Statistics of Government. — Monopoly of Tobacco. 3 1 9 



The principal tobacco-growing districts of the island of 

 Luzon are Cagayan and Bisayx, in which on an average 

 180,000 cwt. of tobacco are grown annually; of these about 

 80,000 cwt. are sent annually in the leaf to Spain, while the 

 surplus are worked up into cigars in Luzon itself, sold at auc- 

 tion [al martillo) every month, and knocked down to the 

 highest bidder. The average price is 8 to 10 dollars per 1000 

 Costados. Tliere is but one species of tobacco grown in 

 Manila, and the size of the leaf is the sole element that regu- 

 lates the value. The Manila tobacco is a very strong narcotic ; 

 there is, notwithstanding the prevailing opinion in Europe, 

 no opium mingled with it ; one end being simply dipped in 

 rice juice to glue it together. Indeed, the enormous cost of 

 that liquid drug, which plays so important a part in the his- 

 tory of the Chinese empire, would alone prevent its being 

 used. As cigars are greatly in request by both sexes in 

 Manila, and it is necessary first to provide for the supply of 

 the country itself, it occasionally happens that the stocks are 

 not sufficiently large at once to supply all demands for export- 

 ation. Except during the public sales by auction, no one is 

 permitted to buy of Government more than 1000 cigars at 

 once, a regulation most vicious in principle and useless in 

 practice, as persons who wish to possess larger quantities of 

 cigars have simply to send round to any number of persons 

 in the tobacco trade, in order to provide themselves with 

 what they require. We ourselves experienced how any one, 

 who was desii'ous of buying 45,000 cigars, sent 45 different 



