CHAPTER XIV
NATIVE PRODUCE
The Leyes de Indias emphatically recognize the wrongs and injuries of which the Indians are constantly the victims, and seek to furnish remedies against them: they annul dishonest contracts – they order the authorities rigorously to punish acts of oppression – they declare that the transactions of the Spanish settlers have frequently been “the ruin of the Indians” – they point out the mischiefs produced by the avarice in some cases, and inaction in others, of the mestizos, who are commonly the go-betweens in bargains of colonists with natives. The local ordenanzas, which are numerous and elaborate, have for their object to assure to the Indian the fruits of his labours – to protect him against his own imprudence and the usurious exactions of those to whom he applies in his difficulties; they provide against the usurpation of his lands, declare the sovereign the rightful owner of property which there are no heirs to claim, and insist that everywhere the Indian shall draw from the soil he cultivates the means of comfortable subsistence: the accumulation of properties acquired from the Indians by ecclesiastical bodies is prohibited, notwithstanding which prohibition enormous estates are held by the monkish fraternities. There are also arrangements for setting apart “common lands” for general use, independently of private estates. Many of the provisions are of so vague a character as to insure their non-observance, and others so particular and special in their requirements as to make their enforcement impossible. The 71st article, for example, compels the Indians “to plant useful trees, suited to the soil” – to sow wheat, rice, maize, vegetables, cotton, pepper, &c., in proper localities – to maintain “every species of appropriate cattle” – to have “fruits growing in their gardens and orchards round their houses” – to keep “at least twelve hens and one cock” (a very superfluous piece of legislation), and one “female sucking pig;” they must be encouraged to manufacture cloths and cordage; and failing in these duties for the space of two years, they are to lose their lands, which, by public proclamation, shall be appropriated to others. There is, in fact, no absolute territorial right of property among the Indians. It can always be seized and reappropriated by the Spanish authorities. Lands are held on condition that they are cultivated. There are lands possessed by Spaniards and by corporations of the clergy principally, which pay a nominal rental to the crown, but the rental is so small as to be of no account. There is no difficulty in obtaining gratuitous concessions of territorial surface on the sole obligation of bringing it into cultivation. Long usage and long possession have no doubt created supposed rights, which are able to maintain themselves even against competing private claims or the obvious requirements of public utility. Questions arise as to what is meant by “cultivation,” and the country is full of controversies and lawsuits, of which land is generally the subject-matter. The larger proprietors constantly speak of the difficulty of obtaining continuous labour – of the necessity of perpetual advances to the peasant – of the robbery of the ripe harvests when raised. Hence they are accustomed to underlet their lands to petty cultivators, who bring small and unsatisfactory returns to the owners and to the market. They complain of the jealousy and ill-will of the Indians, their intrigues and open resistance to foreign settlers, and of the too indulgent character of the “Law of the Indies.” It appears to me that there is abundant field for advantageous agricultural experiments, not perhaps so much in the immediate vicinity of large and populous places, as on the vast tracts of uncared-for territory, which demand nothing but attention and capital, perseverance and knowledge, to render a prodigal return. No doubt the agriculturist should have possession absolutely and irrevocably secured to him. Once installed by the government he must be protected against all molestation of his title. I do not believe in the invincible inertness of the Indians when they are properly encouraged. I heard of a native in one of the most distant villages I visited in Pinay, who had been recommended by a friar to take to sugar-growing. He did so, and obtained five hundred dollars for the produce which he, for the first time, took down to Iloilo. He will get a thousand the second year; and others were following his example. A little additional labour produces so much that the smallest impulse gives great results, especially where employed over a vast extent. But Indian indolence is not only prejudicial from the little assistance it offers to agricultural activity in preparing, sowing, watching and gathering the harvest; it is unable to furnish any of those greater appliances which must be considered rather of public than of private concern. Hence the absence of facilities for irrigation, the imperfect state of the river navigation, the rarity of canals, the badness of the roads in so many localities. The seasons bring their floods, and the mountain torrents create their gullies; but the water escapes into the sea, and the labourer brings his produce, as best he may, amidst the rocks and sand and mud which the cataracts have left behind them. I have seen beasts of burden struggling in vain to extricate