillipine company.The various modifications this corporate body has successively experienced, have, in great measure, changed the essence of its original constitution, and the remonstrances of its directors, founded on the experience of a long series of years, at length induced the government at home to sanction alterations dictated by existing circumstances. The project of raising these Islands from the neglected state in which they were, and in some measure to place them in contact with the mother country, accompanied by a wish to give a new and great impulse to the various branches of industry which constitute the importance of a colony, could not have been more laudable; but, as was afterwards seen, the instrument employed was not adequate to the object in view. At the same time that the company were charged to promote, and, by means of their funds, to vivify the agriculture and industry of these provinces, the necessary powers and facilities to enable them to reap the fruits of their sacrifices were withheld. The protection granted to this establishment, did not go beyond a general recommendation in favor of its enterprises, and, in short, far from enjoying the exclusive preponderance obtained at their commencement by all the other Asiatic companies, that of the Philippine Islands labored under particular disadvantages.
Local progress under adverse conditions.Notwithstanding an organization so imperfect, scarcely had the agents of the new Company arrived at Manila, when they distributed through the country their numerous dependents, commissioned to encourage the natives by advances of money. They established subaltern factories in the Provinces of Ilocos, Bataan, Cavite, and Camarines; purchased lands; delivered out agricultural implements; founded manufacturies of cotton cloths; contracted for the crops of produce at very high prices; offered rewards and, in short, they put in motion every partial resources they were able to avail themselves of and their limited means allowed. It would be extremely easy for me, in this place, to enter a particular enumeration of the important services of this kind rendered by the company, and to exhibit, in the most evident point of view, the advantages thence derived to these Islands, if, besides being slightly touched upon in the preceding articles, this task had not been already ably performed by the Factor Don Juan Francisco Urroz, in his accurate report on this subject, addressed to the governing committee of the company, in 1803. In justice I will nevertheless observe, that this establishment, anxiously resolved to attain the end proposed, in spite of so many obstacles, constantly followed up its expensive system without being disheartened; nor did the contrarieties with which the Royal Audiencia, or High Court of Justice, frequently paralyzed its plans, the indifference of the governors, or the general opposition and jealousy of the other classes, in any way tend to relax its efforts, till at length, convinced of the impossibility of successfully contending, alone and without any other arms than its own reduced capital; and, on the other hand, well aware that a political body of this kind in vain seeks to unite within itself the triple and opposite characters of agriculturalist, manufacturer, and merchant, a determination was taken to alter the plan, and withdraw the factories established in the provinces, and by adopting a rigid economy and confining the operations in future to the purchase of such produce and manufactured articles as suited their trade, and were voluntarily brought by the natives to their stores, the expenses of the Company were curtailed, and a plan of reform introduced into all their speculations. By this means also they always secured an advantageous vent for the productions of the country, after having been the chief spring by which agriculture was promoted and encouraged in a direct manner.
Handicapped in outside tradeThe most beneficial reform, however, introduced by this establishment into its system, has, in reality, been derived from the variation or rather correction of its plans and enterprises, purely maritime. The government being desirous to increase the relations of this colony by every possible means, and to convert it into a common center of all the operations of the new company, at first required of the agents that the purchases and collection of goods from the coast of Coromandel, Bengal, and China, destined for Spain, should take place at Manila, either by purchasing the articles in that market, or through the medium of previous contracts to deliver them there. From this it is easy to infer, that the company was infallibly exposed to the harsh terms the respective contractors sought to impose upon them, as well with regard to prices as qualities, unless, in many cases, they preferred being left without the necessary assortments. Hence may it, without the smallest exaggeration, be affirmed, that, summing up all the surcharges under which the shipments left the port of Manila, and comparing them with those which might have been sent direct from the above-mentioned points, and without so extraordinary a détour as the one prescribed by law, the difference that followed in the prime cost of the cargos was not less than 80 per cent. The urgent manner, however, in which the directors of the company did not cease to deplore and complain of so evident a hardship, at length had the desired effect, and after existing ten or twelve years, so preposterous a system was successfully overthrown, and permission obtained from the king for the establishment of Spanish factories in the neighborhood of the China and India manufactures, as well as the power of addressing shipments direct to those foreign dominions. The enlightened policy of their respective governments did not allow them to hesitate in giving a favorable reception to our factors and vessels, and the purchases and shipments of Asiatic goods being thus realized without the old obstructions, the Company was reasonably led to hope being able soon to increase its operations, and progressively present more satisfactory results to the shareholders, when those political convulsions succeeding soon after, which have unhinged or destroyed all the ordinary relations of trade, compelled them to abandon their hopes, till the wished-for calm should be again restored.
Temporary expedient of 1803.In consequence of the new character and route given to the commercial enterprises of the Company, as authorized by a royal decree of July 12, 1803, the functions of the Manila factors were reduced to the annual shipment of a cargo of Asiatic goods to Peru, valued at $500,000, but only as long as the war lasted, and till the expiration of the extraordinary permits granted through the goodness of the king, and also to the transmitting to China and Bengal of the specie brought from America, and the collecting of certain quantities of indigo, sugar, or other produce of the Islands, with a view to gain by reselling it in the same market. Consequently, the moment things return to their pacific and ordinary course, will be the period when the necessity of the future existence of this establishment will cease, or at least, when the propriety will be evident of its reform or assimilation to the other commission houses, carrying on trade in Vera Cruz, Mexico, etc., which, not being hired establishments, do not create expenses when they cease to transact business.
Competition of foreign merchants.Against a measure of this kind it would be useless to allege, that, “by the exclusive privilege to introduce spirits and European effects into the colony, the Company has contracted the obligation of always keeping it properly supplied; that their very institution had for the basis the general improvement of the Islands, and in order duly to comply with these duties, it becomes indispensably necessary to keep up the present expensive establishment;” for, in the first place, in order, to render it incumbent on the company to introduce an indefinite quantity of European articles, it previously would be necessary to provide a vent for them, and this can never be the case, unless the exclusion of all competitors in the market is rigorously carried into effect. As things now are, the North Americans, English, French, and every other nation that wishes, openly usurped this privilege, by constantly inundating the Islands with spirits and all kinds of effects, and it is very evident that this same abuse which authorizes the infraction of the above privilege, if in that light it could in any way be considered, totally exonerates the company from all obligations by them contracted under a different understanding. Besides, the circumstances which have taken place since the publication of the royal decree, creating the above establishment into a corporate body, in the year 1785, have entirely changed the order established in this respect. In the first place, the port of Manila has been opened to foreign nations, in consequence of the disinterested representations of the company itself, and for the direct advantage of general trade; nor was it necessary to prevent our new guests from abusing the facilities thus granted to them, and much less to confine them to the mere introduction of Asiatic goods, the original plea made use of. In the second, as soon as the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands became familiar with the more useful and elegant objects of convenience and luxury, which they were enabled to purchase from foreigners, at reasonable prices, it was natural for them to pay little regard to the superfluous aid of the company, more particularly when the latter were no longer able to sustain the competition, either in the sale or supply of a multitude of articles, which, thanks to our own national simplicity, are scarcely known in Spain, whence their outward-bound cargoes are divided. Hence it follows that, far from the importation and supplies of the company being missed, it may with great reason be presumed, that this formal renunciation of this ideal privilege of theirs, must rather have contributed to secure, in a permanent manner, adequate supplies for all the wants and whims of the inhabitants of the colony; and that the publicity of such a determination would act as a fresh allurement successively to bring to the port of Manila a host of foreign speculators, anxious to avail themselves of a fresh opening for commercial pursuits.
Company not a philanthropy.The other objection, founded on the mistaken notion of its being inherent in, and belonging to, the very essence of the company, to promote the general improvement of the Philippine Islands, if well considered, will appear equally unjust. It is, in fact, a ridiculous, although too generally received, a prejudice to suppose, that the founders of this establishment proposed to themselves the plan of sinking the money of the shareholders in clearing the lands, and perfecting the rude manufactures of these distant Islands. To imagine this to have been one of the principal objects of the institution, or to suppose that, on this hard condition, their various privileges and exemptions were granted to them, is so far from the reality of the fact, that it would only be necessary to read with attention the 26th article of the quoted royal decree of creation, in order more correctly to comprehend the origin and constitutive system of this political body.
“The latter,” says the Duke de Almodovar, “is reduced to two principal points: the first of which is the carrying of the trade of Asia with that of America and Europe; and the second, the encouragement and improvement of the productions and manufacturing industry of the Islands. The one is the essential attribute of the company, constituting its real character of a mercantile society; and, in the other respect, it becomes an auxiliary of the government, to whom the duties alluded to more immediately belong.” If to the above we add the preamble of the 43rd article of the new decree of 1803, the recommendation, made to the company, to contribute to the prosperity of the agriculture and manufacturing industry of the Islands, will appear as a limited and secondary consideration; for even if the question were carried to extremes, it could never extend to any more than the application of four per cent of the annual profits of the company indistinctly to both branches. If, however, any doubts still remained, the explanation or solution recently given to this question would certainly remove them; because, by the simple fact of its being expressed in the latter part of the aforesaid 43rd article, Profit percent to go to Spain.“That the above-mentioned four per cent was to be laid out, with the king’s approbation, in behalf of the agriculture and manufacturing industry of Spain and the Philippine Islands,” it is clear that the king reserves and appropriates to himself the investment of the amount to be deducted from the general dividends, in order to apply it where and how may be deemed most advisable. Consequently, far from considering the company in that respect under an obligation to contribute to the improvement of the Philippines exclusively, the only thing that can be required of them, when their charter is withdrawn, is, the repayment to the royal treasury of the four per cent on their profits, for a purpose so vaguely defined. In following up this same train of argument, it would seem that, in order to render the amount to be deducted from the eventual profits of the company, in the course of time, a productive capital in the hands of the sovereign, the funds of the society not only ought not to be diverted to the continuation of projects which consume them, but, on the contrary, it is necessary to place at their disposal the direct means by which these funds can be increased, in order to make up to the company in some measure the enormous losses experienced of late years, and at once free their commerce from the shackles with which it has hitherto been obstructed.
Need of special privilegesFinally, after twenty-four years of impotent and gratuitous efforts in the Philippines, and of the most obstinate opposition on the part of their rivals, it is now time for the company, by giving up the ungrateful struggle, to reform in every respect their expensive establishment in Manila, and to direct their principal endeavors to carry into effect the project so imperfectly traced out in the new decree of 1803. The opinion of the most vehement enemies of the privileged bodies tacitly approves this exception in their favor. Adam Smith, avowedly hostile to all monopolies, feels himself compelled to confess that, “without the incentives which exclusive companies offer to the individuals of a nation carrying on little trade, possibly their confined capitals would cease to be destined to the remote and uncertain enterprises which constitute a commerce with the East Indies.”
Spanish commerce in its infancy.Our commerce, compared with that of other nations, notwithstanding what may be said on this subject, is most assuredly yet in a state of infancy. That with Asia, more especially, with the exception of the Royal Company, is almost unknown to all other classes. If it is, therefore, wished to exclude our many rivals from so lucrative a branch of trade as that which constitutes supplies for the consumption of the Peninsula and its dependencies, the means are obvious. The most material fact is in fact already done. The navigation to the various ports of Asia is familiar to the company’s navy; their factors and clerks have acquired a practical knowledge of that species of trade, essential to the undertaking, as well as such information as was at first unknown; but, after the great misfortune this body has experienced, it will be indispensably necessary to aid and invigorate them with large supplies of money, following the example of other governments in similar cases; in order that the successful issue of their future operations may compensate their past losses, and worthily correspond with the magnitude of the object.
Philippines a burden to Spain.This Asiatic colony, although considered as conferring great lustre on the crown and name of our monarch, by exhibiting the vast extent of the limits of his dominions, has in reality been, during a long series of years, a true burden to the government, or at least, a possession whose chief advantages have redounded in favor of other powers, rivals of our maritime importance. Notwithstanding all that has been said on the score of real utility, certain it is, that the Philippine establishment has cost the treasury large sums of money; although, within the last twenty-five or thirty years, it must be confessed that the public revenues has experienced a considerable increase, and, of itself, has become an object of some consequence to the state.
Profit from tobacco monopoly and foreign trade.Among the various causes which have contributed to produce so favorable an alteration, the chief one have been the establishment of the tobacco monopoly, on behalf of the crown, and the opening of the port of Manila to the flag of other nations, at peace with Spain. The first has considerably increased the entries into the public treasury, and the second has tended to multiply the general mass of mercantile operations, independent of the other beneficial effects this last measure must have produced in a country, whose resources, trade and consumption had, from the time of the conquest, experienced the fatal shackles imposed by jealousy and ignorance.
Improvement in public finances.The improved aspect the colony soon assumed, by the introduction of this new system, as was natural, awakened the attention of ministers, and induced them more easily to consent to the measures subsequently proposed to them, principally intended to place those distant dominions on a footing of permanent security, so as to enable them to repel any fresh attempts on the part of an enemy. As, however, the productions of the country increased, the public expenses also became greater, although always in a much smaller proportion, with the exception of the interval between the years 1797 and 1802, when the government, fearful of a second invasion, was compelled, at its own expense, to provide against the danger with which these Islands were then threatened. If, therefore, as appears from the official reports of the treasurer-general, Larzabal, in my possession, the receipts at the treasury, in 1780, amounted only to $700,000 including the situado, or annual allowance for the expenses of government sent from New Spain, and after the ordinary charges of administration had been paid, a surplus of $170,000 remained in the hands of the treasurer; at present we have the satisfaction to find that the revenue is equal to $2,625,176.50 and the expenses do not exceed $2,179,731.87 by which means an annual surplus of $445,444.62 is left, applicable to the payment of the debt contracted during the extraordinary period above mentioned, now reduced to about $900,000 and afterwards transferable to the general funds belonging to the crown.
Economy over Spanish-American colonial administration.With regard to the administrative system, it is in every respect similar to the one observed in our governments of America, with this difference only, that, in the Philippine Islands, greater economy prevails in salaries, as well as in the number of persons employed. In former times, the establishment of intendencies, or boards of administration, was deemed expedient in Manila, Ilocos, Camarines, Iloilo, and Cebu; but they were soon afterwards reformed, or rather laid aside, on account of their being deemed superfluous. I would venture to state the grounds on which this opinion was then formed; but, as the sphere in which the king’s revenue acts in these Islands increases and extends, which naturally will be the case if the plans and improvements dictated by the present favorable circumstances are carried into effect, I do not hesitate to say that it will be necessary again to appeal to the establishment of a greater number of boards for the management and collection of the various branches of the revenue, whether they are called intendencies, or by any other name; as it will be extremely difficult for the administration to do its duty, on the confined and inadequate plan under which it is at present organized.
Fiscal system.Under its existing form, it is constituted in the following manner: The governor of the Islands, in his quality of superintendent or administrator general, and as uniting in himself the powers of intendent of the army, presides at the board of administration of the king’s revenue, which is placed in the immediate charge of a treasurer and two clerks. The principal branches have their respective general directors, on whom the provincial administrators depend, and the civil magistrates, in the quality of sub-delegates, collect within their respective districts, the tributes paid by the natives in money and produce, and manage everything else relating to the king’s revenue. In ordinary cases, the general laws of the Indies govern, and especially are the ordinances or regulations of the Intendents of New Spain (Mexico) ordered to be observed in the Philippines. It ought further to be observed, that, in these Islands, the same as in all the vice-royalties and governments of America, there is a distinct body of royal decrees in force, which, in themselves, constitute a code of considerable size.
Opposition to tobacco monopoly.The process of converting the consumption of tobacco into a monopoly met with a most obstinate resistance on the part of the inhabitants, and the greatest circumspection and constancy were necessary for the governor, Don José Basco, to carry this arduous enterprise into effect. Accustomed to the cultivation of this plant without any restriction whatever, and habituated to its use from their infancy, it appeared to the people the extreme of rashness to seek simultaneously to extirpate it from the face of the greatest part of the Island of Luzon, in order to confine its culture within the narrow limits of a particular district. They were equally revolted at the idea of giving to a common article a high and arbitrary value, when, besides, it had become one of the first necessity. Every circumstance, however, being dispassionately considered, and the principle once admitted that it was expedient for the colony to maintain itself by means the least burdensome to the inhabitants, it certainly must be acknowledged that, although odious on account of its novelty and defective in the mode of its execution, a resource more productive and at the same time less injurious, could not have been devised. Hence was it that the partisans of the opposite system were strangely misled, by founding their calculation on false data, when they alleged that a substitute, equivalent to the increased revenue supposed to arise out of the monopoly of tobacco, might have been resorted to by ordering a proportionate rise in the branch of tributes. In fact, no one who had the least experience in matters of this kind, can be ignorant of the open repugnance the natives have always evinced to the payment of the ordinary head-tax (cedula), and the broils to which its collection has given rise. Besides, if well examined, no theory is more defective and more oppressive on account of the disparity with which it operates, than this same wrongly-boasted impost; for, however desirous it may be to simplify the method of collecting the general revenue of a state, if the best plan is to be adopted, that is, if public burdens are to be rendered the least obnoxious, it is necessary preferably to embrace the system of indirect contribution, in which class, to a certain degree, the monopoly of all those articles may be considered as included which are not rigorously of the first necessity, and only compel the individual to contribute when his own will induce him to become a consumer.
Doubling of insular revenue thru tobacco.Let this be as it may, certain it is, that to Governor Basco we are indebted for having doubled the annual amount of the revenue of these Islands, by merely rendering the consumption of tobacco subservient to the wants of the crown. It was he who placed these Islands in the comfortable situation of being able to subsist without being dependent on external supplies of money to meet the exigencies of government. It ought, however, to be remarked that, although they have been in the habit of receiving the annual allowance of $250,000 for which a standing credit was opened by the government at home on the general treasury of New Spain, considerable sums have, nevertheless, on various occasions, been remitted from the Philippines to Spain, through the channel of the Captain-General. * * * If these remittances have been suspended for some years past, it has evidently been owing to the imperious necessity of applying the ordinary proceeds of the revenue, as well as other extraordinary means, to unforeseen contingencies arising out of peculiar circumstances.
