A decree by Basco in 1784

Don Joseph Basco y Vargas, Balderrama y Rivera, knight of the Order of Santiago, commander of a division in the royal navy, governor and captain-general of these Filipinas Islands and president of their royal Audiencia and Chancilleria, commander-in-chief of the troops of his Majesty in these dominions, general superintendent of the royal treasury, and of the royal revenue from tobacco, and delegate superintendent of that from the mail service, etc.

[The author begins by showing the importance, necessity, and advantage of agriculture to both the state and the individual, with illustrations drawn from history and observation in various countries of the world, and continues:]

Since agriculture is so necessary for the subsistence of mankind, and the maintenance of kingdoms, it is not wonderful that it should be so cared for by the wise and by kings, and that the lawmakers of nations should have ennobled this pursuit with special privileges. Especially have been distinguished in this direction the Spanish monarchs, who, besides other privileges granted in favor of the farmers, have thought it well to decree that neither the implements for their labors, nor their lands, should be taken from them for any civil debt; and also they granted to these laborers the privilege that they could not be imprisoned for any civil debt in the season for their harvesting and field labors, authorizing the superior judges to grant them delay in such cases. But besides these so useful and valuable benefits the natives of Filipinas enjoy still others more extraordinary. For their security, besides having ordained that their goods shall not be seized for costs in lawsuits, nor shall they be punished with pecuniary fines, conferring upon them other favors of the same kind, it has been likewise commanded that no one may lend money to them above the sum of five pesos, under the penalty of losing what is lent them beyond that. In all these things the monarchs have sought to release the farmers from many oppressions and injuries, and to prevent the losses and deficits which otherwise, for most of the vassals, are caused by caring for the interests and profits of a few individuals. But it occasions the greatest sorrow that in Filipinas, contrary to the pious and Christian intention of our kings—and especially that of the wise monarch, who is now prosperously governing us, our lord Don Carlos III (whom may God preserve)—Spaniards should have acted, in regard to these exemptions, without any heed or consideration for the injuries which have resulted here to the Indians and their agriculture, and with notable loss of the wealth which the fertility and valuable products of this country promise.

And since this chief executive, actuated by what he himself has observed in this province of Pampanga, in that of Bulacan, and in those of Tondo and Laguna de Bay (which he has visited personally), cannot any longer permit such extortions and injuries as are caused, among all classes of persons, to the farmers and poor Indians in the said provinces, and in the other districts to which this decree will also be made to extend: I command that in future the implements of labor—such as carabaos, plows, hemp-combs, and other field utensils belonging to the Indians, mestizos, creoles, Spaniards, or any other class of persons—shall not be seized for a civil debt, any more than their lands, since most of them have no ownership in these. Moreover, they shall not be arrested at the times when they must work in the fields, such as plowing, and gathering their harvests: and, at the times when they can be arrested, authority shall be given to the alcaldes-mayor so that they can grant them a respite of six months, without loading them with fees or other exactions.

And, as the backward state of agriculture in Filipinas proceeds also from the fact that, notwithstanding there are many industrious, laborious and charitable persons in the villages, there are also many others in whom sloth and idleness reign—for instance, many chiefs and their sons, and the heads of barangay; and generally these who have exercised the office of magistrate (who, on account of having served in these employments, afterward refuse through a sort of vanity and pride to go back to field work), all these caring only to subjugate the common people by compelling them to work without pay in their fields, and trying to exempt themselves from the common labor, and from the other burdens to which those who pay tribute are subject—likewise this chief executive has resolved to declare that such exemptions ought not to be understood for the classes of persons who are mentioned above, unless they possess at least eight cabalitas of their own land cultivated and worked by their servants or day-laborers, expressly forbidding that they rent these lands to others—always provided that they are not prevented by age or infirmities from carrying on their farm-work in person, since in this case they are allowed to rent them.

And although, in regard to the contract of casamajan1 which they commonly practice, absolute prohibition ought to be made to them on account of the burden which ensues from it to the poor, and also to their own consciences, on account of the many usurious acts which are committed therein, [yet] considering, as has been already stated, that there will be many who, on account of age and sickness, cannot themselves attend to the cultivation of their land, this chief executive consents to grant such persons a contract of that sort, under the condition that whatever loan is made to the farmers by their partners, it shall be in the form of palay, and they shall collect it in the same; that is, if they shall lend, for example, four cavans [of rice], they shall receive four others. And the same is ordained in regard to money, so that if they shall lend, for example, two pesos they shall receive only two pesos; and, if they shall lend cloth, if it is not returned they may only receive its just value at the time when the bargain was made—under the penalty that no judge shall admit any claim in contravention of this ordinance, and the complainants shall lose what they had lent.