themselves, with their loads, from the gulf into which they had fallen, and in which they were finally abandoned by their conductors. I have been carried to populous places in palanquins, whose bearers, sometimes sixteen in number, were up to their thighs amidst mire, slough, tangled roots, loose stones and fixed boulders. De Mas says that the labourer absorbs three-fifths of the gross produce, leaving two-fifths to the proprietor and capitalist; but the conditions of labour are so very various that it is difficult to reach any general conclusion, beyond the undoubted fact that neither capitalist nor labourer receives anything like the amount of profit which, under a better system, would be enjoyed by both; that the cost is far greater, and the returns far smaller, than they should be; and that the common prosperity suffers from the position of each. Whatever may be said of the enervating effects of climate and the want of motive to give activity to industry, it is probable that all nations, even the most industrious and the most opulent, have passed through their stages of indolence and inactivity. China affords an example that climate alone is no insuperable barrier to energetic exertions in all departments of the field of production, and that the possession of much is no necessary check upon the desire of obtaining and enjoying more. The value of lands is very various. De Mas says that the quiñon (of 1,000 square fathoms), in Pangasinan, sells for from 220 to 250 dollars; in the Laguna, 250 to 300; in Ilocos Sur, 300; in the neighbourhood of Manila, 1,000. He seems to consider sugar as, on the whole, the most profitable investment. He gives several tables of the cost and charges of sundry tropical productions, but the many elements of uncertainty, the cost of raising, the vicissitudes of climate, the attacks of insects, the fluctuations in the amount and value of accessible labour, and all the ebbs and flows of supply and demand, make all calculations only approximative. His apuntes, however, are well worth consulting by those interested in detailed inquiry. He gives as a result of rice cultivation a minimum profit of 24 per cent., a maximum profit of 76 per cent. per annum. This would seem sufficiently inviting, especially as the Spaniards are reported to be fonder of agriculture than of any other pursuit, and fonder of being owners of lands than of any other property, according to their old refrain: —
“No vessel on the sea,
But the house that’s mine for me,
And all the lands around which I’ve been used to see.”27
Indigo will render, according to De Mas, 100 per cent. Coffee, on the same authority, will double its capital in four years. Cocoa returns 90 per cent. Attempts to introduce mulberry cultivation for silk have had little success, though the specimens sent to Europe have obtained prizes for their excellent quality. The worms require a more continuous attention than the Indians are willing to give, and the same may be said of those spices, nutmegs, cinnamon, and any produce which demands unremitting care. The spontaneous productions of the Philippines do not easily obtain the benefit of a more enlightened mode of culture.
The rights of property require thorough investigation and recognition in a country which has not been surveyed or cadastred; where the foreign population is migratory and uncertain; where documentary titles are, for the most part, wanting, and appropriation of the soil has been little controlled by the supreme authorities; where there is no land-tax, and the religious bodies hold immense territories generally underlet to the natives. The smallness of estates necessarily adds to the cost of production, and it would not be easy to induce wealthy capitalists to settle unless facilities were given for the acquisition and cultivation of extensive properties. Such capitalists would introduce the improvements in agricultural science which are now wholly wanting; they would bring with them able heads and hands to conduct, and better instruments to give practical effect to superior knowledge. A desire is frequently expressed for the formation of agricultural societies, but these are rather the children than the parents of progress, and the numerous and respectable body which already exists in Manila, the “Sociedad Economica,” has not been instrumental in introducing any very important changes. There is in the Spanish mind too great a disposition to look to “authority” as the source and support of all reforms; but the best service of authority in almost all cases of productive industry is non-interference and inaction; it is not the meddling with, but the leaving matters alone, that is wanted; it is the removal of restrictions, the supersession of laws which profess to patronize and protect, but whose patronage and protection mean the sacrifice of the many to the few. Government, no doubt, can greatly assist the public weal by the knowledge it can collect and distribute. Nothing is more desirable than that the rich territorial capabilities of the Philippines should be thoroughly explored by efficient scientific inquiry. Geologists, chemists, mechanicians, botanists, would teach us much respecting the raw materials of these multitudinous islands, so inviting to the explorer, and so little explored. Mountains, forests, plains, lakes, rivers, solicit the investigation, which they could not fail to reward.
