The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 50: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 50: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
[22] Regarding Anda's birth, see VOL. XLIX, p. 132, note 74. According
to Montero y Vidal (Hist. de Filipinas, ii, p. 281), he studied at four
different schools (jurisprudence, at Alcalá) taking several degrees,
including that of doctor in law. He opened an office in Madrid, and
attained great fame as an advocate. In 1755 he received an appointment
to the Audiencia of Manila, of which post he took possession on July
21, 1761.
Anda was succeeded ad interim by Pedro Sarrio, "who found himself
obliged to compel the obras pías to lend some money to the government"
(Mas, Informe, i, part ii of "Historia," p. 21).
[23] A full account of this controversy, with the text of some of the
official documents therein, may be found in Mas, ut supra, pp. 23-28.
[24] By a royal decree of January 12, 1777, it was ordained that the
Indians should devote themselves to the cultivation of flax and hemp;
this must have originated from a suggestion by Anda.
[25] Zúñiga thus relates the result of this experiment in the village
of San Pedro Tunasan (Estadismo, i, pp. 29, 30): "The owner of these
lands is the college of San José in Manila, which has there a good
stone house, and a Spanish manager who attends to the collection of
the rent from the tenants. The land is quite fertile; it produces
abundance of mangas, cocoanuts, oranges, lemons, camias, balimbins,
buyo, sugar, and various other kinds of trees and garden produce. Also
there are a good many mulberry trees, and silk is made in the farm
buildings. When the Economic Society was established in Manila, when
Señor Basco was governor, the rector of the college gave orders that
all the land adjoining the farm should be planted with mulberry trees;
and, as this tree grows as easily as a weed in this country, in a short
time were seen around the house extensive and beautiful plantations
of these trees, which could produce an abundant harvest of excellent
silk. Silkworms were imported from China, and it was seen that they
multiplied readily. Not only on this estate, but in all directions,
the promotion of this industry was taken up with ardor. A considerable
quantity of silk was made; but on selling it the owners found that
they lost money in cultivating this article. When a calculation was
made of what the land which the mulberry trees occupied could produce,
it was found that even when it was planted with nothing more than
camotes it yielded them more than the silk did; add to this the care
of the worms and the cost of manufacture, and it will be found that
those who devote themselves to its culture must inevitably lose. In
other days the promotion of the silk industry had been considered
at Manila; and an old printed sermon has been found, written by an
Augustinian father, who stated therein the measures which had been
taken to introduce into the Filipinas islands an industry which
could be very profitable for them. The father preacher exhorted the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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