560 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



these and dredge out the inclosed new harbor so 

 as to admit the largest vessels it is estimated will 

 cost $2,500,000. At present vessels drawing more 

 than 10 feet must lie 2 miles off shore, and dis- 

 charge or load by means of lighters, a process 

 that becomes impossible in rough weather. For 

 this reason freight rates from Manila to Hong- 

 Kong are about the same as they are from San 

 Francisco to Hong-Kong. 



Commerce and Production. The Philippine 

 Mauds have long furnished the whole world with 

 the cheap and strong rope fiber known as Manila 

 hemp, and Asia with tobacco, mostly in the form 

 of cheroots manufactured in Manila. Sugar is 

 another important product, and coffee and in- 

 digo are cultivated also. Copra is exported from 

 maiiv dt the islands. The total value of imports 

 in 1896 was estimated at $10,664,000, and of ex- 

 ports at $20,237,000. Rice, flour, textiles, wines, 

 petroleum, and coal are the principal imports. 

 Coal is found on the island of Cebu, and mines 

 have been opened since the American occupation, 

 yielding 5,000 tons a month. Petroleum has been 

 discovered in several of the islands. Copper, sil- 

 ver, marble, kaolin, sulphur, and other minerals 

 are found in the islands. A lead mine is in opera- 

 tion in Cebu, and iron is smelted in Luzon. In 

 the fall of 1900 as many as 1,200 prospectors and 

 practical miners scattered through the different 

 islands, nine tenths of them Americans. They 

 pushed their way into the more inaccessible re- 

 gions, furnishing their own protection. At Man- 

 cayan and Suyoc in the province of Lepanto im- 

 mense deposits of gray copper and copper sul- 

 phide were discovered, running through which 

 are veins of gold-bearing quartz. Lignite exists 

 in Luzon, Batan, Mindoro, Masbate, Negros, and 

 Mindanao, as well as in Cebu. Although they 

 have been worked near the surface only, the 

 quality is superior to Japanese and Australian 

 coals, not clinkering nor soiling boiler tubes. 

 Some of the deposits are very extensive. In 

 southern Mindoro large fields are found within 6 

 miles of a deep and safe harbor, and some of the 

 Cebu deposits have such an advantage. Gold has 

 long been washed or extracted from rock contain- 

 ing considerable visible free gold by the Igorrotos 

 in the districts of Benguet, Lepanto, and Bontoc, 

 among the mountains of northern Luzon. Ameri- 

 can miners were received among them soon after 

 the breaking up of the Tagalog rule, and began 

 to dig for gold with gratifying results. Prospec- 

 tors have located extensive deposits of low-grade 

 free-milling ore which they say will yield large 

 and certain returns as- soon as concessions can be 

 obtained and machinery put into place. Modern 

 gold-mining machinery has never been used in the 

 Philippines. Extensive deposits of rich iron ore 

 can IK- utilized as soon as the coal mines are de- 

 veloped. The Philippine Commissioners have rec- 

 ommended the early establishment of a tribunal 

 by which the legal status of hundreds of claims 

 can be established and the enactment of a min- 

 ing code for the archipelago at the earliest pos- 

 sible moment. The development of mineral de- 

 posits would give increased opportunities for the 

 employment of labor which would benefit the 

 Philippine people. New forestry regulations 

 made in 1900 reduced the high price of lumber 

 by giving impetus to the timber trade. The for- 

 ests on the islands are of vast extent, and con- 

 tain a great variety of timber 12 species of supe- 

 rior qualities, 66 of high commercial value, 307 

 others that have been examined, and probably 50 

 not yet classified. Included in the list are very 

 hard woods, capable of taking a beautiful polish; 

 woods that resist "climatic influences and are 



proof against attacks of white ants; and woods 

 suited for piles, on account of their imperviousness 

 to attacks of the teredo. There is a great variety of 

 trees yielding valuable gums. Rubber and gutta- 

 percha are abundant in Mindanao and Tawi 

 Tawi. At least 17 dyewoods are found, and 

 other trees produce valuable essential oils and 

 drugs. The forestry bureau, organized on April 

 14, 1900, made an estimate that there are 40,000,- 

 000 acres of forests in the archipelago. The for- 

 estry regulations of the former Spanish Govern- 

 ment have been adopted with modifications. The 

 revenue collected from forest produce on the Gov- 

 ernment lands was at the rate of $96,000 a year, 

 and was capable of being largely increased. Not- 

 withstanding the state of war the export of hemp 

 in 1898 was 1,585,212 piculs; of sugar, 2,843,116 

 piculs; of tobacco, 4,061,540 pounds; and the num- 

 ber of cigars was 129,840,000. The export of 

 copra in 1897 was 808,416 piculs; of sapan wood, 

 65,485 piculs, but only 19,606 piculs in 1898. The 

 United States takes about half the hemp, and 

 Great Britain and Canada the rest; China and 

 Japan half the sugar, and the United States and 

 Great Britain most of the rest. The imports of 

 the United States from the Philippines, which 

 were $4,982,857 in value in 1896, declined to 

 $3,829,003 in 1898, and recovered to $4,409,774 in 

 1899. The exports from the United States to the 

 Philippines were $162,466 in 1896, and in 1899 

 they were $404,171. The British domestic exports 

 to the Philippines in 1897 amounted to 400,264. 

 In the year ending June 30, 1900, the imports into 

 the Philippines were larger than in any previous 

 year since 1880, the total value being $23,039,587, 

 whereas in 1895, 1896, and 1897 they scarcely ex- 

 ceeded $10,000,000 in any one year, and in the 

 period from 1880 to 1894 inclusive they averaged 

 $17,000,000. The average value of imports from 

 the United States from 1887 to 1891 was $130.662. 

 and from 1892 to 1896 the average was $135,228. 

 In 1900 the imports from the United States 

 amounted to $1,656,469. There was an increase in 

 French imports compared with the last years of 

 Spanish rule of 135 per cent.; in German, 62 per 

 cent.; in British, 27 per cent. The principal 

 classes of imports in 1900 were cotton manufac- 

 tures and cotton; chemicals, drugs, and dyes; 

 breadstuff s; meat and dairy products; malt liquors 

 and cider; books and printed matter; glassware; 

 iron and steel manufactures; leather and manu- 

 factures thereof; and wines and spirits. The ex- 

 ports of the Philippines for the year ending -lunr 

 30, 1900, were $21,766,440 in value, an increase ot 

 6 per cent, over the average from 1880 to 1894. 

 The quantities of some of the principal exports 

 have decreased, but not the value, especially in 

 the case of Manila hemp, of which 94,000 lon> 

 were exported in 1894, with a value of $7,243,842 

 and only 75,000 tons in 1900, with a value ot 

 $11,398,943. The decline in production is part 

 ly accounted for by the disturbed condition "t 

 the country, preventing agricultural and pro 

 ductive development, and partly by the relent i<n 

 in the producing districts of the hemp until i' 

 suits the financial convenience of the interest >< 

 parties to export it. There is a railroad. 1.: 

 miles long, running northward from Manila 

 through Luzon to Dagupan. There were 720 

 miles of telegraph lines and cables, which have 

 been increased since the American occupation t<> 

 3,141 miles. In Negros more sugar was in eulti 

 vation in 1900 than ever before. The cultivatioi 

 of rice in some provinces was retarded by the h.s-. 

 of draught cattle through disease and war. am 

 the condition was made worse by the appearance 

 of the rinderpest among the caribaos. 



