The following, among other causes, contributed to foster the evil
and aggravate it: the constantly lessening encouragement that labor
has met with in the Philippines. Fearing to have the Filipinos deal
frequently with other individuals of their own race, who were free
and independent, as the Borneans, the Siamese, the Cambodians, and
the Japanese, people who in their customs and feeling's differ greatly
from the Chinese, the Government acted toward these others with great
mistrust and great severity, as Morga testifies in the last pages of
his work, until they finally ceased to come to the country. In fact,
it seems that once an uprising' planned by the Borneans was suspected:
we say suspected, for there was not even an attempt, although there
were many executions. (19) And, as these nations were the very ones
that, consumed Philippine products, when all communication with them
had been cut off, consumption of these products also ceased. The only
two countries with which the Philippines continued to have relations
were China and Mexico, or New Spain, and from this trade only China
and a few private individuals in Manila got any benefit. It, fact,
the Celestial Empire sent, her junks laden with merchandise, that
merchandise which shut down the factories of Seville and ruined the
Spanish industry, and returned laden in exchange with the silver that
was every year sent from Mexico. Nothing from the Philippines at that
time went to China, not even gold, for in those years the Chinese
traders would accept no payment but silver coin. (20) To Mexico went
little more: some cloth and dry goods which the encomendoros took
by force or bought from the natives at, a paltry price, wax, amber,
gold, civet, etc, but nothing more, and not even in great quantity,
as is stated by Admiral Don Jerónimo de Bañuelos y Carrillo, when
he begged the King that "the inhabitants of the Manilas be permitted
(!) to load as many ships as they could with native products, such
as wax, gold, perfumes, ivory, cotton cloths, which they would have
to buy from the natives of the country ............... Thus the
friendship of those peoples would be gained, they would furnish New
Spain with their merchandise and the money that is brought to Manila,
would not leave this place," (21)
The coastwise trade, so active in other times, had to die out, thanks
to the piratical attacks of the Malays of the south; and trade in
the interior of the islands almost entirely disappeared, owing to
restrictions, passports and other administrative requirements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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