The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Vol. XVIII, No.2 (February 1938)

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Title: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Vol. XVIII, No.2 (February 1938)
Issue Date: Vol. XVIII, No.2 (February 1938)
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extracted text: TRANSPORTATION hi its earioits forms, I ra nsporta I ion is the larpesl bumness in the Philippines. The eoeheeo makes his lirinij from it, the hip operator of motorized fleets makes a lortune. Pead “Automobiles, Kilometers and Taxes,’’ in this issue. Ollier Features and the Usual Mining and Commercial Reviews HOPE.... “Look at that beaming baby face! It makes one realize that every child represents HOPE itself” Life Insurance gives life to HOPE and provide security for it. Assure the happiness of your loved ones by insuring in THE INSULAR LIFE now. LIFE INSURANCE IS AN INVESTMENT IN HUMAN HAPPINESS on©. IN/ULAR LIFE BU1LDING..MANILA Tune in on the Insular Life Concert Hall of the Air, Every Wednesday Evening, from 7:00 to 7:30, over KZRM. Radio Manila IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 19 38 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 1 ELECTROLUX THE GAS REFRIGERATOR operates on a basically different principle which also gives you PERMANENT SILENCE NO MOVING PARTS TO WEAR CONTINUED LOW RUNNING COST "XTO MOVING PARTS” is the 1Nl secret of Electrolux’s mere efficient, money-saving operation. And it’s the reason, too, why this remarkable refrigerator never makes a sound. For a tiny gas flame does all the work . . . pro duces constant cold and freezes cubes without noise, friction or "wear. Accept our invitation to see the beautiful Electrolux models for yourself. Come in! MANILA GAS CORPORATION 136-138 T. Pinpin truly— the supreme soft drinks of the Commonwealth Ask for yozir favorite flavor ISUAN, Inc. Tel.: 5-73-06 We Deliver Refreshing Delicious Healthful Pure IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 2 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 NOTICE Unequivocal Guaranty on WESTON Special Reserve SCOTCH Take a drink of Weston If one is not enough Call the boy back and Order “the same” again Results are Guaranteed Trans-Pacific Trading Co. ISO T. Pinpin Tel. 2 * 42 * 04 MANILA P. O. Box 497 Good for a Healthy Thirst! Philippine Refining Company --------------------INCORPORATED--------------- — MANILA CEBU Producers of Coconut Oil, Copra Cake and Copra Meal ID IE P IE IM ID A IB L IE AMD II IM T IE IL IL I G IE IM T SERVICE We Solicit Direct Shipments of Copra from Producers and Provincial Merchants s s WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND COPRA MEAL FOR STOCK FEEDING. IT CAN NOT BE EXCELLED Try It Once And Be Convinced 1035 ISAAC PERAL-TEL. 5-69-51 -MANILA UCAK NEWS PRES CREATIVE PRINTERS TEL. 2-12-75 671 DASMARlflAS MANILA IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL Single Copies: 35 centavos Just Little Things • Once when Judge James C. Ross was in London he chanced upon a place where an old church was under going repairs and the parish was eking out the cost by vending old timbers from the church as mementoes. What was good in the worn-out timbers was made into relics. Judge Ross bought a cross, and presented it to Bishop Gouvemeur Frank Mosher who gladly placed it in the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. John. Bishop Mosher remarked at the Parish dinner a few weeks ago, how grateful the Cathedral is for this token of faith, how much it would be pleased if Judge Ross’s thoughtful ness were emulated. And why not, when folk travel, think of these things? Each of course for his own church. • Sofronio Calderon the bookbinder who comes so politely into your office from time to time, getting new work ycu may have for him, is a skilled teacher of Tagalog among whose early students were some of oui' older missionaries. He is a Catholic. Long ago he translated the Bible into Tagalog for the British & Foreign Bible Spcietv. no longer represented hpre. At that time, 1900, its Manila man was Howard H. Miller of Melbourne. Calderon’s language studies under the Jesuits of Manila began with Greek and Latin. He knows Spanish, of course, but Tagalog is his mother tongue and beau ideal. We spurred him to undertake a Tagalog-English dictio nary about seventeen years ago. He worked odd hours at it, is as far as “n” and has eight more letters to go. He is astonished himself, by the richness of the Tagalog language, and tells us now that his dictionary will be almost as voluminous as a dictionary of English. Per haps this oversteps the mark, but he finds Tagalog’s sources of richness to be: the word structure, providing many variations from a single root, the abundance of synonyms, accretions from foreign languages. He may abridge his work into a book for popular use. • Governoi' W. C. Bryant who manages the Pamplona coconut plantation in Oriental Negros has been in for a chat and a cup of coffee. Pamplona is 60% under pro duction, out of debt, thoroughly equipped, the owner of a profitable herd of 700 cattle, and preparing to pay its first dividend. Par of the stock is P50, but transactions have been made at P60. It has been a long pull, and during the period that prosperity was loafing around the corner, the cattle and the tolls paid by lumber companies utilizing the plantation main road were godsends to the payroll. Now that the plantation is in the clear, unfail ing dividends are expected. A Grinnell dryer, enlarged from time to time, prepares the copra. Steam power was abandoned in favor of an electric turbine some years ago. and the flume that leads the water to the turbine carrier also the bulk of the nuts to the dryer. First the nuts are husked and halved in the groves, workmen contracting for this. Power and light is abundant, and upkeep of the turbine practically nothing. Governor Brvant comes from Ohio and in bovhood was a school mate of Paul Gulick’s. He is an oldtime Worcester man, who came to the Islands in 1902 and was the governor of one of the subdivisions of Mountain Province under the interior-department administration of the late Dr. Dean C. Worcester. (Please turn to page 7) WARNER BARNES & COMPANY, LTD. LONDON — MANILA — ILOILO — CEBU — BACOLOD SHIPPING DEPARTMENT Agents For: Nippon Yusen Kaisha Cunard-White Star, Ltd. Bibby Line INSURANCE DEPARTMENT Transacting: Fire Marine Automobile and Miscellaneous Fidelity and Surety Bonds IMPORTERS & EXPORTERS General Managers of COMMONWEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY ILOILO WAREHOUSING CORPORATION RAMONA MILLING COMPANY Special representatives of IMPERIAL AIRWAYS, LTD. MACHINERY DEPARTMENT Agents For: Suqar Machinery, Diesel Enqines, Condensing Plants, Mininq Machinery and Steels, Ship builders and Engineers. AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT All Classes of Fertilizer IMPORT DEPARTMENT Sperry Flour Sugar Bags Manila Office: SORIANO BUILDING, Plaza Cervantes Cable Address: “WARNER” Standard Codes /.V RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 4 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 Philippine Sugar in America’s Pacific Problem • An invitation to the Commonwealth and the United States to scrap the past and launch out in their mutual interest on a course dictated by present and commanding circumstances. By Walter Robb Peoples reach junctures in their careers that make their past of no political account because nothing in it relates to their future or benefits it. The Philippines have reached such a point. Behind lies subordination in Spanish times, but today and the tomorrows to follow are times of freedom and self-respect. Obviously, be tween the two situations no relationship exists. Free men do not say to slaves, Teach us to bow our shoulders like yours, and to bend acquiescent knees. Yet such would be the lessons the Philippines of today could garner from their past. The thread of history runs on, the thread of politics breaks. Culture yields, gives and receives without breaking, but the rule of politics is that of the poet, new occa sions teach new duties. Fathers are respected, not however as mentors of arts foreign to their knowledge and experience. The Phil ippine people caught the light of freedom from the polemics of Rizal, whose veneration of his father did not extend to exempting his subservience from rebuke: Rizal’s outlook was forward, he reviewed the past only to berate it. Most lads honor their fathers, more so their mothers, all over the world, but do not apply to them when, for example, knowl edge of how to fly an air plane is wanted. The real affairs of the Philippines in which we live began with the advent of the Commonwealth two years ago. The Commonwealth founded, a long narrative of subordination, which Amer ica made it her business to eliminate, ceased to have significance for the future. In Manila, in the field of politics, it all deserves to be forgotten. In Washington, the archives of the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department back of 1934 should be sent to the Congres sional Library for scholars’ convenience in research. Washington has nothing pertinent to the Common wealth that does not date with it. Neither has Manila. The Commonwealth made jalopies of nearly four centuries. Good riddance of bed rubbish, too. The statesman who constrains the Commonwealth Philippines to the letter of ideals of forty years ago, counting as nothing the spirit of Sundry Pertinent Data on P. I. Sugar: 1937 How Shipped % Cane Farms, Size No. American Ships ......... 21 Below 100 acres 12,840 British Ships ............. 16 100 to 500 acres 3,460 Japanese ships ......... 32 500 to 1,000 acres 887 Norwegian ships ........ 20 1,000 to 3,000 acres ............... 977 Danish ......................... 4 3,000 to 5,000 acres ............. 287 German ....................... 3 Above 5,000 acres Total Cane 283 Others ......................... 4 Farms .... 18,784 Cane farmers leave some fields fallow or given to other crops every year. Our data are from, the Philippine Sugar Administration who say the 1937 Philippine cane crop was grown on 7-\r2% of the. cultivated land of the Is lands; distributed in 17 provinces, with two million Com monwealth citizens deriving their livelihood directly from i * . The Commonwealth’s sugar quota in the American market approximates 1 million short tons a year. The accompanying paper is the first study, we believe, of Philippine sugar in the American market in its relation to America’s primary problem on the Pacific and her perplexities concerning the attitude she should assume in the Far East and particularly toward the Common wealth of the Philippines. In other words, the first study of this sugar from the viewpoint of its vantage to the United States, and to the Commonwealth in stabilizing it self as a free constitutional government in association with the United States. those ideals attainable in the Commonwealth, is not fair unless he, being an American, would set the clock back in his own country an equal time; among other things, he should prove his consistency by pulling down the World Court at Hague, and tearing the Kellogg Pact into scraps of paper; and he should taunt England because she ac cepts, when forty years ago she would not have accepted, a Catholic layman as America’s ambassador to London. A Congressman tries to nettle the Commonwealth Philippines by charging a change of front, from the ex treme of complete separation politically from America. But prescience hardly goes so far: it all pertains to yesterday and deserves oblivion, if freedom was denied and equality not re cognized, separation was pleaded through the dig nified use of the right of petition. But the whole procedui?. is an episode of no present consequence, of the past. Maybe it will help Amer icans to remember that though their forebears drew a bill of indictment against George III, yet later, with this same George III, they signed a treaty of commerce and amity. In the present we have the fruition of past endeavor, the only worth while human legacy from days that forever die. Peo ples are not fixed stars. Legally too, all Philippine government older than the Commonwealth is dead. To make the situation clear at Washington, assume for a moment actual separation of the Islands from the United States. It will be granted that then, under a new name only, concern would be wholly with the Commonwealth; all back of that would not be relevant, and indeed even the name