Of the indigenous productions found by the Spaniards the dry mountain rice seems to have been the principal article cultivated by the Indians for food, the arts of irrigation being little known, and the mode of culture of the simplest character. The missionaries taught the Indians to divide their lands, to improve their agriculture, to store their harvests, and generally to meliorate their condition by more knowledge and foresight. Maize and wheat were introduced from America, though for a long time the use of wheaten bread was confined to the service of the mass. There is now an adequate supply for the wants of the consumer. Melons, water-melons and various fruits, peas, pumpkins, onions, cucumbers, garlic and other vegetables, soon found their way from Mexico to the church gardens, and thence to more extensive cultivation. Coffee sprang up wild in the island of Luzon, ungathered by the natives. Tobacco was introduced under the patronage of the government, and is become the most important source of revenue. Pepper and cassia grew unnoticed, but the cocoa-nut tree and the plantain were among the most precious of the Indian’s possessions, and the areca was not less valued. Indigo was indigenous, and the wild cotton-tree was uncared for; nor can it be other than a subject of regret that to the present hour so inadequate an attention has been paid to the natural production of the islands, and means so little efficient taken for improving their quality or extending their cultivation. At the present time there are few large estates having the benefit of well-directed labour and sufficient capital. Of those possessed by the religious communities little can be expected in the way of agricultural improvement, but the cultivated lands are generally in the hands of small native proprietors. Where the labourer is hired, his daily pay is from a half rial to a rial and a half (3½d. to 10d.), varying in the different provinces.
The quiñon is the ordinary measure of land; it is divided into 10 baletas, these into 100 loanes, which represent 31,25 °Castilian varas. Three labourers are supposed sufficient for the cultivation of a quiñon. In 1841 the Captain-General Urbiztondo published a decree encouraging the importation of Chinese agricultural labourers by landed proprietors, and with a special view to the cultivation of sugar, indigo and hemp. The decree was expected to produce a beneficial revolution – it has been a dead letter. Imported labour, subject to all sorts of restrictions, cannot in the long run compete with free indigenous labour. The question is a very grave one in its ramifications and influence on colonial interests, when they come into the field against the free trade and the free labour of the competing world. I doubt altogether the powers of the West Indies – dependent upon imported and costly immigrants – to rival the rich fields of the East, when capital and activity shall turn to account their feracious soil, more genial climate, and more economical means of production. Progress there is but the natural development of the elements which Providence has allotted to them, whereas in the West India colonies everything is forced and unnatural, purchased at an immense cost and maintained by constant sacrifices.
CHAPTER XV
VEGETABLES
The money value of the tobacco grown in the Philippines is estimated at from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 of dollars, say 1,000,000l. sterling. Of this nearly one half is consumed in the islands, one-quarter is exported in the form of cheroots (which is the Oriental word for cigars), and the remainder sent to Spain in leaves and cigars, being estimated as an annual average contribution exceeding 800,000 dollars. The sale of tobacco is a strict government monopoly, but the impossibility of keeping up any efficient machinery for the protection of that monopoly is obvious even to the least observant. The cultivator, who is bound to deliver all his produce to the government, first takes care of himself and his neighbours, and secures the best of his growth for his own benefit. Out of the capital of Manila scarcely anything is smoked but the cigarro ilegitimo; and in the capital you frequently get a hint that “the weed” is not from the estanco real. From functionaries able to obtain the best which the government brings to market, a present is often volunteered, which shows that they avail themselves of something better than that best. And in discussing the matter with the most intelligent of the empleados, they agreed that the emancipation of the producer, the manufacturer and the seller, and the establishment of a simple duty, would be more productive to the revenue than the present vexatious and inefficient system of privilege.
