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National Geographic : 1899 Feb
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THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES 57 The tobacco monopoly, with all its heartless severity and im posts, was introduced in 1781, under the governor Don Jose Vasco y Vargas, the government, by no means for the first time, finding itself in a critical financial condition. The population guessed at what was coming and opposed the new measure, which was only carried out by force of arms. The law prescribed that every native might plant tobacco, but might only sell it to the government. In the tobacco districts every native had to grow a certain number of plants and devote all his attention to them. The collecting of caterpillars was done by women and children, just as it is today. This might have been well enough had the people been able to enjoy the fruits of their labor; but the worst has still to be said. The tobacco was sorted, "aforado " as it is technically called, and that unfit for use burned, so as to prevent fraud. The principal matter in sorting was the length. 18 inches and over was primera (first) class. 18-14 inches was secunda (second) class. 14-10 inches was tercera (third) class. 10-7 inches was quarta (fourth) class. Smaller but good leaves were sometimes classed as 5 and 6. For valuing the tobacco the officials used a scale, according to which the planter received some 20 to 30 per cent of the real value. But he was not paid in cash. He received a certificate, a kind of treasury bond. Had the people had security for the payment of these bonds at an early date the latter would soon, no doubt, have come into currency as paper money. But, far from this being so, no one would have them, knowing that five or six years might pass before they were redeemed. The tobacco planters lived under more miserable conditions than the worst kept slaves, and were glad if some noble philanthropist would give them half the value of their certificates, for who could say whether the purchaser was not risking his 50 per cent. Fre quently the bonds were practically given away. In the cigar manufactories in Manila 30,000 workpeople were employed, and were always paid in cash; so that their lot was more enviable than that of the planters. That under this system, in spite of the enormous army of officials, a profit of four or five million dollars was annually yielded can be easily understood. The savior of the unfortunate tobacco planter was one of those Spaniards in whom there was still the blood of the hidalgo, the intendant-general Don Jos6 Jimeno Agius. In his report in
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