The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes Part 19

[Fiscal system.] Under its existing form, it is const.i.tuted in the following manner: The governor of the Islands, in his quality of superintendent or administrator general, and as uniting in himself the powers of intendent of the army, presides at the board of administration of the king's revenue, which is placed in the immediate charge of a treasurer and two clerks. The princ.i.p.al branches have their respective general directors, on whom the provincial administrators depend, and the civil magistrates, in the quality of sub-delegates, collect within their respective districts, the tributes paid by the natives in money and produce, and manage everything else relating to the king's revenue. In ordinary cases, the general laws of the Indies govern, and especially are the ordinances or regulations of the Intendents of New Spain (Mexico) ordered to be observed in the Philippines. It ought further to be observed, that, in these Islands, the same as in all the vice-royalties and governments of America, there is a distinct body of royal decrees in force, which, in themselves, const.i.tute a code of considerable size.

[Opposition to tobacco monopoly.] The process of converting the consumption of tobacco into a monopoly met with a most obstinate resistance on the part of the inhabitants, and the greatest circ.u.mspection and constancy were necessary for the governor, Don Jose Basco, to carry this arduous enterprise into effect. Accustomed to the cultivation of this plant without any restriction whatever, and habituated to its use from their infancy, it appeared to the people the extreme of rashness to seek simultaneously to extirpate it from the face of the greatest part of the Island of Luzon, in order to confine its culture within the narrow limits of a particular district. They were equally revolted at the idea of giving to a common article a high and arbitrary value, when, besides, it had become one of the first necessity. Every circ.u.mstance, however, being dispa.s.sionately considered, and the principle once admitted that it was expedient for the colony to maintain itself by means the least burdensome to the inhabitants, it certainly must be acknowledged that, although odious on account of its novelty and defective in the mode of its execution, a resource more productive and at the same time less injurious, could not have been devised. Hence was it that the partisans of the opposite system were strangely misled, by founding their calculation on false data, when they alleged that a subst.i.tute, equivalent to the increased revenue supposed to arise out of the monopoly of tobacco, might have been resorted to by ordering a proportionate rise in the branch of tributes. In fact, no one who had the least experience in matters of this kind, can be ignorant of the open repugnance the natives have always evinced to the payment of the ordinary head-tax (cedula), and the broils to which its collection has given rise. Besides, if well examined, no theory is more defective and more oppressive on account of the disparity with which it operates, than this same wrongly-boasted impost; for, however desirous it may be to simplify the method of collecting the general revenue of a state, if the best plan is to be adopted, that is, if public burdens are to be rendered the least obnoxious, it is necessary preferably to embrace the system of indirect contribution, in which cla.s.s, to a certain degree, the monopoly of all those articles may be considered as included which are not rigorously of the first necessity, and only compel the individual to contribute when his own will induce him to become a consumer.

[Doubling of insular revenue thru tobacco.] Let this be as it may, certain it is, that to Governor Basco we are indebted for having doubled the annual amount of the revenue of these Islands, by merely rendering the consumption of tobacco subservient to the wants of the crown. It was he who placed these Islands in the comfortable situation of being able to subsist without being dependent on external supplies of money to meet the exigencies of government. It ought, however, to be remarked that, although they have been in the habit of receiving the annual allowance of $250,000 for which a standing credit was opened by the government at home on the general treasury of New Spain, considerable sums have, nevertheless, on various occasions, been remitted from the Philippines to Spain, through the channel of the Captain-General. * * * If these remittances have been suspended for some years past, it has evidently been owing to the imperious necessity of applying the ordinary proceeds of the revenue, as well as other extraordinary means, to unforeseen contingencies arising out of peculiar circ.u.mstances.

[Tobacco belt.] The planting and cultivation of tobacco are now confined to the district of Gapan, in Pampanga Province, to that of Cagayan, and to the small Island of Marinduque. The amount of the crops raised in the above three points and sold to the king, may, on an average, be estimated at fifty thousand bales, grown in the following proportion: Gapan, forty-seven thousand bales; Cagayan, two thousand, and Marinduque, one thousand. This stock, resold at the monopoly prices, yields a sum equal to about one million of dollars, and deducting therefrom the prime cost and all other expenses, legally chargeable on this branch, the net proceeds in favor of the revenue amount to $550,000 or upwards of one hundred twenty-two per cent. This profit is so much more secure, as it rests on the positive fact that, however great the quant.i.ty of the article sold furtively and by evading the vigilance of the guards, as the demand and consumption are excessive and always exceed the stock on hand, a ready sale cannot fail to be had for all the stock placed in the hands of the agents of the monopoly. From this it may also be inferred how much the net proceeds of this branch would be increased, if without venturing too far in extending the plantations and consequent purchases, care was taken to render the supplies more proportionate to the consumption; for, by a clear profit of one hundred twenty-two per cent, falling on a larger capital, it follows that a corresponding result would be obtained. In a word, the sales, far from declining or being in any way deemed precarious, are susceptible of a great increase, consequently this branch of revenue merits the serious attention of government beyond all others.