There has been an enormous increase in the revenues from tobacco. They gave nett —
Since when the produce has more than quadrupled in value.
In 1810 the deliveries were 50,000 bales (of two arrobas), of which Gapan furnished 47,000, and Cagayan 2,000. In 1841 Cagayan furnished 170,000 bales; Gapan, 84,000; and New Biscay, 34,000. But the produce is enormously increased; and so large is the native consumption, of which a large proportion pays no duty, that it would not be easy to make even an approximative estimate of the extent and value of the whole tobacco harvest. Where the fiscal authorities are so scattered and so corrupt; – where communications are so imperfect and sometimes wholly interrupted; – where large tracts of territory are in the possession of tribes unsubdued or in a state of imperfect subjection; – where even among the more civilized Indians the rights of property are rudely defined, and civil authority imperfectly maintained; – where smuggling, though it may be attended with some risk, is scarcely deemed by anybody an offence, and the very highest functionaries themselves smoke and offer to their guests contraband cigars, on account of their superior quality, – it may well be supposed that lax laws, lax morals and lax practices, harmonize with each other, and that such a state of things as exists in the Philippines must be the necessary, the inevitable result. It is sufficient to look at the cost of the raw material and the value of the manufactured article to perceive what an enormous margin of profit there exists. A quintal of tobacco will produce —
Cheroots (cigars) are manufactured in two forms, – that of the Havana, the smaller end being twisted to a point, – or cut at both ends, the usual Manila form. They are of sundry qualities, as follows: – Largest size, 125 to a box – 1st Regalias, 1st Caballeros and Londres; second size, 250 to a box – 2nd Regalias and 1st Cortados, 2nd Caballeros, 1st Havanas (ordinary size, and such as are more commonly used, Nos. 2 and 3 being those in most demand); 500 to a box – Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 Havanas, 2 and 3 Cortados. Besides these, enormous quantities of paper cigars (cigarillos) are consumed by the natives. They are sold in packets of twenty-five, at 5 cuartes; thirty, at 5⅓ cuartes; thirty-six, at 5 5⁄7 cuartes.
The estanco prices for these cigars are, per box —
Upon these minimum prices biddings take place at the monthly public auctions. So large is the demand that it is difficult to obtain any but fresh cigars, which require to be kept for two or three years to ripen.
The collection of tobacco and the manufacture of cigars are under the charge of an administration whose head-quarters are in Manila. The warehouses are of immense extent, and 20,000 persons probably find occupation in the preparation of this article of luxury, to say nothing of those employed in its production. The provinces in which there are establishments for the collection are Cagayan, La Isabela, New Ecija, La Union, Abra and Cayan. The largest of the manufactures of cigars are in Binondo (Manila) and Cavite, in the province of the same name.
Fr. Blanco thus describes the Nicotiana tabacum of the Philippines: “It is an annual, growing to the height of a fathom, and furnishes the tobacco for the estancos (licensed shops). Here, as everywhere else, its quality and taste vary. General opinion prefers the tobacco of Gapan, but that of the Pasy districts, Laglag and Lambunao, in Iloilo, of Maasin or Leyte, is appreciated for its fine aroma; also that of Cagayan, after being kept for some years, – for otherwise, like the tobacco of the island of Negros, it burns the mouth. It is a narcotic, and will subdue recent tumours. It is salutary when smoked, and even a necessity in these regions; it disperses phlegm, protects from the bad consequences of humidity and the morning dews, and is only injurious to health when used in excess. Snuff relieves from headaches and disperses gloomy humours. A small piece of smoked tobacco at the end of a stick applied to the nose of the lizard, which is here called the chacon (probably the ghiko), causes its instant death. A cruel practice,” (adds the father), “for the reptile is most useful, destroying cockroaches, centipedes, mice and other vermin; besides which its song may cheer the timid, who believe that while that song lasts there will be no earthquakes nor any excess of rain.” – (Pp. 74–75.)
