46 THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES 



adorata according to Hook)', and finds its way principally to 

 Paris. It forms the basis of all finer quality perfumes and has 

 indeed become an almost indispensable article in the perfumery 

 trade. The distillation of the essence and the business gener- 

 ally connected with it are carried on exclusively by Germans. 



Coach-building is of great importance in Manila. The home 

 demand is enormous, as every inhabitant of any standing has 

 his carriage, and the wealthier mestizos excel in the luxury of 

 their vehicles. 



That soap and other such articles of popular use are manu- 

 factured, it is scarcely necessary to state. There are also three 

 lithographic establishments, owned by Germans. 



Besides the Baliuag industry above referred to, the natives 

 manufacture excellent homespun fabrics of cotton, hemp, silk, 

 and pina, the fibers of the pine-apple leaf. Pina-cloth embroid- 

 ery is also a domestic industry. These articles do not enter at 

 all into the export trade today, but they may certainly be ex- 

 pected to do so before long, the more so if the industry continues 

 to advance as it has done during the past year or so, as regards 

 not only the fabrics themselves, but also the designs and colors. 

 Some coarse hemp textiles have already been exported within 

 the last few years. The finer hemp and hemp and silk fabrics, 

 though much prized by ladies for dressmaking, have not yet 

 entered into the trade, not having so far found favor with the 

 Parisian costumers. A most interesting display of the produce 

 of the Philippines was made at the exhibition (Exposicion Re- 

 gional de Filipinas) which was held at Manila by the government 

 in 1895. 



It is certain that the Philippines, whose future is already 

 assured by their mineral wealth, will play a part in the industry 

 of the coming years equal to, if not surpassing, that of Japan. 



COMMERCE 



There seems to me to be no doubt that even before the arrival 

 of the Spaniards these islands had relations with the Malay 

 archipelago and China, and to a certain extent carried on barter, 

 particularly with the latter country. Regular trade, however, 

 first began to develop in 1571, when Legaspi established himself 

 in Manila. The inhabitants of Cagayan related to Don Juan de 

 Salcedo in 1572 that their cotton fabrics were brought every year 

 by Chinese and Japanese vessels. 



Manila is without doubt the most advantageously situated 