Besides this, I have in the same manner heard of the unjust and vile bargains which the usurers make in regard to the cultivated lands, and even the trees which the farmers cultivate in their gardens, and their houses, binding them with the agreement of retrovendendi,2 as it is commonly called, exacting from him who is bound—sometimes for many years, and sometimes forever—the produce and the ownership [of those possessions], for a small amount which the lender has furnished. They also exact a premium for the money which they lend, sometimes in valuables, and sometimes besides these. This is done by a multitude of usurers who overrun the island, with great offense to God and injury to their neighbors. In order to redress such evils, which provoke divine justice against the islands, this chief executive has also resolved to ordain that in future such contracts shall not be made, either by writing or in words; for they are null and void, and usurious. And we forbid all the magistrates of these islands to give hearing to any claim arising from these contracts; if they contravene this order, they remain responsible for all losses and injuries, with the penalty, besides, of a fine of five hundred pesos.

Besides this, the inhabitants of all the islands ought to have understood that the lands which they obtained are all royal [realengas] or communal, with the exception of those which they possess through inheritance, or through legitimate purchase from the native chiefs [caciques] who were cultivating them at the time when the Catholic faith was established in Filipinas, and when they rendered fidelity, obedience, and vassalage to the august Spanish monarchs; and of those which were purchased from his Majesty with title of ownership from the royal Audiencia. [They should also understand] that for this reason the royal lands cannot be absolutely sold or alienated, since they only enjoy the use and usufruct of them; consequently, those who fail to cultivate them for the years appointed by the Audiencia lose this right of use, and the magistrates ought to assign these lands immediately to another person. As for the rest of the lands, no one can obtain them except by right of purchase and agreement with the tribunal of indults and compositions3 of lands, which his Majesty has established for this purpose. In the same manner, the lands which they hold by this tenure, as those inherited, or purchased from native chiefs, they cannot sell without the intervention of the court of justice. For this reason, warning is given that in the house-lots of the villages also they have no more than the use of the land; on this account, whenever the term of three years has passed without those who had formerly lived on them building houses on these lots, it has been and is the duty of the court to assign these lots to other persons—without allowing or accepting lawsuit or claim, when this neglect is evident, either through general report or by the verbal deposition of witnesses who have resided there a long time and are conscientious; for these house-lots are common property of the villages in which they are located, and for this reason the ownership of them cannot be sold, because this title does not belong to those who dwell in them. In regard to this matter, and with observation and knowledge of the injuries connected with it, this chief executive (having been actually present in this, province of Pampanga, and in the others that have been named) likewise ordains that the house and house-lot cannot be seized from any debtor, of whatever class he may be, as is commonly done—leaving in the street, and exposed to beggary and other evils, a multitude of Indians who perhaps would again be self-supporting, if they could have recourse to their own sheltering roof (which hardly would be worth as much as ten pesos), and the trees which they enjoyed on their own land. Proceedings must be taken only against their goods, without leaving them or their wives destitute; for it is very well known (as those who lend ought to know) that no one can lend to a native more than five pesos—an amount which he can easily pay with his work, or with some article of luxury which he may possess. This regulation must serve for the magistrates, as they are ordained and commanded, in order that they may conform to it; and, in virtue of the ordinance by his Majesty that in cases involving from one to five hundred pesos formal claim shall not be brought into court, the alcaldes-mayor shall decide these verbally, without receiving formal complaints, or anything else except the [original] documents, or the verbal declaration or confrontation of the parties. It must be noted that in cases where this is necessary, and the complaining party shall name some valuable article which is worth the amount of his demand, the magistrate shall proceed to sell it in the public square; and by selling it to the highest bidder, in one day (which shall be announced by the public crier), payment shall be made to the claimant, handing over the rest to the debtor, and deducting only such fees as are proper for the few hours of time which the judge may have spent on the case. By this, however, must be understood that in such cases their wooden houses which may have some value (as they actually do in most of the villages) shall not remain exempt from seizure; for it is certain that the owners of such houses, if through ill-luck or calamity they come to misfortune, can never lack some means among their own relatives for establishing themselves in some humble house, which they can erect as cheaply as I have just stated.