I am informed by the alcalde mayor of Cagayan that he sent last year (1858) to Manila from that province tobacco for no less a value than 2,000,000 dollars. The quality is the best of the Philippines; it is all forwarded in leaf to the capital. He speaks of the character of the Indians with great admiration, and says acts of dishonesty are very rare among them, and that property is conveyed in perfect safety through the province. The quantity of leaf transmitted was 300,000 bales, divided into seven qualities, of which the prices paid were from two to seven rials per quintal, leaving a large margin of profit. The tobacco used by the natives is not subject to the estanco, and on my inquiring as to the cost of a cigar in Cagayan, the answer was, “Casi nada” (Almost nothing). They are not so well rolled as those of the government, but undoubtedly the raw material is of the very best.
The demand for the important article of coffee in Australia and California will probably hereafter be largely supplied from the Spanish archipelago. Of the mode of cultivation, there is nothing particularly characteristic of the Philippines. The ground having been cleared (where on a large extent, by fire), it is fenced in, the soil prepared, and after having been steeped in water for two or three days, the sprouts are stuck into the holes which had been made for their reception, and in the following year are ready for cutting. The use of the plough largely increases the produce. The cultivation of sugar is rapidly extending. The harvest takes place generally from March to May. Four groups of labourers are employed: the cutters and the carters in the field, the grinders and the boilers in the manufactory. Improvements are gradually being introduced, as larger capitalists and more intelligent cultivators come forward; and the establishment of refineries now in progress will induce many beneficial changes. Much of the clayed sugar which I saw delivered at Manila for refining into loaves had rather the appearance of dirty mud than of a valuable commodity. Though slowly, the work of improvement goes on, and there could be no greater evidence of it than the presence of a number of Chinese employed in the various stages of the fabric. Nor do these Chinese labourers fail to bring with them much practical knowledge. They are mostly from Fokien, a province in which the production of sugar is great, and in which there are large sugar refineries, mostly, however, for the manufacture of sugar-candy, which is the form in which the Chinese usually purchase the sugar for consumption, pounding it into powder. I visited several extensive establishments at Chang-chow-foo, about thirty miles from Amoy, a port whence the exportation is large.
There are several varieties of the sugar-cane. The zambales is used principally as food; the encarnado (red), morada (purple), blanca (white), and listada (striped), give the syrup for manufacture. The planting of the sprouts takes place between February and May. Weeds are removed by ploughing, and the plants ripen in ten or twelve months. In some provinces crops are cultivated for three successive years; in others, the soil is allowed to rest an intermediate year, and maize or other produce grown. When cut, the canes are carried to mills called by the natives cabayavan, to be crushed. The mills consist of two cylindrical stones with teeth of the molave wood; a buffalo turns the wheel and the juice is conveyed to the boilers. The improvements of the West are being slowly introduced, and sundry economical processes have been adopted. Increasing demand, extended cultivation and, above all, the application of larger capitals and greater activity, will, undoubtedly, make the Philippines one of the great producing countries. A variety of tables have been printed, showing that the average annual profits on coffee cultivation are from 20 to 30 per cent.; in some provinces considerably more.
Rice being of far more general production, is estimated to give an average yearly profit of from 12 to 20 per cent.; sesame returns an average of about 20 per cent.; cocoa-nuts may be considered at about equal to rice in the yearly benefits they leave, but the conditions are so various that it may be difficult to generalize. It may, however, be asserted with tolerable certainty, that money employed with ordinary prudence in agricultural investments will give an interest of from 20 to 30 per cent.
The consumption of rice is universal, and the superfluity of the harvests is taken to the Chinese markets. The varieties of rice have been elsewhere spoken of, but they may be classed under the two general heads of water and mountain rice. The aquatic rice is cultivated as in Europe and America; the sowing of the dry rice usually precedes that of the water rice, and takes place at the end of May. It is usually broadcast on the hills, requires to be hoed and weeded, and is ripened in from three to four months and a half. It is harvested ear by ear.