Commonwealth might be retained. This should show everyone how much, all of it without the least application to the present, must be thrown out of the record to face the problems existing between the Phil ippines and the United States today and to try to solve them. In a moment we will talk specifically about the million tons of sugar the Philippines market yearly in the United States, because it is susceptible of factoring both AmeiFebruary, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 5 ica’s and the Commonwealth’s problems on the Pacific. If however, studies of this vast element in PhilippineAmerican commerce are' associated with the past, its place in today’s commerce (and more so in tomorrow’s) can not be seen. The past bemuses you, and beclouds reasonable conclusions. Before discussing it, we will state what seem to be the major Philippine problems on the Pacific, and that of the United States. Let us give America’s problem first. America’s problem on the Pacific relates in part to the Commonwealth, in part to Japan and secondarily to China. It involves retention of the great trade America has with Japan and the Commonwealth, and her trade with China. The primary element in it is the presence of a mercantile fleet on the Pacific that could, at need, service the naval fleet. The vital trade with Japan can not, perhaps, be kept save through the interest of Japanese merchant ships in the freighting it provides. And this alone may not be enough, additional freight, as from the Philippines, may be needed. The Commonwealth’s problem on the Pacific is some what broader, in one sense. It involves creation of a merchant marine; Its primary element is the market ing of a million tons of sugar a year in the United States. It is submitted that should the United States and the Commonwealth come to terms about this sugar, that concord alone would give America the commanding posi tion on the Pacific, in the carrying trade, and at the same time, open the Pacific to Philippine ships. Such ships would be built in the United States, with sugges tions of the navy carried out in their construction (as in the case of American ships), and the American Bureau would survey them. These ships, like our own, would be available to the navy at call. A third element in the Commonwealth’s problem on the Pacific is making itself solid with the United States. There are of course matters of lesser interest to both governments, on the Pacific, but we state the main case. A table shown with this paper sums up a total of three million tons of cargo a year in the ocean commerce of the Philippines. This comes to about a ton for every family in the Islands. A third of it is the sugar, 1,000,000 tons in round numbers, all sent to the United States. The total tonnage of cargo a year in the bilateral Philippine-American trade is about 1,400,000 tons from the Islands to the United States in form of commodities useful in manufactures, and about 600,000 tons of manu factures and foodstuffs from the United States to the Philippines. The tables review five years. From the Philippines, sugar is the big item. While the cane utilizes only a minor portion of the land cul tivated, this sugar is vital in the Islands’ economy as their big cash crop. It sustains their banks, keeps the peso stabilized with the dollar, and makes the public credit sound that is behind the bonded debt. American ships freight a minor part of this sugar, last year less than 22 per cent of it. As things stand, this sugar is not helping, as it should, to keep an adequate American merchant fleet on the Pacific, but rather, foreign ships. There is a table about this, too. Our proposal is that a fleet of American ships built as the proper authorities would have them built, be pro vided for the carrying of all the million tons of Philippine sugar to market in the United States. We do not say that this need be done in a day, only that a concord to do it should be reached and signed, and a time set for the service to begin. The service would employ some sixty-five ships that would probably cost about $500,000 each. The season is long, ten months. The sugar could be charged a sub sidy rate, say $11 to $12 to the Atlantic coast, $8 to $9 to the Pacific coast, because it pays no duty; and for this assured advantage in a permanent market, the in dustry and the Commonwealth would readily concede a subsidy rate to auxiliaries of a fleet maintained on the Pacific largely for the Islands’ defense. The Common wealth, particularly, would see the supplementary ad vantages at once. Soon as the arrangement went into effect between them, the United States and the Common wealth would come into command of the freighting af fecting their commerce, and an old monopoly, made obsolescent by the advent of the Commonwealth, would decline. There would be left outside the arrangement, two million tons of other cargo. This would include the 600,000 tons of American manufactures and foodstuffs imported into the Commonwealth every year, and the 400,000 tons of sundry commodities bought in the United States from the Commonwealth, and a million tons of cargo made up of foreign imports and the purchases of foreign countries. It is all this cargo and tne chance to freight it that would insure the plan from complaints from foreign interests, and insure the United States con tinued good commerce with Japan and China—for it would keep all ships moving that this commerce requires. The plan does not invoke the U. S. coastwise laws, it presupposes a special concord between the United States and the Commonwealth. As soon as such a concord was made and went into effect, without bothering with subsidies Philippine ships would begin to ply the seas. They could find a place for themselves both in carrying manufactures to the Islands and carrying insular products to market. Such would assuredly be the case, because the arrange ment would place the Commonwealth and the United States in complete command of the freighting situation. But rapid internal development throughout the Common wealth will of course soon add hundreds of thousands of tons both to imports and exports, and this we will talk about now. Ships that bring American and Metric Tons of Cargo Exchanged Between the Philippines, the United States, and Other Countries To Philippines Total U.S. Only From Philippines Foreign Total U.S Only Foreign 1932 ......................................................................................... 1,572,081 661,650 1933 ......................................................................... . 1,429,703 601,558 1934 ...................................................................... 1,438,310 600,251 1935 1,538,094 556,029 1936 ......................................................................................... 1,798,500 564,903 910,431 828,145 838,059 982,065 1,233,597 1,692,271 2,088,579 2,288,060 1,546,903 2,058,706 1,137,197 1,526,236 1,504,350 980,243 1,315,056 562,074 562,343 783,710 566,660 743,650 Five Years ------- - - 7776,688 2,984,391 4,792,297 9,674,519 6,463,082 3,218,437 Average ....’. 7.<555’337 596,878 958,459 1,934,903 1,292,614 643,687 Average tons imports 1,555,537 plus exports 1,934,903 total 3,490,240 6 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 Manufactures to the Far East can, and do, as much as they are forced to do, base their outward rates in the fact that they will surely procure bulk homeward cargoes at the Philippines. This factor in international snip ping would not be eliminated by the plan allocating Philippine sugar to American ships and Philippine ships, if available, on a basis of tonnage. The plan might af fect other ships temporarily, but the tonnage deiiving here, increasing all the time, would soon set the balance right again. Very probably, by the time the ships for the sugar were built and the plan went into effect, foreign snips would be making up in other cargoes a good deal of what they were giving up in sugar. Cargoes of American manufactures would continue to reach the Far East at rates at least as low as they pay now. If any rate was deemed high, appeal to a legitimate authority would be the shippers’ opportunity to set it right. For then the foreign ships would be in the trade by sufferance, and the authority that could bring tnem to book would be tne authority of the Amer ican and Philippine govern ments—reasunaoiy exercised tlirough a joint commission. We perceive no objection to sucn a commission, the situation would equally aifect tne United States and the Philippines, and there fore eacn snouid have due part in its management. Again this is a matter of looking ahead, and scrapping the past. Without resenting an ar rangement that must be tole rated, unless it can be reme died, surely one of the most annoying stigmas of Phil ippine subordination and American inadequacy on the Pacific is the fact that the haulage on the highseas for these Islands, haulage sum ming three million tons of cargo a year, is now, as it always has been, in the custody of an agency essentially foreign both to the Philippines and to the United States _ and amenable to neither government, nor to the ship pers of goods, nor to the people, who are the Philippine people, on whom the charges finally fall. Such power can be used to the disadvantage of the Philippines, and of the United States, and is, we are often told, so used. In what does this end? It ends in maintaining fleets of commercial ships on the Pacific, and generally on the highseas, some of which would certainly be imme diately in the service of an enemy’s naval fleet, should America be involved in war on the Pacific, while others would not so certainly be available to ourselves. And a war on the Atlantic would surely bring to America's antagonists there, fleets of ships enriched by haulage to Metric Tons of Cargo Exchanged Between the Philippines and the United States Annually 1932 to 1936 Year Seaboard U. S. to P. I. P I. to U. S. 1932 Atlantic ............... 242,579 . 994,898 Pacific ............... 419,071 135,299 Total 1932 ................... 661,650 1,130,197 661,650 Combined 1932 total . 1,791,847 1933 Atlantic ............... 206,570 1,304,110 Pacific ............... 394,988 222,126 Total 1933 ................... 601,558 1,526,236 601,558 Combined 1933 total 2,127,794 1934 Atlantic ............. 198,090 1,172,285 Pacinc ............. 402,161 332,065 Total 1934 ................. 600,251 1,504,350 600,251 Combined 1934 total 2,104,601 1935 Atlantic ............. 202,734 690,536 Pacinc ............. 289,707 Total 1935 ................. 556,029 980,243 556,029 Combined 1935 total 1,536,272 1936 Atlantic ............. 192,339 1,010,355 Pacific ............. 372,564 304,701 Total 1936 ................. 