A History of the Philippines Part 14

The company was given a complete monopoly of all the commerce between Spain and the Philippines, except the long-established direct traffic between Manila and Acapulco. All the old laws, designed to prevent the importation into the Peninsula of wares of the Orient, were swept away. Philippine products were exempted from all customs duty, either on leaving Manila or entering Spain. The vessels of the company were permitted to visit the ports of China, and the ancient and absurd prohibition, which prevented the merchants of Manila from trading with India, and China, was removed.

Though still closing the Philippines against foreign trade, this step was a veritable revolution in the commercial legislation of the Philippines. Had the project been ably and heartily supported, it might have produced a development that would have advanced prosperity half a century; but the people of Manila did not welcome the opening of this new line of communication. The ancient commerce with Acapulco was a valuable monopoly to those who had the right to partic.i.p.ate in it, and their att.i.tude toward the new company was one either of indifference or hostility.

In 1789 the port of Manila was opened and made free to the vessels of all foreign nations for the s.p.a.ce of three years, for the importation and sale exclusively of the wares of Asia; but the products of Europe, with the exception of Spain, were forbidden.

The Royal Company was rechartered in 1805, and enjoyed its monopoly until 1830, when its privileges lapsed and Manila was finally opened to the ships of foreign nations.

Conquest of the Igorrote Provinces of Luzon.--Basco was a zealous governor and organized a number of military expeditions to occupy the Igorrote country in the north. In 1785 the heathen Igorrotes of the missions of Ituy and Paniqui in Nueva Vizcaya revolted and had to be reconquered by a force of musketeers from Cagayan.

Conquest of the Batanes Islands.--Basco also effected the conquest of the Batanes Islands to the north of Luzon, establishing garrisons and definitely annexing them to the colony. The Dominican missionaries long before this time had attempted to convert these islands to Christianity; but the poverty of the people and the fierceness of the typhoons which sweep these little islands prevented the cultivation of anything more than camotes and taro, and had made them unprofitable to hold. Basco was honored, however, for his reoccupation of these islands, and on his return to Spain, at the expiration of his governorship, received the t.i.tle of "Count of the Conquest of the Batanes." [82]

A Scientific Survey of the Coast of the Islands.--About 1790 the Philippines were visited by two Spanish frigates, the "Descubierta" and the "Atrevida," under the command of Captain Malaspina. These vessels formed an exploring expedition sent out by the Spanish government to make a hydrographic and astronomic survey of the coasts of Spanish America, the Ladrones, and the Philippines. It was one of those creditable enterprises for the widening of scientific knowledge which modern governments have successively and with great honor conducted.

The expedition charted the Strait of San Bernardino, the coasts of several of the Bisayan Islands, and Mindanao. One of the scientists of the party was the young botanist, Don Antonio Pineda, who died in Ilocos in 1792, but whose studies in the flora of the Philippines thoroughly established his reputation. A monument to his memory was erected near the church in Malate, but it has since suffered from neglect and is now falling in ruins.

Establishment of a Permanent Navy in the Philippines.--The intentions of England in this archipelago were still regarded with suspicion by the Spanish government, and in 1795 and 1796 a strong Spanish fleet, sent secretly by way of the coast of South America, was concentrated in the waters of the Philippines under the command of Admiral Alava. Its object was the defense of the Islands in case of a new war with Great Britain. News of the declaration of war between these two countries reached Manila in March, 1797, but though for many months there was anxiety, England made no attempt at reoccupation. These events led, however, to the formation of a permanent naval squadron, with head-quarters and naval station at Cavite. [83]

The Climax of Moro Piracy.--The continued presence of the Moros in Mindoro, where they haunted the bays and rivers of both east and west coasts for months at a time, stealing out from this island for attack in every direction, was specially noted by Padre Zuniga, and indicated how feebly the Spaniards repulsed these pirates a hundred years ago.

It was the last severe phase of Malay piracy, when even the strong merchant ships of England and America dreaded the straits of Borneo and pa.s.sed with caution through the China Sea. Northern Borneo, the Sulu archipelago, and the southern coasts of Mindanao were the centers from which came these fierce sea-wolves, whose cruel exploits have left their many traditions in the American and British merchant navies, just as they periodically appear in the chronicles of the Philippines.

