Evening star., 1901-09-03
consider the objections made and to sub

consider the objections made anO TO sup
nit report, with recommendations: 20 the
military governor On the 26th OF Septem-
ber. 1893, the board recommended the sus-
pension Of the excise tax to which ooJec-
tion had been made, and with this modln-
cation the customs tariff and regulations
for the Philippine Islands were proclaim
ed to take effect from and after NoVem-
ber 10, 1898. a.
''In the meantime the Spanish tariff and
regulations were enforced as best night De
by a customs force composed OF soldier IN
spectors, soldier examiners, soldier LOOK.
keepers, soldier cashiers. soldier chle1s o!
departments. and some few OF the oio
Spanish contingent who had been induced
to resume their duties by higher salary
and the promise Of better things to come
''Few Of those who did business with the
custom house spoke Engiish, ana not
many of those in 1t had further acauaint-
ance with the language OF the country
than that furnished by the limited. hut
very expressive vocabulary of POGO tempo
vamOose.'
worse than all that it Is doubtful If a
single man responsible for the proper col
lection of the customs duties under the
new regime had ever before been placed In
such relations to customs machine as TO
obtain a comprehensive Idea OF its general
acquaintance with it's complicated. delicate
and difficult mechanism. Now and. then
man was picked up who had GDne time IN
the customs tread-mill at home. but II his
difference between a woolen cvercoat and
a silk dress he didn't fit in. and generally
proved worse than useless FOR lack OF adap-
liability.
Improving the Service.
'Under these circumstances, it is hardly
to be wondered at IL the customs move
ments were trif1e jerky for the first few
months, and lacked that rhythm which re-
suits from perfect coordination. After
rx,l,x, 6nE E,,cr
lish translation of the new customs tariff
and regulations went into effect, and 1t
was possible for the American examiner to
understand that the duty on 'gemelos
didn't mean a tax on twfne, but on opera
glasses things began to go little more
smoothly and chance was given to plug
I'D the holes and file down cog here and
there.
.F,rom August until the breaking out of
hostflities in February, 1899, the customs
work was confined to the port Of Manila.
In the latter month the port Of Hoilo was
March by the opening of the port of Cebu..
Zamboanga, Jolo and Siassi were opened
December 26, 1899.
During the entire period from August.
1898. up to the present time (May 81. 19OD
the customs personnel has been subject to
frequent and sudden changes brought about
by the exigencies of the military service,
the return Of the volunteers to their homes
muster
service regulations which were put into ef-
feet in March and April, 1901. These un-
avoidable changes necessitated the almost
constant breaking In Of new men, caused
annoying mistakes, affected the efficiency
and hampered greatly the development Of
the service Nevertheless, handicapped as
II was by the difficulties recited, the SER
vice did develop, the development was
healthy and the work performed with such
eficiency as the state Of the case and
condition Of actual, If not recognized, war
fare permitted.
Need of Warehouses.
General Smith then describes the system
of Ightering and warehousing Of goods un-
der the Spanish regime and notes the
changes which have been introduced as ia
cilities could be obtained since American
occupation. Carman & Co. have succeeded
to the Spanish firms which held the con-
cessions for 1ightering and unloading, and
fhe arrangement OF the merchants with
that Arm as successors TO Montanez & Co.
in control of the facilities for unlading
lighters and removing the merchandise to
the warehouses has only been tacitly rec
ognized as temporary solution or dtf-
Until quite recently there was no bonded
warehouse system whatever in the Phil
ippines, a condition which threw the bur-
den of providing storage room for all goods
on which duties had not been paid on the
government.
II ia but fair to say that the government
was poorly provided with storage space to
meet the enormous influx of goods which
poured into Manila in the six months from
July to December 81, 1900. During that
time the monthly average net tonnage of
foreign vessels arriving was more than
90 600 tons while the warehouses were suf-
ficient to accommodate only 1900 tons
Every square inch In the bodegas, except a
single passageway for the entrance and
exit Of goods, was soon required to accom-
modate the fnundation of merchandise and
even the yards had to be pressed into SER
vice for the storage Of merchandise under
the shelter Of tarpaulins and canvas Segre-
CATION and separation of consignments in
the warehouses soon became absolutely Inn
possible; ships, with the cascoes and light
ers employed In discharging them, did duty
virtually as floating warehouses Ware
house space in Manila could not be had for
love or money for the reason that every
building suitable for the purpose was either
filled with hemp or with the enormous Inn
portations.
Increase In Imp0rtatiOns.
OF course, IL the merchant could have en-
tered his goods, paid the estimated duties
and taken delivery from the ships side,
there would have beep some substantial
ground to insist upon the collection OF PEN
atty storage (which was waived during the