[Defective sales system.] It is, however, to be lamented that, instead of every facility being given to the sale of tobacco and the consumption thus encouraged, the public meet with great difficulties and experience such frequent obstacles and deficiencies in the supplies, that with truth it may also be said, the sales are affected in spite of the administrators themselves. In the capital alone it is a generally received opinion that a third part more would there be consumed, if, instead of compelling the purchaser to receive the tobacco already manufactured or folded, he was allowed to take it from the stores in its primitive state; and if the minor establishments in the provinces were constantly supplied with good qualities, an infinitely larger quant.i.ty might be sold, and by this means a great deal of smuggling also prevented. Such, however, is the neglect and irregularity in this department, that it frequently happens in towns somewhat distant from Manila, no other tobacco is to be met with than what the smugglers sell, and if, perchance, any is to be found in the monopoly stores, it is usually of the worst quality that can be imagined.

[Loss from preventable causes.] I pa.s.s over, in silence, the other defects gradually introduced, as evils, in a greater or lesser degree, inseparable from this part of public administration in every country in which it has been deemed necessary to establish monopolies; but I cannot refrain from again insisting on the urgency with which those in power ought to devote themselves, firmly and diligently, to the destruction of abuses which have hitherto paralyzed the progress of the branch in question, because I am well persuaded, that, whenever corresponding means are adopted, it will be possible in a short time to double the proceeds. What these means are, it is not easy, nor indeed essential, to particularize in a rapid sketch, like this, of the leading features and present state of the Philippine Islands. I shall, therefore, merely remark, that it will be in vain to wish the persons engaged in the management of this department to exert their real zeal and sincerely co-operate in the views of government, as long as they are not placed beyond the necessity of following other pursuits and gaining a livelihood in another way; in a word, unless they have a salary a.s.signed them, corresponding to the confidence and value of the important object entrusted to their charge, no plan of reform can be rendered efficient.

[Abuses by revenue officers.] At the same time steps are taken to augment the revenue arising out of tobacco, it would be desirable, as much as possible, to improve the methods used with regard to those who gather in the crops, by endeavoring to relieve them from the heavy conditions imposed upon them; conditions which, besides exposing them to the odious effects of revenue-laws, by their very nature bring upon them many unpleasant consequences, and often total ruin. In order that a correct opinion may be formed of these defects, it will suffice to observe that, under pretext of preventing smuggling, the guards and their agents watch, visit, and, if I may use the expression, live among the plantations from the moment the tobacco-seedlings appear above ground, till the crops are gathered in. After compelling the Filipino planter to cut off the head of the stem, in order that the plant may not become too luxurious, the surveyors then proceed to set down, not only the number of plants cultivated on each estate, but even the very leaves of each, distinguishing their six qualities, in order to call the farmers to account, respectively, when they make a defective delivery into the general stores. In the latter case, they are compelled to prove the death of the plants and even to account for the leaves missing when counted over again, under the penalty of being exposed to the rigor of the revenue laws.

[Burdensome and unprofitable inspection.] It cannot indeed be denied that by this means two important objects are attained, at one and the same time; the one, the gradual improvement of the tobacco, and the other, the greater difficulty of secreting the article; but, on the other hand, how great are the inconveniences incurred? Independent of the singularity and consequent oppression of a regulation of this kind, as well as its too great minuteness and complication, it is attended with very considerable expenses, and renders it necessary to keep on foot a whole army of guards and clerks, who tyrannize over and hara.s.s the people without any real motive for such great scrupulosity and profusion. I make this observation because I cannot help thinking that the same results might nearly be obtained, by adopting a more simple and better regulated system. I am not exactly aware of the one followed in the Island of Cuba, but as far as I understand the matter, it is simply reduced to this: the growers there merely present their bales to the inspectors, and if p.r.o.nounced to be sound and good, the stipulated amount is paid over to them; but if the quality is bad, the whole is invariably burnt. Thus all sales detrimental to the public revenue are prevented, and I do not see why the same steps could not be taken in the Philippine Islands. It must not, however, be understood, that I presume to speak in a decisive tone on a subject so extremely delicate, and that requires great practical information, which, I readily acknowledge, I do not possess. I merely wish by means of these slight hints, to contribute to the commencement of a reform in abuses, and to promote the adoption of a plan that may have for basis the relief of the growers, and at the same time advance the prosperity of this part of the royal revenue.

