The seed of the tobacco plant was introduced into the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish missionaries. It is an annual, grows to the height of five or six feet, and varies greatly in flavor, not only in different provinces, but in different places in the same province. Luzon has always been more directly under the control of the Spaniards than any other part of the Archipelago. As it contains the capitol—literally the seat of Government—it is from this island that every unjust and cruel edict has proceeded since the time of the conquest. Indeed, Spain has never tried to govern more than half a dozen of the islands; and while all of the Philippines are nominally under her suzerainty, there are at least two hundred of them filled with fierce and intractable tribes—and these she has not even explored. But it is Luzon that, from first to last, has felt most heavily the weight of her iron hand. On that island, in 1781, the cultivation of tobacco was formally declared a State monopoly.

This lasted just a year and a century. The Government, after long debate on the subject, decided that, on the whole, it would be more profitable and less troublesome to demand a high license, and place the enterprise in the hands of private dealers.

The monopoly was accordingly abolished, December 31st, 1882. The natives fought against this. They had suffered horribly from State regulations. They feared to suffer more from private persecution. The friars, however, the real rulers of the Philippines, decided against the monopoly; and, notwithstanding that it was the largest source of public revenue on the islands, it was abolished.

From 1781 to 1882, then, in Luzon the following conditions prevailed: First, in the Philippines natives were never allowed to own land,—the property of the State. By paying for the privilege they might receive permission to cultivate the soil. During the continuance of the monopoly, in certain districts in northern Luzon, only tobacco plants were permitted to be placed in the ground. Not one foot of his poor little plot could the native use for his own subsistence. Moreover, he was forced to contract with the Government to raise 4000 plants a year; not one leaf of which could he call his own.

Every family was bound to produce a given quantity annually; while a shortage in returns was punished with beating, fines, confiscation, or imprisonment.

In some of the districts selected the islanders were too wild and insubordinate to follow directions in the planting, the preparing, and in the drying of the leaf. Emigrants were therefore sent from the vicinity of Manila, and were provided with land, homes, food, and clothing.

Their subsequent fate was pitiable. Spies of the Government visited the native houses at all hours, in search of concealed tobacco. Every nook and corner of the little dwelling would be ransacked time and again, and the women of the family subjected to rude and insulting personal inspection.

And these harassing visits were made at disquieting intervals; sometimes two or three days in succession; so that the easy and indolent Filipino was kept in haunting terror of incursions.

At the Government headquarters of the district, the dried leaves were carefully examined by the Inspector. Those that he approved he paid for; the rest were burned.

If an Indian were caught smoking one of his own cigars, within a few steps of his own airing-sheds, he was seized and fined. The offence, arrest, and conviction cost him dear: about $8.00 if he were smoking a cigar; about $2.00, if a cigarette.

In a country where the monotony of life is mitigated by the soothing effects of the leaf, and where men and women smoke as inevitably—and almost as naturally—as they eat, these constant and harassing exactions became maddening. The burning of the rejected bundles was felt to be especially cruel and unnecessary. But the Inspector was inexorable.

All these combined causes, and particularly the insults to women, frequently brought about bloody encounters between the people and the servants of the State.

There are numberless cases where Indians live on the land cultivated by their ancestors, and cling to it; and, in their ignorance, feel it to be their own. The Government, however, with its usual treachery, finally took advantage of this attachment, and, while exacting full returns from the natives, paid them only in part, or in depreciated currency.

Sharpers from Manila made their way into the tobacco districts as soon as this was known, buying large sums in Treasury notes for small quantities of specie; and so needy were the natives, and so rooted their distrust of Spain, that they made the exchange eagerly, glad to get into their hands the smallest quantity of the money they were familiar with—genuine gold.

Every effort was made to confine the growth of tobacco to certain selected districts controlled by the State, but, in spite of this, concealed plantations were continually being cultivated in remote provinces, and a large body of picked men and many revenue cutters were constantly in the employ of the Government. It was their duty to discover and destroy these plantations, punish the growers, confiscate the leaf, and break up the smuggling.

But, despite these precautions and drastic measures, the initiated always knew where to obtain a good cigar for about one-fourth of what was paid for it in a Manila shop. Expedition after expedition was sent to distant islands, to discover and punish the growers and manufacturers of illicit tobacco, and stubborn fights ensued, the friars invariably being on the side of the natives.

These were the abuses and revolts that finally led to the abolition of the monopoly.

Private enterprise in the islands has its own hard ways to accomplish its own unscrupulous ends, and whether Company, individual, or Government is in power, the result is always the same—the native is cheated, suffers, is pushed to the wall.

Since 1882 it is a matter of common complaint that there is not so much care taken in the preparing of the leaf: this requires great skill and unwearied attention to detail, inasmuch, as if overheated, or left too long in the airing-sheds, something precious is lost in quality and in aroma.