564,903 1,315,056 564,903 Combined 1936 total 1,879,959 and from the Philippines. It is Philippine business, very largely, that puts them in the trade, and keeps them there, having in the first place mduced their construction. Sometimes this situation (in which the United States and the Philippines provide the cargoes, yet do not con trol tiie rates) ends in disadvantaging industries. Phil ippine iope pays a lantastic rate to reach the United btates, a rate tnat largely nullifies the will of Congress that six million pounds of it a year may be marketed in tne United States. More important is the desiccated coconut industry, whose contracts ahead, necessary to tne routine of manufacture, are capriciously affected by nequent announcements of new rates. Whether American snips or foreign snips carry most of this cargo is not in point, what is in point is that an authority, neither Amer ican nor Philippine, and in deed amenable to no govern ment on earth, dictates the rates and changes them at will. It is far from any conten tion in this discussion that any foreign ship be excluded from the Philippine carry ing trade. There is more than the Philippine-American trade to consider, and more countries than the United States and the Phil ippines to be reconciled to the new situation that ought to be created. The sole con tention is that the United States and the Philippines should, by concord on sugar, bring the situation under their mutual control; and by. so doing, kill a number of birds. That is to say, stock the Pacific with an ample American mercantile fleet of the first order; make room in the trade for a Philippine mercantile marine, on service at call to the American naval fleet; and with so many ships, assume command of a situation that ought to be in command of the United States and the Common wealth. Below all this is the im portant, even vital fact that mere fruition of a concord allocating fleets of American ships the haulage of Phil ippine sugar without the setting of a term, would sig nalize the Commonwealth’s permanency ivithouc affecting the right of petition. It is the free will of the plan that is its merit in the political sense—the recognition of the Commonwealth without regard to all that preceded it, that neither the United States nor the Commonwealth should wish to recall even in memory, much less in legis lation, or in compacts. The plan suggests itself because it obviates cash sub sidies for American freighters on the Pacific, and these cash subsidies are in any case no solution of the problems of the Commonwealth on the Pacific or that of the United States. The sugar fleets, having full-load high-rate patronage from the Commonwealth to the United States, February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OP COMMERCE JOURNAL 7 with their competitive share of the haulage of manu factures from America to the Philippines, would pay independently of subsidies: their subsidy would be the monopoly granted them. This would change their route, which cash subsidies do not do. It would be understood that they sail directly across the Pacific, touching the Philippines first, and then, if they had business, China and even Japan—as well as Indochina and the East In dies, depending on the business they procured. So routed, as the Commonwealth has due claim to have them routed, they could maintain such rates out of Ma nila to nearby points as would be direct encouragement to Philippine industry and to considerable American en trepot business here, perhaps even some foreign business of the same sort. While the direct route across the Pacific is longer than that via Japan, with fast ships on it it does have the advantage, to the Philippines, of being direct; and it is sometimes pretty vital in commerce, as well as always favorable in exchange and insurance, to get your goods in thirty days instead of in forty-five to sixty days or even more. At present it is the infrequency of sailings of American ships from Atlantic coast ports that tends to throw to their competitors business that would in equal circumstances be theirs. Sugar fleets would cor rect this disadvantage (since the bulk of the sugar goes to New York) bo tn by frequent sailings and by the ad vantage of the direct route. Remember, they would comprise some sixty-five ships, and by no means the ships of a single company. (Yet were they to be the ships of a single company, the American-Commonwealth authority would set their rates, and not the company: the situation that now exists, wherein neitner government nor both together, the two as one controls or even much influences tne rates, would be quite reversed). Respecting what Manila might do in export industries, with encouraging rates to neighboring points in the East Indies and the Far East, perhaps the common as sumption is that she could do very little. But we dis cover that this discouraging attitude is not shared by Manila manufacturers themselves. They tell us, in fact, that Manila could market a number of products from Batavia to Vladivostok, surely a wide territory, given port encouragement here and equitable freight rates. The present situation, familiar to our readers, though possibly not actively indifferent to such projects, is ob viously not encouraging to them. Its major interests are not in accord with them. Is not sugar, and sugar alone, the solution of all this? For it alone could bear the subsidy rate, and it alone, for sake of its advantage in the American market per manently, would be willing to concede such a rate. It alone can make the necessary adjustments to such a rate, because its compensation is the American sugar price while all other Philippine commodities (not manufac tures) sell at world prices. Again it is to be borne in mind that this discussion does not propose that a con cord on this subject go into effect tomorrow. It is only proposed that the concord be undertaken, whereupon we are confident that it will be effected, and that it go into actual practice when the ships are built. We are under the impression that such a concord could be written, and that ratification by Congress would clinch it. The discussion excludes the liner service * to and from the Philippines, and lays no proscription against any ship, American or foreign, plying in the Philippine trade. Its just assumption is that a highseas commerce sum ming three million tons a year should be so freighted as to suffice a mercantile marine on the Pacific, to service the naval fleet, without further subsidy than sugar from the Islands could afford, and that further, such a vast commerce, destined to enormous expansion with the per manency of the Commonwealth, should be in the control of the two countries that provide it, and not in that of foreign agencies. It assumes that the situation it would supplant belongs to the past and has no place in the present nor just prospect in the future. • International Electric Bookkeeping and Accounting Machines • International Time Recorders 4 International Electric Time Systems • International Time Signaling Systems International Sound Distributing Systems • International Fire Alarm Systems Just Little Things (Continued from page 3) • Writing this on Lincoln’s birthday, which happens to be near our own, the reflection occurs to us that there is a lot that people don’t know about our holidays. For instance, there are no national legal holidays in the United States. You might think surely Independence Day would be a national legal holiday, but as a matter of fact it isn’t. Each state and territory fixes what days shall be legal holidays. Even when the President of the United States proclaims Thanksgiving Day, he only creates a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. Most states, however, provide by law that any date appointed by the President as a day of thanksgiving or of fasting and prayer, shall be a legal holiday. All states and ter ritories observe Christmas, New Year’s Day, Washing ton’s Birthday, Mother’s Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and (with the exception of the Commonwealth) Ar mistice Day. ----------INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES • International Watchman’s Systems • International Recordolocks • International Proof Machine for Ranko • International Ticketographs • International Certometers • International Electric Writing Machines • International Cosmographo UJATSON BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION 510 Philippine National Bank Bldg. Telephone 2-42-16 P. O. Box 135 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 8 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 19 38 What Business and Government Face in 1938 The story of 1938, in its most important phases, will be told on a single chart. One lone line on that chart •will tell the tale of fortune or misfortune, prosperity or de pression, for the people of the nation. The choices that now confront Congress and the country, as explained by the men whose business it is to know, are these: 1. —Deflation. This choice would involve a deliberate eifort to remove the obstacles that now stand in the way of revived in dustrial activity by trying to force down those prices and wages that got out of line and to wipe out concentrations of debt that now stand in the way of price concessions. Deflation was tried in the years following1929, up to March, 1933, with consequences that the country remembers. That leads to the second possibility. 2. —Expansion. This choice would involve a deliberate effort to remove the obstacles to a new recovery by floating the country over those obstacles on a wave of private or Governmental credit expansion. Recovery comes when either private busi ness or Government is borrowing and spend ing money on a large scale. The normal operation of the capitalistic system calls for private borrowing to expand, for use in financing the production of the larger volume of goods that free competition in a free market supposedly makes necessary. But, for one reason or another, private borrowing and lending to finance increased production actually has failed to respond in any important way since the crash of 1929. Mr. Roosevelt this past week announced a possible request for appropriations to speed up rearmament. There are stirrings in Congress that suggest more money for relief. Security markets are beginning to reflect an interest in the prospect of Gov ernment spending on a larger scale. But the President insists that the time has come when Government outgo must be brought in line with income. The national debt was run up seventeen billion dollars to finance the recovery that took place af ter 1933. Any new spending program, un less financed with “non-interest bearing notes”—currency—would pile debt on top of an already huge national debt. That process might have little popular appeal. So there is a third possibility. 3. —Economic control. This choice of courses is one that could involve a com bination of deflation, expansion and direct control over business policy. It has been followed in such countries as Germany and Italy and to an important degree in Eng land. What now of the year’s outlook? (lains of .3 years lost. Three recovery plans Deflation, spendiny or new industrial controls? The answer, according to the Govern ment’s economists, lies with business men and with Congress. If prices in the key industries are brought back into line voluntarily, or through some action of the Government, and if borrowing and spending can be started on a broaden ing scale either by private industry or by Government, then a sharp upturn can develop. But if existing price disparities are un corrected and if both' Government and pri vate interests sit and glower at one another without making a move, the outlook is re garded as not so good. What is to happen depends upon deci sions still to be made in Washington and in corporation directorships. Thus far, however, the chart readers say that they are unable to detect any important signs that either business or Government is making the right decisions to insure a quick recovery. Big business is found to be sacrificing production in an amazing manner to protect trouble-making prices. In the steel indus try production has fallen from 90 per cent of capacity to 19 per cent of capacity with out a single budge in prices. Yet the underlying theory of orthodox capitalism is that competition in a free market will reflect itself in a constant change in the price level to compensate for shifts in demand. If demand falls then prices are supposed to fall, too, until a bal ance is struck where buyers will find it advantageous to enter the market again. Yet industry after industry—the building material industry, the steel industry, the automobile industry, the lumber industry and many others—all are striving in every way to hold the price level that was jacked up artificially in what had looked like a boom period. OTHER COMPLICATIONS The decisions of Government similarly are found to be complicating rather than correcting the situation. Determination to balance the Federal Government budget in a time of declining business activity only adds to the deflation that already is under way. Blasts by offi cials against corporation ownership and managements add to the uncertainties that already perplex industry and to the determination of business to buck against rather than to accept decisions that might be wise. Then, too, the Government that talks about anti-trust law enforcement, actually has accepted a law—the Miller-Tydings Act —which responsible enforcement officials say makes the anti-trust laws impossible of effective application. That act was signed by President Roosevelt barely six months ago. The result is a hodge-podge situation that leaves the future course of the production line on the accompanying chart one of uncertainty.