In regard to the repartimientos of people for the royal works, which are constructed in the provinces near Manila, as also in regard to the domestic servants [tanores], and other people who are assigned for work on the churches, government buildings, and jails, and guards [bantayes], etc., various regulations have been made; but, knowing that these are not sufficient to uproot so many wrongs, injuries and oppressions as the Indians suffer from the magistrates of their villages, and from the heads of barangay—making the villages contribute a greater number of people than is needed and required, and exempting from their turn of service those who should render it (both of these proceedings serving to defraud the poor, who, in order not to leave their grain fields, yield whatever the magistrates and chiefs ask from them, according to their caprice and the extent of their greed)—it is ordained and commanded that both these repartimientos be carried out with the knowledge and consent of the parish curas. To each individual cura must be sent a statement of the number of people necessary, and of the quota from each village; and the headmen shall be under strict obligation to obtain certificates from the said father curas that they have carried out the repartimiento in conformity with the decrees. It must be understood that these repartimientos cannot be made in conscience, and without contravention of the law, among the farmers and artisans who are occupied in their tasks, so long as there are wandering and idle people, since these last are the ones assigned by the law for these necessities. As little are the sons of the chief exempt, or the heads of barangay who have no occupation, or those who have held an official position, if, relying on this sort of privilege, they do not return to their former occupation or duties in the field.

Finally, it is ordained and commanded to all the governors, corregidors, alcaldes-mayor, and other magistrates throughout the island, that they most punctually observe and fulfil whatever is here decreed, in order thus to render greater service to God, and to the king—who has entrusted to the carefulness, conscience and vigilance of this supreme government the welfare of these islands and of all their inhabitants; also their social condition, just government, promotion, and reputation. And the said governors, corregidors, alcaldes-mayor and other magistrates here mentioned are warned to fulfil whatever is here decreed, under a penalty of five hundred pesos fine; and on the alcaldes of the natives, the mestizos, and others of their class a fine of twenty pesos is imposed, both fines to be applied in the usual manner. These fines shall be exacted from them whenever any application shall be presented that is founded upon any transgression of this decree, or when its infraction shall be proved in any manner. And as it is necessary that the parish priests shall aid, on their side, and shall be zealous for its fulfilment, the reverend and illustrious archbishops and bishops and the devout provincials of the islands shall be urgently requested to incite and oblige their parish priests to the observance of these wholesome regulations and ordinances, charging upon their consciences that if they know of any failure to observe the decree, they shall communicate it to the supreme government. The said reverend prelates shall also be notified that this supreme government expects—from their well-known zeal and love for their flocks, and because they have resigned all else for the greater service of God and of the king—that they will coÖperate by their utterances and with their effective persuasions in fulfilling by all means the desires and intentions of the governor, who considers himself under the strictest obligation to issue this ordinance, and to command that it be carried out until his Majesty shall be pleased to confirm it. Before his royal throne will be presented the merit and activity of each one of those who excel in solicitude for its observance, a full account of which will be given to his Majesty in our next despatches. And, in order that this decree may be known in all the villages and in all the districts of the island, and published with all possible fulness and clearness, it shall be translated into all the dialects; and as many copies as shall be necessary shall be printed, in two columns, the first in Castilian, and the second in the respective idiom of the province to which it shall be sent. Copies of these shall be posted everywhere in the magistrates’ offices of the villages, and printed copies shall be supplied to all the courts of the capital, in order that they may observe and fulfil the decree, so far as it belongs to them.

At the village of Arayat, on the twentieth day of the month of March, 1784,

Don Joseph Basco y Vargas

By command of his Lordship:

Vizente Gonzales de Tagle, notary-public ad interim of the government.4

Agricultural conditions in 1866

[The following article is taken from Jagor’s Reisen, pp. 303–306.]

Excepting some large estates acquired in earlier times through donation, landed property originated mainly through the right of occupation by the possessor and his rendering the land productive which even now is a common right recognized in the laws of the Indias in favor of the indigenous inhabitants. In the exercise of this right, the native takes possession of such unused land as is necessary for his house and tilled fields, and loses it only when it remains uncultivated for two years. Setting aside these native (and likewise very poor) landed proprietors, landed property is legally acquired in the following manner: through purchase from the state of a certain area of unimproved crown lands [Spanish, realengas]; through actual purchase from the natives who possess property; through contracts (called pactos de retro) concluded with the natives; and through the pledging or hypothecation of bonds, which even these natives are accustomed to agree to, especially in commercial dealings.

The first of these means ought to be a source of wealth; but it is not, for various reasons. At present very few persons are familiar with the legislation regarding the unused crown land, which consists of numberless single decrees forming a casuistical, disconnected, complicated, and confused mass …. By a royal order of 1857, the first offer for untilled crown lands was fixed at fifty dollars a quiÑon; and the concession could not be secured without a previous public auction. From that time private persons held aloof from such demands; to the former evils are added the high price, and the danger of being outbidden in the auction, and thus of losing one’s trouble and expense for the examination of the lands. In 1859 the decree was modified, and the former price of four reals a quiÑon as first offer was established; but this decree is not yet published.