Cuban cigars are not sold in the colony, and the old residents believe the flavor of their own tobacco incomparable. The outside world, however, gives the preference to the Cuban brand. Indeed, at one time the Government tried to introduce seed from Cuba, but, owing to mismanagement, the scheme failed. Such an inferior quality of leaf sometimes finds its way into Manila, and is sold for such low prices, that one wonders what profit there can be in cultivating it. This is, of course, worked off on the poorer natives.

The tobacco trade is still a monopoly in Spain, and the Philippines are under contract to provide the home factories with 98,000 cwt. of dried leaf per annum. Enormous fortunes are made in a short time in this product.

When the infamous Weyler was Governor-General of the Philippines, his two brothers were in this business in Binondo. They went back to Madrid in a few years, and lived like princes.

The fact remains, however, that while a very superior article of cigar and cigarette is made in the factories of Manila and its vicinity, if the colony wishes to compete with other countries, the tobacco planters must raise the standard of quality all along the line.

There are several large tobacco factories in Binondo, the trading centre of Manila; one in particular employing 15,000 men, women, and children, at an average wage of 15 cents a day. The working hours are from seven to twelve in the morning, and from two to five in the afternoon. Just at sunset, I have often seen the operatives leave this factory in droves, and thousands of them immediately plunge into the waters of Manila Bay, where they swam about in the surf, rolling, tumbling, and shouting like children.

I have repeatedly gone through the factories, following the leaf from bale to finish; and it is an interesting sight. Color and quality are decided by a lightning expert, and quick and thorough is the whole process, till the finished cigars are packed in cedar boxes, labeled for the market. Cedar-wood seems part of the charm.

Innumerable efforts have been made to use other and less expensive woods in packing, but without avail: either the cedar conserves the aroma better, or, more likely, it adds a special quality of its own, which, through long habit, the confirmed smoker finds indispensable to his enjoyment.

The Escalante region is noted for the fine tobacco grown there, though sugar, of course, is the most important crop. The tobacco is rich-flavored, and by many experts is deemed the most desirable leaf in all the Visayas.

But it is generally agreed that the best quality of Island tobacco is that grown in the provinces of northern Luzon, the most valued coming from Cagayan and La Isabela.

Old residents invariably prefer Island tobacco; but the English, as the Americans, and the peninsular Spaniard choose, instead, the famous Vuelto Abajo of Cuba, and think they get it. Millions of “Havana” cigars, made of Philippine leaf, are sold in Manila under the name of this brand. In fact, the two styles—Manila and Cuban—are manufactured in almost equal quantities, differing in size and shape, but not in quality. The expert, at the selecting table, divides his heap into many different colors. Only five, however, are known to the trade. They are: Maduro, Colorado Maduro, Colorado, Colorado Claro, and Claro.

The filling of a cigar is called tripa, or tripe; the wrapper, capa, or overcoat. From the factory I have mentioned, alone, a million and a half of cigars are shipped to Europe every month. The strong, dark brands go to Spain. England takes every kind. The lighter colors are preferred in America.

Tobacco-leaves for cigarettes are cut into thread—generally called “long cut,”—and the whole process of making is done by one machine. I have seen nine of these hard at work, each turning out 12,000 cigarettes a day, making 38,000,000 in a year.

Smoking goes on in the Philippines everywhere but in church—in the hotel dining-room as soon as coffee is served, and at the theatre or opera while the audience is gathering, and between the acts. Even your cab-driver will offer you a cigar, if he thinks you have none. Spanish women of wealth and rank—grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and nieces sit on the balconies of their beautiful residences in the capital, puffing away at their cigarillos,—a tiny brand made especially for feminine consumption; while in some homes men and women help themselves from the same box.

It is an incongruous sight, and one hostile to the accepted ideas of a splendid type of primitive man, to see in the depths of remote provinces native men and women, young and old, of striking physical proportions, the men nude but for the flimsy breech-clout, smoking away at cigars, cigarettes, and even pipes; and at every possible and impossible angle of incidence.

For cigars and cigarettes have for many years been sold everywhere throughout the colony,—in even the remotest hamlets.

Besides, considerable stimulus has been given to the smoking habit in the wildest provinces by travelers, who, to ingratiate themselves with the half-savage natives of distant provinces, or to keep them from speculating whether one is a Spaniard or not, and thereby arousing their ire, bountifully dispense cigars and cigarettes wherever they go.

And so the dominant and absorbing habit of the Filipinos is to smoke.

Indeed, the common habit of smoking makes it possible to realize the Arabian Nights’ stories of fabulous fortunes made in the Philippines in a short time from the cultivation, preparation, and manufacture of the fragrant leaf.