Tobacco belt.The planting and cultivation of tobacco are now confined to the district of Gapan, in Pampanga Province, to that of Cagayan, and to the small Island of Marinduque. The amount of the crops raised in the above three points and sold to the king, may, on an average, be estimated at fifty thousand bales, grown in the following proportion: Gapan, forty-seven thousand bales; Cagayan, two thousand, and Marinduque, one thousand. This stock, resold at the monopoly prices, yields a sum equal to about one million of dollars, and deducting therefrom the prime cost and all other expenses, legally chargeable on this branch, the net proceeds in favor of the revenue amount to $550,000 or upwards of one hundred twenty-two per cent. This profit is so much more secure, as it rests on the positive fact that, however great the quantity of the article sold furtively and by evading the vigilance of the guards, as the demand and consumption are excessive and always exceed the stock on hand, a ready sale cannot fail to be had for all the stock placed in the hands of the agents of the monopoly. From this it may also be inferred how much the net proceeds of this branch would be increased, if without venturing too far in extending the plantations and consequent purchases, care was taken to render the supplies more proportionate to the consumption; for, by a clear profit of one hundred twenty-two per cent, falling on a larger capital, it follows that a corresponding result would be obtained. In a word, the sales, far from declining or being in any way deemed precarious, are susceptible of a great increase, consequently this branch of revenue merits the serious attention of government beyond all others.
Defective sales system.It is, however, to be lamented that, instead of every facility being given to the sale of tobacco and the consumption thus encouraged, the public meet with great difficulties and experience such frequent obstacles and deficiencies in the supplies, that with truth it may also be said, the sales are affected in spite of the administrators themselves. In the capital alone it is a generally received opinion that a third part more would there be consumed, if, instead of compelling the purchaser to receive the tobacco already manufactured or folded, he was allowed to take it from the stores in its primitive state; and if the minor establishments in the provinces were constantly supplied with good qualities, an infinitely larger quantity might be sold, and by this means a great deal of smuggling also prevented. Such, however, is the neglect and irregularity in this department, that it frequently happens in towns somewhat distant from Manila, no other tobacco is to be met with than what the smugglers sell, and if, perchance, any is to be found in the monopoly stores, it is usually of the worst quality that can be imagined.
Loss from preventable causes.I pass over, in silence, the other defects gradually introduced, as evils, in a greater or lesser degree, inseparable from this part of public administration in every country in which it has been deemed necessary to establish monopolies; but I cannot refrain from again insisting on the urgency with which those in power ought to devote themselves, firmly and diligently, to the destruction of abuses which have hitherto paralyzed the progress of the branch in question, because I am well persuaded, that, whenever corresponding means are adopted, it will be possible in a short time to double the proceeds. What these means are, it is not easy, nor indeed essential, to particularize in a rapid sketch, like this, of the leading features and present state of the Philippine Islands. I shall, therefore, merely remark, that it will be in vain to wish the persons engaged in the management of this department to exert their real zeal and sincerely co-operate in the views of government, as long as they are not placed beyond the necessity of following other pursuits and gaining a livelihood in another way; in a word, unless they have a salary assigned them, corresponding to the confidence and value of the important object entrusted to their charge, no plan of reform can be rendered efficient.
Abuses by revenue officers.At the same time steps are taken to augment the revenue arising out of tobacco, it would be desirable, as much as possible, to improve the methods used with regard to those who gather in the crops, by endeavoring to relieve them from the heavy conditions imposed upon them; conditions which, besides exposing them to the odious effects of revenue-laws, by their very nature bring upon them many unpleasant consequences, and often total ruin. In order that a correct opinion may be formed of these defects, it will suffice to observe that, under pretext of preventing smuggling, the guards and their agents watch, visit, and, if I may use the expression, live among the plantations from the moment the tobacco-seedlings appear above ground, till the crops are gathered in. After compelling the Filipino planter to cut off the head of the stem, in order that the plant may not become too luxurious, the surveyors then proceed to set down, not only the number of plants cultivated on each estate, but even the very leaves of each, distinguishing their six qualities, in order to call the farmers to account, respectively, when they make a defective delivery into the general stores. In the latter case, they are compelled to prove the death of the plants and even to account for the leaves missing when counted over again, under the penalty of being exposed to the rigor of the revenue laws.
Burdensome and unprofitable inspection.It cannot indeed be denied that by this means two important objects are attained, at one and the same time; the one, the gradual improvement of the tobacco, and the other, the greater difficulty of secreting the article; but, on the other hand, how great are the inconveniences incurred? Independent of the singularity and consequent oppression of a regulation of this kind, as well as its too great minuteness and complication, it is attended with very considerable expenses, and renders it necessary to keep on foot a whole army of guards and clerks, who tyrannize over and harass the people without any real motive for such great scrupulosity and profusion. I make this observation because I cannot help thinking that the same results might nearly be obtained, by adopting a more simple and better regulated system. I am not exactly aware of the one followed in the Island of Cuba, but as far as I understand the matter, it is simply reduced to this: the growers there merely present their bales to the inspectors, and if pronounced to be sound and good, the stipulated amount is paid over to them; but if the quality is bad, the whole is invariably burnt. Thus all sales detrimental to the public revenue are prevented, and I do not see why the same steps could not be taken in the Philippine Islands. It must not, however, be understood, that I presume to speak in a decisive tone on a subject so extremely delicate, and that requires great practical information, which, I readily acknowledge, I do not possess. I merely wish by means of these slight hints, to contribute to the commencement of a reform in abuses, and to promote the adoption of a plan that may have for basis the relief of the growers, and at the same time advance the prosperity of this part of the royal revenue.
Coco and nipa wine monopoly.The monopoly of coco and nipa, or palm-wine, is a branch of public revenue of sufficient magnitude to merit the second place among the resources rendered available to the expenditure of these Islands, converted into a monopoly some years ago. In like manner as the consumption of tobacco, it has experienced several changes in its plan of administration, this being at one time carried on, for account of the king, at others, by the privilege being let out at auction; till at length the Board of Control, convinced of the great profit gained by the contractors, resolved at once to take the direction of this departure under their own charge, and make arrangement for its better administration. Having with this view established general deposits and licensed houses for the sale of native wine, with proper superintending clerks they soon began to reap the fruits of so judicious a determination. In 1780, the privilege of selling the coco and nipa wine was farmed out, to the highest bidder, for no more than $45,200 and subsequently the increase has been so great, owing to the improvements adopted, that at present net proceeds equal to $200,000 on an average may be relied upon. In proof of this, the proceeds of this branch, in the year 1809, may be quoted, when the total balances received at the Treasury, after all expenses had been paid, amounted to $221,426, in the following manner:
| Administration of Manila and district | $201,250 |
| Administration of La Pampanga and district | 12,294 |
| Administration of Pangasinan and district | 7,882 |
| —— | |
| $221,426 |
The prime cost and other expenses that year amounted to no more than $168,557 by which means, on the whole operation, a net profit of thirteen and one-half per cent. resulted in favor of the treasury.
Wine monopoly district.The monopoly of native wine comprehends the whole of the Island of Luzon, excepting the Provinces of Cagayan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Camarines and Albay, and is under the direction of three administrators, who act independently of each other in their respective districts, and have at their disposal a competent number of guards. These administrators receive in the licensed establishments the coco and nipa wines, at prices stipulated by the growers. That of the coco is paid for at the rate of two dollars per jar, containing twenty gantas, equal to twelve arrobas, seven azumbres and half a cuartillo, Castilian measure, and at fourteen reals in the places nearest the depots. The nipa wine is laid at six and one-half reals the jar, indistinctly; prices which, although extremely low, are still considered advantageous by the Filipinos themselves, more particularly when it is besides understood, that, from the circumstance of their being growers of this article, they are exempted from military service, as well as several other taxes and public charges.
Coco-wine.The coco-wine is a weak spirit, obtained in the following manner: The tree that produces this fruit is crowned by an assemblage of large flowers or corollas, from the center or calix of which issues a fleshy stem, filled with juice. The Indian cuts the extremity of this stem, and inclining the remainder in a lateral manner, introduces it into a large hollow tube which remains suspended, and is found full of sweet and sticky liquor, which the tree in this manner yields twice in every twenty-four hours. “Tuba”.This liquid, called tuba, in the language of the country, is allowed to ferment for eight days in a large vessel, and afterwards distilled by the Indians in their uncouth stills, which are no other than large boilers, with a head made of lead or tin, rendered tight by means of clay, and with a pipe frequently made out of a simple cane, which conveys the spirit to the receiving vessels, without passing, like the serpentine tube used in ordinary stills, through the cooling vats, which so greatly tends to correct the vices of a too quick evaporation. The tuba, obtained in level and hot situations, is much more spirituous than that produced in cold and shady places. In the first, six jars of juice are sufficient to yield one of spirit, and in the latter, as many as eight are requisite; a much greater number, however, would be wanted to rectify this spirit so as to render it equal to what is usually known by Hollands proof. I am not positively certain what degree of strength the coco-brandy, or as it is usually called coco-wine, possesses, but it is evidently inferior to the weakest made in Spain from the juice of the grape. The only circumstance required for it to be approved of, and received into the monopoly-stores, is its being easily ignited by the application of a lighted candle.
Nipa brandy.The nipa is a small tree of the class of palms, which grows in a very bushy form, and multiplies and prospers greatly on the margins of rivers and watery tracts of land. The tuba, or juice, is extracted from the tree whilst in its flowering state, in the same way as that of the coco, and afterwards distilled by a similar process; but it is more spirituous, from six to six and a half jars being sufficient to yield one of wine. The great difference remarked in the prices of these two species of liquor, arises out of the great number of uses to which the fruit of the cocal or coco tree is applicable, and the increase of expense and labor requisite to obtain the juice, owing to the great height of the plant, and the frequent dangers to which the caritones, or gatherers, are exposed in passing from one tree to another, which they do by sliding along a simple cane (bamboo).
Little drunkenness.The impost on, or rather monopoly of, native wine, is in itself little burdensome to the community, as it only falls on the lower and most dissipated orders in society, and for this reason it is not susceptible of the same increase as that of tobacco, of which the use is more general, and now become an object of the first necessity. The native of the Philippine Islands is, by nature, so sober, that the spectacle of a drunken man is seldom noticed in the streets; in the capital, where the most corrupt classes of them reside, it is admirable to see the general abstinence from a vice that degrades the human species. The consumption of the coco and nipa wine is, nevertheless, considerable, for it is used in all their festivities, cock-fights, games, marriages, etc. Accordingly if it is desired to augment the annual sale of these liquors, no way could be more efficient than to increase the number of their festive meetings, and seek pretexts to encourage public diversions, so long as these do not go contrary to the well-regulated order of society, and conflict with the duties of those who are intrusted with its superintendence.
Extension of monopoly urged.I am still of opinion, however, that, without resting the prosperity of this branch of the public revenue on principles possessed of so immoral a tendency, it might be rendered more productive to the treasury, if the monopoly could be introduced into the other districts adapted to its establishment. By this I mean to say that, as hitherto the monopoly has been partial, and enforced more in the way of a trial than in a general and permanent manner, much remains to be done, and consequently great scope is left for improvement in this department of the public revenue. This most assuredly may be attained, if all the local circumstances and impediments, more or less superable, which the matter itself presents, are only taken into due account, and proper exertions made to study and discover the various indirect means of increasing the total mass of contributions, by applying a system more productive and analogous to the nature of the Philippine Islands. With regard to the revenue of the two particular articles above treated on, I merely wish to make it understood that, far from introducing by means of the monopoly, a new vice into the provinces in which I recommend its establishment, it would rather act, in a certain degree at least, as a corrective to pre-existing evils, and the government would derive advantages from an article of luxury, by subjecting its consumption to the same shackles under which it stands in the northern provinces, where its administration is established and carried on for account of the royal treasury.
Former customs usage.In former times, when only vessels belonging to the Asiatic nations visited the port of Manila, with effects from the coast of Coromandel, or the China junks, and now and then a Spanish vessel coming from or going to the Island of Java, with spices for account of Philippine merchants, the receipt of duties was left in charge of a single royal officer, and the valuations of merchandise made by him, in concert with two merchants named by the government; but with the knowledge and assistance of the king’s attorney-general. The modifications and changes which have subsequently taken place in this department have, however, been frequent, as is evidently shown by the historical extract from the proceedings instituted before the Council of the Indies, by the merchants of Seville and Cadiz, in opposition to those of the Philippine Islands, printed in Madrid, 1736, in folio, by order of the said council; but as it does not enter into my views to speak of times so remote, I shall confine my remarks to this branch considered under its present form.
Custom house.In conformity to royal orders of March 15 and May 5, 1786, the Royal Custom House of Manila was definitively organized on its new plan; and from 1788, was placed under the immediate charge of an administrator-general, a controller, a treasurer, aided by a competent number of guards, inspectors, etc., and in every respect regulated on the plan established in the other custom houses. The freedom of the port being granted to foreign nations, a privilege before enjoyed only by those purely Asiatic, and a new line of trade commenced by the company, the competition in merchandise soon began to increase, as well as the revenue arising therefrom, in such manner that, although the exportation of goods was limited to the cargo of the Acapulco ship, of which the duties are not payable till her arrival there; notwithstanding also the property imported by the company from China and India, and destined for their own shipments, was exempt from duties, and above all, the continual interruptions experienced by the maritime commerce of the Islands within the last fifteen or twenty years, the net proceeds of the custom house, from the period above mentioned of its establishment, till the close of 1809, have not been less than from $138,000 to $140,000, on an average, independent of the amount of the king’s fifth on the gold of the country, which is collected by the same administrator, in consequence of its being trivial; as well as the two per cent. belonging to the Board of Trade, and by them collected under that title, and afterwards separately applied to the average-fund and which usually may be estimated from $20,000 to $25,000.
The general duties now levied in the custom house, are the following:
Port charges and duties.Six per cent. almojarisfago is on all kinds of merchandise imported in foreign bottoms, under a valuation made by the surveyors, in conformity to the respective prices of the market at the time on importation; it usually is regulated by an increase of 50% on the prime cost of India goods, and of 33⅓% on those from China. This duty may be considered as, in fact, equal to nine per cent on the former, and eight on the latter.
Six per cent, or the same duty, on all foreign goods, although imported in national bottoms.
Three per cent on Spanish goods, imported under the national flag, equal, according to the above estimate to 4 and 4½%.
Two per cent Board of Trade duty, indistinctly on all foreign property, equivalent to 2½ or 3%.
Twenty-five per cent anchorage dues, levied on the total amount of the almojarisfago duty.
An additional of two and one-half per cent, a new and temporary duty, called subvencion, appropiated to the payment of the loan made to the king by the Cadiz Board of Trade, and leviable on all kinds of imported goods, and, of course, equal, according to the usual mode of valuation, to about three per cent.
Three per cent on the exportation of coined silver and gold of the country, in dust and, ingots.
An additional or duty of subvencion, or temporary duty on the above, equal to one-half per cent.
One and a half per cent under the same rate, on all kinds of goods, and equal to two or two and one half per cent.
One and one-half per cent on the amount of the cargo of the Acapulco ship, on leaving the port of Manila, equal to ¾% on the real prime cost.
Slight concession to the Company.The company are considered in the same light as the rest of the merchants, in the graduation and payment of duties, on such goods as they sell out of their own stores for local consumption, to the Company, with the exemption only of the Board of Trade rate of 2% and 3%, on the exportation of silver, according to a special privilege, and in conformity to the 61st Article of the new royal decree of 1803.
Besides the duties above enumerated, there is another trifling one established for local purposes of peso merchante, being a rate for the use of the king’s scales, levied according to an extremely equitable tariff, on certain articles only of solid weight, such as iron, copper, etc. The raw materials as well as all kinds of manufactured articles, belonging to the Islands, are exempt from duties on their entry in the port and river of Manila; but some of the first are subject to the most unjust of all exactions, that is, to an arbitrary tax and to the obligation of being retailed out on board the vessels in which they have been brought down, and deliverable only to persons bearing a written order, signed by the sitting members of the municipal corporation. Among this class of articles may be mentioned the coco of Cebu and the wax and oil of the Bisayas, which are rated as objects of the first necessity.
Undervaluation of galleon goods.With regard to the respective duties on the cargo annually dispatched by the merchants of Manila to New Spain, the practice of galleon is tolerably well regulated. An extreme latitude is given to the moderate rates at which it is ordered to value the goods contained in the manifest, by which means these are frequently put down at only one-half of their original prime cost; the commission to frame the scale of valuations which is to be in force for five years, after which time it is renewed, being left to three merchants, and made subject to the revision of the king’s attorney-general (fiscal) and the approbation of the governor; consequently, such being the nature of the tariff on which these operations are founded, the 33⅓% to which the royal duties amount on the $500,000 stipulated in the permit, does not, in fact, affect the shipper beyond the rate of 15 per cent, in consequence of the great difference between the prime cost and valuation of the articles corresponding to the permit; or, what is the same thing, between the $500,000 nominal value, and $1,100,000 or $1,200,000, the real amount of the cargo in question. The most remarkable circumstance, however, is, that the officers of the revenue in Acapulco collect the above-mentioned 33⅓% in absolute conformity to the Manila valuation, and not according to the value of the goods in America, and without any other formality than a comparison of the cargo with the ship’s papers. In honor of truth, it ought to be further observed that, although the Manila merchant by this means seeks to exempt himself from the part of the enormous duties with which it has been attempted to paralyze the only commercial intercourse he carries on with New Spain, in every other respect connected with this operation, he acts in a sufficiently legal manner, and if at their return those vessels have been in the habit of bringing back near a million of dollars in a smuggled way, it must be acknowledged that it is the harshness of the law which compels the merchant to become a smuggler; for according to the strange regulation by which he is thwarted in the returns representing the proceeds of his outward operation, he must either bring the money to the Philippine Islands without having it declared on the ship’s papers, or be obliged to leave the greatest part of it in the hands of others, subject to such contingencies as happen in trade. As long, therefore, as the present limitations subsist, which only authorize returns equal to double the value of the outward-bound cargo, this species of contraband will inevitably continue. The governors also, actuated by the principles of reason and natural justice, will, as they have hitherto done, wink at the infraction of the fiscal laws; a forbearance, in fact, indirectly beneficial to them, inasmuch as it eventually contributes to the general improvement of the colony. Indeed, without this species of judicious condescension, trade would soon stand still for the want of the necessary funds to carry it on.