Five hundred captives annually seem to have been the spoils taken by these Moros in the Philippines Islands, and as far south as Batavia and Maca.s.sar captive Filipinos were sold in the slave marts of the Malays. The aged and infirm were inhumanly bartered to the savage tribes of Borneo, who offered them up in their ceremonial sacrifices. The measures of the Spanish government, though constant and expensive, were ineffective. Between 1778 and 1793, a million and a half of pesos were expended on the fleets and expeditions to drive back or punish the Moros, but at the end of the century a veritable climax of piracy was attained.

Pirates swarmed continually about the coasts of Mindoro, Burias, and Masbate, and even frequented the esteros of Manila Bay. Some sort of peace seems to have been established with Jolo and a friendly commerce was engaged in toward the end of the century, but the Moros of Mindanao and Borneo were increasing enemies. In 1798 a fleet of twenty-five Moro bancas pa.s.sed up the Pacific coast of Luzon and fell upon the isolated towns of Paler, Casiguran, and Palanan, destroying the pueblos and taking 450 captives. The cura of Casiguran was ransomed in Binangonan for the sum of twenty-five hundred pesos. For four years this pirate fleet had its rendezvous on Burias, whence it raided the adjacent coasts and the Catanduanes.

The Great Wars in America and Europe.--The English reoccupied Balanbangan in 1803, but held the island for only three years, when it was definitely abandoned. For some years, however, the coasts of the Philippines were threatened by English vessels, and there was reflected here in the Far East the tremendous conflicts which were convulsing Europe at this time. The wars which changed Europe at the close of the eighteenth century, following the French Revolution, form one of the most important and interesting periods of European history, but it is also one of the most difficult periods to judge and describe. We will say of it here only so much as will be sufficient to show the effect upon Spain and so upon the Philippines.

The Revolution of the English Colonies in America.--In 1776 the thirteen English colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America declared their independence of Great Britain. In the unfair treatment of the British king and Parliament they had, they believed, just grounds for revolution. For nearly eight years a war continued by which England strove to reduce them again to obedience. But at the end of that time England, having successively lost two armies of invasion by defeat and capture, made peace with the American colonists and recognized their independence. In 1789 the Americans framed their present const.i.tution and established the United States of America.

The French Revolution.--Condition of the People in France.--In their struggle for independence the Americans had been aided by France, who hoped through this opportunity to cripple her great colonial rival, England. Between America and France there was close sympathy of political ideas and theories, although in their actual social conditions the two countries were as widely separated as could be. In America the society and government were democratic. All cla.s.ses were experienced in politics and government. They had behind them the priceless heritage of England's long struggle for free and representative government. There was an abundance of the necessaries of life and nearly complete freedom of opportunity.

France, like nearly every other country of continental Europe, was suffering from the obsolete burden of feudalism. The ownership of the land was divided between the aristocracy and the church. The great bulk of the population were serfs bound to the estates, miserably oppressed, and suffering from lack of food, and despoiled of almost every blessing which can brighten and dignify human life. The life of the court and of the n.o.bility grew more luxurious, extravagant, and selfish as the economic conditions in France became worse. The king was nearly an absolute monarch. His will was law and the earlier representative inst.i.tutions, which in England had developed into the splendid system of parliamentary government, had in France fallen into decay.

In the other countries of Europe--the German States, Austria, Italy, and Spain--the condition of the people was quite as bad, probably in some places even worse than it was in France. But it was in France that the revolt broke forth, and it was France which led Europe in a movement for a better and more democratic order. Frenchmen had fought in the armies of America; they had experienced the benefits of a freer society, and it is significant that in the same year (1789) that saw the founding of the American state the Revolution in France began. It started in a sincere and conservative attempt to remedy the evils under which France was suffering, but the acc.u.mulation of injustice and misery was too great to be settled by slow and hesitating measures. The ma.s.ses, ignorant, and bitter with their wrongs, broke from the control of statesman and reformer, threw themselves upon the established state and church, both equally detestable to them, and tore them to pieces. Both king and queen died by beheading. The n.o.bility were either murdered or expelled. The revolutionary government, if such it could be called, fell into the hands of wicked and terrible leaders, who maintained themselves by murder and terrorism.