In order that capital may flow into agriculture—without which that industry cannot possibly be developed to the production of grain and colonial products for exportation—it is absolutely necessary to overcome all obstacles which discourage men of wealth. Among these hindrances stands in the first rank the local administration, in regard to the granting of untilled crown lands; in the second, the obstructions which are placed in the way of both [Spanish] natives and foreigners who wish to acquire rights of settlement and citizenship in the community. Besides the difficulty of acquiring large possessions, still others exist. The planter can easily find laborers, to whom he must make considerable advances in food, cattle, and money; but the Indians pay little attention to fulfilling their contracts, and the legal means at the command of the planter for compelling them to fulfill their past engagements are as burdensome and ruinous as even the abandonment of his rights. Unless the alcalde is active and shows good-will, the planters usually prefer not to press their claims; they endure the loss, and many are thus induced to abandon their enterprises. This cancer on agriculture will disappear as soon as every Indian possesses a certificate of citizenship [BÜrgerbrief; Spanish, cÉdula de vecindad]. If one weathers the first year, storms, locusts, and business crises are to be expected later, all of which depress the price of his product. In such cases it is for the planter the greatest evil that no credit exists. There are no mortgages, at least there is no compulsory registration of mortgages; accordingly, no one dares to lend his money on such estates, or he does it only at crushing rates of usurious interest. An improvement in this respect is urgently demanded by the agricultural interests, both great and small, by the mercantile class, and by large and small estates; it would place a limit to the pacto de retro, as well as to the usurious contracts which are called in Luzon tacalanan, in Bisaya alili—the furnishing of loans on the proceeds of the next harvest—to which must be ascribed the misery and the backward conditions that prevail in many places ….

The pacto de retro is one of the most usual modes in which landed property passes from the possession of the natives to others. A considerable part of Pampanga, Bataan, Manila, Laguna, Batangas, and other provinces has, within a few years, changed owners in this way. Thus also do the inexpressibly cunning and thrifty mestizos usually acquire their landed possessions, the cultivation of which they then improve; but that does not prevent this custom from being detrimental to the public welfare. The native who possesses a piece of land through placing it under cultivation and actually occupying it, but almost never (or very seldom) by purchase from another owner, when he finds himself in pressing need of money offers his land as a pledge for the desired loan from a capitalist; but where he has no document to establish and prove his just claim, no foundation exists for a loan on mortgage under moderate conditions, since the applicant is free from all burdens and obligations. The capitalist therefore looks for his own security in immediate possession. The hypotheca is converted into an antichresis security (prenda pretoria), and as it is with great difficulty (or at least it very seldom occurs), that the Indian who receives the money consents to pay it back at the appointed time, and it is not to the lender’s interest to force him to pay it, the result is, that for a sum corresponding to the secured loan—that is, for a half or a third of the value of the security—the piece of land finally changes proprietors. Not seldom it happens that the former proprietor remains on the land as a farmer (that is, as a laborer, in reality as a slave to his debts). Often the Indian is seduced into contracts of this sort by his passion for cockfighting and gambling.

The laws of the country require the Indians to live in villages, uniting their farms into hamlets, so that they can be watched over and their tributes collected. In ordinary circumstances, the Indian builds for himself a hut in his field, where he lives while he is working his land, and goes on Saturday evenings to the village in order to hear mass on Sunday. His field has no great value for him, since he can always put another piece of land into cultivation, so great is the surplus of land in all the villages remote from the capital. The facility with which he can abandon one tract to take possession of another is very detrimental to the development of agriculture. A small landed proprietor, who has planted a bit of waste land with rice or potatoes without asking any one’s permission, raises an outcry if his garden is entered by a cow or a horse that grazed there years ago; and, since the law stands in his favor, he is allowed to receive from the owner of the cattle payment for often imaginary damages, while the loss from such causes should be borne by him who cultivates a field without enclosing it.

This same small proprietor avails himself for his own benefit, of all the privileges and rights of an entire village of Indians, if a wealthy man desires to lay out a plantation in his neighborhood. The capitalist who has decided on such a plan often finds that on land which was before entirely unfilled and waste, when he has after long difficulties acquired control of his property, and has reckoned a certain amount [of expense], some Indians have planted a grain field; and through testimonies covered with signatures, which are presented in the court, they assert that they inherited these very lands from their fathers, and have never ceased to work them.