Unbusinesslike custom ways..... It will readily be acknowledged that, in like manner as the good organization of custom houses is favorable to the progress of general commerce, so nothing is more injurious to its growth and the enterprise of merchants, than any uncertainty or arbitrary conduct in the levying of duties to be paid by them. This arises out of the circumstance of every merchant, entering on a new speculation, being anxious to have, as the principal ground work of his combinations, a perfect knowledge of the exact amount of his disbursements, in order to be enabled to calculate the final result with some degree of certainty. Considered in this point of view, the system adopted in the Islands is certainly deplorable, since it must be acknowledged that the principles and common rules of all other commercial countries, are there unknown. For example; this year a cargo arrives from China or Bengal, and the captain turns in his manifest. The custom-house surveyors then commence the valuation of the goods of which his cargo is composed: I say they commence, because it is a common thing for them not to have finished the estimate of the scale and amount of corresponding duties, till the expiration of two, four, and not unfrequently six months. The rule they affect to follow, in this valuation, is that of the prices current in the market, and in order to ascertain what these are, they are seen going round inquiring in the shops of the Sangleys (Chinese), till at length, finding it useless to go in search of correct and concurrent data, in a place where there are neither brokers nor public auctions, they are forced to determine in an arbitrary manner, and as the adage goes, always take good care to see their employers on the right side of the hedge. The grand work being ended, with all this form and prolixity, the sentence of the surveyors is irrevocable. The bondsman of the captain, who, in the meanwhile, has usually sold his cargo and departed with a fresh one for another destination, pays in the amount of the duties, thus regulated by law.
Variations in valuations.The practical defects and injurious consequences of such a system as this, it would be unnecessary to particularize. It would, however, be less intolerable, if, once put in force, it could serve the merchant as a guide in the valuations of his property for a determined number of successive years. What, however, renders this assessment more prejudicial, is its instability and uncertainty, and the repetition of the same operation I have just described every year, and with every cargo that arrives; but under distinct valuations, according to the reports or humor of the day. Besides these great defects and irregularity, the Philippine custom house observes the singular practice of not allowing the temporary landing of goods entered in transitu and for re-exportation, as is done on the bonding system in all countries where exertions are made by those in authority for the extension and improvement of commerce in every possible way. Of course, much less will they consent to the drawback or return of any part of the duties on goods entered outwards, even though they are still on board the very vessels in which they originally came shipped. Beyond all doubt, the wrongly understood severity of such a system, has, and will, continue to prevent many vessels from frequenting the port of Manila, and trying the market, unable to rely on the same liberal treatment they can meet with in other places.
The areca-nut.The bonga, or areca-nut, is the fruit of a very high palm-tree, not unlike the one that bears the date, and the nuts, similar to the latter, hang in great clusters from below the protuberance of the leaves or branches. Its figure and size resemble a common nut, but solid, like the nutmeg. Divided into small pieces, it is placed in the center of a small ball made of the tender leaves of the buyo or betel pepper, lightly covered with slacked lime, and this composition constitutes the celebrated betel of Asia, or, as it is here called, the buyo, the latter differing from that used in India, inasmuch only as it contains cardamomom.
Buyo monopoly unsatisfactory.The government, anxious to derive advantage in aid and support of the colony, from the great use the inhabitants make of the buyo, many years ago determined to establish the sale of the bonga, its principal ingredient, into a monopoly, either by hiring the privilege out, or placing it under a plan of administration, in the form in which it now stands. Both schemes have been tried, but neither way has this branch been made to yield more than $30,000; indeed the annual proceeds usually have not exceeded $25,000. In 1809, the total amount of sales was $48,610, and deducting from this sum the prime cost and expenses of administration, the net profit in favor of the treasury was equal to no more than $27,078 or upwards of 125½%. In 1780, the privilege of selling the bonga was let out at public auction for the sum of $15,765 and this, compared with the present proceeds, clearly shows that, although the increase has not advanced equally with the other branches of the revenue, it is far from having declined. It must nevertheless be confessed, that on the present footing on which it stands, the smallness of the proceeds is not worth the trouble required in the collection, and even if the amount were still greater, it could never serve as an excuse for the oppression and violence to which this monopoly frequently gives rise.
Hardships on areca-nut planters.As the trees producing the bonga are not confined to any particular grounds, and indiscriminately grow in all, the plan has been adopted of compelling the Filipinos to gather and bring in the fruit, raised on their lands, to the depot nearest the district in which they reside. There they are paid from two, two and one-half, three and three and one-half reals per thousand, according to the distance from which they come: and, in order to prevent frauds, the surveyors belonging to the revenue go out, at certain times of the year, to examine the bonga plantations, and the trees being counted, they estimate the fruit, that is, oblige the proprietor to undertake to deliver in two hundred nuts for each bearing tree, whether or not, hurricanes deteriorate or destroy the produce, or thieves plunder the plantations, as very frequently happens. In case deficiencies are proved against him, he is compelled to pay for them in money, at the rate of twenty-five reals per thousand, the price at which the king sells them in the monopoly-stores. Besides, the precise condition of delivering in two hundred bonga nuts, according to the stipulations imposed upon him, presupposes the previous exclusion of all the injured or green ones; and although the ordinary trees usually yield as many as three hundred nuts each, great numbers are nevertheless spoiled. If, to the adverse accidents arising out of the storms and robberies, we add the effects of the whims or ill-humor of the receivers, it is not easy to imagine to what a length the injuries extend which befall the man who has the folly or misfortune to become a planter of this article.
Folly of monopoly plan.On the other hand, as in the conveyances from the minor to the larger depots, frauds are frequently committed, and the heaping together of many millions of nuts inevitably produces the fermentation and rapid putrefaction of a great number of them, it consequently follows that the waste must be immense; or if it is determined to sell all the stock laid in, without any distinction in quality and price, the public must be very badly served and displeased, as in fact too often happens. Since, therefore, the habit of using the buyo is still more prevailing than that of tobacco, when suitable supplies cannot be had in the monopoly stores, the consumer naturally resorts to the contraband channels, although he encounters some risk, and expends more money. It is also very natural that the desire of gain should thus lead on and daily expose a number of needy persons, anxious by this means to support and relieve the wants of their families. Returning, however, to what more immediately concerns the grower, I do not know that the oppressive genius of fiscal laws has, in any country of the globe, invented one more refinedly tyrannic, than to condemn a man, to a certain degree at least, as has hitherto been the case, to the punishment of Tantalus; for the law forbids the Filipino to touch the fruit of the tree planted with his own hands, and which hangs in tempting and luxuriant abundance round his humble dwelling.
Its modification desirable.It would be easy for me to enumerate many other inconveniences attending this branch of public revenue, on the footing on which it now stands, if what has already been said did not suffice to point out the necessity of changing the system, as those in authority are anxious that the treasury should gain more, and the king’s subjects suffer less. The strong prejudice entertained against this source of revenue, the inconsiderable sum it produces, and the complicated form of its organization, have in reality been sufficient motives to induce many to become strenous advocates for the total abolition of the monopoly. I do not, however, on this account see any reasons for altogether depriving the government of a productive resource, as this might soon be rendered, if it was placed under regulations less odious and more simple in themselves. I nevertheless agree, that the perfect monopoly of the areca fruit, or bonga, is impracticable, till the trees, indiscriminately planted, are cut down, and, in the same way as the tobacco plantations, fresh and definite grounds are laid out for its cultivation, on account of the revenue. I am further aware that this measure is less practicable than the first; for, independent of all the other obstacles, it would be necessary to wait till the new plantation yielded fruit, and also that the public should consent to refrain from masticating buyo in the meanwhile, a pretension as mad as it would be to require that the eating of salt should be dispensed with for a given number of years. But what difficulty would there be, for example, in the proprietors paying so much a year for each bonga tree to the district magistrate, the governor of the nearest town, or the cabeza de Barangay, or chiefs of the clans into which the natives are divided, in the same manner as the Filipino pays his tribute? Tree-tax preferable.The only one I anticipate is that of fixing the amount in such way that, at the same time this resource is made to produce an increased income of some moment, it may act as a moderate tax on an indefinite property, the amount of which, augmented in the same price, may be reimbursed to the proprietor by the great body of consumers. It is not in fact easy to foresee or estimate, by any means of approximation, the alteration in the current price of the bonga, that would result from the indefinite freedom of its cultivation and sale, especially during the first years. Although, for this reason, it would be impossible to ascertain what proportion the impost on the tree would then bear with regard to the value of the fruit, the error that might accrue would be of little moment, as long as precautions were taken to adopt a very low rate of comparison, and a proportionably equitable one as the basis of taxation. Supposing then that the price of the bonga should decline from twenty-five reals, at which it is now sold in the monopoly stores, to fifteen reals per thousand, in the general market, and a tax of one-fourth real should be laid on each tree valued at two hundred bonga nuts, it is clear that this would be equal to no more than 8½%; or, what is the same, the tax would be in the proportion one to twelve with the proceeds of each tree, and the more the value of the fruit was raised, the more would the rate of contribution diminish. It ought at the same time to be observed that, under the above estimate, that is, supposing the price of the article to remain at fifteen reals, the 8½% at which rate the tax is regulated, would not perhaps exceed five or six per cent on a more minute calculation; in the first place, because at the time of making out the returns of the trees, Exception of immature and aged trees.those only ought to be set down which are in their full vigor, excluding such as through the want or excess of age only yield a small proportion of fruit; and in the second, because in the numbers registered, the trees would only be rated at two hundred although it is well known they usually yield three hundred, in order by this means the better to avoid all motives of complaint. In this point of view, and by adopting similar rules of probability, it seems to me that the government would not risk much by an attempt to change the present system into a tax levied on the tree itself, on a plane similar to the one above proposed; more particularly by doing it in a temporary manner, and rendering it completely subservient to the corrections subsequent experience might suggest in this particular.
Difficulty of estimating probable revenue.The difficulty being, in this manner, overcome, with regard to the prudent determination of the rate at which the proprietor of the bonga plantations ought to contribute, let us now proceed to estimate, by approximation, the annual sum that would thus be obtained. As, however, this operation is unfortunately complicated, and in great measure depends on the previous knowledge of the total number of trees liable to the tax proposed, details with which we are at not present prepared, it is impossible to come at any very accurate results. All that can be done is to endeavor to demonstrate, in general terms, the great increase the revenue would experience by the adoption of the new plan, and the real advantage resulting from it to the contributors themselves, all which may be easily deduced from the following calculation.
Let us, in the first instance, suppose that the consumers of buyo, in the whole of the Islands, do not exceed one million of persons, and that each one makes use of three bongas per day, this consumption, at the end of the year, would then amount to 1,095,000,000 nuts. We will next divide this sum by two hundred, at which the product of each tree, one with another, is rated, and the result will be 5,475,000 trees. Greater, however, than at present.This number being taxed at the rate of one-fourth real, would leave the sum of $171,093.75 and deducting therefrom the $25,000 yielded by this branch under its present establishment, together with $5,132 equal to three per cent paid to the district magistrates for the charges of collection, we should still have an annual increase in favor of the, treasury equal to $140,961.75.
It might perhaps be objected that, in this case, the proprietor, instead of receiving, as before two and one-half reals for every thousand bongas, would have to disburse one and one-fourth reals in the mere act of paying one-fourth real for each tree; a circumstance which, at first sight, seems to produce a difference not of one and one-fourth, but of three and one-fourth reals per thousand against him; though in reality far from this being the case, if we take into consideration the deficiencies the sworn receiver usually lays to his charge, the fruit he rejects, owing to its being green or rotten, and the many and expensive grievances he is exposed to in his capacity of grower; it will be seen that his disbursements under these heads frequently exceed the amount he in fact has to receive. Tax only a surcharge ultimately paid by consumer.If, in addition to this, we bear in mind that, on condition of seeing himself free from guards and a variety of insupportable restrictions, constituting the very essence of a monopoly, he would in all probability gladly pay much more than the tax in question, all the doubts arising on this point will entirely disappear. Finally, considered in its true light, we shall not find in the measure above described anything more than a very trifling discount required of the proprietor from the price at which he sells his bonga, and which, as already noticed, ultimately falls on the consumer alone.
Estimate conservative.The moderate estimate I have just formed ought to inspire the more confidence from its being well known that the use of the buyo is general among the inhabitants of these Islands. The calculation, as it now stands, rests only on one million consumers, for each of whom I have only put down three bongas per day, whereas it is customary to use much more; nor have I taken into account the infinite number of nuts wasted after being converted into the buyo, a fact equally well known. Indeed, as the object proposed was no other than to prove the main part of my assertions, and I trust this is satisfactorily done, I have not deemed it necessary to include in the above calculation a greater number of minute circumstances, nor attempt to deduce more favorable results, which, with the scope before me, I was most assuredly warranted in doing.
Advantages.In a word, from the concurrence of the facts and reasons above adduced, the following propositions may, without any difficulty, be laid down. First, that the increase of revenue produced by the reform in question, would in all probability exceed $150,000 per annum; secondly, that the Filipinos would soon comprehend, and gladly consent to a change of this kind in the mode of contributing of which the advantages would be apparent; thirdly, that the persons employed in the old establishment, might, with greater public utility, be applied to other purposes; and lastly, that the civil magistrates would not be harassed with so many strifes and lawsuits, and so many melancholy victims of the monopoly, and its officers would cease to drag a wretched existence in the prisons and places of hard labor in these Islands.
Cockpit licenses.The cock-pit branch of the revenue is hired out by the government, and the license is separately set up at auction for the respective provinces. Its nature and regulations are so well known that they do not require a particular description, the general obligations of the contractors being the same as those in New Spain. Perhaps the only difference observed in this public exhibition in the Philippine Islands consists in its greater simplicity, owing to its being frequented only by the natives, the whites who are present at this kind of diversion being very few, or indeed none.
Inconsiderable income.The cock-pits are open two days in the week, and the lessees of them receive half a real from every person who enters, besides the extra price they charge those who occupy the best seats, the owners of the fighting cocks, for the spurs, stalls for the sale of buyo, refreshments, etc. Notwithstanding all this, and although cock-fighting is so general and favorite an amusement among these people (the rooster may justly be considered as the distinctive emblem of the Filipino) the annual proceeds of this branch are inconsiderable; although it must be acknowledged that it has greatly increased since the year 1780, when it appears the license was let at auction for only about $14,000 owing, no doubt, to the exclusive privilege of the contractors not having been extended to the provinces, as was afterwards gradually done.
Provincial cockpit revenue.The total sum paid to the government by the renters of this branch, according to the auction returns in 1810, amounted to $40,141 in the following order for the provinces:
| Tondo | $18,501 |
| Cavite | 2,225 |
| La Laguna | 2,005 |
| Pampanga | 3,000 |
| Bulacan | 6,900 |
| Batangas | 2,000 |
| Pangasinan | 1,200 |
| Bataan | 1,050 |
| Iloilo | 1,600 |
| Ilocos | 600 |
| Tayabas | 400 |
| Cebu | 360 |
| Albay | 300 |
| Total | $40,141 |
Possibilities of increase.The causes, to which the increase that has taken place within the last twenty-five or thirty years is chiefly to be attributed, have already been pointed out, and for this reason it would appear that, by adopting the same plan with regard to the fourteen remaining provinces, of which this captaincy-general is composed, hitherto free from the imposition of this tax, an augmentation might be expected, proportionate to the population, their circumstances, and the greater or lesser taste for cock-fights prevailing among their respective inhabitants. At the commencement, no doubt, the rentals would be low, and, of course, the prices at which the licenses were let out, would be equally so; but the experience and profits derivable from this kind of enterprises would not fail soon to excite the competition of contractors, and in this way add to the revenue of the government. This is so obvious that I cannot help suspecting attempts have, at some period or other, been made to introduce the establishment of this privilege, in some of the provinces alluded to; at the same time I am persuaded that, owing to the affair not having been viewed in its proper light, seeking on the contrary to obtain an immediate and disproportionate result, the authorities have been too soon disheartened and given up the project without a fair trial. All towns and districts murmur, and, at first object, to taxes, however light they may be; but, at length, if they be not excessive, the people become reconciled to them. The one here proposed is neither of this character, nor can it be deemed odious on account of its novelty. The natives are well aware that their brethren in the other provinces are subject to it, and that in this nothing more is done than rendering the system uniform. I, therefore, see no reason why the establishment of this branch of revenue should not be extended to all the points of the Islands. At the commencement, let it produce what it may, since constancy and time will bring things to the same general level.
Indian tributes.The too great condescension and mistaken humanity of the government on the one hand, and the fraud and selfishness of the provincial sub-delegates or collectors, on the other, have concurred to change a contribution, the most simple, into one of the most complicated branches of public administration. The first cause has been owing to a too general acquiescence to receive the amount of tributes in the produce peculiar to each province, instead of money; and the second, because as the above officers are the persons intrusted with the collection, whenever the sale has held out to them any advantage, they have been in the habit of appropriating the several articles to themselves, without allowing any benefit to the treasury. If the prospective sales of the produce appear unfavorable, it is then forwarded on to the king’s store in Manila, surcharged with freights, exposed to many risks, and the value greatly diminished by waste and many other causes. No order or regularity being thus observed in this respect, and the sale of the produce transmitted to the king’s stores being regulated by the greater or lesser abundance in the general market, and a considerable stock besides left remaining, from one year to another, and eventually spoiled, it is impossible to form any exact estimate of this branch. If to these complicated matters we add the radical vices arising out of the infidelity of the heads of clans (cabezas de barangay), the difficulty of ascertaining the defects of the returns made out by them, the variations annually occurring in the number of those exempted either through age or other legal motives, and above all, the frequently inevitable tardiness with which the district magistrates send in their respective accounts, it will be readily acknowledged, that no department requires more zeal in its administration, and no one is more susceptible of all kinds of frauds, or attended with more difficulties.
A conservative estimate.In this state of uncertainty, with regard to this particular branch, I have guided myself by the last general return of tributes, made out in the accountant-general’s office, on the best and most recent data, and calculating indistinctly the whole value in money, I have deemed it proper afterwards to make a moderate deduction, on account of the differences above stated, and arising out of the collection of the tributes in kind, the expenses of conveyance, shipwrecks, averages, and other causes already enumerated.