[Coco and nipa wine monopoly.] The monopoly of coco and nipa, or palm-wine, is a branch of public revenue of sufficient magnitude to merit the second place among the resources rendered available to the expenditure of these Islands, converted into a monopoly some years ago. In like manner as the consumption of tobacco, it has experienced several changes in its plan of administration, this being at one time carried on, for account of the king, at others, by the privilege being let out at auction; till at length the Board of Control, convinced of the great profit gained by the contractors, resolved at once to take the direction of this departure under their own charge, and make arrangement for its better administration. Having with this view established general deposits and licensed houses for the sale of native wine, with proper superintending clerks they soon began to reap the fruits of so judicious a determination. In 1780, the privilege of selling the coco and nipa wine was farmed out, to the highest bidder, for no more than $45,200 and subsequently the increase has been so great, owing to the improvements adopted, that at present net proceeds equal to $200,000 on an average may be relied upon. In proof of this, the proceeds of this branch, in the year 1809, may be quoted, when the total balances received at the Treasury, after all expenses had been paid, amounted to $221,426, in the following manner:

Administration of Manila and district $201,250 Administration of La Pampanga and district 12,294 Administration of Pangasinan and district 7,882 ---- $221,426

The prime cost and other expenses that year amounted to no more than $168,557 by which means, on the whole operation, a net profit of thirteen and one-half per cent. resulted in favor of the treasury.

[Wine monopoly district.] The monopoly of native wine comprehends the whole of the Island of Luzon, excepting the Provinces of Cagayan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Camarines and Albay, and is under the direction of three administrators, who act independently of each other in their respective districts, and have at their disposal a competent number of guards. These administrators receive in the licensed establishments the coco and nipa wines, at prices stipulated by the growers. That of the coco is paid for at the rate of two dollars per jar, containing twenty gantas, equal to twelve arrobas, seven azumbres and half a cuartillo, Castilian measure, and at fourteen reals in the places nearest the depots. The nipa wine is laid at six and one-half reals the jar, indistinctly; prices which, although extremely low, are still considered advantageous by the Filipinos themselves, more particularly when it is besides understood, that, from the circ.u.mstance of their being growers of this article, they are exempted from military service, as well as several other taxes and public charges.

[Coco-wine.] The coco-wine is a weak spirit, obtained in the following manner: The tree that produces this fruit is crowned by an a.s.semblage of large flowers or corollas, from the center or calix of which issues a fleshy stem, filled with juice. The Indian cuts the extremity of this stem, and inclining the remainder in a lateral manner, introduces it into a large hollow tube which remains suspended, and is found full of sweet and sticky liquor, which the tree in this manner yields twice in every twenty-four hours. ["Tuba".] This liquid, called tuba, in the language of the country, is allowed to ferment for eight days in a large vessel, and afterwards distilled by the Indians in their uncouth stills, which are no other than large boilers, with a head made of lead or tin, rendered tight by means of clay, and with a pipe frequently made out of a simple cane, which conveys the spirit to the receiving vessels, without pa.s.sing, like the serpentine tube used in ordinary stills, through the cooling vats, which so greatly tends to correct the vices of a too quick evaporation. The tuba, obtained in level and hot situations, is much more spirituous than that produced in cold and shady places. In the first, six jars of juice are sufficient to yield one of spirit, and in the latter, as many as eight are requisite; a much greater number, however, would be wanted to rectify this spirit so as to render it equal to what is usually known by Hollands proof. I am not positively certain what degree of strength the coco-brandy, or as it is usually called coco-wine, possesses, but it is evidently inferior to the weakest made in Spain from the juice of the grape. The only circ.u.mstance required for it to be approved of, and received into the monopoly-stores, is its being easily ignited by the application of a lighted candle.

[Nipa brandy.] The nipa is a small tree of the cla.s.s of palms, which grows in a very bushy form, and multiplies and prospers greatly on the margins of rivers and watery tracts of land. The tuba, or juice, is extracted from the tree whilst in its flowering state, in the same way as that of the coco, and afterwards distilled by a similar process; but it is more spirituous, from six to six and a half jars being sufficient to yield one of wine. The great difference remarked in the prices of these two species of liquor, arises out of the great number of uses to which the fruit of the cocal or coco tree is applicable, and the increase of expense and labor requisite to obtain the juice, owing to the great height of the plant, and the frequent dangers to which the caritones, or gatherers, are exposed in pa.s.sing from one tree to another, which they do by sliding along a simple cane (bamboo).

[Little drunkenness.] The impost on, or rather monopoly of, native wine, is in itself little burdensome to the community, as it only falls on the lower and most dissipated orders in society, and for this reason it is not susceptible of the same increase as that of tobacco, of which the use is more general, and now become an object of the first necessity. The native of the Philippine Islands is, by nature, so sober, that the spectacle of a drunken man is seldom noticed in the streets; in the capital, where the most corrupt cla.s.ses of them reside, it is admirable to see the general abstinence from a vice that degrades the human species. The consumption of the coco and nipa wine is, nevertheless, considerable, for it is used in all their festivities, c.o.c.k-fights, games, marriages, etc. Accordingly if it is desired to augment the annual sale of these liquors, no way could be more efficient than to increase the number of their festive meetings, and seek pretexts to encourage public diversions, so long as these do not go contrary to the well-regulated order of society, and conflict with the duties of those who are intrusted with its superintendence.

