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Or Her Majesty's Government might take on itself the payment of the like sum to a permanent Consular Chancelier or Head Clerk, resident at Manila, whose nomination might be made either (which would perhaps be better) with the concurrence of the Consul- General himself, as to personal selection, or without it.
Supposing the appointment of such a salaried Chancelier or Head Clerk, 1007. a-year added to the personal salary of the Consul-General would, I think, be sufficient.
The appointment above indicated would have a further advantage-namely, that of supplying a Gerent, or pro-Consul, ready at hand in case of the Consul-General's tem- porary absence from Manila in the provinces or on leave. This, considering the postal distance from hence to England, the want of telegraphic communication, and other circum- stances or casualties, would be very desirable.
Further, and in special view of the last-mentioned considerations, it would be well that the said Consul-General's written instructions should contain a definite authorization, within suitable limits, of visits, necessary or expedient, to be made by him among the provinces and islands included in his jurisdiction. I should be inclined to think that, special and urgent circumstances apart, it would be at once desirable and sufficient that the Consul-General should visit in person the Vice-Consular ports and the open ports within his jurisdiction, as also any particular point or district regarding which information might appear really and truly worth obtaining in view of the Service, once in the course of every three years.
Again, it would be very advantageous for the more effective discharge of his duties if the Consul-General were, after nomination and before proceeding to his post, placed in official communication, by instructions from the competent Ministerial Departments, with the Governors of Hong Kong, Labuan, and Singapore respectively. The manifold and intimate connection between Manila, both in its British and Spanish relations, on the one hand, and the three above-named Colonies on the other, is evident, and does not require detailed explanation in the present Report.
Lastly, I would venture to suggest, as the most essential qualifications for a Consul- General at Manila, the following three-In view alike of the British and of the Spaniards, he should be, in the full sense of the term, a gentleman; in view of both also, but espe- cially of the latter, discreet; in view of his own efficiency and health in this climate, not over forty years of age, or very little over, at his date of appointment.
I now come to the British Vice-Consulates existing in the Philippines.
Iloilo, an important post, and likely to become more so. In no distant future a paid Vice-Consul, or even Consul, may be expedient there; for the present a trading Vice-Consul, with an office allowance of 1001. a-year, may be held sufficient, though barely.
Cebú is next in rank. A trading Vice-Consul suffices; but I think that many reasons render an office allowance of 50%. a-year suitable at that port.
Sual, an open and not unimportant port, though for the moment, owing to special circumstances, in a kind of abeyance. I should recommend the continuance of the trading Vice-Consulate there established; the office allowance the same as for Cebú.
I may here make the passing remark that public work is seldom efficiently or even creditably done by one who undertakes to do it wholly and unaided out of his own pocket.
Two other places require notice in view of the British Consular Service in the Philippines.
One is Sulu. This having been lately declared by the Spaniards a free port, and having besides a tolerably active trade of its own already established with Manila on the one hand, and with Labuan and Singapore on the other, besides being situated on one of the principal occan British highways between the China Sea and Australasia, can hardly fail to acquire at no distant period a respectable position on the lists of British trade.
Opposite to it, and at no great distance, is situated, on the south-western extremity of the Island of Mindanao, the open port of Zamboanga; its commercial conditions resembling those of Sulu in almost every respect.
At one or other of these ports a resident British trading Vice-Consul will, it is almost certain, be soon required; and a yearly office allowance of 50% would be well bestowed there.
The second point worthy of notice is the open port of Legaspi, commonly called Albay, placed at the south-easterly end of the Island of Luzon. The export of "abaca," or Manila hemp, for which, as I have shown elsewhere, the principal demand is the British, is chiefly carried on from this port.
British interests in this port and district are considerable already, and the recent opening of a well-promising coal-mine in the neighbourhood may tend to increase them.
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Yet, for local reasons, I do not think the appointment of a British Vice-Consul necessary here for the present; but it may prove expedient before long.
Conclusion,
British trade and enterprise in the Philippines cannot, while the Islands remain under Spanish administration, expect to rise considerably above their present level, which is, indeed, a high one; but neither need they much fear to sink notably below it. However, as a safeguard to British interests and residents against local and administrative caprice, the British Consular Establishment in the Philippines might, it would seem, be advan- tageously strengthened, and even, in time and measure, extended.
(Signed) W. GIFFORD PALGRAVE.
Manila, September 29, 1877.
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