Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-25
Foreign Business Amounts to Thirty
Million a Year.
We ARE NOT GETTING FULL SHARE
Europe is Gobb|ng the Bulk of
the Imports.
THE OPULENT SALOONIST
Copyright, 1900. by Frank G. Carpenter.)
,ecial CORRESPONDENCE of The Evening Star

VCOpyr1ght, Dy FRANK q. Carpentef.)
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
MANILA, July 2. 1900.
The Philippine Islands does a foreign
business of more than thirty million dol
lars a year. and of this the United States
Is not getting its share of the profits. One
of the big importing firms of Manila today
gave its check at the custom house for
s97, 900 in gold. This was the duty on one
shipment of goods This was petroleum
and it came from Russia. The most of the
kerosene used In the Philippines comes
from that country, notwithstanding the
United States has the greatest petroleum
fields in the world
We raise more cotton than any other
land, but the cotton goods used here come
from England and Germany. We have the
chief iron mines and the best hardware.
but Germany and England are supplying
the Philippines. California IS nearer Ma
Mia than either Spain or France. but the
wines consumed are from the latter coun-
tries.
In fact, about the only thing that is now
being imported here in great quantities
from America Is beer This was brought
to Manila by the ship load as soon as the
Americans took possession of the country.
/ crossed the Pacific with the agent of one
firm who made s2I0,000 by getting his cargo
of beer In first. Other men have done almost
as WELL and today all the leading makes of
American beer are sold here The beer Is
largely consumed by Americans Within
six months after our troops landed the
number of Mani!a's saloons was multiplied
by ten. There are now a hundred mere
where there was one before the chlei sup
port of all being the American soldiers.
The beer sells at high prices the ordinary
bottle costing - cents in gold or more
than three times much as at home
Goods That America Should Furnish.
You would think that the United States
should furnish the most of the butter and
other canned goods of the Philippines IL
does not The bulk of the canned stun
comes from Europe, but Australia Is push
ing her way in far ahead of the Americans.
We have Australian canned fruits on our
dining tables and our army Is now eating
Australian butter and Australian beef
The duties at present are so great as 10
make such importations prohtbitive "A can
Of California pears which sells for 30 cents
I'm San Francisco would have to pay an
additional 80 cents as duty before 1t could
enter Manila.
AS to other products France Switzerland
and Austria ship largely to this market.
Machinery, paper AID silks come from
France. furniture of the Brentwood variety
from Austria and glass and glassware. as
we'll as iron, paper and cement, from Bel
GUM.
We take more of the exports of the Phil
ippines than any other country, but We get
less IN return. Last year al tlle OIteu
States goods sold in Manila were worth In
round numbers $1,0,009 in gold upon which
we paid a duty Of $4,000. In addition to
this there were some goods sent by way of
Hong Kong and transshpped there which
were probably credited to China, but alto
gether the imports were very light.
/ am told at the custom house that, be-
ginning with this year. there has been
rapid increase in American importations.
great deal of flour has begun to come in.
Cotton is being imported in small lots, and
also some galvanized iron and machinery.
Quite a number of American typewriters
are being shipped in, the business firms
here seeing our machines in the hands of
the government clerks and thereby appre-
ciating their value.
Our Spanish Custom House.
I find 1t very hard to get accurate in
formation from the custom house. For
some reason other the officials think
financial matters should be kept secret and
that the American people have no right to
know what business is being done until