Fr. Blanco describes four species of water-cultivated (de agua), and five of mountain-produced (secano) rice. Of the first class, the lamuyo (Oryza sativa lamuyo) is principally cultivated, especially in Batangas. The barbed rice (Oryza aristata) grows in Ilocos. Of the mountain rice, that called quinanda (Oryza sativa quinanda) is the most esteemed. The cultivation of the water rice begins by the preparation of the seed deposits (semillero), into which, at the beginning of the rainy season, the seed is thrown, after a thorough impregnation of the ground with water, of which several inches remain on the surface. Ploughing and harrowing produce a mass of humid mud. During the growth of the seed, irrigation is continued, and after six weeks the crops are ready for transplanting to the rice-fields. Men generally pull up the plants, and convey them to the fields, where women up to their knees in mire separate the plants, and place them in holes at a regular distance of about five inches from one another. They are left for some days to take root, when the grounds are again irrigated. The rice grows to the height of somewhat more than a yard, and after four months is ready for harvest. It is a common usage to cut every ear separately with an instrument whose Indian name is yatap. In some parts a sickle called a lilit is used. The lilit has a crook by which a number of ears are collected, and being grasped with the left hand, are cut by the serrated blade of the sickle held in the right hand. The crops of aquatic rice vary from thirty to eightyfold.
The mountain rice is sown broadcast after ploughing and harrowing, and buffaloes are employed to trample the seed into the ground. More care is sometimes taken, and holes made at regular distances, into which three or four grains of rice are dropped. Careful cultivation and great attention to the removal of weeds are said to produce hundred-fold crops.
It is stated by Father Blanco that a third of the rice harvest has been known to perish in consequence of the dilatory and lazy way in which the reaping is conducted.
There is no doubt that the Philippines offer great facilities for the cultivation of indigo, but it has been neglected and inadequate attention paid to the manufacture. The growers state that there is in Europe a prejudice against Manila indigo; but such prejudice can only be the result of experience, and would be removed by greater care on the part of the growers, manufacturers and exporters. The crops, however, are uncertain, and often seriously damaged or destroyed by tempestuous weather, and by invasions of caterpillars. The seed is broadcast, sown immediately after the temperate season. It grows rapidly, but requires to have the weeds which spring up with it cleared away. It is ready for harvesting in the rainy months, generally in June. The fermentation, straining, beating, cleaning, pressing, and final preparation are carried on, not according to the improved processes of British India, but as they were introduced by the Spaniards. The Indians, like the Chinese, employ the dye in its liquid state.
The consumption of the betel root is incredibly great. There are in the city of Manila, in the courts and ground floors of the houses, altogether 898 warehouses and shops, of which 429 (or nearly half the whole) are devoted to the sale of the prepared betel, or to the materials of which it is composed. There are two warehouses where the leaf in which the areca nut is wrapped is sold wholesale; there are 105 retail shops for the same article, and there are 308 shops in which is sold for immediate use the nut mixed with shell-lime, and served with the buyo (leaf of the piper betel), ready for conveyance to the mouth of the consumer, to whom it is from usage become an article of necessity even more urgent than the rice he eats or the water he drinks.
Of the areca, Fr. Blanco, in his Flora de Filipinas, gives the following account: – “This species of palm, with which everybody is acquainted, and which like its fruit is called bonga by the Indians, grows to about the average height of the cocoa-nut tree. Its trunk is smaller at the base than the top, very straight, with many circular rings formed by the junction of the leaves before they fall, which they do on growing to a certain size. The use of the nut, which is somewhat smaller than a hen’s egg, is well known. When the bonga is wanting, the Indians employ the bark of the guava, or of the antipolo (Artocarpus). Mixed with lime and the pepper leaf, it makes the saliva red. The Indians apply this saliva to the navel of their children as a cure for the colic and a protection from the effects of cold air. When ripe, the fruit is red and, I believe, might be used as a red dye. With copperas it makes a black dye, but inferior to that of the aroma. The lower part of the leaves, called talupac, is very clean, broad, white and flexible, making excellent wrappers and serving many useful purposes. The sprouts are salted and eaten, and are agreeable to the taste, but when cut the tree perishes.” – (P. 495.)