wn planters in distant provinces,
otherwise than for ready money. A large number of half-castes, too,
who before traded in manufactured goods purchased in Manila, were
enabled after this to send their goods direct to the provinces, to the
foreign firms settled there; and as, ultimately, neither these latter
nor the Chinese retail dealers could successfully compete with them,
the result has been that, as much to their own profit as to that of the
country, they have betaken themselves to the cultivation of sugar. In
this manner important plantations have been established in Negros,
which are managed by natives of Iloilo: but there is a scarcity of
laborers on the island.

[Land disputes.] Foreigners now can legally acquire property, and
possess a marketable title; in which respect the law, until a very
recent period, was of an extremely uncertain nature. Land is to be
obtained by purchase, or, when not already taken up, by "denuncia"
(i.e. priority of claim). In such case, the would-be possessor of
the land must enter into an undertaking in the nearest of the native
Courts to cultivate and keep the said land in a fit and serviceable
condition. Should no other claim be put in, notice is thereupon given
of the grant, and the magistrate or alcalde concludes the compact
without other cost than the usual stamp duty.

[Lack of capital for large plantations.] Many mestizos and natives,
not having the necessary capital to carry on a large plantation
successfully, sell the fields which they have already partially
cultivated to European capitalists, who are thus relieved of all the
preliminary tedious work. Evidently the Colonial Government is now
sincerely disposed to favor the laying out of large plantations.

[Lack of roads.] The want of good roads is particularly felt: but, with
the increase of agriculture, this defect will naturally be remedied;
and, moreover, most of the sugar factories are situated on rivers which
are unnavigable even by flat freight boats. The value of land in many
parts of the country has doubled within the last ten years. [214]

[Sugar prices.] Up to 1854 the picul of sugar was worth in Iloilo from
$1.05 to $1.25 and seldom over $2.00 in Manila; in 1866, $3.25; and
in 1868, $4.75 to $5.00 in Iloilo. The business in Iloilo therefore
shows an increase of $1.75 per picul. [215]

[Negros.] At the end of 1856 there were as many as twenty Europeans
established on the island of Negros as sugar planters, bes