trade existed with Spain, and as Spanish vessels, from their high
rates of freight, were excluded from the carrying trade of the world,
the boon to commerce was a delusive one. [16]

[Laws drove away trade.] These inept excise laws, hampered with a
hundred suspicious forms, frightened away the whole carrying trade
from the port; and its commission merchants were frequently unable
to dispose of the local produce. So trifling was the carrying trade
that the total yearly average of the harbor dues, calculated from
the returns of ten years, barely reached $10,000.

[Manila's favorable location.] The position of Manila, a central
point betwixt Japan, China, Annam, the English and Dutch ports of
the Archipelago and Australia, is in itself extremely favorable
to the development of a world-wide trade. [17] At the time of the
north-eastern monsoons, during our winter, when vessels for the sake of
shelter pass through the Straits of Gilolo on their way from the Indian
Archipelago to China, they are obliged to pass close to Manila. They
would find it a most convenient station, for the Philippines, as we
have already mentioned, are particularly favorably placed for the
west coast of America.

[The 1869 reform.] A proof that the Spanish Ultramar minister fully
recognizes and appreciates these circumstances appears in his decree,
of April 5, 1869, which is of the highest importance for the future
of the colony. It probably would have been issued earlier had not the
Spanish and colonial shipowners, pampered by the protective system,
obstinately struggled against an innovation which impaired their
former privileges and forced them to greater activity.