[Extension of monopoly urged.] I am still of opinion, however, that, without resting the prosperity of this branch of the public revenue on principles possessed of so immoral a tendency, it might be rendered more productive to the treasury, if the monopoly could be introduced into the other districts adapted to its establishment. By this I mean to say that, as. .h.i.therto the monopoly has been partial, and enforced more in the way of a trial than in a general and permanent manner, much remains to be done, and consequently great scope is left for improvement in this department of the public revenue. This most a.s.suredly may be attained, if all the local circ.u.mstances and impediments, more or less superable, which the matter itself presents, are only taken into due account, and proper exertions made to study and discover the various indirect means of increasing the total ma.s.s of contributions, by applying a system more productive and a.n.a.logous to the nature of the Philippine Islands. With regard to the revenue of the two particular articles above treated on, I merely wish to make it understood that, far from introducing by means of the monopoly, a new vice into the provinces in which I recommend its establishment, it would rather act, in a certain degree at least, as a corrective to pre-existing evils, and the government would derive advantages from an article of luxury, by subjecting its consumption to the same shackles under which it stands in the northern provinces, where its administration is established and carried on for account of the royal treasury.

[Former customs usage.] In former times, when only vessels belonging to the Asiatic nations visited the port of Manila, with effects from the coast of Coromandel, or the China junks, and now and then a Spanish vessel coming from or going to the Island of Java, with spices for account of Philippine merchants, the receipt of duties was left in charge of a single royal officer, and the valuations of merchandise made by him, in concert with two merchants named by the government; but with the knowledge and a.s.sistance of the king's attorney-general. The modifications and changes which have subsequently taken place in this department have, however, been frequent, as is evidently shown by the historical extract from the proceedings inst.i.tuted before the Council of the Indies, by the merchants of Seville and Cadiz, in opposition to those of the Philippine Islands, printed in Madrid, 1736, in folio, by order of the said council; but as it does not enter into my views to speak of times so remote, I shall confine my remarks to this branch considered under its present form.

[Custom house.] In conformity to royal orders of March 15 and May 5, 1786, the Royal Custom House of Manila was definitively organized on its new plan; and from 1788, was placed under the immediate charge of an administrator-general, a controller, a treasurer, aided by a competent number of guards, inspectors, etc., and in every respect regulated on the plan established in the other custom houses. The freedom of the port being granted to foreign nations, a privilege before enjoyed only by those purely Asiatic, and a new line of trade commenced by the company, the compet.i.tion in merchandise soon began to increase, as well as the revenue arising therefrom, in such manner that, although the exportation of goods was limited to the cargo of the Acapulco ship, of which the duties are not payable till her arrival there; notwithstanding also the property imported by the company from China and India, and destined for their own shipments, was exempt from duties, and above all, the continual interruptions experienced by the maritime commerce of the Islands within the last fifteen or twenty years, the net proceeds of the custom house, from the period above mentioned of its establishment, till the close of 1809, have not been less than from $138,000 to $140,000, on an average, independent of the amount of the king's fifth on the gold of the country, which is collected by the same administrator, in consequence of its being trivial; as well as the two per cent. belonging to the Board of Trade, and by them collected under that t.i.tle, and afterwards separately applied to the average-fund and which usually may be estimated from $20,000 to $25,000.

The general duties now levied in the custom house, are the following:

[Port charges and duties.] Six per cent. almojarisf.a.go is on all kinds of merchandise imported in foreign bottoms, under a valuation made by the surveyors, in conformity to the respective prices of the market at the time on importation; it usually is regulated by an increase of 50% on the prime cost of India goods, and of 33 1/3% on those from China. This duty may be considered as, in fact, equal to nine per cent on the former, and eight on the latter.

Six per cent, or the same duty, on all foreign goods, although imported in national bottoms.

Three per cent on Spanish goods, imported under the national flag, equal, according to the above estimate to 4 and 4 1/2%.

Two per cent Board of Trade duty, indistinctly on all foreign property, equivalent to 2 1/2 or 3%.

Twenty-five per cent anchorage dues, levied on the total amount of the almojarisf.a.go duty.

An additional of two and one-half per cent, a new and temporary duty, called subvencion, appropiated to the payment of the loan made to the king by the Cadiz Board of Trade, and leviable on all kinds of imported goods, and, of course, equal, according to the usual mode of valuation, to about three per cent.

Three per cent on the exportation of coined silver and gold of the country, in dust and, ingots.

An additional or duty of subvencion, or temporary duty on the above, equal to one-half per cent.