—The United States News. Since 1927 continuously SS.SCMIER a CO 465 SAN VICENTE * PHONE 2-13-38 MANILA, PHILIPPINES sendee of ckoracler IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 9 Automobiles, Kilometers and Taxes • Cars build roads, roads are for cars, taxes make it all possible. Last year nearly fifty thousand automo tive vehicles were registered in the Phil ippines, where probably no such vehicle in active use escapes registration. There are fortynine provinces; Manila makes it a round fifty—there are 1,000 automobiles to the province when you include Manila. The table gives the precise figures, by provinces. Nothing prospers more than highway building in the Commonwealth, and use of automobiles have direct rela tionship to the kilometers of useful roads. But not in all cases proportionate relation ship, because the character of the main farm activity of the n'-ov:nce is an im portant factor in use of cars. The Commonwealth’s four-year public works program just submitted by Pres ident Quezon to the Assembly sums nearly P100.000 000 and much of it is for more highways, national highways whose build ing and upkeep are concerns of the Com monwealth itself. Naturally, this bespeaks a good automobile market during four years at least, to which in that time something else will be added—in all probability. Judging by what transpires in other coun tries, addition of another 10.000 cars to the active-use list in the Commonwealth should nlace additional assembling plants in Manila and perhaps tire factor;es. If memory is not at fault, India has fewer than 60,000 automobijes, yet she has a tire factory and assembly plants. The table shows the two general classi fications of Commonwealth roads, national and local, the latter being charges on the provinces and towns according to subclas sification. Basically it is the trunk roads that the Commonwealth builds and keeps up, roads crossing provincial borders and usually driving through the central region of a province. Until now, when the law has been re pealed, for some thirty years local road funds were helped by 50% of the poll tax, which was in all two pesos for each man between the ages of eighteen and sixty years. Now that this tax no longer exists, a centavo has been added to the ^nsolinc tax and a tax of IV2 centavos a liter has been placed on kerosene. Thus at present, the humble peasant’s cottage light contri butes to the building and upkeep of the roads; and whereas the poll tax might some times be evaded, there is no evading the kerosene tax if you use kerosene. Few are the countries in the world more set upon good highway systems than the Commonwealth here, and equally deter mined that the burden fall upon the cars that use the roads. In spite of this, well managed transportation lines charging passengers 1 centavo a kilometer usually pay 20% dividends and find the field a very satisfactory one. Further, occasional stock dividends come along. The answer is, roads in this country induce no end of travel. A kilometer of road, outside Manila and Baguio, means 1.7 cars. And do the special taxes roll in! On kerosene at 1% centavos a liter, lubricat ing oil at 4 centavos, and gasoline at 5 centavos (about 19 centavos or 9 * /2 cents gold a gallon), funds enough accumulated last year to release P8,500,000 for more Highways in Provinces in Relation Registrations to Auto N'tional Local R'tns Provinces Kilometers H'way Auto Abra........... ■ 88.1 104 2 77 ' gnsan .... 120 1 104 123 Albay ......... 156.6 197 4 699 Catanduanes. 45.4 47.1 ' nt.ique .... 158 6 119.3 170 B-t-'an ...... 75 0 34.3 143 Batanes .... 22.2 5.1 1 Baangas ... 207 9 265 7 1,066 Benguet .... 142.0 153.3 1,541 Bohol ......... 222 0 339 9 431 Bukidnon .. . 135.9 596 60 da'-an .... 94 9 307 0 1.1 * 1 Cagayan ... 289.2 125 3 440 Camarines N 99.4 53.4 304 Camarines S 136.7 230.9 359 ^"niz .......... 247.6 191.6 472 Cavite ........ 1296 155.2 950 Cebu .......... 284.4 655.4 2,422 Cotabato ... 195.7 106.3 170 Davao ........ 109 9 62.1 1,011 locos N. ... 153.6 238.2 273 Ilocos S. ... 217.7 90.3 346 loilo........... 265.9 389.0 2,175 ’sabela ....... 156.7 87.9 122 Laguna .... 158.6 141.7 832 Lanao ......... 223 5 18.3 229 La Union ... 132 8 125.2 305 L°yte .......... 225.0 360.0 804 Marinduque . 73.3 63.1 86 Masbate .... 113 8 73.6 106 Manila ........ 18,309 Mindoro .... 110.9 10’3.2 70 Misamis Oc. . 125.4 61.0 257 Misamis Or. . 240.6 117.2 483 Mt. Prov. .. 352 4 161.5 57 Negros Oc. . 298.4 439.6 4,084 595 Negros Or. . 217.9 213.3 N. Ecija ... 217.1 385.5 921 N. Vizcaya . 125.8 42.0 210 Palawan ... 60.9 86.3 63 Pampanga .. 104.0 359.9 1,440 Pangasinan . 284.3 542.7 812 R.zal ......... 134.1 161.9 2,682 Romblon .... 105.9 80.4 26 Samar ........ 310.6 210.9 123 Sorsogon ... 161.8 109.1 111 Sulu ........... 57.7 162.3 87 Surigao .... 122.9 117.9 136 1’arlac......... 152.1 151.2 592 Tayabas .... 163.3 231.7 587 Zambales ... 131.2 37.9 260 Zamboanga . 74.7 80.7 442 Totals .... 8,388.7 8,677.0 8,388.7 49,194 Combined roadways 17,065.7 49,194 Autos per Km. of highway, three. almost roads. Supplementing this was a sum well over P4,000,000 from fines and regis tration fees at the automotive division of the public-works bureau—a total, in round numbers of P13,000,000 or 15% almost, of the total budget the Commonwealth requires including interest on, and amortization of, its small public debt. When you figure this one out, it runs to about P260 a car. Oil companies are not a whit happy about this, because the tax of 5 centavos a liter is imposed when gas oline goes into their tanks; there is con siderable loss and evaporation between this point and the time when sales are effected, and all this loss falls upon the companies. In the end, they try to figure it into the selling price for good Mr. Consumer but are not always successful. Last year for the first time, more than 1,000 cars were registered in Davao, where no more than a score of cars were regis tered a few years ago. New roads are the immediate explanation: plantation., town, provincial, and naional. The national highways are planned ahead, work often begins at both ends. When a grand con nection is made, hundreds of kilometers of highway assume higher efficiency—new fields for car salesmen are open. Grand connections last year were that between Bangui and Claveria and Aparri at the northern part of Luzon, and that between Iligan and Davao via Cotabato in Minda nao. The first distance joined totals 156 kilometers, the second more than 400 kilo meters. With many more new roads during the next four years, Mindanao, richer and al most as large as Luzon (where nearly half the population of the Commonwealth now lives) will be further cracked open for more fanners, more villages and towns, more plantations and more widely branching in dustry. Cost, P260 per car! Cost would be more were tolls included. New bridges, all of the best sort as to durance and utility, are built under fiscal plans returning their cost in tolls during periods not exceeding five years. Seventy such bridges are now in use in the general highway system. It is easy to add more as they are required; for though the re volving fund of P5,000,000 for this purpose is all tied up, loans af 5% »rn procurable from the surplus of the NLIB, National Loan & Investment Board. The body of this story g ves 50,000 as the round number of automotive vehicles registered and operating in the Common wealth. The table gives the precise num ber, 49,195. More gasoline tax money was released during 1937 than was actually col lected, and the average tax per vehicle, P260 for 1937, was based in the story on the taxes released. Actual collections wero P5,688,335 from gasoline, P540.401 from lubricating oil, and P4,137,342 from licenses, etc., at the registration office, a total of P10,365,078 or P211 per vehicle. From kerosene Pl,316,177 more was collected during the year and turned into the road funds, but this is not a tax on cars. Con(Please turn to •pa.tje 16) 10 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 The American Chamber of Commerce OF THE Philippine Islands (Member Chamber of Commerce of the United States) DIRECTORS: P. A. Meyer. Tresui.-nf H. M. Cavender. Vic^Pretnden' John I.. Headinfrton, Treasurer .1. C. Rockwell E. M. Grinun Verne E. Miller S. F. Gachce E. Schradicck H. M. Cavender ALTERNATE DIRECTORS: E. D. Gundelfinger I.. K. Cotterman K. B. Day H. Dean Hellie SECRETARY: C. G. Clifford < OMMITTEES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: P. A. Meyer. Chairman H. M. Cavender RELIEF COMMITTEE: C. G. Clifford. Chairman MANUFACTURING COMM TTEE: K. IL Day, Chairman A. W. Raison D. P. O'Brien H. P. Strickler LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE: E. E. Selph, Chairman Judse F. B. Ingersoll C. G. Clifford FINANCE COMMITTEE: Verne E. Miller, Chairman E. J. Deymek FOREIGN TRADE COMMITTEE: H. B. Pond, Chairman E. D. Gundelfinger PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE: P. A. Meyer. Chairman C. M. Hoskins Roy C. Bennett HANKING COMMITTEE: E. J. Lejeune, Chairman J. R. Lloyd RECEPTION & ENTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE: E. Schradieck, Chairman E. D. Gundelfinger INVESTMENT COMMITTEE: P. A. Meyer. Chairman J. C. Rockwell S. F. Caches SHIPPING COMMITTEE: H. M. Cavender, Chairman E. M. Grimm Chester F. Sharp THIS COUNTRY GROWS On the page opposite we reprint from the Manila Daily Bulletin of Monday, January 31, a commentary on the Commonwealth’s four-year public works policy that deserves attention. We have always thought it too bad that Philippine coconut oil bears an excise tax of 3 cents a lb. in the American market, the source of most of the so-called gift money discussed in the article. Before a single peso of this tax was collected, because it all comes back to the treasury of the Commonwealth, our attitude was that it should be renounced—on the ground that it was an unjust, unsound and immoral levy. Yet we foresaw that this would not be done, it would come too easily and mean too much in the budget. We are still of the opinion that the tax endangers the Commonwealth’s coconut industry, therefore we are not reconciled to it.- But we think it bold indeed to label this tax or the sugar processing tax gift money, or to consider the duty-free entry of Commonwealth products into the American market gif t money. They have aspects of permanency, therefore are not even windfalls. Also, if some day they are to cease, spending them largely to improve the country’s productivity and decrease’produc tion costs is hardly unwise. On another point, the country’s capacity to grow its food will not be retarded either by public works or higher wages, bringing higher prices: demands stimulate production. The authority cited, unnamed, feels alarm over mone tary circulation that is almost P162,000,000 and ap proaches that of 1929, when we can not remember that it hurt anyone or that anyone complained of it. How ever, that much money now is not inflation. If the circulation now is correctly reported, there has beer, marked deflation during the past ten years. For during that time the population of the Commonwealth has grown at least 25%, and to be on the same monetary basis as we were during 1929 we should now have in circulation P200,000,000. The basic economic factor here is the constant and remarkable growth of population. Money is still too costly in the Islands, money facilities too tight. VICTORIA THE GREAT Seeing the fine British picture Victoria the Great Bet us to reading over again, Lytton Strachey’s Queen Victoria; and we read it in the night, there is no more exhilarating pleasure than reading through a Philippine night. The picture follows Strachey closely, but Strachey makes no allusion to the attempted regicide or the invitation to Albert to leave the galleries of the Commons. (Victoria’s diary alludes to visits of the Lords by her and Albert, and cordial reception there). However, what we get at now is Albert’s service to England incidental to his effort to please her and at the same time make the crown strong—something he never effected, his sense of failure hastening his death. Albert built the Crystal Palace, and had a magnificent imperial and worldwide show in it—the prototype of the world fairs of our times. But what he did, better than even this, was to embellish public buildings by application of the arts—by use of artists. Here is something worthy emulation by the Commonwealth, we submit, during its four-year public works program. Work needs not merely be made for artisans, but even more emphatically for artists; to the end that the arts may be founded, and that everything that meets the eye publicly shall have a pleasing appearance making favorable impressions. There is much room for employment of carvers, masons, sculptors, and painters. We believe they can all be hired cheap. There is no economy in educating them, then leaving them without commissions and even going ahead as if their skill were superfluous. It was precisely this stodgy