The Spanish Administration of Philippine Commerce

The administration of Philippine commerce stands in sharp contrast to the Spanish policy in South America. In the one case all imports and exports under the national flag were encouraged to the utmost. In the other a definite limit was placed upon both not only as to the means provided for transportation, but also upon the value of the trade to be allowed. The trade of South America was protected by the squadrons of the royal navy, but the struggling commerce of the Western Islands, as they were called, had to fight its own battles against English, Portuguese and Dutch freebooters as well as the pirates of the surrounding Asiatic nations. Unjust as this treatment seems, from the Spanish point of view it was admirably well planned and consistent. In both cases the impelling motive was the same—the advancement of the interests of the home country. The mines of South America contributed to the national wealth without interfering with the industry of the mother land, and the growth of the settlements there led to an ever increasing demand for the products of Spanish vineyards and the looms of Andalusia. The trade with America was considered highly desirable, for goods went abroad and precious metals returned. But the Philippines could offer no such advantages. They had no important mines and the undeveloped native industry did not allow of great trade, even in goods for goods. The only possible basis of development was the trade to China. This commerce, however, was of a kind least to be desired. Since there was no return trade it meant that the cargo of Asiatic goods would be paid for in coin and would incur a constant drain of the precious metals to the countries of the far east “whence it never returned.”