285 



1906 over 7,000,000 proof liters were removed and from January to 

 June 30 of the present year taxes have been paid on 4,380,486 proof 

 liters by ninety-one of the ninety-five registered distillers. 



Three years ago no accurate statement could be obtained by the 

 Government not even from the distillers as to the annual output of 

 spirits, as the law repealed by the new internal revenue law imposed a 

 tax on the capacity of distilling machines and not upon what was 

 produced. By some the output was estimated at 50,000,000 proof 

 liters and others, amongst whom were distillers, confidently asserted 

 that the normal annual consumption was 42,000,000 proof liters. 



The government upon investigation soon ascertained that the 

 normal annual consumption is 10,000,000 proof liters — so the present 

 year is nearly a normal one. 



Agriculture in the Islands is closely connected with the distilling 

 industry. When agriculture has fully regained its former prosperity 

 it will show itself on the records of distillers, as prosperity in 

 European countries and in America is felt by brewers and distillers and 

 in the national treasuries. The native, before he enters his rice fields 

 to wallow in mire up to his knees, and the hemp strippers, before 

 beginning their labourious work, like to fortify themselves with a glass 

 of vino. A large portion of the liquors manufactured in Manila and in 

 the provinces is distributed throughout the archipelago, and bartered 

 for domestic products, chiefly the staples hemp and copra. The bus- 

 iness has always been lucrative and important. 



The prime materials from which spirits are manufactured here are 

 the sap of the nipa palm, the sap of the coco palm, sugar, corn and 

 rice, by far the most valuable and important being the sap from the 

 nipa palm, "tuba" as it is called. The bulk of the spirits is now 

 distilled from the nipa tuba. Tuba is much cheaper than sugar, and 

 in consequence there is but little original distillation from sugar being 

 carried on. A good quality of rum is taken from sugar in one of the 

 provinces in which sugar cane is cultivated, but the output is not large. 

 When " tuba " is out of season some distillers use sugar or molasses 

 to a limited extent for a few months each year. Eice and a mixture 

 of sugar and boiled rice are used to a limited extent, but the total amount 

 of spirits manufactured from all grains is not large. The coco " tuba " 

 gives a quality of spirits resembling closely the nipa alcohol but no 

 distillation on a large scale is attempted. Distillation from tuba de 

 coco has always been carried on by the primitive caua, and now the 

 modern caua is being used in this branch of the industry as well as by 

 owners of small nipa lands, the product being used almost entirely for 

 consumption as a beverage. 



The nipa palm regions, called nipales, are limited to belts of swamp 

 land along the coast where conditions of soil, etc., are favourable. The 

 nipa palm is useful for fortifying swamp-land standing in salt water and 

 unfit for any other cultivation. The palm is most productive when 

 planted on such land. 



The provinces in the order of their importance for the nipa palm are 

 as follows: Bulacan, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Cagayan, Capiz, Surigao 

 and Samar. The exact area of the nipa lands is not yet known. 



