Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/267

PHILIPPINES — POPULATION AND FINANCES ccxli The weights and measures in use in Porto Rico are : The quintal, of 4 arrobas ; tlie arroba (25.;>0 lbs.), of 25 libras ; the libra, of 16 onzas ; the vara, of 3 pies (0.91407 foot) ; the pie, of 12 pulgadas ; the arroba (liquid measure : 4.263 gallons) ; and fanega (dry measure : 1.599 bushels), of 12 ahnudes. The cuerda (land measure) equals about two-tifths of an acre. Philippine Islands [The data given herewith, relating to Jinancial and industrial conditions in the Philippines, are from the report of Edward W. Harden, Special Commissioner of the United States, and those relating to mineral resources are from a memorandum by George F. Becker, in the Nineteenth Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survey.] Area and Population These islands, ceded by Spain to the United States by the treaty signed by the Peace Commissioners, Dec. 10, 1898, and ratified by the Senate, Feb. 6, 1899, and by the Queen Regent of Spain Mar. 17, extend almost due north and south from Formosa to Borneo and the Moluccas, embrac- ing an extent of 16° of latitude and 9"^ of longitude. They are about 2000 in number ; the two largest are Luzon (area 40,024 square miles) and Mindanao ; and the total area, including the Sulu Islands, is about 115,300 square miles. The population is estimated at about 8,000,000. The capital of the Philippines, Manila, has 154,062 inhabitants (1887); other towns are Laoag, 30,642 ; Lipa, 43,408 ; Banang, 35,598 ; Batangas, 35,587. There are about 25,000 Europeans in the islands and about 100,000 Chinese, in whose hands are the principal industries. The native inhabitants are mostly of the Malayan race, but there are some tribes of Negritos. The group is divided into three governments : Luzon, the Visayas, and INIindanao with the Sulu Islands ; but in many of the islands the natives have hitherto been practically independent. Financial and Industrial Conditions Silver is the basis of the currency in the Philippine Islands. There is no gold in general circulation, and has been none for more than twenty years. The Mexican dollar of a date previous to 1877 is current in the islands, and it is practically the only money in general circulation. The Spanish Government, in the summer of 1897, coined $6,000,000 of silver in a local currency, which was sent to the islands. These dollars are lighter in weight than the Mexican dollar, but the scarcity of money in the Phil- ippine Islands caused them to be quickly absorbed. There is a local note- issuing bank, called the Banco Espanol Filipino, which has in circulation notes based on silver, of which there was outstanding on Sept. 30, 1898, approximately, .S2, 500,000. It is estimated there is in circulation $10,000,000 of subsidiaiy coins, the 10-cent, 20-cent, and 50-cent pieces, which have been recoined from Mexican dollars by the Spanish Government. The estimate of the Mex- ican dollars now in circulation, as given by one of the best-informed bankers in the islands, is from $20,000,000 to $25,000,000. This, with the $2,500,000 of notes of the Banco Espanol Filipino now in circulation, constitutes the currencv of the islands. This would make a total of from $40,000,000 to $45,000,000, speaking roughly, for the entire Islands, or, approximately, $5 per capita for the total population of the islands. It must not be overlooked that these figures are given on a silver basis, and that, therefore, in figuring on our own standard all of these figures must be cut in two. On a gold basis, the currency of the islands is, therefore,