“Export duties on produce of every description to foreign ports are, 3 per cent. by foreign, and 1½ per cent. by Spanish ships, with the following exceptions:—Hemp, 2 per cent. by foreign, and 1½ per cent. by Spanish ships; tortoise-shell, mother-o’-pearl shell, 1 per cent. by foreign, and 1 per cent. by Spanish ships; rice, 4½ per cent. by foreign, and 1½ per cent. by Spanish ships.
“No duties are charged on goods arriving or departing coastwise by coasting vessels.
“Port dues.—No special charges are yet fixed for vessels arriving at Iloilo, but they may be stated as about equivalent to those levied at Manila, viz.:—On foreign vessels arriving and leaving in ballast, 18¾ c. per ton; with cargo inwards or outwards, 34¾ c. per ton; with cargo both inward and outward, 37½ c. per ton.
“Wages are moderate at Iloilo:—Labourers, 12½ c. to 18¾ c. per day; carpenters, 18¾ c. to 25 c. per day; caulkers, 25 c. per day.
“Fresh provisions are obtainable at cheap rates.
“The weights and measures in use for produce are—the quintal, of 4 arrobas, or 100 lbs. Spanish, equal to 101¾ lbs. English; pecul of 100 catties, or 140 lbs. English. The cavan of rice (cavan de provincia) is equal to one and a half of the Manila cavan, or cavan del rey; it weighs about 190 lbs. English, and measures 8,997 cubic inches. The pesada, by which sapan-wood is sold, weighs 13 arrobas 13 lbs., or nearly 2½ peculs.
“The currency is nominally the same as in Manila, but silver dollars have to be paid for nearly all purchases, gold being of difficult circulation.
“From the preceding outline of the trade of this port, you will gather that at present, with an annual export of about 1,600 tons of sugar, upwards of 2,000 tons of sapan-wood, and 350 to 400 tons of hemp, it is (considering the quantity which the foreign shippers would be able to secure) capable of furnishing cargoes for two foreign vessels of moderate tonnage; and next year, as regards sugar, which will form the bulk of the cargoes of foreign vessels loading here, the supply will probably be doubled. The more important question, however, as regards the foreign trade of Iloilo, is not as to the actual quantity of produce (still so very limited) which this island may furnish, but whether the concentration of produce from the neighbouring islands and provinces will in reality be brought about.
“A review of the facts regarding the southern Philippines would seem to lead to a conclusion in the affirmative. With Leyte and Samar giving a combined annual export of 4,000 tons of hemp, Cebú upwards of 5,000 tons of sugar, Negros a (rapidly expanding) product of about 900 tons of sugar and 800 tons of hemp, and without taking into account the possible supply of hemp which may be drawn from South Camerines and from Albay (which produce by far the largest part of the existing export of hemp from the Philippines, and are, during the north-east monsoon, within a shorter distance of Iloilo than Manila), it seems in no way hazardous to assume that, on relatively equal prices being obtainable here, Iloilo will attract in the course of time a gradually augmenting proportion of the products which now go on to Manila. It may be further conjectured that Misamis (which yields a considerable quantity of remarkably good hemp), Caraga, and the other provinces of Mindanao, may also in time contribute their share to the products obtainable at a port which their traders must pass on their way to Manila, though the full development of the intercourse of the neighbouring islands with Iloilo will greatly depend on the amount of European imports with which this latter port should gradually be able to supply its new customers. The opinion of the natives themselves, though not to be taken as a guide, may still serve in some measure as an index of what may be looked for. In talking on the subject to the owners of the small craft whose cargoes of hemp have been brought to Iloilo, they have frequently said, ‘If foreign vessels come here and give higher prices, much more hemp from Leyte and Camarines will come to Iloilo.’
“Cebú producing rice and manufactures for its own consumption, there is at present little communication between it and Iloilo; but it is encouraging to learn that one of the partners of the most enterprising Spanish firm at this place intends proceeding both to Cebú and Leyte, to establish, if practicable, a commercial connection, with the ulterior view of getting both sugar and hemp sent to this quarter.