One and a half per cent under the same rate, on all kinds of goods, and equal to two or two and one half per cent.

One and one-half per cent on the amount of the cargo of the Acapulco ship, on leaving the port of Manila, equal to 3/4% on the real prime cost.

[Slight concession to the Company.] The company are considered in the same light as the rest of the merchants, in the graduation and payment of duties, on such goods as they sell out of their own stores for local consumption, to the Company, with the exemption only of the Board of Trade rate of 2% and 3%, on the exportation of silver, according to a special privilege, and in conformity to the 61st Article of the new royal decree of 1803.

Besides the duties above enumerated, there is another trifling one established for local purposes of peso merchante, being a rate for the use of the king's scales, levied according to an extremely equitable tariff, on certain articles only of solid weight, such as iron, copper, etc. The raw materials as well as all kinds of manufactured articles, belonging to the Islands, are exempt from duties on their entry in the port and river of Manila; but some of the first are subject to the most unjust of all exactions, that is, to an arbitrary tax and to the obligation of being retailed out on board the vessels in which they have been brought down, and deliverable only to persons bearing a written order, signed by the sitting members of the munic.i.p.al corporation. Among this cla.s.s of articles may be mentioned the coco of Cebu and the wax and oil of the Bisayas, which are rated as objects of the first necessity.

[Undervaluation of galleon goods.] With regard to the respective duties on the cargo annually dispatched by the merchants of Manila to New Spain, the practice of galleon is tolerably well regulated. An extreme lat.i.tude is given to the moderate rates at which it is ordered to value the goods contained in the manifest, by which means these are frequently put down at only one-half of their original prime cost; the commission to frame the scale of valuations which is to be in force for five years, after which time it is renewed, being left to three merchants, and made subject to the revision of the king's attorney-general (fiscal) and the approbation of the governor; consequently, such being the nature of the tariff on which these operations are founded, the 33 1/3% to which the royal duties amount on the $500,000 stipulated in the permit, does not, in fact, affect the shipper beyond the rate of 15 per cent, in consequence of the great difference between the prime cost and valuation of the articles corresponding to the permit; or, what is the same thing, between the $500,000 nominal value, and $1,100,000 or $1,200,000, the real amount of the cargo in question. The most remarkable circ.u.mstance, however, is, that the officers of the revenue in Acapulco collect the above-mentioned 33 1/3% in absolute conformity to the Manila valuation, and not according to the value of the goods in America, and without any other formality than a comparison of the cargo with the ship's papers. In honor of truth, it ought to be further observed that, although the Manila merchant by this means seeks to exempt himself from the part of the enormous duties with which it has been attempted to paralyze the only commercial intercourse he carries on with New Spain, in every other respect connected with this operation, he acts in a sufficiently legal manner, and if at their return those vessels have been in the habit of bringing back near a million of dollars in a smuggled way, it must be acknowledged that it is the harshness of the law which compels the merchant to become a smuggler; for according to the strange regulation by which he is thwarted in the returns representing the proceeds of his outward operation, he must either bring the money to the Philippine Islands without having it declared on the ship's papers, or be obliged to leave the greatest part of it in the hands of others, subject to such contingencies as happen in trade. As long, therefore, as the present limitations subsist, which only authorize returns equal to double the value of the outward-bound cargo, this species of contraband will inevitably continue. The governors also, actuated by the principles of reason and natural justice, will, as they have hitherto done, wink at the infraction of the fiscal laws; a forbearance, in fact, indirectly beneficial to them, inasmuch as it eventually contributes to the general improvement of the colony. Indeed, without this species of judicious condescension, trade would soon stand still for the want of the necessary funds to carry it on.

[Unbusinesslike custom ways.] .... It will readily be acknowledged that, in like manner as the good organization of custom houses is favorable to the progress of general commerce, so nothing is more injurious to its growth and the enterprise of merchants, than any uncertainty or arbitrary conduct in the levying of duties to be paid by them. This arises out of the circ.u.mstance of every merchant, entering on a new speculation, being anxious to have, as the princ.i.p.al ground work of his combinations, a perfect knowledge of the exact amount of his disburs.e.m.e.nts, in order to be enabled to calculate the final result with some degree of certainty. Considered in this point of view, the system adopted in the Islands is certainly deplorable, since it must be acknowledged that the principles and common rules of all other commercial countries, are there unknown. For example; this year a cargo arrives from China or Bengal, and the captain turns in his manifest. The custom-house surveyors then commence the valuation of the goods of which his cargo is composed: I say they commence, because it is a common thing for them not to have finished the estimate of the scale and amount of corresponding duties, till the expiration of two, four, and not unfrequently six months. The rule they affect to follow, in this valuation, is that of the prices current in the market, and in order to ascertain what these are, they are seen going round inquiring in the shops of the Sangleys (Chinese), till at length, finding it useless to go in search of correct and concurrent data, in a place where there are neither brokers nor public auctions, they are forced to determine in an arbitrary manner, and as the adage goes, always take good care to see their employers on the right side of the hedge. The grand work being ended, with all this form and prolixity, the sentence of the surveyors is irrevocable. The bondsman of the captain, who, in the meanwhile, has usually sold his cargo and departed with a fresh one for another destination, pays in the amount of the duties, thus regulated by law.

