The evening times., 1901-11-28
CUSTOMS DUES
TN PHILIPPINES
GEN. SMITHS ANNUAL REPORT.
Difficulty in Getting Possession OF
an Office From a Spaniard.
Receipts During the
Past Fiscal Year.

Brig. Gen. James F. Smith. wEo was
Collector of Customs of the Philippines,
under the military Government, and later
under the Philippine Commission, until
relieved by Mr.. Shuster, has made an
interesting report on the customs service
OF the islands IN which he reviews the
work for the fiscal year ended last June
He also gives q brief history OF the ser
vice since American occupation
An Obstinate spaniard-
This report forms an appendix to the
report Of the Philippine Commission nov
in the hands Of the Secretary CT War.
General Smith says
The city OF Manila surrendered on the
18th OF August, 1898, under the terms and
conditions finally agreed upon on that day
by the high contracting parties It de-
yeioped, however, some days after the sur
render Of the Spanish forces that the ad-
/ ministTado de aGuana had not beea con-
/ suited as to laying down his arms. anu
/ that ne refused to yield his pen OF
I Office 20 .Ee Bidding of the sword
/ The admin =--ZI0F was a little old
man. grown grey in the service OF
/ his beloved Espana beyond The seas.
/ and laughed TO sCoru the idea that
/ the military authority had any power
/ whatever to surrender him or the office
! that he held Had he been properly be
/ sieged. undermined, and taken by assault,
all we'll and good But nothing Of the
4 kind had been done, and hanged would he
! be before SurreadeTing 10 anything less
! than superior force. and then only after
Z a resistance commensurate to his means
+ OF defence Il was pointed out to him
/ that he had beer overlooked IN the hurry
/ and hustle Of overcoming the military,
and that had the Americans only known
his attitude he would have been properly
{ carried at the point Of the bayonet- 1t
[ was urged that the omission had been
! wholly unintentiopai and without malice
/ aforethought. and thss ne really ought to
/ give up without obIiging further expen-
( sive military operations But the old man
was mad all the way through and WouIdn' I
/ listen 10 anything OF the kind Finally.
! Major General Greene directed the deputy
/ pTovost-marsbal 70 produce the superior
J force in the presence Of which the ad-
! ministTadoT was gocd7e1ouEh to retire,
] taking with him. by way of no harm the
/ entire personnel Of the custom house, and
/ firing protests as he went.
| Utilized the OLD Force
The customs tariff and regulations for
/ the Philippine Islands were proclaimed
/ to take effect from and after November
! 10, 1928. In the meantime the Spanish
/ customs tariff and regulations were car
/ ried out as best might be by d customs
t force composed Of soldier inspectors, sol
| der examiners soldier bookkeepers sol
| der cashiers. soldier chiefs of depart
/ ments, and some few OF the old Spanish
/ contingent who had been induced to re-
sumo their duties BY a higher salary and
| the promise of better things to come
| The report continues
| During the eaIendar year 1900 nlerchan-
| disc to the value of 81. .2S4. sos. gold, was
| imported from twenty-nIne different coun-
| tries. as against SIS 70T, ,4S3. gold import
| ed during the calendar year 1889. On the
merchandise imported from January to
| December 1909. duties we're collected at
Manila 10 the extent of SIS, ,00O, OF. .96, gold
| as against S. 364. .G90 collected in 1899
| showing nearly Ieo per cent increase.
Imports From United states.
%-Of the imports from the United States
beer in bottles takes the lead with whisky
and wine rather poor second The to-
tai valuation of beer, whisky. and wine
so imported inclusive of the bottles con-
tanning the same, is the sum of 81 ,I02, ,604
of which sum of sS19,0T8 represents beer.
| The total duty collected on goods import
ed from the United States amounted to the
which the sum of 1851 -S26, considerably
more than one-haIf, was derived from
liquor Duties PAID on liquors and re-
| cePtacIes imported from all other eoun-
| tries only amounted to The sum OF S3Is,-
673-
| Glass imported from the United States
ranks next after liquors with valuation
of S201. .2G4, which includes the vaIra-
tfon OF glass reeeptaeles Of liquors here
| inbefore specified Then come -four and
breadstufTs. at a valuation of SIQ4, ,339; f;
cloth, yarn, and thread, SSS, ,71S; manu-
factures of iron. $71.2S1: beef. ham.
shoulders. lard. and meat products. $685.
S92; watches, SIS, ,2ZS; bicycles. S37 500:
and paper to the value cf $685.
Export Figures Encouraging.
A careful comparison of the import
and export statistics for the year 1900
| shows that, notwithstanding the fact that
the islands had been in a more or less
disturbed condition ever since the year
1896. and that an active campaign had
| been carried on persistenIy during the
! years 1889 afd 1909, the value Of experts