!
18
In the last year under review, the following countries were the principal
consumers :—
United States
United Kingdom.
British India
Hong Kong Anstralasia
China
£
272,000
25,000
38,00
25,000
42,00
36,000
The manufacture of cigars is the sole manufacturing industry of the Philippines. Up to the end of 1880 the manufacture of cigars was a monopoly of the Spanish Government. After January 1st, 1881, private factories were established, all of them at first being Spanish. German enterprise began in 1883 when the "El Oriente " Factory was founded, and has since extended to two or three other well-known con- cerns, including the "Alhambra." There are only two British-owned cigar factories in Manila, neither of them being of great importance.
Position of the Chinese. The total number of Chinese in the islands is not more than 50,000 to 60,000, but the wholesale trade, both domestic and foreign, is controlled by them, and they occupy, under American rule, a status little below that of the whites. By the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1902 their immigration was forbidden in accordance with the expressed desire of the Filipinos, who knew full well that the industrious Chinese coolie would lower wages and force them into activity for an existence. This policy of exclusion, while in accordance with the expressed American policy of "the Fhilippines for the Filipinos," has nevertheless seriously retarded the economic development of the country. The native Filipinos, largely of Malay descent, have inherited the supine, indolent characteristics of their progenitors, and are of very little value as labourers. The more active portion of the community comprises the "Mestizos," or half-breeds, descended from Spanish or Chinese fathers and native mothers. They are more intelligent and energetic than the Filipinos, but their general character is evasive and vacillating. The Chinese merchant is the backbone of the trading community, and it is to be regretted that he is not present in greater
numbers.
The exclusion of the Chinese, the indolence and scarcity of efficient native labour, and the somewhat prodigal expenditure of the average American citizen, have caused a very considerable rise in the cost of living since the American occupation. Wages have increased enormously, and this fact has reacted adversely on the energy of the Filipinos, and labour is scarcer than ever. It is the settled opinion of competent observers throughout the Far East that no investment in mines or agriculture in the islands will be of any great value until the introduction of Chinese labour is not only permitted but encouraged. Should their exclusion remain in force beyond the present generation there is little doubt that it will have a marked adverse effect on the activity of the people.
British Acticity in the Islands. Although the ratio of the trade of the islands with the United Kingdom, as compared with the United States, bus rapidly declined since the American occupation, and particularly since, the Payue-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909, the actual transaction of the foreign commerce still remains largely in the hands of those powerful and old-established British houses whose foundation dates from the times of the Spanish régime. The three most powerful British firms in the Philippines are:-
Ker di Co., of Manila, Iloilo and Cebu (Ker, Bolton & Co., 7, East India
Avenue, E.C.).
Smith, Bell & Co., Ltd., Iloilo and Cebu (Smith, Wood & Co., 3 & 4, Lime
Street Square, E.C.).
W. F. Stevenson & Co., Ltd., Iloilo and Cebu (W. F. Stevenson & Co., 40,
Trinity Square, E.C.).
The above-mentioned houses are the largest shippers of hemp and sugar from the islands, and also transact a large share of the trade in imports and the general agency business.
Messrs. Forbes, Munn & Co., Ltd., of Manila, Iloilo and Cebu, and 167, Gresham Honse, Old Broad Street, E.C., are mainly concerned with the trade in imported manufacturos, notably cotton piece goods and yarns, hardware and metals.
49
Messrs. Findlay, Richardson & Co., Ltd., of Manila, Iloilo, and 34, West George Street, Glasgow, specialise on imports of textiles, machinery and hardware, and also manage the Findlay-Millar Timber Company, the Findlay-Millar Steamship Company, and the Kolambugan Lumber and Development Company.
Messrs. Wise & Co., Ltd., of Manila and Iloilo, and of 8, Gore Street, Piccadilly, Manchester, confine their attentions to the import trade in cotton piece goods and miscellaneous sundries, and also hold the agency for one of the cigar factories.
Messrs. Warner Barnes & Co., Ltd., of Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu (London agents, Mesars. Ledward, Bibby & Co., 10, Mincing Lane, E.C.), are also largely interested in the import trade, and can safely be recommended to British exporters.
Branches of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, are established at Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu. Among other British interests may be counted the Manila Railway Co. (1906), Ltd., with its London office at 9, New Broad Street. This company obtains a considerable proportion of its supplies of material and rolling stock from the United Kingdom,
German Competition.--It will be remarked, from the statistics on page 43, that the trade in German manufactures has increased steadily during the past five years or so, and this may be attributed to the influx of German merchants into the islands of late years. The competition of local German firme is to be found principally in the import trade, there being only one German house of any importance engaged in the produce business. The principal German houses in Manila are:-
Messrs. Behn, Meyer & Co. (also at Iloilo and Cebu).
Froehlich & Kuttner (also at Iloilo and Cebu).
Germann & Co. (also at Iloilo).
"J
11
Schmidt & Ziegler.
**
17
Schulz & Co.
Struckmann & Co.
Viegelmann & Co. (also at Iloilo).
These and other houses have conducted a general business, and have distributed British, German and American productions.
The principal German goods imported were:-
(a) Soft Goods.-Haberdashery, socks, underwear, plush, velvets, &c.
(b) Hardware. Electrical supplies, machinery, hardware, metals and
chemicals.
As regards heavy machinery, involving long credits, support was frequently given by the manufacturers in Germany, financed by German home banks. This procedure has not been followed by either British or American manufacturers, Were British manufacturers to adopt this plan in the case of say sugar centrals, they would no doubt be in a better position to secure orders, but it is essential that they should be represented on the spot by technical experts to advise foreign native buyers, to supervise erection, and to estimate possible risks. There is almost certain to be a development in sugar machinery in the future, but it is clear that the erection of plant, payment for which depends largely upon the result of the crops, is attended by great risk of delay in recovering the outlay, and for this reason the British exchange banks have not considered it advisable to make advances for such business.
In Manila, as elsewhere throughout the world, German merchants, notably Behn, Meyer & Co., have deliberately extended the terms of credit granted in the import trade. The result has, undoubtedly, been a considerable extension in the volume of the business done, but there is no doubt whatever that, in dealing with Chinese and Orientals generally (who are gamblers to a man), the system is unsound, dangerous, and a direct encouragement to overtrading. Those in favour of the system frequently assert that it pays in the long run, but only those firms with ample resources can afford to weather stormy times, and the significant fact remains that those firms which employ their own funds are not, as a rule, those which grant long credits. Gerinan houses control the management of two or three of the most important cigar factories in Manila, and also export leaf tobacco in considerable quantities to Germany, Spain and Austria. (The total export of this article in 1913 reached a total of 400,0001., of which 300,000l. was taken by Spain.) There are several German retail stores in Manila, some of which are controlled by the large import firms. The Germans also virtually monopolised the retail drug trade, but since the war a British pharmacy has been started with local capital.
A 2687
G
621