[Variations in valuations.] The practical defects and injurious consequences of such a system as this, it would be unnecessary to particularize. It would, however, be less intolerable, if, once put in force, it could serve the merchant as a guide in the valuations of his property for a determined number of successive years. What, however, renders this a.s.sessment more prejudicial, is its instability and uncertainty, and the repet.i.tion of the same operation I have just described every year, and with every cargo that arrives; but under distinct valuations, according to the reports or humor of the day. Besides these great defects and irregularity, the Philippine custom house observes the singular practice of not allowing the temporary landing of goods entered in transitu and for re-exportation, as is done on the bonding system in all countries where exertions are made by those in authority for the extension and improvement of commerce in every possible way. Of course, much less will they consent to the drawback or return of any part of the duties on goods entered outwards, even though they are still on board the very vessels in which they originally came shipped. Beyond all doubt, the wrongly understood severity of such a system, has, and will, continue to prevent many vessels from frequenting the port of Manila, and trying the market, unable to rely on the same liberal treatment they can meet with in other places.

[The areca-nut.] The bonga, or areca-nut, is the fruit of a very high palm-tree, not unlike the one that bears the date, and the nuts, similar to the latter, hang in great cl.u.s.ters from below the protuberance of the leaves or branches. Its figure and size resemble a common nut, but solid, like the nutmeg. Divided into small pieces, it is placed in the center of a small ball made of the tender leaves of the buyo or betel pepper, lightly covered with slacked lime, and this composition const.i.tutes the celebrated betel of Asia, or, as it is here called, the buyo, the latter differing from that used in India, inasmuch only as it contains cardamomom.

[Buyo monopoly unsatisfactory.] The government, anxious to derive advantage in aid and support of the colony, from the great use the inhabitants make of the buyo, many years ago determined to establish the sale of the bonga, its princ.i.p.al ingredient, into a monopoly, either by hiring the privilege out, or placing it under a plan of administration, in the form in which it now stands. Both schemes have been tried, but neither way has this branch been made to yield more than $30,000; indeed the annual proceeds usually have not exceeded $25,000. In 1809, the total amount of sales was $48,610, and deducting from this sum the prime cost and expenses of administration, the net profit in favor of the treasury was equal to no more than $27,078 or upwards of 125 1/2%. In 1780, the privilege of selling the bonga was let out at public auction for the sum of $15,765 and this, compared with the present proceeds, clearly shows that, although the increase has not advanced equally with the other branches of the revenue, it is far from having declined. It must nevertheless be confessed, that on the present footing on which it stands, the smallness of the proceeds is not worth the trouble required in the collection, and even if the amount were still greater, it could never serve as an excuse for the oppression and violence to which this monopoly frequently gives rise.

[Hardships on areca-nut planters.] As the trees producing the bonga are not confined to any particular grounds, and indiscriminately grow in all, the plan has been adopted of compelling the Filipinos to gather and bring in the fruit, raised on their lands, to the depot nearest the district in which they reside. There they are paid from two, two and one-half, three and three and one-half reals per thousand, according to the distance from which they come: and, in order to prevent frauds, the surveyors belonging to the revenue go out, at certain times of the year, to examine the bonga plantations, and the trees being counted, they estimate the fruit, that is, oblige the proprietor to undertake to deliver in two hundred nuts for each bearing tree, whether or not, hurricanes deteriorate or destroy the produce, or thieves plunder the plantations, as very frequently happens. In case deficiencies are proved against him, he is compelled to pay for them in money, at the rate of twenty-five reals per thousand, the price at which the king sells them in the monopoly-stores. Besides, the precise condition of delivering in two hundred bonga nuts, according to the stipulations imposed upon him, presupposes the previous exclusion of all the injured or green ones; and although the ordinary trees usually yield as many as three hundred nuts each, great numbers are nevertheless spoiled. If, to the adverse accidents arising out of the storms and robberies, we add the effects of the whims or ill-humor of the receivers, it is not easy to imagine to what a length the injuries extend which befall the man who has the folly or misfortune to become a planter of this article.