viewpoint that the per sistent Albert overcame in Palmerston’s and Wellington’s England. In America the same movement awaited the Philadelphia Centennial, but moved slowly until after the turn of the century, and Roosevelt has given it its main impetus—coincident with a veritable period of fine American art that it probably evoked. Such gestures can be very practical. There comes along, in due course, the historian, who when he has summarized politics, always appends a chapter on the state of the arts; and it is this afterthought, curiously enough, that comes to be the measure of the whole achievement. PRESIDENT MEYER REELECTED The organization meeting of the Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce, following the annual meeting January 28, reelected President Paul A. Meyer for another term, his eighth, and elected Howard M. Cavender vice-president. At the annual meeting, C. A. Salmon, vice-president for a number of years, withdrew his name from the balloting. Ill health is the reason for this, Mr. Salmon’s work on the board having been February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 11 Criticism of the Commonwealth’s Public Works Budget (See Editorial opposite page) The government’s spending program and its probable effects upon the national eco nomy were discussed in economic circles during the week-end where concern was felt over its inflationary tendencies. It was declared that so much spending of public funds, in addition to expenditures necessary for the ordinary operation of the government, which have consistently risen since the inauguration of the Common wealth, would have the effect of raising the price of commodities and consequently, the cost of living. Price levels, it was noted, have gone up considerably in the last two years. So have house rentals. The benefits, therefore, sought for the Filipino masses by the pouring of millions of pesos into the country’s financial chan nels would be brief, it was pointed out, and at best fictitious because, whereas the earn ing capacity of the laborer has apparently increased, the price of commodities, on the other hand, have so risen as to offset what ever gains have been made in increased wages. But the pertinent question to ask. a prom inent economist said, is “What will happen when the money runs out?’’ He observed that the present Philinpine-American rela tions do not indicate that the United States can be depended upon as a permanent source of “gift money.” He asked whether it would not be more in order to devote the available funds of the Commonwealth to enterprises which would continue to yield returns to the na tional wealth. Since the establishment of the Common wealth government, P45,000,000 have been added to the country’s monetary circulation in the form of benefit payments to sugar producers, bonus to United States war ve terans in the Philippines and pensions to teachers. To this must be added special appropriations authorized by the National Assembly since its first session as follows: P18,242,764 in 1936 and P46.133 887 in 1937, the latter figure not including the special appropriation of P5.050,000 for the construc tion of school, buildings authorized by the Assembly in its last session. The P45.000.000 previously mentioned may be regarded, it was pointed out, as “gift money” since it forms no part of the public funds appropriated for a public purpose. Of this sum P35,000.000 was in benefit pay ments to sugar producers, some P5,000,000 in redemption of adjusted service certificates held by United Spates war veterans in the Philippines and.P5,000,000 as pension pay ments to teachers. If to this enormous amount of money is added the no less enormous sum which Pres ident Quezon proposes to spend for financ ing an ambitious program of public works, the Ph;l:nnines would experience a state of unprecedented “prosperity” which neverthe less would be artificial and, as such, involv ing some dangers to the national economy. Monetary circulation will shoot up to new levels probably exceeding even such peak years as 1920 and 1929. In the latter year, the highest monetary circulation was reached in December when it went up to P162.788.637. Last December, even before the millions from the oil tax was put into circulation, the monetary circulation was P1G1.489.426, indicating a close approach to the peak prosperity period. The increase in special appropriations has been paralleled by a noticeable increase in the ordinary appropriations of the na tional government. This has had the tend ency of augmenting the monetary circula tion and consequently producing a state of apparent prosperity in the country. The figures are as follows: for 1935. P^2 974,835; 1936, P58.342 978; 1937, P66,710,781, and 1938. P76.296.207. Some economists believe that the spend ing of public funds to stimulate business by the increase of monetarv circulation and create a state of economic buoyance is plausible provided it is done under certain conditions. In times of business or eco nomic recession, for example, they pointed out, funds for public works may be let out to provide employment. But it was stated that the proposal to dump millions of pesos now when the monetary circulation already has hit high levels and when a state of prosperity pre vails is likely to cause a rise in the price of consumer commodities which the greater bulk of the population needs and instead of helping the people it would penalize them. Some of the projects proposed to be un dertaken by the administration may be con sidered of the kind which may be wealth producing but observers stated that if they are so they w’ll take years before produc ing results, if at all, and it is doubted whether they would. The government’s business ventures belong to this category, it was explained. —Manila Daily Bulletin—1-31-38. excellent. Horace B. Pond was nominated and elected in Mr. Salmon’s place, but pressure of circumstances moved him to decline to serve—he was unwilling to serve without riving the place the attention it deserves. Di rectors Howard M. Cavender and S. F. Gaches were reelected for full terms, three vears. Alternates elected are: E. D. Gundelfinger, Leo K. Cotterman, K. B. Day, and H. Dean Hellis. Alternate Gundelfinger supplies the place in the board vacated by Mr. Pond. Major and minor panels on the board are filled with men of wide and varied interests. Oldtimers who require no introduction to our readers, whose confidence they enjoy. President Meyer’s reelection attests unanimous appreciation of his administration of the chamber of commerce, and the esteem in which he is held as a busi ness man universally respected in the business com munities of Manila as well as by all who know him. Carl G. Clifford was reelected secretary of the chamber of commerce. Toward the end of the year he and Mrs. Clifford returned to Manila from a halfyear’s travel that restored Mrs. Clifford’s health. Acknowledgment is made of the good services to the chamber of commerce of H. O. Bauman as acting secretary during Secretary Clifford’s absence abroad. Philippine Trust Company sells drafts and cable or radio transfers for the payment of money anywhere in the United States, the principal cities of Europe, China and Japan. It receives checking accounts in Pesos, Savings Accounts in Pesos or United States Dollars, Fixed Deposits and Trust Accounts. Fidelity and Surety Company of the Philippine Islands ’ executes and covers bonds insurance Court, Customs, Firearm, etc. ? Fire, Life, Marine, etc. Plaza Goitl and Escolta Tel. 2-12-55 P. O. Box 150 /.V RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 12 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 19 3 8 As the Gentle Rain .... From time to time the Journal feels at liberty to in vite attention to seme of the private charities of Manila. The Masonic ward for crippled children at the Mary Johnston hospital in Tondo is not of course restricted to Masons and in fact ministers in the main to children from other homes. Aside from the above, one of its preoccupations is tubercular children. On its sun porch and under its general treatment, mainly proper diet and patient nursing and medical care, dozens of tubercular cases are corrected. Milk is essential to this, and eggs. The reward is the restored health of the children, help less to aid themselves. We have already noted that Mrs. Salvador Araneta is founding a society with similar ambitions in Mandaluyong, the White Cross. (Our November, 1937 num ber). Miss Bessie Dwyer, the noble woman who writes the Waifs & Strays column in the Sunday Tribune, in send ing some notes about the Mason’s children’s work (Miss Dwyer is an ardent Catholic) quotes from the late John Hay’s random rhymes: And I think that finding a little child And bringing it to its oivn, Is a heap sight better business Than loafing around a throne. The great statesman who refounded America’s China policy and had active part in shaping that for the Phil ippines merely paraphrases in this stanza of sound senti ment the words of Christ . . . “what ye do unto the least of these, ye do it unto me.” But there are others who need, besides children. All our hospitals have eloquent claims upon our assistance. Miss Dwyer describes the Abiertas House of Friend ship. The name too fully reveals its basic function, at tests its usefulness to our city. Mrs. Asuncion A. Perez was the activating spirit here, Charitarian Teodoro Pt. Yangco gave the site, in San Juan, value P28,000, and Edwin Cooper, with the Union Church behind him, took the lead in raising Pl 3,000 for the well built two story building that is the House. Furnishings comprise dona tions. Something you no longer use at your house must be very worn indeed if it may not still find usefulness here. Think of this when tempted to throw things away. Can you not contrive one useful mosquito net out of two torn ones? Even such donations serve great needs. At your club, when new equipment for the rooms is bought— what of the old, possibly much of it still useful. Miss Dwyer: “One large bedroom upstairs has been assigned to pen niless American women awaiting passage back to the homeland. It gave me the shivers. Two double beds, guiltless of mattresses, the clean floor bare, no chair that promised even a moment’s comfort. Ye gods! What journey’s-end has raveled down to this? “And yet, this room gave shelter and safety to at least one woman, now happily dead, born in luxury, reared in extravagance, graduated from a famous college, who, while beauty and wit lasted, cut a swath as wide as The Toast of New York. I speak for these bare rooms. Surely there must be some worn rugs, some furniture (Please tum to page J6) KANE KRAFT Distinctive RATTAN Furniture REFLECTING PRESTIGE AND GOOD TASTE Found in residences, leading clubs and hotels. Choice of many U. S. Army and Navy officials. 1 RATTAN ART & DECORATIONS, Inc. Factory Display Room 2957 Herran MANILA 212 A. Mabini IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL bruary. 19 38 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 13 LETTER OF THANKS Senator Ernest W. Gibson ....... had us quoted at length in the Congressional Reeord of January 11. Hon. Ernest W. Gibson. United States Senator Senate Office Building Washington, D. C. Distinguished Friend: When you wrote of your purpose to have my editorial “Inseparability” printed in tho Congressional Record, I had no clue to the particular number you would select. Your choice, January 11, was a most happy one for which I am deeply grateful. That num ber of the Record with its Jackson Day speeches, could not be excelled as a setting tor a brief examination of the bonds, that I believe indissoluble, associating the United States and this Commonwealth. For all which, sincere thanks. This acknowledgment is made an open letter because it suggests something that our readers will endorse and encourage. 