Effects of the Revolution.--These are the outward and terrible expressions of the Revolution which were Seized upon by European statesmen and which have been most dwelt upon by historical writers. But, apart from the b.l.o.o.d.y acts of the years from 1793 to 1795, the Revolution modernized France and brought incalculable gains to the French people. By the seizure of the great estates and their division among the peasantry, the agricultural products of the country were doubled in a single year, and that terrible condition of semi-starvation which had prevailed for centuries was ended.

The other monarchies of Europe regarded the events in France with horror and alarm. Monarchs felt their own thrones threatened, and a coalition of European monarchies was formed to destroy the republic and to restore the French monarchy and old regime. France found herself invaded by armies upon every frontier. It was then that the remarkable effects produced by the Revolution upon the people of France appeared.

With a pa.s.sionate enthusiasm which was irresistible, the people responded to the call for war; great armies were enlisted, which by an almost uninterrupted series of victories threw back the forces of the allies. Men rose from obscurity to the command of armies, and there was developed that famous group of commanders, the marshals of France. Out of this terrible period of warfare there arose, too, another, who was perhaps, if we except the Macedonian king, Alexander, the greatest man ever permitted to lead armies and to rule men--Bonaparte, later the emperor, Napoleon the First.

The New Republic under Napoleon the First.--From 1795, when Bonaparte was given command of the invasion of Italy, until 1815, when he was finally defeated at Waterloo in Belgium, Europe experienced almost continuous war. The genius of Napoleon reduced to the position of va.s.sal states Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. In all these countries the ancient thrones were humbled, feudalism was swept away, and the power of a corrupt church and aristocracy was broken. In spite of the humiliation of national pride, these great benefits to Europe of Napoleon's conquests can not be overestimated. Wherever Napoleon's power extended there followed the results of the Revolution--a better system of law, the introduction of the liberal "Code Napoleon," the liberation of the people from the crushing toils of mediaevalism, and the founding of a better society. These are the debts which Europe owes to the French Revolution.

The Decline of Spain.--Lack of Progress.--In this advance and progress Spain did not share. The empire of Napoleon was never established in the Peninsula. In 1811 the Spaniards, with, the a.s.sistance of the English under the great general, Wellington, repulsed the armies of the French. This victory, so gratifying to national pride, was perhaps a real loss to Spain, for the reforms which prevailed in other parts of Europe were never carried out in Spain, and she remains even yet unliberated from aristocratic and clerical power.

A liberal const.i.tutional government was, however, set up in Spain in 1812 by the Cortes; but in 1814 King Ferdinand, aided by the Spanish aristocracy and clergy, was able to overthrow this representative government and with tyrannical power to cast reforms aside. Fifty thousand people were imprisoned for their liberal opinions, the Inquisition was restored, the Cortes abolished, and its acts nullified. The effect of these acts upon the Philippines will be noticed presently.

Separation of the Philippines from Mexico.--The events of these years served to separate the Philippines from their long dependency on Mexico. In 1813 the Cortes decreed the suppression of the subsidized Acapulco galleon. The Mexican trade had long been waning and voyages had become less profitable. The last of the galleons left Manila in 1811 and returned from Acapulco in 1815, never again to attempt this cla.s.sical voyage.

The cessation of these voyages only briefly preceded the complete separation from America. From the first period of settlement, the Philippines had in many respects been a sub-dependency of New Spain. Mexico had until late afforded the only means of communication with the mother-country, the only land of foreign trade. Mexican officials frequently administered the government of the Islands, and Mexican Indians formed the larger part of the small standing army of the Philippines, including the "Regiment of the King." As we have seen, a large subsidy, the situado, was annually drawn from the Mexican treasury to support the deficient revenues of the Philippines.

Rebellion of the South American Countries.--But the grievances of the Spanish American colonists were very great and very real. The revolution which had successively stirred North America and Europe now pa.s.sed back again to the Spanish countries of the New World, and between 1810 and 1825 they fought themselves free of Spain. The last of the colonies from which the Spaniards were forced to retire was Peru. Mexico achieved her separation in 1820. Spain lost every possession upon the mainland of both Americas, and the only vestiges of her once vast American empire were the rich islands of the Greater Antilles--Cuba and Porto Rico.

Limited Trade with the Philippines.--The Philippines were now forced to communicate by ship directly with Spain. The route for the next fifty years lay by sailing-vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. It occupied from four to six months, but this route had now become practically a neutral pa.s.sage, its winds and currents were well understood, and it was annually followed by great numbers of vessels of Europe, England, and the United States.