Fixed charges.In conformity to this calculation, the total proceeds of this branch of revenue amount to $505,215 from which sum are deducted, in the primitive stages of the accounts, the amount of ecclesiastical stipends, the pay of the troops under the immediate orders of the chief district magistrates in their quality of war-captains, together with all other extraordinary expenses incurred in the provinces by orders of the government, the remainder being afterwards forwarded to the king’s treasury. It ought, however, to be observed, that the above aggregated sum is more or less liable to deficiencies, according to the greater or lesser degree of punctuality on the part of the sub-collectors in making up accounts, and the solidity of their respective sureties; the failure of this kind experienced by the revenue being so frequent, that, according to the returns of the accountant-general, those which occurred between the years 1762 and 1809, were no less than $215,765 notwithstanding the great precautions at all times taken to prevent such considerable injuries, by every means compatible with the precarious tenure of property possessed by both principals and sureties in this country. All the above circumstances being therefore taken into due consideration, and the ordinary and extraordinary discounts made from the total amount of tributes, the real sum remaining, or the net annual proceeds of the above branch, have usually not been rated at more than $190,000 and $200,000; a sum respectively extremely small, and which possibly might be doubled, without the necessity of recurring to any other measure than a standing order for the collecting of the tributes in money, as by this means the variety of expenses and complications above enumerated, would be avoided, and the king’s revenue no longer exposed to any other deficiencies than those arising out of the insolvency of the sub-collectors and their sureties, or casual risks, and the trifling charges paid for the conveyance of the money. If in opposition to this it should be alleged that it would be advisable to except some of the provinces from this general rule, owing to the advantages the government might derive from certain tributes being paid in kind, I do not hesitate to answer that I see no reason whatever why this should be done, because, if, for example, any quality of rigging or sail cloth is annually required, it would be easy to obtain it either by early contracts, or by laying in the articles at the current market price. Indeed, all supplies which do not rest on this footing, would be to defraud the natives of the fruits of his industry, and in the final result this would be the same as requiring of him double or triple tribute, contrary to the spirit of the law, which unfortunately is too frequently the case under the existing system.
Preferability of tribute in money.Considering this affair in another point of view, it would be easy for me to demonstrate, if it were necessary, the mistaken idea that the native is benefited by receiving in kind the amount of the tribute he has to pay, at the low prices marked in the tariff used as a standard, by showing the extortions and brokerage, if I may so term it, to which the practice gives rise on the part of the district collectors. It will, however, suffice to call the attention of my readers to the smallness of the sum constituting the ordinary tribute, when reduced to money, in order for them to be convinced that it would be superfluous, as well as hazardous, to attempt to point out how this branch might be rendered more productive to the state and at the same time less burdensome to the contributors, more particularly when the rate assessed does not exceed ten reals per year, a sum so small, that generally speaking, no family can be found unable to hoard it up, if they have any inclination so to do. The prevailing error, however, in this respect, I am confident arises out of a principle very different from the one to which it is usually attributed. The tributary native is, in fact, disposed to pay the quota assigned to him into the hands of the chief of his clan, in money, in preference to kind; because, independent of the small value at which the articles in kind are rated in the tariff, he is then exposed to no expenses, as he now is for the conveyance of his produce and effects; nor is he liable to so many accidents. But as the chief of each clan has to deliver in his forty or fifty tributes to the head magistrate, who is answerable for those of the whole province, it is natural for him to endeavor to make his corresponding payments in some equivalent affording him a profit; at the same time the provincial magistrate, speculating on a larger scale, on the produce arising out of his jurisdiction, seeks to obtain from the government a profitable commutation in kind for that which the original contributor would have preferred paying in money. In order the better to attain his purpose, he asserts, as a pretext, the impossibility of collecting in the tribute under another form, alleging, moreover, the relief the native derives from this mode, whereas, if only duly examined, such a pretence is founded on the avarice, rather than the humanity of the magistrate.
Leaving to one side the defects attributable to the present mode of collection, and considering the tribute as it is in itself, the attentive observer must confess, that in no part of our Indies is this more moderate; and, indeed, it is evident that the laws generally relating to the natives of these Islands seem to distinguish them with a decided predilection above those of the various sections of America.
Items in tribute.The tribute in its origin was only eight reals per family; but the necessity of providing for the increased expenses of the government gave rise to this rate being afterwards raised to ten. The Sangley mestizos pay double tribute, and the Sangleys contribute at the rate of $6 per head. Besides this, all pay a yearly sum, applicable to the funds belonging to the community, and the above two casts pay three reals more, as a church rate, and under the name of the Sanctuary, the whole being in the following form:
| Entire Native Tribute | Tribute of Mestizos | Sangleys |
| 8 Reals, original tribute | 16 Reals. | $6 each. |
| 1½ Reals for expenses of troops | 3 | |
| ½ Reals to tithes | 1 | |
| 10 Reals, amount of tribute | 20 Reals. | $6.75 |
| 1 Real, community funds | 1 | |
| 3 Reals, sanctuary rate | 3 | |
| 14 Reals, total annual disbursement. | 24 Reals. | $6.75 |
The males commence paying tribute at twenty years of age and the females at twenty-five, if before they have not entered the matrimonial state, and in both the obligation ceases at the age of sixty. The chiefs of clans, or cabezas de barangay and their eldest sons, or in default of children, the person adopted in their stead, that is, an entire tribute and a half, are exempt from this tax, as a remuneration for the trouble and responsibility they may have in collecting in the forty or fifty tributes, of which their respective clans are composed. Besides these there are various other classes of exempted persons, such as the soldiers who have served a certain number of years, those who have distinguished themselves in any particular manner in the improvement of industry or agriculture, and others who have received special certificates, on just and equitable grounds. In summing up the total number of exempted persons, on an average in the whole of the provinces, they will be found in the proportion of fifty to every thousand entire tributes.
Chinese tax.The head-tax of the Sangleys has usually been attended with so many difficulties in its collection, owing to the facilities with which they absent or secrete themselves, and the many stratagems this cunning and artful race employ to elude the vigilance of the commissioners, that the government has at length found itself compelled to let out this branch, as was done in 1809, when it was disposed of in the name of one of them for the moderate sum of $30,000; notwithstanding it is a generally received opinion, that the number of this description of Chinese, constantly residing in the Islands, is above 7,000, which, at the rate of $6 per head, would raise this proportion of the tax as high as $42,000.
Community funds.The Community funds belonging to each town, have, in conformity to the regulations under which they are administered, a special, or I might say, local application; but collected together into one stock, as is now the case, and directly administered by the government, they produce a more general utility. The head town of the province A, for example, requires to rebuild the public prison or town-hall, and its own private funds are not sufficient to defray the expenses of the work in question. In this case, therefore, the government gives orders for the other dependent towns to make up the deficiency by taking their proportions from their respective coffers, as all have an equal interest in the proposed object being carried into effect. The king’s officers, in consequence thereof, draw the corresponding sums from these funds, the whole of which is under their immediate superintendence. And in order that the surplus of this stock may not stand still, but obtain every possible increase in a country where the premium for money is excessive, when let out at a maritime risk, it is ordered that some part shall be appropriated in this way, and on the same terms as those observed by the administrators of the charity funds belonging to the Misericordia (Charity) establishment, and the third order of St. Francis, which is another of the great advantages of assembling this class of property.
In consequence of this judicious regulation, and the success with which this measure has hitherto been attended, the Community fund has gone on increasing in such a way that, notwithstanding the sums drawn from it for the purpose of constructing causeways, bridges, and other municipal objects, at the commencement of 1810, the stock in hand amounted to no less than $200,000; and it is natural to suppose when the outstanding premiums due shall have been paid in, a considerable augmentation will take place. This branch, although not exactly comprehended in those which constitute the revenue of the government, has so obvious an analogy with that of tributes, that I have not deemed it any essential deviation from the order and method I have hitherto observed in this work, to introduce it in this place, as in itself it did not deserve to be classed under a distinct head.
Tribute burdensome.Notwithstanding the truth of what has been said with regard to the moderate rate of the tribute imposed on the native of the Philippine Islands, it would be extremely desirable if he could be altogether exonerated from a charge which he bears with great repugnance, by some other substitute being adopted, indirectly producing an equivalent compensation. In the first place, because the just motives of complaint would cease, caused not only by the tribute, but also the manner of its collection; and an end would then be put to those intrigues and extortions the district magistrates commit, under the title of zealous collectors of the king’s revenue, and the power of a multitude of subaltern tyrants, comprehended under the denomination of chiefs of native clans (cabezas de barangay) would then also fall to the ground; a power which, if now employed for the purpose of oppressing and trampling on the liberties of inferiors, might some day or other be converted into an instrument dangerous and subversive of our preponderance in the country. In the second place, if, among all the civilized nations a head-tax (poll-tax) is in itself odious, it must incontestably be much more so among those whose unlettered state, far from allowing them to know that the social order requires a certain class of sacrifices for its better preservation, makes them attribute exactions of this kind to an abuse of superiority. Hence are they led to consider these restraints as the symbols of their own slavery and degradation, as in fact the natives in these Islands have ample reasons for doing, when the legal exemption of the whites is considered, without any other apparent reason than the difference in color. Independent of this, the substitute above alluded to would be extremely expedient, inasmuch as it would greatly simplify the plan of administration, the accountant’s department would be freed from the most painful part of its labors, and the district magistrates and sub-collectors would not so frequently be entangled in their accounts, and exposed to expensive and interminable lawsuits, as now so often happens.
Possible Revenue substitutes.The difficulty, however, of finding out this compensation or substitute is a matter of some consideration. On the one hand, if it was attempted to distribute the proceeds arising out of the tributes on other branches, such as tobacco, native wine, bonga, and custom house, it would, at first sight, appear possible, through the medium of an almost invisible augmentation in the respective sale prices and in the king’s duties, that this important object might easily be attained; but, on the other, it might be apprehended that the additional value put on the articles above-mentioned, would produce in their consumption a diminution equal to the difference in prices, in which cases no advantage would be gained. The practicability of the operation, in my opinion, depends on the proportion in which the means of obtaining the articles in question respectively stand with the probability of their being consumed. I will explain myself. If, for example, the annual stock of tobacco laid in should be insufficient to meet the wants of the consumers, as constantly occurs, it is clear that this article, when monopolized, will bear a small augmentation of price, not only without any inconvenience or risk, but with the moral certainty of obtaining a positive increase of revenue, the necessary effect of the total consumption of the tobacco laid in and sold. But as this does not happen with the branch of native wines, of which the stock usually exceeds the demand, and as the bonga also is not susceptible of this improvement, owing to the small place it occupies among the other resources of the revenue, no other means are left than to add to the duties of export on silver, and of import on foreign merchandise, a percentage equivalent to the deficiency not laid on tobacco, unless it should be deemed more advisable to levy a sumptuary contribution on coaches, horses and servants, and especially on all kinds of edifices and houses built of stone and mortar, situated both within and without the capital.
Objection to tribute-paying.However this may be, whatever the king loses in revenue by the abolition of the native tributes, no doubt, could be made up by an appeal to other ways and means. It is well-known that many of the Indian tribes refuse to become subjects of the crown and object to enter into general society on account of the odious idea they have formed of paying tribute; or, as they understand it, the obligation of giving something for nothing, notwithstanding those who voluntarily submit themselves to our laws, are exempt from tribute, and this charge falls only on their descendants. But of this they must either be ignorant, or they regret depriving their posterity of that independence in which they themselves have been brought up, and thus transmit to them slavery as an inheritance. As soon, therefore, as a general exemption of this kind, without distinction of casts, should be made public, the natives would quit their fastnesses and secluded places, and satisfied with the security offered to them, would be seen coming down to the plains in search of conveniences of civilized life, and all gradually would be reduced to Christianity. Hence the increase of productions and their consumption, as well as the extension of agriculture, industry and internal commerce. The diminution of smuggling tobacco would soon follow, progress would be made in the knowledge of the mines and natural riches of the country, and financially, greater facilities would present themselves in gradually carrying into effect its entire conquest and civilization.
Advantages of such great and extraordinary importance deserve to be seriously weighed, and to this valuable department of public administration the early attention of those in authority ought to be called. Let due inquiries be made, and soon shall we discover the substantial benefits which would be derived to the treasury from the adoption of this measure, as popular as it is just, and also conformable to the liberal spirit of the times. In support of the preceding arguments, it ought further to be observed, that when all the branches constituting the king’s revenue are well organized, brought to their most productive state, and the public debt contracted under unforeseen exigencies paid off, as long as present circumstances do not vary, an annual surplus of revenue, equal to more than $500,000, will be left; and as the proceeds of the particular branch of tributes do not amount to this sum, it is evident their abolition may take place, not only without any derangement or onerous consequences to the administration, but even without any deficiency being experienced, or any necessity to recur to the treasury of New Spain for extraordinary aid. These reasons acquire still greater force when it is remembered that, as things now are, all the branches of public revenue are in a progressively improving condition, and as the whole are still susceptible of a much more productive organization, the annual surplus of receipts will rapidly become greater, and consequently also the necessity will diminish of continuing to burden this portion of His Majesty’s dominions with contributions in order to meet the expenses of their defence and preservation.
Finally, well convinced of the advantageous results which, in every sense, would emanate from the revision and reforms proposed, I abstain from offering, in support of my arguments, a variety of other reflections which occur to me, not to be too diffuse on this subject; trusting that the hints I have already thrown out will be more than sufficient to excite an interest and promote a thorough and impartial investigation of concerns, highly important to the future welfare and security of this colony.
Subaltern branches.Besides the six preceding branches which constitute the chief mass of the public revenue in these islands, there are several smaller ones of less consideration and amount; some having a direct application to the general expenses of the local government, and the others, intended as remittances to Spain; a distinction of little import and scarcely deserving of notice, since the object of the present sketch is to convey information on a large scale respecting the King’s revenue in these Islands. As some of them, however, yield proceeds more regular than the others, I have classed together the receipts of the Pope’s Bulls, or “Bulas de Cruzada,” playing-cards, tithes, stamps and gunpowder, under the head of Subaltern Branches, with regard to the rest, to the general statement already quoted.
In conformity to the returns with which I have been favored from the public offices, these five branches produced, in the year 1809, $45,090.75 in the following proportions:
| Sales. | Expenses. | Net Proceeds. | |
| Pope’s bulls | $15,360.75 | $4,422.25 | $10,938.50 |
| Playing cards | 11,539.125 | 932.625 | 10,606.50 |
| Tithes | 12,493.00 | —— | 12,493.00 |
| Stamps | 4,467.50 | 321.50 | 4,146.00 |
| Gunpowder | 7,307.625 | 401.125 | 6,905.375 |
| —— | —— | —— | |
| $51,168.125 | $6,077.75 | $45,090.375 |
Tithes.The scanty proceeds of the tithes will naturally appear remarkable; but it ought to be remembered that, besides the ordinary tribute, the natives pay half a real under this denomination, without any distinction of person, or any reference whatever to their respective means, the total amount of which is already added to the tributes, and for this reason not repeated in this place. In addition also no tithes are levied, except on lands belonging to Spaniards, churches, regular clergy, ecclesiastical corporations, etc., and even then the articles of rice, wheat, pulse indigo and sugar, are alone liable. The above branches are all in charge of administrators, and from this plan it certainly would be advisable to separate the tithes and farm them out at public auction, as was proposed by the king’s officers of the treasury, in their report on this, as well as other points, concerning the revenue, and dated October 24, 1792. From the net proceeds of the gunpowder the expenses of its manufacture, confided to the commandant of artillery, ought seemingly to be deducted; but, as they cannot be ascertained with any degree of certainty, and as besides they are comprehended in the general expenses of that department, a separate deduction may be dispensed with.
Disbursements and general expenses.In order to form a correct idea of the annual amount of the expenditure incurred by the administration and defence of the Philippine Islands, it is not necessary in this place to distinguish each item, separately; or to enumerate them with their respective sums or particular denominations. Some general observations on this subject ought, nevertheless, to be made, with a view to point out the reforms of which this important department of the public revenue is susceptible.
In the part relating to the interior administration or government, ample room is certainly left for that kind of economy arising out of the adoption of a general system, little complicated; but it is besides indispensably necessary that, at the same time the work is simplifed and useless hands dismissed, the salaries of those who remain should be proportionally increased, in order to stimulate them in the due performance of their duties. It might also be found advisable to create a small number of officers of a superior order, who would be enabled to co-operate in the collection of the king’s revenue, and the encouragement of agriculture, commerce and navigation, in their respective departments. The additional charges in this respect cannot be of any great consequence; although, in reality, by the receipts increasing through the impulse of an administrative order more perfect, and the expenses being always the same, the main object, so anxiously sought for in another way, would be thus attained.
Defence expenses.The reverse, however, happens with regard to the expenses of defence, as I have called them, the better to distinguish them from those purely relating to the interior police or administration. Every sacrifice, most assuredly, ought to appear small, when the object is to preserve a country from falling into the hands of an enemy, and it ought not to excite surprise, if, during the course of the last fifteen years, several millions of dollars have been expended in the Philippines, in order to shield them from so dreadful a misfortune. But the late memorable revolution in the Peninsula has given rise to so great a change in our political relations, and it is extremely improbable that these Islands will be again exposed to the same danger and alarm, that the government may now, without any apparent risk, dispense with a considerable part of the preparations of defence, at one time deemed indispensably necessary. A colony that has no other strong place to garrison than its capital, and on the loyalty of whose inhabitants there are sufficient motives to rely, ought, in my opinion, to be considered as adequately provided against all ordinary occurrences in time of peace, with the 4,000 regulars, more or less, of all arms, the usual military establishment. In case any suspicions should arise of an early rupture with the only power whose forces can inspire the governors of these Islands with any kind of apprehensions, means will not be wanting to an active and provident minister, of giving proper advice, so as to allow sufficient time for the assembling of the battalions of provincial militia and all the other necessary preparations of defence, before the enemy is in an attitude to effect an invasion of a country so far distant from his own possessions on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. Consequently, by disbanding the corps of provincial infantry, cavalry and artillery, which continue uselessly to be kept on foot, an annual saving of from $220,000 to $250,000 would take place, an amount too great to be expended unless imperiously called for by the evident dread of a premeditated attack from an hostile quarter.