'There is of course no challenge in it, nothing to give you pause, or to constrain you to any decision, nothing, in short, but the fullest appreciation of what you, and your colleagues on the Committees, in both branches of Congress, are doing, in colla boration with other responsible men there, and here, toward basing in recognized con stitutional forms the relationship that should persist between the Federal Govern ment and the federation of fifty provinces, Manila included, that constitutes the Com monwealth you have erected here. It is my convictio'n that the Committees should pay an early visit here, equally for renewal of the mutual confidence that should be cordially maintained, and to sense, member for member, the circumstances in which the Commonwealth proceeds. They would not behold perfection, neither would they encounter anything deeply discourag ing, in the domestic situation, to men of seasoned discernment. While I write to catch the clipper mail, I am confident as a newspaper man that my conviction is widely shared: at Malacannan and in the Assembly, among ministers and teachers, among officers, officials, and rank and file members of commercial organiza tions and clubs, and I think, down to Juan de la Oruz whose welfare was the objec tive of the Committees’ labors. The Commonwealth is now in its third year, and if the Committees have slighted a single obligation, or committed an over sight unconsciously, it consists in not hav ing visited here earlier, or having no plans lo come now. I say this because it seems that request may reach the Committees for additional legislation, perhaps of an important nature, and it goes without saying that you will all be reluctant to undertake this without first-hand information; and further, with out your own insight into things. The Commonwealth deserves your pres ence here—that of the Committees—at the earliest possible opportunity, that should not be later than Autumn. For it can not be imagined, without seeing, the remark able strides forward self-government has induced. Men who could appreciate this best would be men of the Committees, who could examine it in the perspective of their experience. You will all, of course, soon be seeing Governor McNutt, the Commissioner. He leaves Manila for Washington on the plane that carries this letter. He is, as you know, fearless, able, honest. No one here would say of him less than this, and his tact in exercising the Federal authority has been impeccable from the moment he got his shoulder squarely to the wheel. His ambition for higher public life at home is unabated by his responsibilities here—so well discharged. There must be a word or two more. I am sure you see, and through the sounds of battle hear, the East and the West breaking asunder. I gather that the Com monwealth is resolved to stay with the West through the medium of the United States. Given the governing circumstances Nederlandsch Indische Handelsbank, N. V. Established 1863 at Amsterdam Paid-Up Capital - - - Guilders 33,000,000 [P37,000,000] Reserve Fund - - - - Guilders 13,200,000 [P14,800,000] General Head Office at Amsterdam with sub-offices at Rotterdam and the Hague. Head Office for the Netherlands Indies at Batavia. Branches in the Netherlands Indies, British India, Straits Settlements, China, Japan and the Philippines. Branch at Manila: 21 Plaza Moraga Every Description of Banking Business Transacted Current accounts opened and fixed deposits received at rates which will be quoted on application. of the world today, I think you will agree with me that this attitude should not be rebuffed. Innate differentiations can not be safely asserted one time more. Already, Europe as the older part of the West is about as secure as the unseeing Bourbons of France were at the time of Louis XV. But let us believe it sees better. So ought the United States see better, and the Committees, very substantially, are her means of doing so. It is not mere hometown stuff to cite Manila’s geographical position, the founda tion of enormous potentialities for the United States, who could easily make heT the capital of all the great affairs of the Far East; and this, in the main, by sheer realization of, and insistance upon, her ac tual importance one of the physical mani festations of which is an ocean commerce of three million tons a year—a ton of goods or commodities for every family in the Com monwealth. Governor McNutt has some decided views on this point, apparently, and may be the man to assist the Committees in rousing the pride and interest of the people in the gratifying fruition of a long, consistent, and upright Congressional policy now flowering in the Commonwealth; and even more vital and arresting, America’s so vereign association with this crowning and admirable achievement of our generation. But I must remark how,- as yet, depre ciation of the magnificent factors in the situation shows in little inadvertences. May I just cite one? I have no notion of how such things are done, nor how much ma chinery must be moved in order to do them, but I notice that the Committee names were not changed when the Commonwealth inau gurating self government for the Archi pelago was founded, and that they have not been changed since. One, I believe, deals only with the Commonwealth. The other, I think it is yours in the Senate, is somewhat more general. There is a little suggestion of depreciation, if you will per mit the inference, in the neglect to change the names in such a way as to emphasize (Please turn to page 16) IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OE COMMERCE JOURNAL 14 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 19 38 Broadcasting from Manila By Goldilocks “This is the National Broadcasting Com pany of America. For the last half hour you have been listening to a recital of Chamber Music given by the Sheer Bilge water Quintet brought to you through the courtesy of the Silent Sanitary Fittings Association, whose slogan is 'A Silent Flush and You won’t Blush.’ ” “We are now taking you over to Manila where Mr. H. P. Source, who is on a voyage round the world, will endeavour to give you some impressions of that city hue, as he has only been ashore a little over twentyfour hours, this station accepts no responsibility for any in accuracies which may occur in the information that he has already amassed. So now—over to Manila, the Pearl of the Orient... “Morning Folks! Or should I say good night to you, in the States ? This time busi ness has had me all mussed up ever since I lost a day when crossing the Date Line coming out on the boat. I’ve kept a diary regularly for years and used to boast that I never missed a day. Now a day has missed me. What ain I to do with that blank page in my diary? Incidentally, it happened to be my birthday and many letters have since reached me wishing me many happy returns of a day that, for me, never existed! These astronomer chaps have a lot to answer for, and if I had my way I would arrange for the same time to be kept all over the world. Anyway it is morning here and a very fine one, but before I begin my broadcast I want to say a few words about this Pearl of the Orient stuff. I have traveled all over the East and have already stopped off at enough Pearls to form a good-sized necklace. Aren’t pearls the things that someone in the Old Testament cast before the Gadarene swine, thus causing them to rush down a steep place into the sea? Why, then, con nect the fair name Qf Manila with a bauble that caused so much damage and is, after all, nothing more than an oyster’s fossilized appendix? If I had been here a year ago, a very popular name would have been the Eldorado of the Orient or the Mine Pro moter’s Paradise, but conditions have changed a lot since then and the Eldorado is all pasado (excuse my Spanish) and most of the mine promoters have hopped it to fresh claims and suckers new, to pa rody old Bill Shakespeare. “Nevertheless it is quite a remarkable city, with numerous fine public buildings, including a City Hall and the Foundation Stone for another. It is to be hoped that the erection of this new building will not be such a protracted affair as was the lay ing of the Foundation Stone, as otherwise none of us will live to see it completed. “Manila goes one better than • Washington in respect of the President, who lives in a Palace, whereas Mr. Roose velt only has a White House. This Palace is situated on the Pasig river and has a history nearly as romantic as the Taj Mahal of India. It appears that near the beginning of the last century a Spanish grandee was on his way out to Manila to act as Governor and Capitan General, and on the same boat was a beautiful Malayan girl who was returning to her home in the East after completing her education at a finishing school in Paris. The young G. G. fell violently in love with her, and by the time she left the boat at Malacca it was arranged that she should meet him in Ma nila the following year, when they would be married. Meantime the Governor jour neyed on to Manila, where he proceeded to erect a gorgeous palace for his dusky bride, but Fate decreed that she was never to set eyes on this expression of his bound less love, as she was eaten by a tiger on the eve of her departure from Singapore. The shock was too much for the Governor, who died shortly after of a broken heart, but not before he had expressed a wish that the Palace should be named in honor of his beloved one. And so today it is still known as Malacca Ann. “I am now speaking to you from the roof of another famous building, the college put up by San Juan de Letran in 1620, although how he knew it would still be standing in 1937 I’m blessed if I know, but, believe it or not, those are the dates that appear on the wall facing the river. Of course if the guy was some relation of Don Juan Tenorio it is reasonable to suppose that he would know something about dates. “Before arranging this broadcast I made inquiries as to what parts of the city would provide me with the most local color, and was told that the Jones Bridge during the rush hours would give me a pretty good idea of cosmopolitan Manila. This bridge was built by the Americans to re place the old Bridge of Spain that spanned the river near this spot, and they christened it Jones after the famous ballet dancer Paul. Oh! Excuse me a moment, one of these San Juan gentlemen tells me I got that wrong. The guy’s name was Wil liam Atkinson Jones, and you can read all about him in an inscription on the large columns standing on either side of the en trance to the bridge. “Manila has four rush hours per day at approximately 8 a. m., noon, 2 p. m. and 5 p. m., and as the Jones Bridge is the main artery connecting the residential quarters with the downtown district where most of the offices are situated, nearly everybody has to pass that way. There is no subway as in New York, so the rush is usually a slow motion one. “From where I am standing there is a good view of the approach to the Jones Bridge, and the early morning rush hour is now in full swing, or perhaps I should say full blast the din is terrific. There is a modern composition for the piano often played at concerts called Rush Hour in Hongkong, but to do justice to a Manila rush hour the composer would need the resources of a full or chestra at least. There is another bridge across the downtown section of the river, but at present it is suffering from one of its periodical declines and is barred to heavy traffic, thus making the Jones Bridge more con gested than ever. At the foot of the bridge is a policeman under a large unbrella, whose duty it is to regulate the flow of traffic coming off the bridge, likewise the huge vol ume struggling to get on from the approaches leading from Intramuros, Padre Burgos, the Port Area and the Post Office. The particular policeman on duty this morn ing is a very famous character and has been connected with this billet for an un known number of years, yet he never seems to get any older. Perhaps it is due to the I’ebruary. 