Trade was still limited to the ships of the Royal Philippine Company, and this shipping monopoly lasted until 1835, when a new era in the commercial and industrial life of the Philippines opened. An English commercial house was established in Manila as early as 1809.

Volcanic Eruptions.--The terrible eruptions of Mount Taal, the last of which occurred in 1754, were followed in the next century by the destructive activity of Mount Mayon. In 1814 an indescribable eruption of ashes and lava occurred, and the rich hemp towns around the base of this mountain were destroyed. Father Francisco Aragoneses, cura of Cagsaua, an eye-witness, states that twelve thousand people perished; in the church of Budiao alone two hundred lay dead. [84]

Rebellions in the Philippines.--The Liberal Spanish Cortes.--Two revolts in the Philippines that occurred at this period are of much importance and show the effect in the Philippines of the political changes in Spain. In 1810 the liberal Spanish Cortes had declared that "the kingdoms and provinces of America and Asia are, and ought to have been always, reputed an integral part of the Spanish monarchy, and for that same, their natives and free inhabitants are equal in rights and privileges to those of the Peninsula."

This important declaration, which if carried out would have completely revolutionized Spain's colonial policy, was published in the Philippines, and with that remarkable and interesting facility by which such news is spread, even among the least educated cla.s.ses of Filipinos, this proclamation had been widely disseminated and discussed throughout the Islands. It was welcomed by the Filipino with great satisfaction, because he believed it exempted him from the enforced labor of the polos and servicios. These were the unremunerated tasks required of Filipinos for the construction of public works, bridges, roads, churches, and convents.

Effect of the Repeal of the Declaration of the Cortes.--King Ferdinand VII. in May, 1814, on his return to power, as we have seen, published the famous decree abolishing const.i.tutional government in Spain and annulling all the acts of the Cortes, including those which aimed to liberalize the government of the colonies. These decrees, when published in the Philippines, appeared to the Filipinos to return them to slavery, and in many places their disaffection turned to rebellion. In Ilocos twelve hundred men banded together, sacked convents and churches, and destroyed the books and doc.u.ments of the munic.i.p.al archives. Their fury seems to have been particularly directed against the petty tyrants of their own race, the caciques or princ.i.p.ales.

The result of Spanish civilization in the Philippines had been to educate, and, to a certain degree, enrich a small cla.s.s of Filipinos, usually known as princ.i.p.ales or the gente il.u.s.trada. It is this cla.s.s which has absorbed the direction of munic.i.p.al and local affairs, and which almost alone of the Filipino population has shared in those benefits and opportunities which civilized life should bring.

The vast majority of the population have, unfortunately, fallen or remained in a dependent and almost semi-servile position beneath the princ.i.p.ales. In Ilocos this subordinate cla.s.s, or dependientes, is known as kailian, and it was these kailian who now fell upon their more wealthy masters, burning their houses and destroying their property, and in some instances killing them. The a.s.signment of compulsory labor had been left to the princ.i.p.ales in their positions as gobernadorcillos and cabezas de barangay, and these officials had unquestionably abused their power and had drawn down upon themselves the vengeance of the kailian. [85]

This revolt, it will be noticed, was primarily directed neither against friars nor Spanish authorities, but against the unfortunate social order which the rule of Spain maintained.

A Revolt Lead by Spaniards.--A plot, with far more serious motives, took place in 1823. The official positions in the regiments and provinces had previously been held almost entirely by Spaniards born in America or the Philippines. The government now attempted to fill these positions with Spaniards from Manila. The officials, deprived of their positions, incited the native troops which they had commanded, into a revolt, which began in the walled city in Manila. About eight hundred soldiers followed them, and they gained possession of the Cuartel of the King, of the Royal Palace, and of the Cabildo, but they failed to seize the fortress of Santiago. It was not properly a revolt of Filipinos, as the people were not involved and did not rise, but it had its influence in inciting later insurrection.

