The Philippine government collects as internal revenue one-third of one per cent of the gross business done by merchants and manufacturers in the islands. The fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, was the last before the opening of free trade with the United States. The figures for the four subsequent years therefore show the resulting stimulus to business. The gross business on which the percentage tax was collected in 1909 was $190,000,000 (P380,000,000). The increases over that year have been:-- ------+---------------------------------+------------- | Increases over 1909 | +------------------+--------------+ Percentage Year | United States | Philippine | of Increase | Currency | Currency | ------+------------------+--------------+------------- 1910 | $38,000,000 | P76,000,000 | 20.0 1911 | 76,000,000 | 152,000,000 | 40.0 1912 | 96,000,000 | 192,000,000 | 50.5 1913 | 143,000,000[187]| 286,000,000 | 75.3 +------------------+--------------+------------- | $353,000,000[187]| P706,000,000 | ------+------------------+--------------+------------- The gross business increased by a fifth in one year; by two-fifths in two years; by more than a half in three years; and by more than three-quarters in four years. In the year 1909 the total exports and imports of the Philippine Islands amounted to $59,000,000 (P118,000,000). The increases over that year have been:-- ------+----------------------------------+------------- | Increases over 1909 | +-------------------+--------------+ Percentage Year | United States | Philippine | of Increase | Currency | Currency | ------+-------------------+--------------+------------- 1910 | $18,000,000 | P36,000,000 | 30.5 1911 | 31,000,000 | 62,000,000 | 52.5 1912 | 46,000,000 | 92,000,000 | 77.9 1913 | 61,000,000[188]| 122,000,000 | 103.4 +-------------------+--------------+------------- | $156,000,000 | P312,000,000 | ------+-------------------+--------------+------------- The total trade increased by nearly one-third in one year; by more than a half in two years; by more than three-quarters in three years; and more than doubled in four years.