1938 / HE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 15 exorcise he gets, as to direct five streams of traffic with only two arms requires the expenditure of a considerable amount of energy, and at times this barrel shaped stalwart gives a fair imitation of a cross between a baseball pitcher and a windmill. "But, whilst I have been describing some of the aspects of the scene before me, en trants have been lining up for what might very aptly be called the Jones Bridge Stakes. For at least ten seconds the police man’s two arms have been raised on high, forbidding all access to the bridge, and aspiring crossees are accumulating at an alarming rate, lining up in some sort of formation about ten abreast, with late ar rivals falling in the rear. “The policeman’s attention has been tem porarily attracted by a disorderly carromata which has decided that the bridge is too steep and so is slowly descending backwards in a series of zig-zags, threaten ing to become a serious obstruction in the forthcoming race. As soon as his back is turned the entrants start creeping closer to him, stopping the minute he turns back, much as in the game we used to play at school. “The course is eventually cleared and, after a couple of false starts, the signal to go is given just as a small auto calesa comes tearing up from behind and gets off well ahead of anybody else. An auto calesa, by the way, is a miniature pirate bus, and from the way they worm in and out of the traffic I should imagine that they are constructed with flexible chassis. The race to the summit of the bridge is now on, and what a motley collection of runners! At least half are taxis which may be divided into the Fifteen and Five Cent, Two-Year-Olds, and the diminutive Ten and Five crocks which are just about, ready for the knackers yard. “A lordly mining magnate in his Packard is well up in front, closely followed by lesser lights in the business world in cars of a descending order of motor magnitude. There are also several buses from the southern provinces carrying mixed cargoes of humans, pigs, chickens and vegetables. One truck is full of carabaos with their lunch carried on the roof in the form of bundles of grass, whilst others are loaded with shining new kerosene tins, loads of lumber or twisted steel bars, all of which carry little red flags prominently displayed either in front on the engine casing or tied to the extremities of the merchandise pro jecting at the back. I havn’t yet been able to discover the true significance of these flags, but a local Japanese resident tells me it is yet another proof of the insidious Russian propaganda in the Far East. “Mixed up in all this mechanically pro pelled traffic, and getting in everybody’s way, are numerous calesas and carromatas. Being a tourist I am expected to rave about the former with their “dear little ponies and their brass studded harness glittering in the tropical sunshine,” etc. As a matter of fact, every motorist in Manila wishes them all at the bottom of the sea, apropos of which here are a few local statistics that have just been handed to me: “If all the carromatas in Manila were placed end to end and their drivers could be induced to keep them in that position for a short time, it would be found that the line stretched from here to there. “If the same carromatas were piled one above the other, they would undoubtedly fall down. “If the resultant debris were hurled into the Pasig its passing would be accom panied by a hymn of thanksgiving from the larynx of every car driver in Manila. “Well, folks, I’m going to leave you now, as two taxis indulging in a butting match on the crown of the bridge have succeeded in getting their bumpers interlocked and have completely disorganized all the traf fic. The policeman has left his post in an attempt to straighten things out, and I am going down to see the fun. Cheerio and good-bye!” ENGINEERING TRIUMPH FOR 1938 Zenith Model 7-D-229 ZENITH can guarantee For eign reception because only ZENITH incorporates: • “Robot” dial • Electric Automatic Tuning • Personalized Acoustic adapter • Wave Band Selector • Spinner Tuning • Sensitivity Control • Service free Engineering Guaranteed Foreign reception I. IBIECK. IIXICSole Diatributori 89-91 Escolta, Manila Manila — Cebu — Baguio — Daet — Paracale TRANSPORTATION FOR— Agents .... Inspectors ... Collectors ... Messengers . .. The FAMOUS MOTORCYCLE— (M S U) “PONY 100” 100 KILOMETERS FOR LESS THAN 30 CENTAVOS! Saves time by avoidinq all parking troubles; covers your territory quickly in heaviest traffic; ideal for delivery of small parcels. Made in three models, priced from P325 upwards, less 10% discount for cash Sole Distributors: C. ILLIES & CO. 550-554 San Luis Phone 5-69-89' Sub-Agencies: Ohta Development Co.. Davao Gregorio Alcantara, San Pabli Ong Hing Lian, Surigao J. Armena, Baguio 0. K. Bazar, Zamboanga A. Corral. Daraga IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 16 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 ASIA LIFE IS NOT ASIAN The Asia Life Insurance Company, al though it operates extensively and suc cessfully in the Far East, is not controlled or managed by Asiatics. It is a 100% American company, organized some eighteen years ago by Americans in the Orient, operating under an American charter. We had a talk with Mr. W. F. Savale, genial Philippines manager for the com pany some time ago, and while we found him optimistic for the future of his com pany here, and justifiably enthusiastic about its past record, he unburdened him self to us somewhat vehemently about the fact that many Americans in the Far East have the impression that the Asia Life is a Chinese, a Japanese, or even a Malay States company. Incidentally, Mr. Savale is not an Italian. He is as American as the company he serves, and he does not pronounce the last “e” in his name. We could mention a lot of things about the Asia Lue—that in 1936 it had the third largest gain in force oi all life insurance companies in the Philippines (figures of all compan.es for lo3i were not available as we went to press); that it maintains a New York office to look after repatriated policyholders from the Far East, etc. Mr. Savale is enthusiastic about these things and others indicating the growth of the company here, but principally he is mad at the foreign citizenship which has been conferred upon his company gratuitously. What’s in a name? Not a great deal; its the men in any organization who really make (or break) it, but, we repeat, Asia Life is definitely not Asiatic. Go up- to the top floor of the Samanillo Building and listen to Savale’s yankee twang if you don’t believe us! BOY SCOUTS SEEK FUNDS The Boy Scouts of America who have dropped away from the general organiza tion in the Philippines because they wish to maintain more consistent standing with the organization in the United States (where at last the members go, for their higher education) are out for funds. They have procured the necessary permission for their drive. The coordinating committee headed by Robert Miller makes its appeal to the Amer ican community. Automobiles... (Continued from page 9) siderable alcohol was once used here for automotive fuel, but a better U. S. market more recently is said, to have diverted most of this alcohol to that outlet—it is a prod uct of the sugar industry. However, a discrimination remains in the law that no effort of the public works administration has ever been able to repeal: domestic al cohol used for motor fuel is not taxed. A Letter of... (Continued from page 13) and dignify the important functions of the Committees with Commonwealth matters and in association w.Lh une commonwealth’s administration. The term “Commonwealth of the Phil ippines” is needed to be used in the Com mittee names, and nothing could be of more subtle and valuable influence in impressing public opinion. With all good wishes and renewed thanks, Faithfully yours, WALTER ROBB. Frederic C. Howe Economics Adviser at Malacanang Manila “Again I want to thank you for the various memoranda you handed me, which I shall have to study in more detail. I want to become more fully acquainted with the whole problem of Philippine relation ship with the United States before I leave. Up to date I have neglected it, and I am expecting to get a good deal of help out of the things you have sent me and the various articles in the Journal.” CEBU - ILOILO - ZAMBOANGA As the Gentle... (Continued from page 12) that wearies you as some of mine wearies me. Send it to the Abiertas House of Friendship through Mrs. Asun cion A. Perez of the Associated Charities.” The House of Friendship is undenominational. Un married young mothers are its main preoccupation. Means by which they may live and support their chil dren respectably are not always readily found. We have only chosen for brief comment, two out cf the many worthwhile charities in Manila privately sup ported whose plight illustrates what even the most in significant gifts will do toward keeping them going and widening their field of helpfulness. KLEIN CHICAGO PLIERS BEST IN THE LONG RUN E. VIEGELMANN 460 Dasmarinas Manila, P. I. Tel. 2-24-41 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL Baguio Gold's Mill'. Baguio. Commonwealth of the Philippines This thriving gold mine's 1937 output was Pl ,27 1,888, during the year it upped mill capacity to about 250 tons of ore a day and improved recovery processes. The president is Paul A. Meyer. The superintendent is W. T. Graham. The capital is Pl,299,900 on which 5% was paid June 30, 1937, and 10T December 20, 1937. 1936’s output was Pl,077,108-—exceeded last year by nearly P200.000 while the plant was enlarged and improved and the ore reserves further developed. January's production last year was P78.622: and this year. Pl 34,101. an increase of 70' '< . CHECKS STARTING WEAR Golden Shell MOTOR OIL Certified Lenses! This copyrighted trade-mark: con a Clark & Company lens is our certification that the lens is expertly made, free from defects and in exact accord with the prescription for which it was ground. It is your as surance that your lenses are correct. The Asiatic Petroleum Co. (P. I.) Ltd. CEBU MANILA ILOILO manila 9094ESC0LTA PI. _ MASONIC TEMPLE A Glass of Good Beer!! That is what you enjoy when you order £an Miguel yahjiken The Quality The Taste The Zesty Tang— The famous Subtle Bouquet Never Vary in ' the grand old brew a product of -the Marsman and Company Baguio Agents SAN MIGUEL BREWERY where the mark “Quality means QUALITY” IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OP COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 17 Pikers, That’s What We Are ! Our genial friend Bill Shaw has gained no little fame for the remark that Baguio would never be a proper gold mining community because there wasn’t a red light dis trict in the whole town. Bill might have called attention to a lot of other features of mining as he remembers it, in the days of the booms in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Mexico and else where—features which we have missed in the Philip pines so completely that we can only conclude that we are pikers in this mining business. Just when we had begun to conceive of the local industry as a pretty big and prosperous affair, and thought that some of the stunts pulled off by the boys in 1936, et ante, were not bad examples of the promoter’s art, along comes this book (“The Guggenheims,” by Harvey O’Connor) to reduce Philippine mining to peanuts, and to make the Escolta bunch look simple. For instance: On February 9, 1902, exactly 25 years prior to the date when this is written, Daniel Guggenheim, head of the house of Guggenheim, signed a contract with John Hays Hammond, American mining engineer who had just es caped with his life from a Boer court in South Africa, calling for payment to Hammond of a salary of P500,000 a year for five years, plus all expenses, plus 25% interest in all properties recommended to the Guggenheims by the engineer. It was by far the largest salary ever paid to a man at that time, and even in the lush and hectic decades after that, was a mark for most big executives of billion-dollar corporations to shoot at. Hammond himself made P2,500,000 out of this contract the first year he was with the Guggenheims, but what the Guggenheims made out of Hammond’s services, directly and indirectly, has probably never been completely to talled. The announcement of the signing of the contract not only made Hammond the unquestioned king of mining engineers of his day, but elevated the Guggenheims from an important if humdrum position in mining, to “the misty cloudlands of High Finance.” So great was Hammond’s reputation, so widely was his name known, that he had only to look at a piece of property to start a mining boom in the locality. Ham mond would arrive, with his retinue, in state. If the property called for an ocean voyage, he often travelled in a private yacht; if it was on the American continent, he went as far as possible in a private railroad car, and from then onward in the best conveyance that money could hire. Though Hammond made millions and retired at the end of his five-year contract as a capitalist in his own right, the Guggenheims were to emblazon their names across the financial pages of the world with such prop• If you think our mining industry is big stuff, read about how the boys did things in the days of the bustle... Gosh! erties as American Smelting & Refining, Nipissing, Yukon Gold, Esperanza, Kennecott, Utah Copper, Nevada Con solidated, Braden and Chile Copper. But it was the occasional promotion scheme of those early 20th century days that was really marvelous. Here