56 THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES 



Exports from Manila in the Years 1892-1897 



Year. 



Hemp. 



Cordage. 



Coffee. 



Tobacco. 



Cigars. 



1892 



Piculs. 



1,408,444 



1,154,766 



1,322,000 



1,446,990 



1,333,118 



1,689,754 



Piculs. 

 1,354 

 2,200 

 1,800 

 3,774 

 3,619 

 3,873 



Piculs. 

 21,801 

 5,006 

 9,000 

 3,08)^ 

 1,434 

 4,947 



Quintals. 

 -254.063* 

 230,572* 

 194,500* 

 222,510* 

 212,706* 

 319,883* 



Thousands. 

 133,395 



1893 



130,320 



1894 



138,000 



1895 



198,270 



1896 



195,800 



1897 



183,735 







Year. 



Sugar. 



Indigo. 



Sapan- 

 wood. 



Copra. 



Shells. 





Dry. 



Wet, 



1892 



Pknils. 



921,354 

 1,359,737 

 1,200,000 

 1,440,000 

 1,456,549 



839,994 



Piculs. 

 250,369 

 521,980 

 295,000 

 285,159 

 272,337 

 82,062 



Quintals. 

 6,534 

 971 

 1,599 

 26 

 5,419 

 4,468 



Piculs. 

 29,314 

 53,767 

 40,000 

 27,210 

 14,234 

 16,631 



Piculs. 

 186,519 

 168,122 

 475,000 

 226,626 

 561,268 

 749,207 



Piculs. 



223 



1893 



254 



1894... 



1895 



350 

 1,367 



1896 



1,101 



1897 



1,180 





The terms in the produce market in Manila are always cash 

 down. In business with the provinces the Manila house has 

 frequently to make advances, which certainly involves risk, 

 though if one is cautious with whom one deals the business is 

 safe enough. The main thing in the case of transmarine places 

 just springing up is to know the exact state of affairs and to be 

 in a position to form a sound judgment at a moment's notice. 

 The business between the importers and the Chinese retail 

 dealers is done either by means of acceptance (pagare) at six 

 months or, as is now more general, cash within four to six 

 weeks, with 5 per cent discount; but, unfortunately, the four 

 to six weeks are very often exceeded. Insolvencies frequently 

 occur among the Chinese. The creditors usually prefer to come 

 to an arrangement, for if once the matter comes before a Spanish 

 court it is the invariable rule that the creditors get nothing at all. 



Fines (multas), particularly in differences with the custom- 

 house, are imposed in a most annoying manner on, every pos- 

 sible occasion, the officials receiving a share of the fine imposed. 

 A ship which, for instance, does not deliver precisely the num- 

 ber of bales stated in the manifest is fined for each bale more 

 or less $1,000. In every bill of entry the weight must be stated 

 beforehand,and if it is not correct a fine is inflicted. In this way 

 there are a hundred kinds of chicanery practiced, all costing- 

 much unnecessary expenditure of money, the greater part of 

 which goes into the pockets of the officials. 



* For the most part to Spain for the monopoly. 