Insurrection on Bohol.--Since the insurrection on Bohol in 1744, when the natives had killed the Jesuit missionaries, a large part of the island had been practically independent under the leader Dagohoy. After the expulsion of the Jesuits, Recollects were placed in special charge of those towns along the seacoast, which had remained loyal to Spain. An effort was made to secure the submission of the rebels by the proclamation of a pardon, but the power of the revolt grew rather than declined, until in 1827 it was determined to reduce the rebellion by force. An expedition of thirty-two hundred men was formed in Cebu, and in April, 1828, the campaign took place, which resulted in the defeat of the rebels and their settlement in the Christian towns.

The New Provinces of Benguet and Abra.--It is proper to notice also the slow advances of Spanish authority, which began to be made about this time among the heathen tribes of northern Luzon. These fierce and powerful tribes occupy the entire range of the Cordillera Central. Missionary effort in the latter half of the eighteenth century had succeeded in partly Christianizing the tribes along the river Magat in Neuva Vizcaya, but the fierce, head-hunting hillmen remained unsubdued and unchristianized.

Between 1823 and 1829 the mission of Pidigan, under an Augustinian friar, Christianized some thousands of the Tinguianes of the river Abra. In 1829 an expedition of about sixty soldiers, under Don Guillermo Galvey, penetrated into the cool, elevated plateau of Benguet. The diary of the leader recounts the difficult march up the river Cagaling from Aringay and their delight upon emerging from the jungle and cogon upon the gra.s.sy, pine-timbered slopes of the plateau.

They saw little cultivated valleys and small cl.u.s.ters of houses and splendid herds of cattle, carabaos, and horses, which to this day have continued to enrich the people of these mountains. At times they were surrounded by the yelling bands of Igorrotes, and several times they had to repulse attacks, but they nevertheless succeeded in reaching the beautiful circular depression now known as the valley of La Trinidad.

The Spaniards saw with enthusiasm the carefully separated and walled fields, growing camotes, taro, and sugarcane. The village of about five hundred houses was partly burned by the Spaniards, as the Igorrotes continued hostile. The expedition returned to the coast, having suffered only a few wounds. The commandancia of Benguet was not created until 1846, in which year also Abra was organized as a province.

CHAPTER XII.

PROGRESS AND REVOLUTION. 1837-1897.

Progress during the Last Half-Century of Spanish Rule.--We have now come to the last half-century and to the last phase of Spanish rule. In many respects this period was one of economic and social progress, and contained more of promise than any other in the history of the Islands. During this last half-century the Spanish rulers had numerous plans for the development and better administration of the Philippines, and, in spite of a somewhat wavering policy and the continual sore of official peculation, this was a period of wonderful advancement. Revolution and separation from Spain came at last, as revolutions usually do, not because there was no effort nor movement for reform, but because progress was so discouragingly slow and so irritatingly blocked by established interests that desired no change.

Effect of Opening the Port of Manila to Foreign Trade.--Increase in Agriculture.--The opening of the port of Manila to foreign trade, in 1837, was followed by a period of rising industry and prosperity. Up to this time the archipelago had not been a producing and exporting country, but the freeing of trade led to the raising of great harvests for foreign export, which have made world-wide the fame of certain Philippine productions. Chief among these are of course Manila hemp and tobacco. These were followed by sugar and coffee culture, the latter plant enriching the province of Batangas, while the planting of new cocoanut groves yearly made of greater importance the yield of that excellent product, copra. These rich merchandises had entered very little into commerce during the early decades of the century.

Increase in Exports.--In 1810 the entire imports of the Philippines amounted in value to 5,329,000 dollars, but more than half of this consisted of silver sent from Mexico. From Europe and the United States trade amounted to only 175,000 dollars. The exports in the same year amounted to 4,795,000 dollars, but a million and a half of this was Mexican silver exported on to China, and the whole amount of exports to Europe and the United States was only 250,000 dollars.

In 1831 the exportation of hemp amounted to only 346 tons. But the effect upon production of opening Manila to foreign trade is seen in the export six years later of 2,585 tons. By 1858 the exportation of hemp had risen to 412,000 piculs, or 27,500 tons. Of this amount, nearly two thirds, or 298,000 piculs, went to the United States. At this time the North Atlantic seaboard of America was the center of a most active ship-building and ship-carrying trade. The American flag was conspicuous among the vessels that frequented these Eastern ports, and "Manila hemp" was largely sought after by American seamen to supply the shipyards at home. Of sugar, the export in 1858 amounted to 557,000 piculs, of which more than half went to Great Britain.