Shipping reform.The navy is another of the departments in which reforms may be introduced, of no small moment to the treasury. Of course by the government merely dispensing with the policy of keeping in readiness two large ships to convey to Acapulco the cargos, for which the Manila merchants enjoy an annual licence, and leaving to the latter the full liberty of following up their speculations on their own account and risk, in vessels of their own, individually or with joint stock, a saving would result in favor of the crown equal to $140,000 to $150,000 per annum, and without preventing the receipt in Acapulco of the customary duties of $160,000 or $166,000 corresponding to the said licenses. This will evidently be the case, because as long as the large disposal of funds of the charitable institutions are employed in maritime risks, and the private property of others is besides added to them, the amount of the operations undertaken by the merchants of the Philippines to New Spain, when divested of all restraint, will always exceed $500,000 per annum. Nor is there now any further occasion for the government to continue granting this species of gratuitous tutelage to a body of men possessed of ample means to manage their own affairs, and who demand the same degree of freedom, and only seek a protection similar to that enjoyed by their fellow-countrymen in other parts of the king’s dominions.
Galleon graft.In case the above reform should be adopted, it might be deemed requisite for the government to undertake the payment of some of the charges under the existing order of things, defrayed out of the freights to which the merchandise shipped in the Acapulco traders is liable; because, calculating the freight at the usual rate of $200 for each three bales, or the amount of one ticket, out of the one thousand constituting the entire cargo, and of which one-half, or $100,000 more or less, is appropriated to the ecclesiastical chapter, municipality, officers of the regular army (excluding captains and the other higher ranks) and the widows of Spaniards, who in this case would be losers, independent of the remaining $100,000 or 500 tickets distributed among the 200 persons having a right to ship to Acapulco, it would, at first sight, appear reasonable for the treasury to indemnify the above description of persons by a compensation equivalent to the privation they experience through the new arrangement of the government. But as the practice of abuses constitutes no law, and what is given through favor is different to that which is required by justice, there are no reasons whatever why the treasury should be bound to support the widows of private persons, from the mere circumstance of their deceased husbands having been Spaniards; more particularly if it is considered that, far from having acquired any special merit during their lifetime, most of them voluntarily left their native country for the purpose of increasing their fortunes, and others were banished from it, owing to their bad conduct. Neither can it be said that the municipality have a legal right, in the case before stated, to receive any equivalent for the value of their respective annual tickets, which, when disposed of, usually amount to about $20,000 in the first place, because it is well-known that the eleven aldermen’s seats, of which that body is composed, seats which can either be sold or resigned, originally did not cost as much as $50,000 and clearly the principal invested is out of all kind of proportion with the enormous premium or income claimed. In the second place, although the above municipal situations were originally purchased with a view to obtain some advantages, these formerly were very different to what they are at present, when the great increase of shippers to Acapulco, or in more plain terms, of purchase of tickets competing to obtain them, has given to these permits a value more than triple to that they possessed thirty years ago.
Indemnifying the aldermen.In order, therefore, to do away with all motives of doubt and dispute, as well as for many other reasons of public utility, the best plan, in my opinion, would be, to return to each alderman his money, and the present municipal constitution being dissolved, the number of members might be reduced to four, with their corresponding registrar, and like the two ordinary “alcaldes,” elected every year without any other reward than the honor of presiding over and representing their fellow-citizens. Under this supposition, the only classes entitled to compensation, strictly speaking, would be the ecclesiastical chapter and the subaltern officers, whose respective pay and appointment are not in fact sufficient for the decency and expenses of their rank in society. Of course it would then be necessary to grant them more adequate allowances, but, according to reasonable calculations, the sum total annually required would not exceed $30,000; consequently, the reform projected with regard to the Acapulco ships would still eventually produce to the treasury a saving of from $60,000 to $70,000 in the first year of its adoption, and of $110,000 to $120,000 in every succeeding one.
The navy.It is, on the other hand, undeniable that, if the royal navy and cruising vessels, or those belonging to the Islands and under the immediate orders of the captain-general, were united into one department, and placed under one head, considerable economy would ensue, and all motives of discord and emulation be moreover removed. Such would be the case if the change was attended with no other circumstances than the consequent diminution of commanders, subaltern officers, and clerks; but it would be also proper to unite the arsenals, and adopt a more general uniformity in the operations and dependences of this part of the public services. It is equally certain that, during peaceful times, the two schooners and sixty gunboats, constituting the number of the above-mentioned cruising vessels, would be in great measure useless; whilst in case of a rupture, they are not sufficient to protect the trade of these Islands from the attacks of an enemy, notwithstanding they now cost the government considerable sums in repairs, etc., in order to keep them fit for service. The government ought therefore to guard against this waste of public money, without, however, neglecting the defence of the Islands, objects which, in my opinion, might easily be reconciled. Intelligent persons have judged that by reducing the naval forces to two frigates, two schooners, and about a dozen gunboats, the essential wants of the colony would be duly answered, in ordinary times; and some of the vessels might then be destined to pursue hydrographical labors in the Archipelago, which, unfortunately, are in a most backward state, whilst others could be sent on their periodical cruises against the Moros. By this means, at least, the navy department would be greatly simplified, and cease to be eternally burdensome to the government. With regard to the superfluous gunboats, it would be expedient to distribute them gratuitously among the marine provinces and Bisayan Islands, on the only condition of their being always kept fit for service; as, in one sense, the great expenses of maintaining them would be thus saved by the treasury, and, another, the inhabitants of those portions of the coast would be in possession of means sufficiently powerful to repel the aggressions of the Moros, who commit great ravages on their settlements. Finally, if besides the reforms of which the army and navy are susceptible, it is considered that the public works, such as prisons, schools, bridges, and causeways, so expensive in other countries, in the Philippines are constructed by the natives on the most reasonable terms, out of the community funds; that there is no necessity to build fortifications, and maintain numerous garrisons; that the clergy, to whose zeal and powerful influence the preservation of these Islands is chiefly due, do not cost the treasury annually above $200,000 and that the geographical situation of the colony in great measure shields it from the attacks of external enemies, it will readily be confessed, that a wise and firm government might undertake, without the dread of having to encounter any great obstacles, an administrative system, in a general point of view, infinitely more economical than the one hitherto followed; might be able to extirpate numerous abuses, and by calling forth the resources of the country gradually raise it to a flourishing condition, and cause it hereafter to contribute largely to the other wants of the crown. Hence was it that the distinguished voyager, La Pérouse (Chap. 15), contemplating these Islands with a political eye, did not hesitate to affirm “that a powerful nation, possessed of no other colonies than the Philippines, that should succeed in establishing there a form of government best adapted to their advantageous circumstances, would justly disregard all the other European establishments in Africa and America.”
Objectionable office-holders.In our colonies, appointments and command far from being sought as a means to obtain a good reputation, or as affording opportunities of contributing to public prosperity, are, it is too well known, only solicited with a view to amass wealth, and then retire for the purpose of enjoying it. Commercial pursuits being besides attended with so many advantages that those only decline following them who are divested of money and friends; whilst the situation in the revenue are so few in number, compared with the many candidates who solicit them, that they are consequently well appointed, it follows that the excess left without occupation, besides being considerable, is generally composed of needy persons, and not the most suitable to exercise the delicate functions of collectors and magistrates in the provinces. From this class nevertheless the host of officers are usually taken who, under the name of collectors, surveyors and assessors of tributes, intervene in, or influence the public administration. Owing to the variety and great number of persons emigrating to America, ample field, no doubt, is there left for selection, by which means the viceroys may frequently meet with persons suitable and adequate to the above trusts, if prudent steps are only taken; but in this respect the case is very different in the Philippines, where chance alone occasionally brings over a European Spaniard, unemployed or friendless. In these remote Islands, also, more than in any other quarter, people seek to live in idleness, and, as much as possible, without working, or much trouble. As long as hopes are entertained of doing something in the Acapulco speculations, every other pursuit is viewed with indifference, and the office of district or provincial magistrate is only solicited when all other resources have failed, or as a remedy against want. As the applicants for these situations are therefore not among the most select classes, it very frequently happens that they fall into extremely improper and unworthy hands.
It is in fact common enough to see a hairdresser or a lackey converted into a governor; a sailor or a deserter transformed into a district magistrate, collector, or military commander of a populous province, without any other counsellor than his own crude understanding, or any other guide than his passion. Such a metamorphosis would excite laughter in a comedy or farce; but, realized in the theatre of human life, it must give rise to sensations of a very different nature. Who is there that does not feel horror-struck, and tremble for the innocent, when he sees a being of this kind transferred from the yard-arm to the seat of justice, deciding, in the first instance, on the honor, lives, and property of a hundred thousand persons, and haughtily exacting the homage and incense of the spiritual ministers of the towns under his jurisdiction, as well as of the parish curates, respectable for their acquirements and benevolence, and who, in their own native places, would possibly have rejected as a servant the very man whom in the Philippines they are compelled to court and obey as a sovereign.
In vain do the laws ordain that such offices shall not be given away to attendants on governors and members of the high court of justice, for under pretext of the scarcity of Europeans experienced in the colony, means are found to elude the statute, by converting this plea into an exception in favor of this description of persons. By such important offices being filled in this manner, it is easy to conceive the various hardships to which many of the provinces and districts are exposed; nor can any amelioration be expected as long as this plan is persisted in and the excesses of the parties go without punishment.
Evils from officials in trade.Independent, however, of the serious injuries and great errors persons of the class above described cannot fail to commit in the exercise of their functions, purely judicial, the consequences of their inordinate avarice are still more lamentable, and the tacit permission to satisfy it, granted to them by the government under the specious title of a licence to trade. Hence may it be affirmed, that the first of the evils, and the one the native immediately feels, is occasioned by the very person the law has destined for his relief and protection. In a word, he experiences injuries from the civil magistrates presiding over the provinces, who, at the same time, are the natural enemies of the inhabitants, and the real oppressors of their industry.
It is a known and melancholy fact that, far from promoting the felicity of the provinces intrusted to their care, the magistrates attend to nothing else but their own fortunes and personal interests; nor do they hesitate as to the means by which their object is to be attained. Scarcely are they seated in the place of authority, when they become the chief consumers, purchasers, and exporters of every thing produced and manufactured within the districts under their command, thus converting their licence to trade into a positive monopoly. In all lucrative speculations the magistrate seeks to have the largest share; in all his enterprises he calls in the forced aid of his subjects, and if he deigns to remunerate their labor, at most it is only on the same terms as if they had been working on account of the king. These unhappy people bring in their produce and crude manufactures to the very person who, directly or indirectly, is to fix upon them an arbitrary value. To offer such and such a price for the articles is the same as to say, another bidding shall not be made. To insinuate is to command—the native is not allowed to hesitate, he must either please the magistrate, or submit to his persecutions. Being besides free from all competition in the prosecution of his traffic, since he is frequently the only Spaniard resident in the province, the magistrate therein acts with unbounded sway, without dread, and almost without risk of his tyranny ever being denounced to the superior tribunals.
Speculating in tributes.In order, however, that a more correct idea may be formed of the iniquitous conduct of many of these public functionaries, it is necessary to lay open some part of their irregular dealings in the collection of the Indian tributes. It is well known that the government, anxious to conciliate the interests of the tributary classes with those of the revenue, frequently commutes the pecuniary capitation tax into an obligation to pay the amount in produce or manufactures. A season comes when, owing to the failure of the crops, the productions have risen to an excessive price, and consequently infinitely above the ordinary rates affixed by law, which are generally the lowest, and the natives, unable to keep their bargains without considerable injury or endangering the subsistence of their numerous families, implore the favor of the magistrate, petitioning him to lay their calamitous situation before the superior government, in order to have the payment of their tribute in kind remitted, and offering to pay it in money. This is the precise moment when, as his own profits depend on the misery of the province under his command, he endeavors to misuse the accidental power with which he is invested. Hence it happens that, instead of acting as a beneficent mediator, and supporting the just solicitations of the natives, he at first disregards their petition, and then all at once transforming himself into a zealous collector, issues his notifications, sends his satellites into the very fields to seize on the produce, and in a most inexorable manner insists on collecting till necessity compels him to suspend the measure. The principal object being attained, that is, having now become master of the gleanings and scanty crops of his bereft subjects, on a sudden his disposition changes, he is moved to pity, and in the most pathetic language describes to the government the ravages done to the plantations by the hurricanes, and the utter impossibility of collecting in the tributes that year in kind. On such a remonstrance he easily obtains permission to change the standing order, and proceeding on to collect in some of the remaining tributes in money, merely to save appearance, with perfect impunity he puts the finishing stroke to the wicked act he had commenced, by applying to himself all the produce his collectors had gathered in, and places to the credit of the treasury the total amount of the tributes, corresponding to his jurisdiction, in money.
Supposing, for example, that this has happened in the province of Antique, where the payment of the capitation-tax generally takes place in the unhusked rice, rated at two reals per cavan, and, through the effects of a bad season, this article should rise as high as ten or twelve reals. It is clear that the magistrate, by accounting for the tributes with the revenue office in money, and collecting them in kind at the rate fixed by law, would by the sales gain a profit of 400 or 500 per cent; at the same time the native, by the mere circumstance of then paying in kind, would have paid the tribute corresponding to five or six years in a single one, without, on that account, having freed himself from the same charge in the following seasons.
No check on extortion.When the extortionate acts as these are practised, to what lengths may it not be expected the other excesses and abuses of authority are carried? To the above it ought moreover to be added, that the provincial magistrates have no lieutenants, and are unprovided with any other auxiliaries in the administration of justice, except an accompanying witness and a native director; that the scrutinies of their accounts, to which they formerly were subject, are now abolished, and, in short, that they have no check upon them, or indeed any other persons to bear testimony to their irregularities, except the friendless and miserable victims of their despotism and avarice.
Notwithstanding, however, what is above stated, it sometimes happens that a magistrate is to be met with, distinguished from the rest by his prudence and good conduct; but this is a miracle, for by the very circumstance of his being allowed to trade, he is placed in a situation to abuse the wide powers confided to him, and preferably to attend to his personal interests; in fact, if the principle is in itself defective, it must naturally be expected the consequences will be equally baneful. The lamentable abuses here noticed are but too true, as well as many others passed over in silence; and the worst of all is, that there is no hope of remedying them thoroughly, unless the present system of interior administration is altogether changed. In vain would it be to allege the possibility of removing the evil by the timely and energetic interposition of the protector of the natives; for although this office is in itself highly respectable, it cannot in any way reach the multitude of excesses committed, and much less prevent them; not only because the minister who exercises it resides in the city, where complaints are seldom brought in, unless they come through the channel of the parish curates; but also on account of the difficulty of fully establishing the charges against the magistrates, in the way the natives are at present depressed by fear and threats, as well as restrained by the sub-governors and other inferior officers of justice, who, being dependent upon, and holding their situations from the magistrates, are interested in their monopolies and extortionate acts being kept from public view.
Less complaisant laws needed.If, therefore, it is not possible entirely to eradicate the vices under which the interior administration of these Islands labors, owing to the difficulty of finding persons possessed of the necessary virtues and talents to govern, in an upright and judicious manner, let us at least prevent the evils out of the too great condescension of our own laws. In the infancy of colonies, it has been the maxim of all governments to encourage the emigration and settlement of inhabitants from the mother-country, without paying much attention to the means by which this was to be done. It was not to be wondered at that, for reasons of state, defects were overlooked,—at such periods were even deemed necessary. Hence the relaxation in the laws in favor of those who, quitting their native land, carried over with them to strange countries their property and acquirements. Hence, no doubt, also are derived the full powers granted to those who took in charge the subjection and administration of the new provinces, in order that they might govern, and at the same time carry on their traffic with the natives, notwithstanding the manifest incompatibility of the two occupations; or rather, the certainty that ought to have been foreseen that public duties would generally be postponed, when placed in competition with private interests and the anxious desire of acquiring wealth.
Subsequently that happened which was, in fact, to be dreaded, viz., what at first was tolerated as a necessary evil, sanctioned by the lapse of time has at length become a legitimate right, or rather a compensation for the supposed trouble attached to the fulfillment of the duties of civil magistrates; whilst they, as already observed, think of nothing but themselves, and undergo no other trouble or inconvenience than usually fall on the lot of any other private merchant. In the Philippines, at least, many years having elapsed since the natives peaceably submitted to the dominion of the king, every motive has ceased that could formerly, and in a certain degree, justify the indulgence so much abused, at the same time that no plausible pretext whatever exists for its further continuation.
Although hitherto the number of whites, compared to that of the people of color, has not been great, as the whole of the provincial magistracies, collectorships, and subaltern governments, do not exceed twenty-seven, the scarcity of Spaniards ought not to be alleged as a sufficient reason; nor can it be doubted these situations might at any time be properly filled, if the person on whom the choice should fall were only certain of living with decency and in a suitable manner, without being carried away with the flattering hopes of withdrawing from office, with ten, twenty, and even as high as fifty thousand dollars of property, as has heretofore been the case, but satisfied with a due and equivalent salary they might receive as a reward for the public services they perform.
I do not therefore see why the government should hesitate in resolving to put a stop to evils which the people of the Philippines have not ceased to deplore from the time of the conquest, by proscribing, under the most severe penalties, the power of trading, as now exercised by the provincial magistrates. The time is come when this struggle between duty and sordid interest ought to end, and reason, as well as enlightened policy, demand that in this respect our legislation should be reformed, in order that the mace of justice, instead of being prostituted in search of lucre, may henceforwards be wholly employed in the support of equity and the protection of society.
Urgence of reform.The only objection which, at first sight, might be started against the suggestions here thrown out is the increased expense which would fall on the treasury, owing to the necessity of appropriating competent salaries for the interior magistrates under the new order of things. Independent, however, of the fact that the rapid improvements the provinces must assume, in every point of view, would superabundantly make up this trifling difference; yet supposing the sacrifice were gratuitous, and even of some moment, it ought not, on that account, to be omitted, since there is no public object more important to the sovereign himself, than to make the necessary provision for the decorum of the magistracy, the due administration of justice, and the maintenance of good order among his subjects.
