In 1825 the company was on the point of collapse, when, to support the tottering fabric, its capital was increased by P12,500,000 under _Real Cedula_ of that year, dated June 22. King Charles IV. took 15,772 (P250) shares of this new issue. But nothing could save the wreck, and finally it was decreed, by _Real Cedula_ of May 28, 1830, that the privileges conceded to the "_Real Compania de Filipinas_" had expired--and Manila was then opened to Free Trade with the whole world. It marked an epoch in Philippine affairs. In 1820 the declared independence of Mexico, acknowledged subsequently by the European Powers, forced Spain to a decision, and direct trade between the Philippines and the mother country became a reluctant necessity. No restrictions were placed on the export to Spain of colonial produce, but value limitations were fixed with regard to Chinese goods. The export from the Philippines to Acapulco, Callao, and other South American ports was limited to P750,000 at that date. In the same year (1820) permission was granted for trade between Manila and the Asiatic ports. Twenty-two years afterwards one-third of all the Manila export trade was done with China. When the galleons fell into disuse, communication was definitely established with Spain by merchant sailing ships _via_ the Cape of Good Hope, whilst the opening of the Suez Canal (1869) brought the Philippines within 32 days' journey by steamer from Barcelona. The voyage _via_ the Cape of Good Hope occupied from three to six months; the sailings were less frequent than at the present day, and the journey was invariably attended with innumerable discomforts. It was interesting to hear the few old Spanish residents, in my time, compare their privations when they came by the Cape with the luxurious facilities of later times. What is to-day a pleasure was then a hardship, consequently the number of Spaniards in the Islands was small; their movements were always known. It was hardly possible for a Spaniard to acquire a sum of money and migrate secretly from one island to another, and still less easy was it for him to leave the Colony clandestinely.