A remedy for these abuses would consist in the limitation of districts, and the jurisdiction of the municipality, so that, for the purpose of increasing the landed property for the inhabitants of a village, so much land should remain free as they could at the time reasonably claim—more or less than the so-called municipal field (legua comunal), of which, besides, no law makes mention. All the remaining land located within the jurisdiction should be declared the property of the crown, and the title to all possessions then located outside of municipal control should be valid; but in future all possessions that shall not conform to the said rules shall be declared invalid. Within the municipal limits or the legal property of the village (which may not extend beyond the sound of the bell) the native farmer should be allowed to dwell, [even] outside of the village, in the midst of the lands cultivated by him; and only in case he alienates or abandons these should he be compelled to live in the village. The natives should bring new plots under cultivation within the municipality, and be able to acquire these by paying to the communal treasury a small ground-rent, or a moderate sum once for all. Such grants should proceed, with all publicity, from the entire body of the notables, with the cooperation of the parish priest, and be recorded in a safely-kept book in every village, and should never contain a greater area than the applicant can till with his own carabaos [BÜffeln]. If such grant of state land does not exceed a quinÕn, it should be issued, according to the aforesaid forms, by the alcalde5 of the province; if of greater extent, in the capital of the colony; but all ought to be recorded in the land-register of the province and village concerned. Those measures that were taken for the benefit of the natives and the promotion of cattle-raising, but which have an opposite effect, ought to be abolished. Agriculture, like every other occupation, needs no protection save clearness and security in its essential conditions of life.

Economic Society of Friends of the Country

[The following account of this association and the more notable of its achievements is obtained from Fernandez and Moreno’s Manual del viajero en Filipinas (Manila, 1875), pp. 173–178. This subject is presented here as being so largely connected with the progress of agriculture in Filipinas.]

Founded in the year 1781, in virtue of a royal order dated August 27 in the preceding year (issued in consequence of advices from the excellent governor Don JosÉ Basco y Vargas), in 1787 it suspended its meetings on account of the gradual and progressive decline of the society. In 1819 it resumed its functions, but suffered a period of discouragement and paralysis as a result of the Asiatic cholera morbus, which appeared then for the first time in these islands; and until October, 1822, the few meetings which the society held had no other object than questions of internal order, having little interest or importance for its history.6 A memoir published by the society with date of January 1, 1860,7 makes the following statement: “From that date (October 22, 1822), it can be said, begins the series of the society’s labors and services—achievements all the greater and more valuable, inasmuch as they proceeded from slight and ephemeral causes, and from a corporation which could not depend on material resources even remotely proportioned to the magnitude of its object; and which plunged into labors [which meant] nothing less than the advancement and civilization of a virgin country, containing more than 8,000 square leguas of surface, with 3,000,000 of inhabitants still half-barbarous, and without stable or established mercantile relations with any part of the world (on account of the recent crisis in the privileged commerce, which bad just been abolished), with a capital of 30,000 pesos, at 5,000 leguas distance from European civilization, and with a government occupied besides with the political situation and calamities of those days, confiding only in its patriotic enthusiasm and in its desires for the aggrandizement and prosperity of the country.” In the above memoir are concisely recorded three hundred forty-seven notable achievements, all beneficial to the country, accomplished by that distinguished society in the space of thirty-seven years. We would gladly reproduce entire in our modest book the relation of services so important; as we cannot do this, we indicate those which, in our judgment, are the more notable.

1823. February 1—Free distribution of one thousand three hundred twenty copies of [books of] grammar, orthography, and reading-lessons, for popular use. February 15—The society bestows a gold medal on Don Doroteo Punzalan Estrella, for opening a channel which gave a new and more convenient direction to the river of Tondo; and another of silver on Don Agustin Campuzano and Pedro Antonio for other and similar services rendered, to the benefit of the country. March 1—The society resolves to give two hundred fifty pesos annually to endow in this island a chair of agriculture; and it appoints a prize for the best memoir which should be written “on the causes which hinder the development of the agriculture of the country.” October 8—Translation and printing by the society of the book entitled, Guide for the Lancasterian Mutual System of Education,8 which manual was distributed gratis, by decision adopted on March 9 of the following year. December 2—Establishment of a school of drawing; the first examinations for graduation from the said school took place April 9, 1828. The society resolves to send to India, on its own account, an intelligent person to study the method of dyeing the cambaya fabrics; and to order from North America three machines for hulling rice.

1824. March 9—Offering of prizes for the best pieces of cloth woven in Filipinas in imitation of those from China, and for the most successful experiments in dyes for cambayas; the prizes were awarded on September 22 of the same year. September 22—It is agreed to pay the cost of instructing eight Indians in the art of dyeing, in order to extend this knowledge through the country; on October 6, 1825, the first dyers from the society’s school are examined and approved.

1826. February—Orders are given to reprint a manual presented by Don JosÉ Montoya on the cultivation and preparation of indigo.

1827. April 24—Printing of a memoir on the cultivation of coffee. October 30—The society votes the sum of eight hundred pesos for aid of the hospital for the poor in this capital.

1828. November 26—The society orders the printing of a manual of the elements of drawing.

1829. November 8—Machines for hulling rice are received, sent by the Economic Society of CÁdiz. December 13—The society supports the government’s project for establishing a bank in this capital.