The position being established, that a number of whites more than sufficient might be obtained, eligible and fit to perform the duties of civil magistrates, which they would be induced to undertake, if adequate terms were only proposed, it would seem that no ill consequences might be expected from at once assimilating the regulations of these provincial judicatures to those of the corregimientos, or mayoralties of towns in Spain, or in making out an express statute, on a triple scale, for three classes of magistrates, granting to them emoluments equivalent to the greater or lesser extent of the respective jurisdictions. As far as regards the pay, it ought to be so arranged as to act as a sufficient stimulus to induce European colonists to embrace this career, in a fixed and permanent way, which hitherto they have only resorted to as a five years’ speculation. Conformably to this suggestion, and owing to the lesser value attached to money in India, compared with Europe, on account of the greater abundance of the necessaries of life, I am of opinion that it would be expedient to affix an annual allowance of $2,000 to each of the appointments of the six principal and most populous provinces, $1,500 for the next in importance, and for the twelve or thirteen remaining, at the rate of $1,000 each; leaving to the candidates the option of rising according to their length of services and good conduct, from the lowest to the highest, as is the case in Spain.
Objects to be gained.The first part of the plan above pointed out embraces two objects. The one is to prevent the provincial magistrates from carrying on traffic, thus depriving them of every pretext to defraud the natives of what is their own; and the other, to form, in the course of a few years a class of men hitherto unknown in the Philippine Islands, who, taught by practice, may be enabled to govern the provinces in a more correct and regular manner, and acquire more extended knowledge, especially in the judicial proceedings of the first instance, which, owing to this defect, frequently compel the litigants to incur useless expenses, and greatly embarrass the ordinary course of justice. Although the second part at first seems to involve an increased expense of $36,000 or $37,000 annually, when well considered, this sum will be found not to exceed $20,000, because it will be necessary to deduct from the above estimate the amount of three per cent. under the existing regulations allowed to the magistrates for the collection of the native tributes, in their character of subdelegates, generally amounting to $16,000 or $17,000; besides only taking into account such real and effective disbursements or extraordinary expenses as in fact they may legally have incurred in the performance of their duties.
Should it, however, be deemed expedient, from causes just in their nature, hereafter to exonerate the natives from the obligations of paying tributes, by which means the amount deducted for the three per cent. commission could not then be brought into account, let me be allowed to ask what enlightened government would hesitate submitting to an additional expense of so trifling an import, in exchange for beholding more than two millions of men forever freed from the extortionate acts of their old magistrates; and, through the effects of the new regulations, the latter converted into real fathers of the people over whom they are placed? How different would then be the aspect these fine provinces would present to the eyes of the philosophical observer who would, in that case, be able to calculate to what an extent the progress of agriculture and industry in these islands might be carried.
Demoralization of over-seas service.Nevertheless, I do not wish to insinuate that by the better organization of the provincial governments, the present irregularities and abuses of authority would entirely cease; because I am aware, more especially in the Indies, that the persons who hold public situations usually have too exaggerated ideas of their own personal importance, and easily mistake the gratification of their own whims for firmness of character, in the necessity of causing themselves to be respected. Still it is an incontestable fact that, by removing the chief temptation, and rescinding altogether the license to trade, the just complaints preferred by the native against the Spaniard would cease; the motives of those continual disputes which arise between the magistrates and the ministers of the gospel exercising their functions in the same provinces, and the zealous defenders of the rights of their parishioners, would be removed, and the inhabitants of Manila, extending their mercantile operations to the interior, without the dread of seeing them obstructed through the powerful competition of the magistrates in authority there, would be induced to settle in or connect themselves with the provinces, and thus diffuse their knowledge, activity and money among the inhabitants, the true means of encouraging the whole.
What has already been said will suffice to convince the lover of truth and the friend of general prosperity, how urgent it is to introduce as early as possible, the reform proposed into the interior administration of this important, although neglected colony; and it is to be hoped that the government, guided by these same sentiments, will not be led away by those narrow-minded people, who predict danger from every thing that is new; but, after due and mature deliberation, resolve to adopt a measure dictated by reason, and at the same time conformable to the best interests of the state.
Of little avail would have been the valor and constancy with which Legaspi and his worthy companions overcame the natives of these islands, if the apostolic zeal of the missionaries had not seconded their exertions, and aided to consolidate the enterprise. The latter were the real conquerors; they who, without any other arms than their virtues, won over the good will of the islanders, caused the Spanish name to be beloved, and gave to the king, as it were by a miracle, two millions more of submissive and Christian subjects. These were the legislators of the barbarous hordes who inhabited the islands of this immense Archipelago, realizing, by their mild persuasion, the allegorical prodigies of Amphion and Orpheus.
Pioneer Philippine government a theocracy.As the means the missionaries called in to their aid, in order to reduce and civilize the Indians, were preaching and other spiritual labors, and, although scattered about and acting separately, they were still subject to the authority of their prelates, who, like so many chiefs, directed the grand work of conversion, the government primitively established in these colonies must necessarily have partaken greatly of the theocratical order, and beyond doubt it continued to be so, till, by the lapse of time, the number of colonists increased, as well as the effective strength of the royal authority, so as to render the governing system uniform with that established in the other ultramarine dominions of Spain.
This is also deduced from the fragments still remaining of the first constitution, or mode of government introduced in the Batanes Islands and missions of Cagayan, administered by the Dominican friars in a spiritual and temporal manner; as well as from what may frequently be observed in the other provinces, by any one who bestows the smallest attention. Although the civil magistracies have since been regulated, and their respective attributes determined with due precision, it has not hitherto been possible, notwithstanding the pains taken to make the contrary appear, to do without the personal authority and influence the parish curates possess over their flocks. The government has, in fact, constantly been obliged to avail themselves of this aid, as the most powerful instrument to insure respect and a due subordination, in such manner that, although the parish curates are not at present equally authorized to interfere in the civil administration, in point of fact, they are themselves the real administrators.
Standing of parish priests.It happens that, as the parish curate is the consoler of the afflicted, the peacemaker of families, the promoter of useful ideas, the preacher and example of every thing good; as in him liberality is seen to shine, and the Indians behold him alone in the midst of them, without relatives, without traffic, and always busied in their care and improvement, they become accustomed to live satisfied and contented under his paternal direction, and deliver up to him the whole of their confidence. In this way rendered the master of their wishes, nothing is done without the advice, or rather consent, of the curate. The subaltern governor, on receiving an order from the superior magistrate, before he takes any step, goes to the minister to obtain his sanction, and it is he in fact who tacitly gives the mandate for execution, or prevents its being carried into effect. As the father of his flock, he arranges, or directs, the lawsuits of his parishioners; it is he who draws out their writings; goes to the capital to plead for the Indians; opposes his prayers, and sometimes his threats, to the violent acts of the provincial magistrates, and arranges every thing in the most fit and quiet manner. In a word, it is not possible for any human institution to be more simple, and at the same time more firmly established, or from which so many advantages might be derived in favor of the state, as the one so justly admired in the spiritual ministry of these islands. It may therefore be considered a strange fatality, when the secret and true art of governing a colony, so different from any other as is that of the Philippines, consists in the wise use of so powerful an instrument as the one just described, that the superior government, within the last few years, should have been so much deluded as to seek the destruction of a work which, on the contrary, it is, above all others, advisable to sustain.
In this, as well as many other cases, we see how difficult, or rather how absurd it is, to expect to organize a system of government, indistinctly adapted to the genius and disposition of all nations, however great the discordance prevailing in their physical and moral constitutions. Hence it follows that, by wishing to assimilate the administrative plan of these provinces to the one adopted in the sections of America, inconveniences are unceasingly met with, evidently arising out of this erroneous principle. Whatever may be asserted to the contrary, there is no medium. It is necessary to insure obedience either through dread and force, or respect must be excited by means of love and confidence. In order to be convinced that the first is not practicable, it will only be necessary to weigh well the following circumstances and reflections.
The number of the whites compared to that of the natives is so small, that it can scarcely be estimated in the proportion of 15 to 25,000. These provinces, infinitely more populous than those of America, are entirely delivered up to the charge of provincial Friars only check on officials.magistrates, who carry with them to the seats of their respective governments, no other troops than the title of military commandants, and their royal commission on parchment. Besides the friars, it sometimes happens that no other white person is to be found in an entire province, but the presiding magistrate. It is the duty of the latter to collect in the king’s revenue; to pursue robbers; appease tumults; raise men for the regiments in garrison at Manila and Cavite; regulate and head his people in case of an external invasion, and, in short, it is he who is to do everything in the character of magistrate and in the name of the king. Considering, therefore, the effective power required for the due performance of so great a variety of duties, and the want of that species of support experienced by him who is charged with them, can it be denied that it would be risking the security of these dominions too much, to attempt forcibly to control them with means so insufficient? If the inhabitants become tumultuous and rise up, on whom will the magistrate call for aid to repress and punish them? In such a predicament, is any other alternative left him than to fly or die in the struggle? If among civilized nations, it is deemed indispensable that authority should always appear accompanied with force, how can it be expected, among Indians, that the laws will otherwise be respected, when left naked and unsupported?
Missionaries’ achievements.Evidently, it is necessary to appeal to aid of another kind, and to employ means, which, although indirect ones, are, beyond all dispute, the best adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the country,—means which, by influencing the mind, excite veneration, subdue the rude understanding of the inhabitants, and incline them to bear our dominion without repugnance. It is well understood what these means are, how much they are at hand, and how greatly also they have always been envied by other European nations, who have sought to extend and consolidate their conquests in both the Indies. Let us listen to La Pérouse, if we wish to know and admire the army with which our missionaries subdued the natives of both Californias; let us read, dispassionately, the wonderful deeds of the Jesuits in other parts of America, and, above all, let us visit the Philippine Islands and, with astonishment, shall we there behold extended ranges, studded with temples and spacious convents; the Divine worship celebrated with pomp and splendor; regularity in the streets, and even luxury in the houses and dress; schools of the first rudiments in all the towns, and the inhabitants well versed in the art of writing. We shall there see causeways raised, bridges of a good architecture built, and, in short, all the measure of good government and police, in the greatest part of the country, carried into effect, yet the whole is due to the exertions, apostolic labors and pure patriotism of the ministers of religion. Let us travel over the provinces, and we shall there see towns of 5000, 10,000, and 20,000 Indians, peacefully governed by one weak old man, who, with his doors open at all hours, sleeps quiet and secure in his dwelling, without any other magic, or any other guards, than the love and respect with which he has known to inspire his flock. And, when this is contemplated, can it be deemed possible, through foolish jealousy and vain wish for those persons only pointed out by the general laws in ordinary cases, to intervene in the government of the natives, that the fruit of so much time constancy are not to be lost, but also by hereafter disregarding and rejecting a co-operation, as efficient as it is economical, that attempts should purposely be made to destroy the mainspring of the whole of this political machine?
Curtailing priestly authority.Such, nevertheless, are the mistaken ideas which, within the last few years, have unhappily led to the adoption of measures, diametrically opposed to the public interest, under the pretext of curtailing the excessive authority of the parish-curates. The superior government, not satisfied with having deprived the ministers of the faculty of personally prescribing certain correctional punishments, which although of little moment, when applied with discretion, greatly contributed to fortify their ascendency, and consequently, that of the sovereign; but, in order to exclude and divest them of all intervention in the civil administration, a direct attempt has also been made to lower the esteem in which they are held, by awakening the distrust of the Indian, and, as much as possible, removing him to a greater distance from them. In proof of this, and in order that what has been said may not be deemed an exaggeration, it will suffice to quote the substance of two regulations, remarkable for their obvious tendency to weaken the influence and credit of the spiritual administrators.
By one of these, it is enacted that in order to prevent the abuses and notorious malversation of the funds of the sanctuary, specially applicable to the expenses of the festivities and worship of each parish, and arising out of the real and half for this purpose contributed by each tributary person, and collected and privately administered by the curate, the same shall hereafter be kept in a chest with three keys, and lodged in the head-town of each province. The keys are to be left, one in possession of the chief magistrate, another in the hands of the governor of the respective town, and the remaining one with the parish-curate. By the other measure it is declared, as a standing rule, that no Indian, who may lately have been employed in the domestic service of the curate, shall in his own town be considered eligible to any office belonging to the judicial department.
On measures of this kind, comments are unnecessary; their meaning and effect cannot be mistaken. I shall, therefore, merely observe, that no untimely means could have been devised more injurious to the state, to the propagation of religion, and even to the natives themselves. It is, in fact, a most strange affair, that such endeavors should have been made to impeach the purity, by at the same time degrading the respectable character of the parish-curates, more particularly at a period when, owing to partality and the scarcity of religious men, it would have seemed more natural to uphold, and by new inducements encourage the zeal and authority of the remaining few. This step appears the more singular, I repeat, at a moment when, neither by suspending the sending out of missionaries to China, and the almost entire abandonment of the spiritual conquest of the Igorots and other infidel tribes, inhabiting the interior of these islands, have the above Spanish laborers been able to carry on the ordinary administration, nor prevent entire provinces from being transferred, as is now the case, into the hands of Indians and mestizo clergymen of the Sangley race, who, through their great ignorance, corrupt morals, and total want of decorum, universally incur the contempt of the flocks committed to their care, and, in consequence of their tyrannical conduct, cause the people to sigh for the mild yoke of their ancient pastors.
Friars bulwark of Spanish rule.If, therefore, it is the wish of the government to retain the subjection of this colony, and raise it to the high degree of prosperity of which it is susceptible, the first thing, in my opinion, that ought to be attended to is the good organization of its spiritual administration. On this subject we must not deceive ourselves. I again repeat, that as long as the local government, in consequence of the want of military forces, and owing to the scarcity of Europeans, does not in itself possess the means of insuring obedience, no other alternative remains. It is necessary to call in to its aid the powerful influence of religion, and to obtain from the Peninsula fresh supplies of missionaries. As in their nature the latter are essentially different from the other public functionaries, it is well known they neither seek nor aspire to any remuneration for their labors, their only hope being to obtain, in the opinion of the community at large, that degree of respect to which they justly consider themselves entitled. Let, therefore, their pre-eminences be retained to them: let them be treated with decorum; the care and direction of the Indians confided to their charge, and they always be found united in support of justice and the legitimate authority.
Unwise to discredit priests.Nothing is more unjust, and of nothing have the spiritual directors of the provinces so much reason to complain, than the little discernment with which they have sometimes been judged and condemned, by causing the misconduct of some of their individual members to affect the whole body. Hence is it that no one can read without shame and indignation, the insidious suggestions and allusions, derogatory to their character, contained in the Regulations of Government framed at Manila in the year 1758, and which although modified by orders of the king, are at the present moment still in force, owing to the want of others, and found in a printed form in the hands of every one. Granting that in some particular instances, real causes of complaint might have existed, yet in the end, what does it matter if here and there a religious character has abused the confidence reposed in him, as long as the spirit by which the generality of them are actuated, corresponds to the sanctity of their state, and is besides conformable to the views of government? Why should we be eternally running after an ideal of perfection which can never be met with? Nor, indeed, is this necessary in the present construction of society.
Testimony in their behalfIf, however, any weight is to be attached to imposture with which, from personal motives, attempts have been made to obscure the truth, and prejudice the public mind against the regular clergy; or, if the just defense on which I have entered, should be attributed to partiality or visionary impressions, let the Archives of the Colonial Department be opened, and we shall there find the report drawn up by order of the king on November 26, 1804, by the governor of the Philippine Islands, Don Rafael Maria de Aguilar, with a view to convey information regarding the enquiries at that time instituted respecting the reduction of the inhabitants of the Island of Mindoro; a report extremely honorable to the regular clergy, and dictated by the experience that general had acquired during a period of more than twelve years he had governed. Therein also will be seen the answer to the consultation addressed to his successor in the command, Don Mariano Fernandez de Folgueras, under date of April 25, 1809, in which he most earnestly beseeches the king to endeavor, by every possible means, to send out religious missionaries; deploring the decline and want of order he had observed with his own eyes in the towns administered by native clergymen, and pointing out the urgent necessity of intrusting the spiritual government of these provinces to the dexterous management of the former. Testimonies of such weight are more than sufficient at once to refute the calumnies and contrary opinions put forth on this subject, and at the same time serve as irrefragable proofs of the scrupulous impartiality with which I have endeavored to discuss so delicate a matter.
In a general point of view, I have alluded to the erroneous system, which during the last few years has been pursued by the government with regard to the parish-curates employed in the interior, and also sufficiently pointed out the advantages reasonably to be expected if the government, acting on a different policy, or rather guided by other motives of state, instead of following the literal text of our Indian legislation, should come to the firm determination of indirectly divesting themselves of a small portion of their authority in favor of the religious laborers who are acting on the spot. Having said thus much, I shall proceed to such further details as are more immediately connected with the present chapter.
Ecclesiastical Organization.The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is exercised by the metropolitan archbishop of Manila, aided by the three suffragans of Nueva Segovia, Nueva Caceres and Cebu.
The archbishopric of Manila comprehends the provinces of Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna de Bay, Zambales, Batangas, and the Island of Mindoro.
The bishopric of Nueva Segovia comprehends the province of Pangasinan, the missions of Ituy and Paniqui, the provinces of Ilocos, Cagayan, and the missions of the Batanes Islands.
That of Nueva Caceres comprehends the provinces of Tayabas, Nueva Ecija, Camarines and Albay.
That of Cebu comprehends the Islands of Cebu and Bohol, Iloilo, Capiz and Antique, in the Island of Panay, the Islands of La Paragua, Negros and Samar, Misamis, Caraga and Zamboanga in that of Mindanao, and the Mariana Islands.
The archbishop has a salary of $5,000 and the bishops $4,000 each. The curacies exceed 500, and although all of them originally were in charge of persons belonging to the religious orders, owing to the expulsion of the Jesuits and the excessive scarcity of regular clergy, so many native priests have gradually been introduced among them, that, at present, nearly half the towns are under their direction. The rest are administered by the religious orders of St. Augustine, St. Dominic and St. Francis, in the following manner:
| Towns. | |
| The Augustinians | 88 |
| The barefooted Augustinians (Recoletos) | 52 |
| The Dominicans | 57 |
| The Franciscans | 96 |
| Total | 293 |
It ought, however, to be observed, that since the detailed statement was made out, from which the above extract has been taken, so many members of the religious orders have died, that it has been necessary to replace them in many towns with native clergymen, as a temporary expedient, and till new missionaries shall arrive from Spain.