[Folly of monopoly plan.] On the other hand, as in the conveyances from the minor to the larger depots, frauds are frequently committed, and the heaping together of many millions of nuts inevitably produces the fermentation and rapid putrefaction of a great number of them, it consequently follows that the waste must be immense; or if it is determined to sell all the stock laid in, without any distinction in quality and price, the public must be very badly served and displeased, as in fact too often happens. Since, therefore, the habit of using the buyo is still more prevailing than that of tobacco, when suitable supplies cannot be had in the monopoly stores, the consumer naturally resorts to the contraband channels, although he encounters some risk, and expends more money. It is also very natural that the desire of gain should thus lead on and daily expose a number of needy persons, anxious by this means to support and relieve the wants of their families. Returning, however, to what more immediately concerns the grower, I do not know that the oppressive genius of fiscal laws has, in any country of the globe, invented one more refinedly tyrannic, than to condemn a man, to a certain degree at least, as has. .h.i.therto been the case, to the punishment of Tantalus; for the law forbids the Filipino to touch the fruit of the tree planted with his own hands, and which hangs in tempting and luxuriant abundance round his humble dwelling.

[Its modification desirable.] It would be easy for me to enumerate many other inconveniences attending this branch of public revenue, on the footing on which it now stands, if what has already been said did not suffice to point out the necessity of changing the system, as those in authority are anxious that the treasury should gain more, and the king's subjects suffer less. The strong prejudice entertained against this source of revenue, the inconsiderable sum it produces, and the complicated form of its organization, have in reality been sufficient motives to induce many to become strenous advocates for the total abolition of the monopoly. I do not, however, on this account see any reasons for altogether depriving the government of a productive resource, as this might soon be rendered, if it was placed under regulations less odious and more simple in themselves. I nevertheless agree, that the perfect monopoly of the areca fruit, or bonga, is impracticable, till the trees, indiscriminately planted, are cut down, and, in the same way as the tobacco plantations, fresh and definite grounds are laid out for its cultivation, on account of the revenue. I am further aware that this measure is less practicable than the first; for, independent of all the other obstacles, it would be necessary to wait till the new plantation yielded fruit, and also that the public should consent to refrain from masticating buyo in the meanwhile, a pretension as mad as it would be to require that the eating of salt should be dispensed with for a given number of years. But what difficulty would there be, for example, in the proprietors paying so much a year for each bonga tree to the district magistrate, the governor of the nearest town, or the cabeza de Barangay, or chiefs of the clans into which the natives are divided, in the same manner as the Filipino pays his tribute? [Tree-tax preferable.] The only one I antic.i.p.ate is that of fixing the amount in such way that, at the same time this resource is made to produce an increased income of some moment, it may act as a moderate tax on an indefinite property, the amount of which, augmented in the same price, may be reimbursed to the proprietor by the great body of consumers. It is not in fact easy to foresee or estimate, by any means of approximation, the alteration in the current price of the bonga, that would result from the indefinite freedom of its cultivation and sale, especially during the first years. Although, for this reason, it would be impossible to ascertain what proportion the impost on the tree would then bear with regard to the value of the fruit, the error that might accrue would be of little moment, as long as precautions were taken to adopt a very low rate of comparison, and a proportionably equitable one as the basis of taxation. Supposing then that the price of the bonga should decline from twenty-five reals, at which it is now sold in the monopoly stores, to fifteen reals per thousand, in the general market, and a tax of one-fourth real should be laid on each tree valued at two hundred bonga nuts, it is clear that this would be equal to no more than 8 1/2%; or, what is the same, the tax would be in the proportion one to twelve with the proceeds of each tree, and the more the value of the fruit was raised, the more would the rate of contribution diminish. It ought at the same time to be observed that, under the above estimate, that is, supposing the price of the article to remain at fifteen reals, the 8 1/2% at which rate the tax is regulated, would not perhaps exceed five or six per cent on a more minute calculation; in the first place, because at the time of making out the returns of the trees, [Exception of immature and aged trees.] those only ought to be set down which are in their full vigor, excluding such as through the want or excess of age only yield a small proportion of fruit; and in the second, because in the numbers registered, the trees would only be rated at two hundred although it is well known they usually yield three hundred, in order by this means the better to avoid all motives of complaint. In this point of view, and by adopting similar rules of probability, it seems to me that the government would not risk much by an attempt to change the present system into a tax levied on the tree itself, on a plane similar to the one above proposed; more particularly by doing it in a temporary manner, and rendering it completely subservient to the corrections subsequent experience might suggest in this particular.

[Difficulty of estimating probable revenue.] The difficulty being, in this manner, overcome, with regard to the prudent determination of the rate at which the proprietor of the bonga plantations ought to contribute, let us now proceed to estimate, by approximation, the annual sum that would thus be obtained. As, however, this operation is unfortunately complicated, and in great measure depends on the previous knowledge of the total number of trees liable to the tax proposed, details with which we are at not present prepared, it is impossible to come at any very accurate results. All that can be done is to endeavor to demonstrate, in general terms, the great increase the revenue would experience by the adoption of the new plan, and the real advantage resulting from it to the contributors themselves, all which may be easily deduced from the following calculation.