1830. March 21—Reorganization of the Mercantile Register.9

1833. August 13—The society discusses and reports on the project of cultivating the poppy and making opium in Filipinas.

1836. June 30—Voluntary donation of five hundred pesos in behalf of the necessities of the State, on account of the war in EspaÑa.

1837. June 27—The society awards a prize of one thousand pesos to Don Pablo de Gironier10 for what he had done in exhibiting a coffee plantation of more than sixty thousand trees, in readiness for its second crop.

1838. December 10—Another prize, of five hundred pesos, bestowed on Don Vicente del Pino for a second coffee plantation of sixty thousand trees.

1839. July 12—The society assigns the sum of one hundred fifty pesos a month, for one year, to the publication of a periodical of industries and commerce.11 Information regarding the uncultivated and crown lands of Filipinas is furnished by the society, by reason of the royal decree of May 13, 1836.

1840. March 21—The sum of five hundred pesos awarded to Father Blanco for the costs of printing and publishing the Flora filipina, which bears his name.

1843. September 14—A prize is offered for the invention of a machine for combing abacÁ [fiber].

1844. March 14—A memoir by the society on the cultivation of sugar cane.

1845. August 22—An informatory report on the increase of population and the necessity for protection to agriculture.

1846. September 22—Prizes of one thousand and 500 pesos to Don IÑigo Gonzales Araola for two plantations of coffee, in accordance with the conditions of the royal decree of April 6, 1838. The society resolves to send young men from Filipinas to study mechanics in foreign countries.

1847. February 3—A fifth prize, of five hundred pesos, to Don Antonio Ortega for the cultivation of coffee. The society allots five hundred pesos to the support of the university; and five hundred pesos for the erection of nipa houses to aid the unfortunate [rendered homeless] in the burning of the village of Santa Cruz. November 25—A proposal for improving the construction of buildings in this capital; and decision that the society build a house and afterward raffle it.

1849. October 10—The society votes one thousand pesos for a second attempt to acclimate in these islands the martin, a bird which destroys the locusts. On February 27, 1850, was added another allotment of five hundred pesos; and on November 16, 1852, another of one thousand three hundred eleven pesos, with the same end in view.

1850. August 16—Report is made in regard to a museum, and to the provisional allowance of one thousand five hundred forty-seven pesos to arrange that such museum be formed. The sum of five hundred pesos is voted, to be spent for specimens of articles representing the industries of the country, so that these can be exhibited at the London Exposition; in consequence of this exhibit, the society receives (April 12, 1853) from the Universal Exposition of London a prize for the specimens that were sent there of fabrics woven from vegetable fiber, and a special prize for the weaving of the cigar-cases [petacas] of Baliuag.12 On May 13, 1858, it receives from London a new medal as a prize for articles from Filipinas.

1852. November 16—Systematic report on the opening of more ports to the external commerce of Filipinas; on June 15, 1855, the society congratulates the government on the establishment of the ports of Iloilo, Sual, and Zamboanga.

1853. April 12—Prize of two thousand pesos and honor of a medal awarded to Don CÁndido Lopez Diaz for the invention of a machine for cleaning the abacÁ. November 15—The sum of one hundred pesos is voted to the subscription for the necessities of Galicia.

1854. March 17—Contribution of five hundred pesos for aiding the necessities of the village of Tondo, in consequence of the fire which occurred there some time before that date.

1855. January 9—The society offers the government twenty per cent of its capital, without interest, for the improvement of the construction of public buildings; on July 23, 1857, money is paid out for public works. May 18—Gives information on the importance to the country of the government being favorable to the free exportation of rice. August 26—Project for instituting a school for small children. October 3—Distribution of elementary books provided by the society, treating of the cultivation of coffee, the preparation of indigo, and the principles of drawing.

1856. March 4—Report in regard to sending young men to Europe, in order that they may devote themselves to mechanical studies.

1856 [misprint for 1857?]. July 27—Votes a grant of one thousand pesos to purchase objects for the museum and preserve them with those already therein. December 12—Consideration of matters relating to a company for [operating] steamboats.13

1858. September 6—Scheme for rendering uniform the weights and measures of Filipinas. November 15—Consideration of two crops of rice in Filipinas, and report favorable thereto by SeÑor Govantes (a member), who furnished information on the mode of improving and making dikes without any cost or difficulty.

