After 1814 general permission had been given to foreigners to establish trading-houses in Manila, and by 1858 there were fifteen such establishments, of which seven were English and three American. [86] Other Ports Opened to Foreign Commerce.--In 1855 three other ports were opened to foreign commerce--Sual in Pangasinan on the Gulf of Lingayan, Iloilo, and Zamboanga. In 1863, Cebu likewise was made an open port. The exports of Sual consisted only of rice, and in spite of its exceptional harbor this port never flourished, and is to-day no more than an unfrequented village. Iloilo exported leaf tobacco, sugar, sapan or dyewood (an industry long ago ruined), hemp, and hides. Zamboanga through the Chinese had a small trade with Jolo and the Moro Islands, and exported the produce of these seas--sea-slug (tripang), shark fins, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, etc. For some years the customs laws in these ports were trying and vexatious, and prevented full advantage being taken of the privileges of export; but in 1869 this service was, by royal decree, greatly liberalized and improved. Since that date the Philippines have steadily continued to grow in importance in the commercial world. The Form of Government under the Spanish.--General Improvements.--This is perhaps a convenient place to examine for the last time the political system which the Spaniards maintained in the country. In 1850 there were thirty-four provinces and two politico-military commandancias. In these provinces the Spanish administration was still vested solely in the alcalde mayor, who until after 1886 was both governor or executive officer and the judge or court for the trial of provincial cases and crimes. Many of the old abuses which had characterized the government of the alcaldes had been at least partially remedied. After 1844 they had no longer the much-abused monopoly privilege of trade, nor had they as free a hand in controlling the labor of the inhabitants; but opportunities for illegal enrichment existed in the administration of the treasury and tax system, and these opportunities were not slighted. Up to the very end of Spanish rule the officials, high and low, are accused of stealing public money. The Pueblo.--The unit of administration was the pueblo, or township, which ordinarily embraced many square miles of country and contained, numerous villages, or "barrios." The center of the town was naturally the site where for centuries had stood the great church and the convent of the missionary friars. These locations had always been admirably chosen, and about them grew up the market and trading-shops of Chinese and the fine and durable homes of the more prosperous Filipinos and mestizos.