Dual supervision over friars.The monastic curates are immediately subject to their provincial superior, in the character of friars but depend on the diocesan bishop in their quality of parish priests; and in like manner obey their own provincial vicars, as well as those of the bishop. They are alternately eligible to the dignities of their own order, and generally promoted, or relieved from their ministry, at the discretion of the provincial chapter, or according to the final determination of the vice-patron or bishop, affixed to the triple list presented to him. Besides the ordinary obligations attached to the care of souls, they are enjoined to assist at the elections of governors and other officers of justice, in their respective towns, in order to inform the chief magistrate respecting the aptitude of the persons proposed for election on the triple lists, and to point out the legal defects attributable to any of them. On this account, they are not, however, allowed to interfere in the smallest degree with any of these proceedings, and much less make a formal proposal, as most assuredly would be advisable if permitted so to do, in favor of any particular person or persons in their opinion fit for the discharge of the above mentioned duties. It is their obligation to ascertain the correctness of the tribute lists presented to them for their examination and signature by the chief of the clans, by carefully comparing them with the registers kept in their own department; and also to certify the general returns, without which requisite the statements transmitted by the chief magistrates to the accountant-general’s office are not admitted. Above all they are bound to affix their signatures to the effective payments made by the magistrate to their parishioners on account of daily labor, and to certify similarly the value of materials employed in public works. Besides the above, they are continually called upon to draw up circumstantial reports, or declarations, required by the superior tribunals; they receive frequent injunctions to co-operate in the increase of the king’s revenue and the encouragement of agriculture and industry; in a word, there is scarcely a thing to which their attention is not called, and to which it is not expected they should contribute by their influence, directly or indirectly.
Allowances from treasury.The royal treasury pays them an annual allowance equal to $180, in kind and money, for each five hundred tributes under their care, and this, added to the emoluments of the church, renders the total proceeds of a curacy generally equivalent to about from six to eight reals for each entire tribute; but from this allowance are to be deducted the expenses of coadjutors, subsistence, servants, horses, and all the other charges arising out of the administration of such wearisome duties; nor are the parishioners under any other obligation than to provide the churches with assistants, or sacristans and singers, and the curates with provisions at tariff prices.
Need of more European clergy.Finally, as from what has been above stated it would appear, that as many as five hundred religious persons are necessary for the spiritual administration of the interior towns and districts, besides the number requisite to do the duty and fill the dignities of the respective orders and convents in the capital, independent of which there ought to be a proportionate surplus, applicable to the progressive reduction of the infidel tribes inhabiting the uplands, as well as the preaching of the Gospel in China and Cochinchina, most assuredly, it would be expedient to assemble and keep together a body of no less than seven hundred persons, if it is the wish of the government, on a tolerable scale, to provide for the wants of these remote missions. At the present moment the number does not exceed three hundred, including superannuated, exempt from service, and lay-brothers, whilst the native clergymen in effective possession of curacies, and including substitutes, coadjutors and weekly preachers, exceed one thousand. And as the latter, in general unworthy of the priesthood, are rather injurious than really serviceable to the state, it should not be deemed unjust if they were altogether deprived of the dignity of parish curates, and only allowed to exercise their functions in necessary cases, or by attaching them to the curacies in the quality of coadjutors. By this plan, at the same time that the towns would be provided with suitable and adequate ministers, the native clergymen would be distributed in a proper manner and placed near the religious persons charged to officiate, would acquire the necessary knowledge and decorum, and in the course of time might obtain character and respect among their countrymen.
To many, a measure of this kind may, in some respects, appear harsh and arbitrary; but persons, practically acquainted with the subject and country, will deem it indispensable, and the only means that can be resorted to, in order to stop the rapid decline remarkable in this interesting department of public administration. Fortunately, no grounded objections can be alleged against it; nor is there any danger of serious consequences resulting from the plan being carried into effect. In vain would it be to argue that, if the reform is to take place, a large number of priests would be reduced to beggary, owing to the want of occupation; because, as things now stand, many of the religious curates employ three or four coadjutors, and, no doubt, they would then gladly undertake to make provision for the remainder of those who may be thrown out of employment. On the other hand, with equal truth it may be observed that the inhabitants of the interior, far from regretting, or taking part on behalf of the native clergy, would celebrate, as a day of gladness and rejoicing, the removal of the latter, in return for their beloved Castilian Fathers.
Restriction of native ordinations recommended.In case the ideas above suggested should be adopted in all their parts, it may be proper to add that an injunction ought to be laid on the reverend bishops in future to confer holy orders with more scrupulosity and economy, than, unfortunately, heretofore has been the case; by representing to them that, if, at certain periods the Popes have been influenced by powerful reasons not to insist on ordinations taking place in Europe, as was formerly the case, very weighty motives now equally urge the government to decline, in the Philippine Islands, paying so much to religious vocation, and to relax in the policy of raising the natives to the dignity of the priesthood.
Moro depredations.Long have the inhabitants of the Philippines deplored, and in vain remonstrated, against the ravages committed on their coasts and settlements by the barbarous natives of the Islands of Mindanao, Basilan and Jolo, as well as by the Malanos, Ilanos and Tirone Moros and others; and there is nothing that so much deserves the attention, and interests the honor of the Captain-General commanding in this quarter, as an early and efficient attempt to check and punish these cruel enemies. It is indeed true that, in the years 1636 and 1638, General Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, undertook in person and happily carried into effect the reduction of the Sultan of Mindanao and the conquest of the Island of Jolo, placing in the latter a governor and establishing three military posts there; under the protection of the garrisons of which, Christianity was considerably extended. It is equally true, that on the subsequent abandonment of this important acquisition, owing to the government being compelled to attend to other urgent matters, the enemy acquired a greater degree of audacity, and the captain-general in command afterwards sent armaments to check his inroads. On one of these occasions, our troops obliged an army of more than 5,000 Moros, who had closely beset the fortress of Zamboanga, to raise the siege; and also in the years 1731 and 1734, fresh detachments of our men were landed on the Islands of Jolo, Capul and Basilan, and their success was followed by the destruction and ruin of the fortified posts, vessels, and settlements of those perfidious Mahometans. It is not, however, less certain that at the periods above mentioned, the war was carried on rather from motives of punishment and revenge, and suggested by a sudden and passing zeal, than in conformity to any progressive and well-combined system. Since then these laudable military enterprises have been entirely neglected, as well on account of the indolence of some of the governors, as the too great confidence placed in the protestations of friendship and treaties of peace with which, from time to time, the Sultans of Jolo and Mindanao have sought to lull them to sleep. Their want of sincerity is proved by the circumstance of the piracies of their respective subjects not ceasing, the chiefs sometimes feigning they were carried on without their license or knowledge; and, at others, excusing themselves on the plea of their inability to restrain the insolence of the Tirones and other independent tribes. Nevertheless, it is notorious that the above-mentioned sultans indirectly encouraged the practice of privateering, by affording every aid in their power to those who fitted out vessels, and purchasing from the pirates all the Christians they captured and brought to them.
A missionary’s appeal.Father Juan Angeles, superior of the mission established in Jolo, at the request of Sultan Alimudin himself (or Ferdinand I as he was afterwards unworthily called on being made a Christian with no other view than the better to gain the confidence of the Spaniards) in a report he sent to the government from the above Island, under date of September 24, 1748, describing the Sultan’s singular artifices to amuse him and frustrate the object of his mission, fully confirms all that has just been said, and, on closing his report, makes use of the following remarkable words:
“When is it we shall have had enough of treaties with these Moros, for have we not before us the experience of more than one hundred years, during which period of time, they have not kept a single article in any way burdensome to, or binding on, themselves? They will never observe the conditions of peace, because their property consists in the possession of slaves, and with them they traffic, the same as other nations do with money. Sooner will the hawk release his prey from his talons than they will put an end to their piracies. The cause of their being still unfaithful to Spain arises out of this matter having been taken up by fits and starts, and not in the serious manner it ought to have been done. To make war on them, in an effectual manner, fleets must not be employed, but they must be attacked on land, and in their posts in the interior; for it is much more advisable at once to spend ten with advantage and in a strenuous manner to attain an important object than to lay out twenty by degrees and without fruit.”
Governmental lenience.It is an undeniable fact that the government, lulled and deceived by the frequent embassies and submissive and crouching letters which those fawning sultans have been in the habit of transmitting to them, instead of adopting the energetic measures urged by the above-mentioned missionary, have constantly endeavored to renew and secure the friendship of those chiefs, by means of treaties and commercial relations; granting, with this view, ample licenses to every one who ventured to ship merchandise to Jolo, and winking at the traffic carried on by the governors of the fortress of Zamboanga with the people of Mindanao; whilst the latter, on their part, sporting with our foolish credulity, have never ceased waging a most destructive war against us, by attacking our towns situated on the coast, not even excepting those of the Island of Luzon. They have sometimes carried their audacity so far as to show themselves in the neighborhood of the capital itself, and at others taken up their temporary residence in the district of Mindoro and in places of the jurisdictions of Samar and Leyte; and in short, even dared to form an establishment or general deposit for their plunder in the Island of Buras, where they quietly remained during the years 1797, 1798 and 1799 to the great injury of our commerce and settlements.
Authority for war not lacking.This want of exertion to remedy evils of so grievous a nature is the more to be deplored as the Philippine governors have at all times been fully authorized to carry on war, and promote the destruction of the Moros, under every sacrifice, and especially by the royal orders and decrees of October 26, and November 1, 1758, and July 31, 1766, in all of which his majesty recommends, in the most earnest manner, “the importance of punishing the audacity of the barbarous infidels, his majesty being desirous that, in order to maintain his subjects of the Philippines free from the piracies and captivity they so frequently experience, no expenses or pains should be spared; it being further declared, that as this is an object deeply affecting the conscience of his majesty, he especially enjoins the aforesaid government to observe his order; and finally, with a view to provide for the exigencies arising out of similar enterprises, the viceroy of New Spain is instructed to attend to the punctual remittance, not only of the usual “situado,” or annual allowance, but also of the additional sum of $70,000 in the first and succeeding years, etc.” In a word, our monarchs, Ferdinand VI and Carlos III, omitted nothing that could in any way promote so important an object; whether it is that the governors have disregarded such repeated orders from the sovereigns, or mistaken the means by which they were to be carried into effect, certain it is that the unhappy inhabitants of the Philippines have continued to be witnesses, and at the same time the victims of the culpable apathy of those who have successively held the command of these Islands within the last fifty or sixty years.
Native efforts for self-defence.Abandoned therefore to their own resources, and from time to time relieved by the presence of a few gunboats which, after scouring the coasts, have never been able to come up with the light and fast sailing vessels of the enemy, the inhabitants of our towns and settlements have been under the necessity of intrenching and fortifying themselves in the best way they were able, by opening ditches and planting a breastwork of stakes and palisades, crowned with watch towers, or a wooden or stone castle; precautions which sometimes are not sufficient against the nocturnal irruptions and robberies of the Moros, more especially when they come with any strength and fire-arms, in general scarce among the natives.
Moro piratical craft.The pancos, or prows, used by the Moros, are light and simple vessels, built with numerous thin planks and ribs, with a small draft of water; and being manned by dexterous rowers, they appear and disappear from the horizon with equal celerity, flying or attacking, whenever they can do it with evident advantage. Some of those vessels are large, and fitted out with fifty, a hundred, and sometimes two hundred men. The shots of their scanty and defective artillery are very uncertain, because they generally carry their guns suspended in slings; but they are to be dreaded, and are extremely dexterous in the management of the campilan, or sword, of which they wear the blades long and well tempered. When they have any attack of importance in view, they generally assemble to the number of two hundred galleys, or more, and even in their ordinary cruises, a considerable number navigate together. As dread and the scarcity of inhabitants in the Bisayan Islands cause great ranges of the coast to be left unsettled, it is very easy for the Moros to find numerous lurking-places and strongholds whenever they are pressed, and their constant practice, in these cases, is to enter the rivers, ground their vessels, and hide them among the mangroves and thick foliage, and fly with their arms to the mountains, thus almost always laughing at the efforts of their opponents, who seldom venture to follow them into the thickets and morasses, where the musket is of no use and a single step cannot be taken with any security.
Outrages suffered.The fatal consequences and ravages of this system of cruising and warfare round the Islands are incalculable. Besides plundering and burning the towns and settlements, these bloody pirates put the old and helpless to the sword, destroy the cattle and plantations, and annually carry off to their own homes as many as a thousand captives of both sexes, who, if they are poor and without hopes of being redeemed, are destined to drag out a miserable existence amidst the most fatiguing and painful labor, sometimes accompanied with torments. Such is the dread and apprehension of these seas that only those navigate and carry on trade in them who are able to arm and man their vessels in a way corresponding to the great risks they have to run, or others whom want compels to disregard the imminent dangers which await them. Among the latter class, the Bisayans, or “painted (tattooed) natives,” are distinguished, an extremely warlike people of whom great use might be made. Reared from their infancy amidst danger and battle, and greatly resembling the Moros in their features and darkness of skin, they are equally alike in the agility with which they manage the long sword and lance, and such is the courage and implacable odium with which they treat their enemies that, if not taken by surprise, they sell their lives very dear, sacrificing themselves in a most heroic manner, rather than to be led away as captives.
In order, however, that a more correct idea may be formed of the wicked policy and atrocious disposition of these Moros, and with a view to do away with the misconceptions of those who are of opinion that incentives to trade, and other slow and indirect means ought to be employed for the purpose of overcoming them, it will suffice to quote the following examples among a number of others, even more recent ones, which might equally be brought forward.
Instances of treachery.In 1796, the governor of Zamboanga dispatched, with regular passports and under a safe conduct obtained from the Sultan of Mindanao, Lieutenant Don Pantaleon Arcillas, with a sergeant, eight men, and a guide, in order to bring into the fortress the cattle belonging to the king’s farm, which had strayed away and got up in the lands of the above-mentioned Mahometan prince. Five days after their departure, whilst the lieutenant was taking his meals at the house of a “Datu,” or chief, named Oroncaya, he was suddenly surrounded by seventy Moros, who, seizing upon him, bound him to a tree and then flayed him alive, from the forehead to the ankle. In this miserable and defenceless situation, the barbarous “Datu” wreaked his vengeance on his body by piercing it all over with his “kris,” or dagger, and then ordered his skin to be hung up on the pole of one of his ferocious banners.
In the year 1798, whilst the schooner San José lay at anchor at Tabitabi, near Jolo, the sons-in-law and nephews of the sultan went out to meet her in two large prows, exhibiting at the same time every demonstration of peace, and, sending forward a small vessel with refreshments, they invited the captain to come on board of them. The latter, deceived by the apparent frankness and high rank of the Moros, with the greatest good faith accepted the invitation, and proceeded on board, accompanied by two sailors, with a view to make arrangements for barter. Scarcely had they got on board of the large prow, when they were surrounded and seized, and the captain, who was a Spaniard, compelled to sign an order to his mate to deliver up the schooner, which he reluctantly did, under the hope of saving his own and his companions’ lives. The Moros proceeded on board the Spanish vessel, and, in the meantime, the two sailors were taken back to the boat, and there killed with daggers in the presence of all. The schooner’s sails were next hoisted, and she was brought into Jolo, where the cargo and crew were sold in sight of, and with the knowledge and consent of the sultan; an atrocity for which he has always refused to give any satisfaction to a nation, thus openly and barbarously outraged by his own relatives, and in defiance of the existing treaties of peace. Such is the cruel character, and such the execrable policy of the Moros generally inhabiting the Islands situated in the Philippine seas.
Growth of Moro power.The most lamentable circumstance is, that these infidel races, at all times to be dreaded, owing to their numbers and savage ferocity, after the lapse of a century of almost uninterrupted prosperity, and encouraged also by our inattention, have at length gradually attained so formidable a degree of power, that their reduction now must be considered an extremely arduous and expensive enterprise, although an object urgently requisite, and worthy of the greatness of a nation like ours. In order, however, that the difficulties of so important an undertaking may be justly appreciated, it may be proper to observe that the Island of Mindanao alone, at the present moment, contains a population equal, if not larger, than that of Luzon, and the margins of the immense lake, situated in its center, are covered with well-built towns, filled with conveniences, the fruits of their annual privateering, and of the traffic they carry on with the inhabitants of the Island of Jolo. True it is, and it may be said, equally fortunate, that they are greatly divided into parties, subject to a variety of “datus,” or independent chiefs, in name only inferior to the one who styles himself the sultan of the whole Island. As, however, the fortresses and districts of Caraga, Misamis, and Zamboanga occupy nearly three parts of the circumference of the Island, these Moros freely possess no more than the southern part, commencing at about twenty-five leagues from Cape San Augustin, and ending in the vicinity of Zamboanga; so that the largest number of their naval armaments are fitted out and issued to sea, either by the great river of Mindanao, or from some of the many bays and inlets situated on the above extent of coast.
