There were old treaties that prohibited Spain from seeking the Pacific by the eastern route, her trade being via Cape Horn and Mexico. Charles III. quashed these treaties in favor of the Royal Company, whose ships were allowed to sail by way of the Cape of Good Hope. No one seriously objected--Spanish commerce was not worth an objection. With its large capital and its privileges the Royal Company should have flourished. But it never did. Yet it benefited the Philippines, and gave a great impulse to agriculture, on which large sums of money were expended. The culture of sugar, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and pepper was much developed, and these long remained the staples of many provinces. The company had splendid opportunities, but failed to make the most of them. It broke down the vexatious prohibition to trade with the East and with Spain, which had checked Philippine enterprise, but the dry rot of Spanish incapacity caused its decay. Influence and intrigue brought men into the company that lacked ability, but received large salaries. As a result, it lost the power to compete with experts, while the contraband trade ate into its profits, and the merchants of Manila opposed its monopolies. Finally, in 1830, its privileges were taken away, and the island-colony was opened to the trade of the world. Five years afterward the Company ceased to exist. The Restrictions Are Gradually Abolished. Early in the nineteenth century foreigners made their way past the bars of restriction. A Mr. Butler first asked the privilege of residing in Manila, and opening up trade with Europe; but his humble petition was rejected as something monstrous,--an innovation that would put an end to the political security of the colony. Yet the needs of commerce forced Spain out of this illiberal attitude, and an American firm, Russell and Sturgis, was soon after admitted by favor of the Governor-General. Then Mr. Butler came back. Many others have since followed, and there are, to-day, about a dozen British and as many German and Swiss firms in the ports of Manila, Iloilo, and Cebú, together with firms of other nations. The house of Russell & Sturgis was long prominent in Philippine trade. It opened up the sugar culture in the isle of Negros, invested a large amount of money in agriculture, and was long the mainspring of Philippine enterprise. But it was, in the end, victimized by the natives, to whom its capital had been largely advanced, and in 1875, to the amazement and consternation of the people, the great firm failed. For a time its failure paralyzed trade, but the minor firms it had overshadowed soon expanded, and business grew brisker than before. Vexatious Duties on Foreign Imports.