Let us, in the first instance, suppose that the consumers of buyo, in the whole of the Islands, do not exceed one million of persons, and that each one makes use of three bongas per day, this consumption, at the end of the year, would then amount to 1,095,000,000 nuts. We will next divide this sum by two hundred, at which the product of each tree, one with another, is rated, and the result will be 5,475,000 trees. [Greater, however, than at present.] This number being taxed at the rate of one-fourth real, would leave the sum of $171,093.75 and deducting therefrom the $25,000 yielded by this branch under its present establishment, together with $5,132 equal to three per cent paid to the district magistrates for the charges of collection, we should still have an annual increase in favor of the, treasury equal to $140,961.75.

It might perhaps be objected that, in this case, the proprietor, instead of receiving, as before two and one-half reals for every thousand bongas, would have to disburse one and one-fourth reals in the mere act of paying one-fourth real for each tree; a circ.u.mstance which, at first sight, seems to produce a difference not of one and one-fourth, but of three and one-fourth reals per thousand against him; though in reality far from this being the case, if we take into consideration the deficiencies the sworn receiver usually lays to his charge, the fruit he rejects, owing to its being green or rotten, and the many and expensive grievances he is exposed to in his capacity of grower; it will be seen that his disburs.e.m.e.nts under these heads frequently exceed the amount he in fact has to receive. [Tax only a surcharge ultimately paid by consumer.] If, in addition to this, we bear in mind that, on condition of seeing himself free from guards and a variety of insupportable restrictions, const.i.tuting the very essence of a monopoly, he would in all probability gladly pay much more than the tax in question, all the doubts arising on this point will entirely disappear. Finally, considered in its true light, we shall not find in the measure above described anything more than a very trifling discount required of the proprietor from the price at which he sells his bonga, and which, as already noticed, ultimately falls on the consumer alone.

[Estimate conservative.] The moderate estimate I have just formed ought to inspire the more confidence from its being well known that the use of the buyo is general among the inhabitants of these Islands. The calculation, as it now stands, rests only on one million consumers, for each of whom I have only put down three bongas per day, whereas it is customary to use much more; nor have I taken into account the infinite number of nuts wasted after being converted into the buyo, a fact equally well known. Indeed, as the object proposed was no other than to prove the main part of my a.s.sertions, and I trust this is satisfactorily done, I have not deemed it necessary to include in the above calculation a greater number of minute circ.u.mstances, nor attempt to deduce more favorable results, which, with the scope before me, I was most a.s.suredly warranted in doing.

[Advantages.] In a word, from the concurrence of the facts and reasons above adduced, the following propositions may, without any difficulty, be laid down. First, that the increase of revenue produced by the reform in question, would in all probability exceed $150,000 per annum; secondly, that the Filipinos would soon comprehend, and gladly consent to a change of this kind in the mode of contributing of which the advantages would be apparent; thirdly, that the persons employed in the old establishment, might, with greater public utility, be applied to other purposes; and lastly, that the civil magistrates would not be hara.s.sed with so many strifes and lawsuits, and so many melancholy victims of the monopoly, and its officers would cease to drag a wretched existence in the prisons and places of hard labor in these Islands.

[c.o.c.kpit licenses.] The c.o.c.k-pit branch of the revenue is hired out by the government, and the license is separately set up at auction for the respective provinces. Its nature and regulations are so well known that they do not require a particular description, the general obligations of the contractors being the same as those in New Spain. Perhaps the only difference observed in this public exhibition in the Philippine Islands consists in its greater simplicity, owing to its being frequented only by the natives, the whites who are present at this kind of diversion being very few, or indeed none.

[Inconsiderable income.] The c.o.c.k-pits are open two days in the week, and the lessees of them receive half a real from every person who enters, besides the extra price they charge those who occupy the best seats, the owners of the fighting c.o.c.ks, for the spurs, stalls for the sale of buyo, refreshments, etc. Notwithstanding all this, and although c.o.c.k-fighting is so general and favorite an amus.e.m.e.nt among these people (the rooster may justly be considered as the distinctive emblem of the Filipino) the annual proceeds of this branch are inconsiderable; although it must be acknowledged that it has greatly increased since the year 1780, when it appears the license was let at auction for only about $14,000 owing, no doubt, to the exclusive privilege of the contractors not having been extended to the provinces, as was afterwards gradually done.

[Provincial c.o.c.kpit revenue.] The total sum paid to the government by the renters of this branch, according to the auction returns in 1810, amounted to $40,141 in the following order for the provinces:

Tondo $18,501 Cavite 2,225 La Laguna 2,005 Pampanga 3,000 Bulacan 6,900 Batangas 2,000 Pangasinan 1,200 Bataan 1,050 Iloilo 1,600 Ilocos 600 Tayabas 400 Cebu 360 Albay 300 Total $40,141