ANNIVERSARY NUMBER 1919 



77 



years the Manila cigar was utterly discredit- 

 ed. The exports fell off steadily for a num- 

 ber of years, until the end of 1914, when only 

 59,000,000 cigars were sent to the United 

 States. 



At that time the Government be came gen- 

 uinely alarmed. The Governor-General 

 sent the Collector of Internal Revenue to the 

 United States to investigate the causes for 

 the slump in the trade and as a result of his 

 report and recommendations, the Legislature, 

 in February 1916, passed Act No. 2613, the 

 Tobacco Inspection Law which aimed to 

 remedy the conditions brought about by the 

 discrediting of the Manila cigar in the United 

 States. 



It has been a long and trying job to re- 

 establish the name of the Manila cigar in the 

 American market, but after 3 years of vigo- 

 rous campaigning, the Manila cigar industry 

 has won back the place which it held many 

 years ago. It was in 1914, when the Govern- 

 ment realized its duty to promote the indus- 

 try which marked the true renaissance of 

 the Manila cigar. The Government stands 

 behind the Manila cigar and guarantees its 

 quality. The tobacco planters are instruct- 

 ed in proper cultural methods and an experi- 

 ment station has been established under the 

 joint auspices of the Bureau of Agriculture 

 and the College of Agriculture in the Gagayan 

 Valley. All leaf tobacco is classified and 

 graded before it leaves the province of ori- 

 gin. Factories operate under sanitary reg- 

 ulations which make them second to none 

 in the world in cleanliness. No cigar may be 

 shipped from the Philippine Islands to the 

 United States until it has been inspected by the 

 Government agents and certified as standard. 

 If the cigars so certified, deteriorate within 72 

 days after arrival in the United States, the 

 Government backs up its guarantee by paying 

 the cost of re-conditioning cigars, or if un- 

 marketable, returning them to the Philip- 

 pine Islands. 



The Manila cigar today holds a high place 

 in the estimation of the American smoker. 

 The mildness of the Manila product is its 

 most noticeable virtue. The inveterate smok- 



HYGIENIC CONDITIONS FOR THE CIGAR-MAKERS CO HAND IN BAND WITH SCRUPULOUS CLEANLINESS IN MANILA 

 CIGAR FACTORIES. MEW OF THE INTERIOR OF A WELL LIGHTED AND VENTILATED FACTORY WHERE CIGARS ARI 



HADE FOR AMERICAN SMOKERS 



er appreciates it because he can smoke many 

 Manila cigars without the satiation which 

 would follow smoking an equal number of 

 other cigars. No longer is the Manila arti- 

 cle a minor export product. As compared 

 with the 59,000,000 cigars which were ship- 

 ped in 1914, there were shipped in 1918 to the 

 United States, 265,234,000 Manila cigars. 

 During the last 5 years the growth, while phe- 

 nominal, has been so steady, from month to 

 month, quarter to quarter, year to year, that 

 the growers and manufacturers alike feel con- 

 fident of la permanently increasing market 

 in the United States. As the American 

 smoker is learning to discriminate between 

 the good Manila cigars and the really high 

 grade Manila cigars, the proportion demanded 

 of the more expensive sizes is increasing. The 

 elimination of the Customs duty has given 



ONE OF THE MANY THOUSAND GIRLS ENGAGED IS STRIPPING PHILIPPINE TOBACCO LEAF FOR CIGARS 



to the American smoker, a cigar comparable 

 with the best imported smoke, at a price 

 not exceeding the best domestic smoke. It 

 is this fact upon which the Philippine tobacco 

 industry relies for the permanence of itsAmer- 

 ican market. 



Industrial Possibilities 



(Continued from page 70) 



other countries for making windows, lamp 

 shades, and screens is steadily growing. The 

 heavy demand for these shells may rapidly 

 deplete the beds. The attempt has been 

 made to introduce this mollusk at other 

 places, and the Bureau of Science has planted 

 some in a suitable place near Malabon. This 

 work needs more care and extension. 



27. Sponges. Some Philippine sponges 

 are of fine quality, but their reputation on 

 the market may easily be injured by the ship- 

 ping of poorly-prepared or improperly-sorted 

 and packed goods. The Government should 

 be able to direct spongers in their work, to 

 assist them in marketing their sponges to the 

 best advantage, and to prevent the marketing 

 of inferior products. 



28. Button shells. The shells used for 

 button making are collected from widely 

 scattered localities. It is possible that these 

 species of mollusks could be propagated in 

 selected and convenient water areas. Ex- 

 periments along this line are needed. 



29. Pearls and pearl shells. Several hun- 

 dred thousands pesos worth of pearl shells 

 are exported annually from the Philippine 

 Islands. 



Very promising methods for the artificial 

 production of natural pearls have been de- 

 veloped in Japan. This requires water with 

 a summer temperature and is profitable in 

 Japan though carried on only during a part 

 of the year. In the Philippine Islands the 

 industry should be still more profitable, for 

 the pearl production could be carried on 

 during the whole year. This, in connection 

 with the large size of the Philippine pearl- 

 oyster shell, would mean a great advantage 

 to the production of cultural pearls in Phil- 

 ippine waters. 