In this interesting account of meritorious deeds we have omitted, in order not to make it too long, the numerous reports sent out by the society for draining marshes, loans of money for promoting agriculture and the mechanic arts, rewards to literary works, etc. We should state that at present [in 1875] the society holds the meetings provided for in its by-laws; and that each member, in order to defray in part the expenses of the corporation, contributes annually twelve pesos from his own funds. We do not doubt that it will continue its vigilant efforts, in order to realize, as far as possible its motto, “Public felicity.” The chronological record of its resolutions from 1822 to 1860 also forms a memorial of the progress which has been made in this country in agriculture and industries;14 and, although it is not strictly proper for this place, we set down here, in continuation, some data referring to the said acts, for the purpose of bringing together in this section of our work all the activities in which the said Economic Society has exerted an influence.

1822. November 25—Woolen cloth [paÑo] woven, the first in Filipinas, by one of its members, Don Santiago Herreros.

1823. July 18—First cards for wool made in Filipinas, by a member of the corporation, Fray Diego Cera. It sends to China a plant and some seeds of the vanilla of the country. The existence of cerpentaria [sic] is recognized, a plant equally valuable with xiquilite15 for the production of indigo. On April 24, 1827, report was made of a record of experiments made for extracting from the said plants the fecula [i.e., coloring matter] of the indigo; and on September 5, 1828, a botanical description was furnished of the cerpentaria, and an analysis of the fecula which it produces. September 4—Seed of the sugar cane of Filipinas is sent to Habana, and that of rice (or palay) to the Economic Society of Sevilla.

1824. September 2—The first permanent dyes for cotton and nipis. October 19—Wool, silk, and shellac [goma laca] are produced in CebÚ.

1825. April 2—First report of the society on the establishment of a paper-mill; the second report on the same subject was issued on March 14, 1835.

1826. February 11—Spinning machinery is ordered from the United States. June 13—The first of the goods called “Coast” cambayas and kerchiefs, [but] of inferior quality, are woven and dyed, through the influence of the corporation. December 9—The cochineal insect is brought into these islands.

1827. April 24—Importation of a horse and two mares of superior blood, presented to the society in order to improve the breed in these islands.

1828. November 26—Information regarding the pine, the torch-wood [tea] of northern Luzon, and of a plant which produces a blue dye like the indigo.

1834. February 24—Reports for the acclimation of tea in Filipinas; the first trial of this cultivation was undertaken on August 14, 1837, and five hundred plants ordered from Batavia. August 8—AbacÁ is exported for the first time. December 12—Information upon the existence of mineral coal in CebÚ, Surigao Angat, and Monte de San Mateo.

1835. March 14—Information collected regarding the silk industry in Caraga, various kinds of fiber for cordage (including one which appears suitable for replacing hemp), a bark suitable for dyeing black, and the discovery of a copper mine in Masbate. September 15—First sowing of abacÁ in Laguna; on March 19, 1837, the first specimens of the said product are presented.

1836. April 23—Machines for hulling rice by steam power, and on a large scale, introduced by Don Eulogio de Otaduy. Cottonseed sown in Antique, using seed from Pernambuco.

1839. July 12—Caldrons [made] of red copper from the mountains of Pangasinan.

1841. January 29—Propagation here of the cotton from North America known by the name of “[Sea] Island;” and request for seeds is sent to the United States.

1843. March 14—Importation of a steam machine for extracting the fiber of [para acorchar] abacÁ.

1848. June 14—Inquiry into the existence in the country of the white poppy from which the opium is extracted. (On April 20, 1849, the society issues a very explicit report on the cultivation of the said plant and the preparation of opium16 in Filipinas.) December 22—A note regarding gutta percha and gamboge, by Don Jacobo Zobel, a member.

1849. April 30—Acquisition and planting of eleven roots of the tallow-tree,17 at the country-house of MalacaÑan.

1850. November 4—Introduction of new apparatus and methods proposed by SeÑor Sagra for the manufacture of sugar. Report on the promotion of abacÁ culture.

1851. May 5—Memoir on clays in the environs of this capital, and their application in the art of pottery. Wild cha [i.e., tea] found in abundance in the island of Masbate. July 18—Report on the exportation of rice.

1854. August 29—Appointment of a commission to report to the society upon the present state of agriculture in the country, and obstacles which must be removed for its complete development.

1855. January 9—Gutta-percha found in Romblon.18 July 28—The society grants a gold medal to Don Juan B. Marcaido for his efforts and studies in the method of extracting the abacÁ fiber from all the species of bananas which grow in the country.

1856. March 4—Communications referring to the method of securing the [edible] birds’-nests in Calamianes.

1857. October 1—Presentation of specimens of soaps made in the country.

1858. April 19—Knowledge of a gum called conchÚ found in Marianas. August 15—Information given by SeÑor Barbaza, a member, relative to a hundred kinds of rice in Visayas.

1859. May 10—Project regarding agriculture and commerce.

(We have endeavored to make note of the important activities in which the said society has taken the initiative or has shared since 1860, up to the date of the printing of the Manual; and here is the result of our investigations.)