Jolo.The Island of Jolo, although small compared with that of Mindanao, is, nevertheless, in itself the most important, as well as the real hotbed of all the piracies committed. Its inhabitants, according to the unanimous reports of captives and various merchants, in skill and valor greatly exceed the other Mahometans who infest these seas. The sultan is absolute, and his subjects carry on trade with Borneo, Celebes, and the other Malayan tribes scattered about this great Archipelago. In the port of Jolo, as already noticed, sales are made of Christians captured by the other Moros. The Chinese of Amoy, as well as the Dutch and British, carry them manufactured goods, opium and arms, receiving, in return, black pepper, bees’ wax, balato, edible nests, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, gold dust, pearls, etc., and from Manila also a vessel usually goes once a year with goods; but all act with the greatest precaution in this dangerous traffic, guarding, as much as possible, against the insidious acts of that perfidious government. The great number of renegades, of all casts, who have successively naturalized themselves there; the abundance of arms, and the prevailing opulence, have, in every respect, contributed to render this Island a formidable and powerful state. The capital is surrounded with forts and thick walls, and the famous heights, standing near it, in case of emergency, afford a secure asylum where the women can take refuge and the treasures of the sultan and public be deposited, whilst in the plains below the contest may be maintained by more than 50,000 combatants, already very dexterous in the use of the musket and of a bold and courageous character. The navy of these Islanders is also very respectable, for, besides a great number of smaller prows and war-boats, they have some of a large size, capable of carrying heavy artillery on their decks, mounted on corresponding carriages, and not suspended in slings as is the custom of the people of Mindanao. In a word, Jolo is an Island governed by a system of administration extremely vigorous and decisive; dread and superstition sustain the throne of the tyrant, and the fame of his greatness frequently brings to his feet the ulemas, or missionaries of the Koran, even as far as from the furthest margin of the Red Sea. The prince and people, unanimous in the implacable odium with which they view all Christians, cannot be divided or kept on terms of peace; and if it is really wished to free these seas from the evils and great dangers with which they are at all times threatened, it is necessary at once to strike at the root, by landing and attacking the Jolonese in their strongholds, and break the charm by which they are held together.
This, at least, is the constant and unshaken opinion of all experienced persons and those versed in Philippine affairs; and if, by the substantial reasons and existing circumstances, I convince myself sufficiently to openly recommend war to be undertaken against the Moros and pushed with the utmost vigor, and more particularly commencing the work by a formal invasion of Jolo; still, as I feel myself incompetent to trace a precise plan, or to discuss the minute details more immediately connected with the object, I feel it necessary to confine myself to the pointing out, in general terms, of the means I judge most conducive to the happy issue of so arduous but important an enterprise, leaving the rest to more able and experienced hands.
Council of war recommended.As a previous step, I conceive that a council of war ought to be formed in Manila, composed of the captain-general, the commanders of the navy, artillery, and engineer department, as well as of the regular corps, who, in conformity to all the antecedent information lodged in the secretary’s office for the captain-generalship, and the previous report of some one of the ex-governors of Zamboanga and the best informed missionaries, may be enabled to deliberate and proceed on to a mature examination of the whole affair, taking into their special consideration everything regarding Jolo, its early reduction, the number of vessels and men required for this purpose, the most advantageous points of attack, and the best season in which this can be carried into execution. After all these matters have been determined upon, the operation in question ought to be connected with the other partial and general arrangements of the government, in order that a plan the best adapted to localities and existing circumstances may be chosen, and without its being necessary to wait for the king’s approbation of the means resolved upon, owing to the distance of the court and the necessity of acting with celerity. If, however, on account of the deference in every respect due to the sovereign, it should be thought proper to reconcile his previous sanction with the necessity of acting without loss of time, the best mode would be to send from Spain an officer of high rank, fully authorized, who, as practised on other occasions, might give his sanction, in the name of the king, to the resolutions adopted by the council of war, and take under his own immediate charge, if it should be so deemed expedient, the command of the expedition against Jolo, receiving the appointment of governor of the Island, as soon as the conquest should be carried into effect, as a just reward for his zeal and valor.
War popular in Philippines.Supposing an uniformity of opinions to prevail with regard to the expediency of attempting the subjugation of Jolo, and supposing also the existence of the necessary funds to meet the expenses of a corresponding armament, it may be positively relied upon that the project would be extremely popular, and meet with the entire concurrence and support of the Philippine Islands. The military men, aware of the great riches known to exist in the proposed theatre of operations, would emulously come forward to offer their services, under a hope of sharing the booty, and the warlike natives of the Bisayas would be impelled on by their hatred to the Moros, and their ardent wishes to avenge the blood of their fathers and children. On the other hand, the abundance of regular and well disciplined officers and troops, at present in the colony and the number of gun-boats found in the ports, a want of which, on other occasions, has always been experienced, will afford ample scope for the equipment of a force competent to the important enterprise in view. In fact, if the operation is arranged in a systematic manner, and all the precautions and rules observed as are usual in cases of attacks premeditated against European and civilized establishments, there is no reason to expect any other than a flattering and decisive result, since, in reality, the whole would be directed against an enemy contemptible on account of his barbarism and his comparative ignorance of the art of war.
Native assistance.The preparations deemed necessary being made in Manila, and the Bisayan auxiliaries assembled beforehand in Zamboanga, with their arms and respective chiefs, the whole of the operation in question, it may be safely said, might be terminated within the period of three or four months. Supposing even 2,000 regular troops are destined for this expedition, with a corresponding train of field pieces, and at the moment there should not be found in the Islands a sufficient number of larger vessels to embargo or freight for their conveyance, a competent quantity of coasters, galleys and small craft might be met with at any time sufficiently capacious and secure to carry the men. This substitute will be found the less inconvenient, because, as the navigation is to be performed among the Islands during the prevalence of the north winds, usually a favorable and steady season of the year, the voyage will consequently be safe and easy. It will also be possible to arrive at the point agreed upon, as a general rendezvous, in twenty, or five-and-twenty days, which place, for many reasons, ought to be the fortress of Zamboanga, situated in front of Jolo and at moderate distance from that Island; it being from this port that, in former times, the Philippine governors usually sent out their armaments, destined to make war against the Basilanese and Jolonese.
Mindanao also needs attention.As soon as this important and memorable enterprise has been carried into effect, and the punishment and total subjugation of these faithless Mahometans completed and the new conquest placed under a military authority, in the mean time that the lands are distributing and arrangements making to establish the civil administration, on the same plan followed in the other provinces of the Philippine government, the armament ought to return to Zamboanga with all possible speed; but, after stopping by the way to reduce the small island of Basilan and leaving a fortress and garrison there. Immediately afterwards, and before the various tribes of Moros inhabiting the Island of Mindanao have been able to concert among themselves and prepare for their defence, it would be advisable to direct partial expeditions towards both flanks of Zamboanga, for the purpose of burning the settlements of the natives and driving them from the shores into the interior. Forts ought then to be raised at the mouths of the inlets and rivers, and a fourth district government formed in the southern part of the island; in such manner that, by possession being taken of the coasts, the government and district of Zamboanga may be placed in contact with the new one established on the one side, and on the other with the district of Misamis, also the new district with that of Caraga, the western part of which territory is already united to that of Misamis. Such, at least, was the opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Don Mariano Tobias, an officer deservedly celebrated for his prudence and consummate skill in these matters, and this he substantially expressed in a council of war, held on August 28, 1778, for the purpose of deliberating on the most advisable means to check the Moros, as appears by a long and intelligent report drawn upon this subject on April 26, 1800, by the adjutant-general of this colony, Don Rufino Suarez.
In case it should be determined to adopt the means proposed by Colonel Tobias, for the purpose of holding the Moros of Mindanao in check, and to which, unfortunately, due regard has not hitherto been paid, notwithstanding the enterprise presents very few difficulties, owing to the little opposition to be expected from the infidel natives, the latter would then be left completely surrounded and shut up in the heart of the island, and their active system of privateering, with which they have so many years infested these seas, entirely destroyed. If, through the want of garrisons and population, it should not, however, be possible to deprive them of all their outlets, by which means they would still be able occasionally to send some of their cruising vessels, nevertheless there would be facilities with which it would be possible to pursue and counteract the ravages of the few pirates who might furtively escape out of some river, while now they are fitted out, and well manned and armed to the number of one and two hundred war-boats, openly in their ports.
A plan for future policing.After the emporiums of slavery have been destroyed by the conquest of Jolo, and the other general measures adopted, as above pointed out, the government would then be in a situation to turn its attention, with much greater ease, to the arrangement of all the other minor schemes of precaution and protection suited to the difference of circumstances and locality, without the concurrence of which the work would be left imperfect, and in some degree the existence of those settled in the new establishments rendered precarious. As, however, I am unprepared minutely to point out the nature of these measures, or distinctly to lay down a ground-work for future civilization and improvement, I shall merely observe, that what would then remain to be done would neither require any great capital, or present obstacles which might not easily be overcome. The Moros being then concentrated in the Island of Mindanao, and this completely surrounded on all sides by our forts and settlements, in the manner above described, the only enemies let loose on these seas would be either the few who might, from time to time, elude the vigilance of our troops and district-commanders, or those who might have escaped from Jolo previous to its conquest, and taken up their abode in one or other of the Bisayas Islands; or, in short, such as are out cruising at the time our armament returns to Zamboanga and takes possession of the southern coast of Mindanao; in which case they would be compelled to resort to a roving life, establishing, like the Jolo fugitives, temporary dwellings among the mangroves and thickets bordering on the shore.
The principal objects then remaining for the attention of government would be to guard and protect the towns and settlements established on the coasts from the insults and inroads of banditti, impelled by necessity or despair, and at the same time to promote the gradual overthrow or civilization of the dispersed remnant of Moorish population left in the Island. The cruising of the pirates being thus reduced to a space comprehended in an oblong circle formed by an imaginary line drawn from the southern extreme of the Island of Leyte, to the south-west point of Samar, which next running along the north-west coast of Mindoro, on the outside of Tacao and Burias, and coming down to the west of Panay, Negros and Bohol, closes the oval at the little island formed by the Strait of Panaon, about forty gunboats might be advantageously stationed in the narrowest passages from land to land; as, for example, in the Strait of San Juanico and other passes of a similar kind, well known to the local pilots. By this means, the limits would be gradually contracted. Various small naval armaments ought, at the same time, to keep cruising in the center of this circle, pursuing the Moros by sea and land, dislodging them from their strongholds and lurking places, and sending on those who might be captured to the depot pointed out by government.
Feasibility of plans.The first part of the plan would be the more easily realized, as it is well-known that most of the districts corresponding to the Bisayan tribes, including those of Camarines and Albay, situated at the extremity of the island of Luzon, have several gunboats of their own, which might be used with great advantage. By merely advancing and stationing them in such channels as the Moros must necessarily pass, either in going out or returning, according to the different monsoons, they would easily be checked, without removing the gunboats to any great distance from their own coasts. As besides the great advantages resulting from this plan and every one doing his duty are apparent, no doubt numbers of natives would volunteer their services, more particularly if they were liberally rewarded, and their maintenance provided from the funds of the respective communities. Moreover, the points which at first should not be considered as sufficiently guarded might be strengthened by the king’s gunboats, and, indeed, in all of them it would be advisable to station some of the latter, commanded by a select officer, to whose orders the captains of the provincial gunboats ought to be made subservient.
With regard to the second part, it will suffice to observe that the captain-generalship of the Philippine Islands already possesses as many as seventy gunboats, besides a considerable number of gallies and launches, which altogether constitute a formidable squadron of light vessels; and, after deducting those deemed necessary for the protection of Jolo and the new province to be established in Mindanao, a sufficient number would still be left to carry into execution all the objects proposed. At present, although the Moros navigate in numerous divions, and with a confidence inspired by their undisturbed prosperity, a 24-pounder shot from one of our launches is nevertheless sufficient to put them to flight; what therefore may not be expected when their forces shall be so greatly diminished and their apprehensions increased, of being defeated and captured? Nevertheless, as it is not easy for our gunboats to come up with them, when giving chase, it would be advisable to add to our cruisers a temporary establishment of prows and light vessels, manned by Bisayan Indians, which, by advancing on with the gallies, might attack the enemy and give time for the gunboats to come up and decide the action. Besides as the Bisayan Indians are perfectly acquainted with the mode of making war on the Moros, the meaning of their signals and manoeuvers and the kind of places on shore in which they take shelter when pursued at sea, the employment of such auxiliaries would be extremely useful.
Need of undivided leadership.The whole of these defensive and offensive arrangements would, however, be ineffectual or incomplete in their results, if the most perfect union and concert is not established in every part, so that all should conspire to the same object, although by distinct means. In order therefore that the necessary harmony may be secured, it would be expedient to remove the chief authority nearer to the theater of war, by confiding all the necessary instructions and powers to the person who might be selected for the direction and command of the enterprise, after the general plan of operations had been regularly approved. Under this impression, and with a view to the better execution of all the details, it would be advisable for the commanding officer, named by the government, to take up his headquarters in the Island of Panay, which, owing to its geographical situation, the great number of towns and inhabitants contained in the three provinces into which it is divided, as well as other political reasons, is generally esteemed preferable for the object in question, to the Island of Zebu, where, in former times, the commanders of the province of the painted natives resided, as mentioned in the laws of the Indies. The center of action being placed in Iloilo, a communication with the other points would thus more easily be kept open, aid and relief might be sent more rapidly to the quarter where required, and, in a word, all the movements, of whatsoever kind they might be, would be executed with greater precision and certainty of success. It would be unnecessary to add that the provincial magistrates of Camarines and Albay ought to co-operate, with their fourteen gunboats and other smaller vessels, in the measures adopted by the commander of the Bisayan establishment, distributing their forces according to the orders given by him, and by undertaking to guard the straits of San Bernardino.
Paragua.The Island of Paragua, at the head of which the provincial jurisdiction of Calamianes is placed, is not included in the great circle, or chain of stations, above traced out, as well in consequence of its great distance from the other islands, for which reason it is not so much infested by the Moros, as because of its being at present nearly depopulated and uncultivated, and for these reasons the attention of government ought not to be withdrawn from other more important points. With regard to that of Mindanao, the necessity of keeping up along the whole of its immense coast, a line of castles and watch towers, has already been fully pointed out, more especially in the vicinity of the bay of Panguil, to the north, and the mouths of the great river towards the south; the two points in which the enemies’ most formidable armaments are usually fitted out. Consequently, it would not be possible to expect the provincial commanders stationed there would be able to disengage any part of their naval force, in order to place it at the disposal of the officer commanding the Bisayan vessels. Indeed, it is obvious that it would be extremely important to afford the people of Mindanao every possible additional aid, in vessels, troops and money, in order the better to check the sailing of partial divisions of the enemy, and thus prevent the immense number of pirates, inhabiting the interior of the island, from breaking the fortified line, and again covering these seas, and with redoubled fury carrying death and desolation along all the coasts.
It would, in fact, be extremely desirable if, through the concerted measures and constant vigilance of the four chief magistrates intrusted with the command of the island, the future attempts of the Mindanayans could be entirely counteracted, and their cruisers altogether kept within the line for a certain period of years; as by thus depriving them of the facilities to continue their old habits of life, these barbarous tribes would be eventually compelled to adopt other pursuits, either by ascending the mountainous parts of the island, and shutting themselves up in the thick and impenetrable forests, with a view to preserve their independence; or, throwing down their arms and devoting themselves to the peaceful cultivation of their lands. In the latter case, they would gradually lose their present ferocious character; their regard for the conveniences and repose of social life would increase; the contrast would be attended with most favorable consequences, and in the course of time, the whole of the aboriginal natives of these islands would come into our laws and customs, and become confounded in the general mass of Philippine subjects, owing allegiance to the king.
Finally, it must be equally acknowledged that the Islands of Jolo, Basilan, Capul, and some of the other inferior ones, of which, as above pointed out, an union ought to be formed in the way of an additional government, subordinate to the captain-general, would be able to co-operate in the war on no other plan than the one traced out for the provinces held in Mindanao; that is, by their gunboats being confided to the protection of their own coasts; though with this difference, that if, in one instance, the main object would be to prevent the evasion of the enemy, in the other every effort must be employed to guard against and repel their incursions when they do appear. However complete the success of the armament, destined for the reduction of Jolo, it may nevertheless be presumed, that the mountains would still continue to give shelter to hordes of fugitives, who would take refuge in the fastnesses, and avail themselves of every opportunity to concert plans, or fly off to join their comrades in Mindanao, in order to return, and through their aid, satisfy their thirst for vengeance, by surprising some fortress or settlement, or establishing themselves on some neglected and not well known point. In consequence of this, the governor, commanding there, would at first require the active co-operation of all his forces, for the purpose of consolidating the new conquest, and causing his authority to be respected throughout the island.
Importance of peace for Philippine progress.These, in my opinion, are the true and secure means by which the enemies of the peace and prosperity of the Philippines may be humbled, their piracies prevented, and a basis laid for the future civilization of the remaining islands in this important Archipelago. To this sketch, a number of other details and essential illustrations, no doubt, are wanting; and possibly, I may be accused of some inaccuracies, in discussing a topic, with which I candidly avow I cannot be considered altogether familiar. The plan and success of the enterprise must, however, greatly depend on military skill and talent; but as I have attempted no more than fairly to trace the general outline of the plan, and insist on the necessity of its adoption, my remarks, it is to be hoped, will serve to awaken a serious disposition to review and investigate the whole subject, a task that most assuredly ought to be confided to a competent and special council. Whatever defects I may involuntarily have fallen into, will then be corrected; at the same time it ought not to appear strange that inexperienced persons should presume to speak on matters connected with the public good, when we see them so much neglected by those whose more immediate duty it is to look after and promote them. At all events, dispassionate zeal has seldom done harm; and I again repeat, that my wish is not so much to see my own ideas adopted, as to urge the necessity of their being examined and digested. I am desirous that other sources of information on this subject should be explored, that practical men should be called in, and that those in power should be induced to apply themselves and devote their exertions to an object so highly deserving of their attention. In short, I am anxious that the pious injunctions of our monarchs should be fulfilled, and that the tears and blood of the inhabitants of these neglected islands should cease to flow.
Should the happy day ever arrive, when the inhabitants of these provinces shall behold themselves free from the cruel scourge with which they have been desolated for so many years, they will bless the nation that has redeemed them from all their cares, they will tighten their relations with it, and deliver themselves up to its direction without reserve. The natives will then come down from the strong fastnesses they at present inhabit; they will clear fresh lands, and earnestly devote themselves to tillage and industry. Under the shadow of peace, population and commerce will increase; the Bisayan vessels will then plough the ocean without the dread of other enemies than the elements; and the Moros themselves of Mindanao (I say it with confidence), straightened on all sides, and incessantly harassed by the Christians, but on the other hand witnessing the advantages and mildness of our laws, will at length submit to the dominion of the monarchs of Spain, who will thus secure the quiet possession of one of the most interesting portions of the habitable globe, and be justly entitled to the gratitude of all nations connected with China and India, for having put an end to a series of the most terrific plunder and captivity that ever disgraced the annals of any age.