1860. February 11—The society makes a subscription of five thousand pesos to defray, in part, the expenses of the African war.

1861. October 8—The society votes to contribute two thousand pesos from its funds for the expenses of sending articles from Filipinas to the London exposition. Efforts are made to acclimate in Filipinas the cochineal insect.

1862. March 8—It decides to give a prize to the cotton-grower who produces most. May 26—Full report by the society in favor of the establishment of a school of agriculture, theoretical and practical. Report on conducting water to the capital.19 September 30—The society resolves to obtain seed of cotton from Egypt, to distribute it among the farmers. October 30—The society receives official notice of the prizes awarded to the Philippine exhibitors in the London exposition.

1863. May 23—A specimen of spirits of turpentine is presented to the society, having a strength of 37° by Cartier’s areometer, obtained from the trees of the country; a prize is granted to the person who prepared it. October 27—The society subscribes five hundred pesos to relieve the necessities of the artisans and laborers who suffered in the earthquake of June 3.

1864. July 8—Full report regarding the rebate of import duties on wheat flour.

1865. July 17—The society votes three gold medals and five of silver, and five prizes of one hundred pesos each, for the owners of new houses which may be built, which in the greatest degree shall combine the requirements of solidity and economy, and in which no nipa shall be used. October 31—Full report on the establishment of a quarantine station in the bay of Manila. The society resolves to contribute a sum monthly for the promotion of the botanical garden, a practical school of botany.20

1866. December 22—The society votes seven prizes in money for the best exhibitors, in the fair at Batangas: for cows with their calves, for the two finest female carabaos [caraballas] with their calves; for the two finest mares with their colts; to the female weaver who shall present [specimens of] the best ordinary fabrics of cotton or abacÁ for common use in the garments of the people; for the best fabrics of silk; for rewarding makers of hats or petacas; and for the horse-races.

1867. October 30—The society resolves to spend five hundred pesos in purchasing plows, spades, and other farming implements, to distribute them among the farmers of Ilocos and Abra who may have suffered the greatest losses in consequence of a terrible inundation.

1868. July 11—The society decides to reward, with a gold and a silver medal, the authors of the best two memoirs which shall be presented proposing “the means which the government and the society can employ to secure the development of agriculture in the country.” October 16—Motion for the establishment of a savings bank and public loan office.

1871. December 11—A gold medal is granted to Don Santiago Patero for the memoir presented to the society by that gentleman upon the cultivation of coffee and cacao, besides the printing of five thousand copies of the said treatise in order that it may be brought to the knowledge of the farmers.

1874. Project for an annual fair and exposition at Manila. A study of the mutual use of bills of exchange in Filipinas. Preparation of a memoir on the cultivation and manufacture of sugar; and others on the trade in coffee and cacao, and the abacÁ industry. Appointment of a commission for studying the project for establishment of an agricultural bank.

[The limitations of our available space compel us to omit any detailed account of agriculture in the islands; we have chosen to present, in the preceding papers, a view of agricultural conditions at two different periods—in Basco’s decree, 1784; and in Jagor’s account, 1866—with an outline of the efforts and achievements of the Economic Society from 1781 to 1874 (which aimed to develop the agricultural resources of the country and with these its manufactures and commerce), and references to the leading authorities on this subject, most of these works being easy of access for the student and thus rendering unnecessary our further use of them in this series. These references here follow: Comyn, Estado, pp. 6–21, and chart ii at end; Mas, Informe, ii, section on agriculture (47 pp.); Mallat, Les Philippines, ii, pp. 255–282; Buzeta and Bravo, Diccionario, i, pp. 169–206; Jagor, Reisen, in various places; Montero y Vidal, ArchipiÉlago filipino, pp. 204–216; Worcester, Philippine Islands, pp. 503–510—and, for description of native methods,21 his “Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon,” in Phil. Journal of Science, October, 1906; the Annual Reports of U. S. Philippine Commission; Official Handbook of Philippines, pp. 99–118; Census of the Philippines, iv, pp. 11–394 (including detailed and classified statistics of the subject for the year 1903); and the Farmers’ Bulletins published by the Insular Bureau of Agriculture, Manila. Cf. also the chapters on agriculture, titles to land, and agricultural products, in “Remarks by an Englishman” and Bernaldez’s “Memorial,” in VOL. LI; the section on agriculture in LeRoy’s contribution to the present volume; and titles of works on these subjects which are enumerated in Griffin’s List of Books on the Philippines, Pardo de Tavera’s Biblioteca filipina, Vindel’s CatÁlogo biblioteca filipina, and Retana’s Aparato bibliogrÁfico de Filipinas (Madrid, 1906).]