was one: The panic of 1907, with raids on Guggenheim com panies conducted by the Rockefeller-Morgan interests, had left the Guggenheims pretty short of ready cash. Among properties which they held was Yukon Gold, on which exploration work had been done, but which had yet to be developed and proved. The Guggenheims needed P7,000,000 in cash, and needed it badly. Thomas W. Lawson, a spectacular promoter, was signed up to promote a P50,000,000 company (Yukon Gold), of which P35,000,000 would be issued, and 700,000 shares at P10 per share would be sold. The amount to be sold rep resented, in other words, 20% of the total capitalization of the undeveloped mine, and would provide just the amount of cash the Guggenheims needed, P7,000,000. Lawson launched an advertising campaign which used every important newspaper in the United States, Canada and Europe, and which in itself cost P2,000,000, with announcements appearing daily. His first ad, headed “Fair Finance No. 1,” was a flamboyant but general announcement of forthcoming “good news—which will cause you to sit up—straight up—and take notice.” Fair Finance No. 2, however, was a classic. Here was Lawson’s copy: “TO EVERY MAN AND WOMAN WITH SAVINGS: “Up to four years ago the people of America in vested their savings in Wall Street or in stocks created in, or controlled by, Wall Street. They bought what the Captains of Finance told them to buy. They were not equipped to know the worth of tvhat they bought. The people annually brought to Wall Street millions of their savings—and left them there. A further result—a few score of men became possessed of fabulous wealth." He then proceeded to relate how the people, fed up, had forsaken the stock market and how a panic had overtaken Wall Street; after which, “the Captains of Finance asked my advice, and, upon receiving it, my co-operation.” “I said to the Captains of Finance," Lawson wrote in his ad, ‘ “The people have been educated to the old game. They will not again, blindly, send their hard-earned savings to your market place. If the people will not buy their flour, their sugar or their woolens without first being shown they contain no chalk, no sand, no shoddy, why should they buy THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 grossly adulterated stocks or good stocks at grossly manipulated prices?’ “Then I agreed to act as salesman, but upon my oivn terms, which were that I be first actually shown the value of the goods to be offered, and in a way that would enable me to prove the values to the people so that they, too, ivould actually know them.” As a result of “pawing over” the “goods of the Street,” as he phrased it, Lawson was now offering to investors: “First, millions of gold; Second, scores of millions of copper; Third, hundreds of millions of .... (to be named later).” He explained: “Men and corporations of great wealth and business responsibility have been in duced to contribute 20 per cent of one of their most important investments to the public at 50 per cent of its actual sure ivorth, or 25 per cent of its per haps rvorth, for the purpose of proving to the public, in an unmistakable way, that from notv on the people are to get a square deal in American finance .... In thirty-eight years in finance, I have never known of an investment which combined safety—govern ment bond safety—with unusual dividends or un usual profits. In that time I have never known of any investment where large dividends were com bined with sufficient safety to justify an honest man who really knew finance in advising, say, a woman of ordinary means, to exchange her Government bonds or savings bank deposits for it ... In this Gold case, all the above heretofore unmet with con ditions surround and control the investment which will be offered.” On Saturday, March 28, 1908, the stock went on sale • on the New York Curb. Lawson stated that he had been besieged with offers from brokers and bankers to buy up the issue before it went on sale to the public, but had resisted all temptation because of his determination to show the public that he meant to indulge in “Fair Fin ance.” Every share of Yukon Gold that was for sale, he promised, would be offered on Saturday at “not less than $5 nor more than $7.50 per share, so that all the people may profit.” Although, he said, “unquestionably, if I allowed it, the trading would begin on Saturday at $10 and above.” Lawson turned out to be wrong. The brokers were apathetic, the public was notably uninterested, and de spite a tremendous crowd which gathered to see the show, the stock was quoted at the close of the frenzied Satur day’s trading at only $6.50. By the following Tuesday, it had definitely flopped. Despite great efforts on the part of the promoters, staunchly backed up by periodic statements of confidence in the mine issued from Gug genheim headquarters, public interest never revived, and by 1910 the stock was sold at from $2 to $3 a share, and never went higher. The property which had P70,000,000 in capitalization, actually paid during its life less than P24,000,000 in dividends, with no return whatever on the principal; and of the dividends, the Guggenheims received P12,000,000. But that was a comparatively small potato. In May, 1909, the same spectacular Thomas W. Lawson had hit upon a copper mining property known as Santa Rita, in New Mexico, which had been worked by Mexican Indians before the Spanish conquest, and which in more modern times had a very interesting history even before Lawson started to work on it. In 1899, the Amalgamated Cop per Syndicate bought it from Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst, mother of the famous publisher, for P2,800,000. But it was a low-grade ore property, and the purchasers let it lie idle, discouraged with it, during the decade be fore Lawson’s roving eye discovered its “possibilities.” Lawson launched the Santa Rita Mining Company, whose profits were to be based on what he clamied was a newly-discovered process for treating copper ore—the “wet chemical” process. He explained all this to “the great public” in a promo tion stunt that still stands out as a mark of some kind— a prospectus in the form of a 300-page book, copies of which were sent to a list of 62,000 prospects throughout the length and breadth of the country. The financing scheme was rather complicated. First, there was the Santa Rita Mining Company, 85% of those stock, along with the right to use the “wet chemical” process, was to be handed over to the Process Copper Company for P6,000,000 in 8% bonds convertible into 8% stock, P18,000,000 in common stock and P6,000,000 in preferred; in addition to which Lawson and his asso ciates were prepared to share with the public P60,000,000 worth of Process Company bonds; and in the future, when other copper companies should come to the company and beg for the right to use the “wet chemical” process, there would be another public offering of Pl80,000,000 in common stock. Those figures, added together, make a total of P450,000,000. Where is the Escolta operator who has even dared to put that many zeros on paper in the privacy of his own office? How can we get a thrill any longer out of a mere Pl,000,000 or even P5,000,000, all in plain common stock, with no bonds, no preferred shares, not even a 300-page prospectus? Lawson’s Santa Rita project was a complete failure from the promoter’s standpoint. The prospectus came cut the middle of May, 1909, and three weeks later Hayden, Stone and Company, brokers and financiers, had taken over the property, and Lawson was completely out of the picture. But Hayden, Stone and Company were not in Lawson’s class. They capitalized the company at only 750,000 shares, of which they kept one-half. This was followed by the apparently inevitable bond issue, for P5,000,000, and later another 100,000 shares of stock were offered. Few were the mining companies of those days which raised enough capital on the original financing to get into production; and in almost every instance, there were common and preferred shares, bonds, and what not else, in the corporate scheme before the mine settled down to actual operation. The figures were dazzling, not only the figures used by the promoters, but those involved in mining. For instance, the Guggenheims spent P40,000,000 in hard cash in building a railroad to haul ore from an Alaskan mine to the seashore, yet this expenditure, staggering as it seems, was not extraordinary for them. As much as the total value of all the gold we produce in a ye°r— just for a little railroad line to a mine! (Please turn to page 22) February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 19 The National Produce Exchange What it is, and how it operates, or is intended to aperate As far back as the 12th century, we are told, the Jap anese developed and used a system of buying and selling for raw silk which was essentially the same thing as modem commodity brokers know as “future selling,” or, more professionally, “hedging.” The Japanese version of this game, uncomplicated by export markets, tax im positions, quota systems, and all the other appurtenances of the business of today, was comparatively simple, and easily understood by the producer of the silk as well as by the dealers, or brokers, with whom he dealt. The business of hedging through a commodity exchange in these modern times is, however, not quite so easily understood. We do not mean to imply that it is wholly mysterious, or that it can not be learned; we do mean that it takes a bit of study to catch on. That, unquestionably, accounts for the as yet negli gible volume of commodity trading being conducted on Manila’s newest exchange, known as the National Pro duce Exchange. But its sponsors have hopes for it as an active marketing agency, and rather strenuous ef forts are being made to “educate” the grower and the broker in the ramifications—and the advantages—of operating through this exchange’s facilities. The idea of a national commodity exchange is not, of course, entirely new. It has been talked about for many years. Before the National Rice & Corn Corporation was created, the Bureau of Commerce carried on a small commodity exchange business for the benefit of growers of agricultural products of all kinds. They simply an nounced that they would undertake to find buyers for agricultural products consigned to the Bureau, and invited growers to take advantage of their services. If a buyer was immediately on hand, the sale was made; if no buyer showed himself by the time the products arrived in Manila, the Bureau stored the stuff in a warehouse and looked around. The system worked all right, but on small scale. The Bureau charged a com mission of i/2 1 Per cent for their services, plus warehouse charges if any. But private enterprise did not, apparently, desire to go so far as to undertake the formation of a real com modity exchange, and so, at the suggestion of President Quezon, the National Economic Council studied the problem and recommended, in 1936, the establishment by the government of such an exchange. The National Assembly thereupon duly passed the necessary legislation creating this exchange, said legislation being known as Commonwealth Act No. 192. Operations of the exchange started in September, 1937, but were confined in those days to what the boys know as “spot trading”—in other words, buying and selling of commodities ready for im mediate delivery. That is child’s play; the complications crop up in hedging, which involves contracts to buy or to sell products for future delivery, but at a price set and agreed upon at the time the contracts are entered into. The provisions of Act No. 192 included a fund of 1 * 50,000.00 to get the exchange into operation. A board of governors was selected, consisting of the Hon. Eulogio Rodriguez, chairman, and as members, Dr. Manuel L. Roxas, Dr. Victor Buencamino, Mr. Aurelio Montinola, and Mr. Comelio Balmaceda. The last named gentleman was named as acting manager, being detailed from his post as director of the Bureau of Commerce for the purpose. With the assistance of experienced commodity brokers, growers, and others, a set of rules and regulations, and by-laws, were finally drafted. The exchange was there upon opened for membership applications, the rate being P500 per membership, and the number of memberships being limited for the time being to 25. There are now 24 members active on the exchange. Most of the members are also members of the regular mining stock exchanges, but there are also some com modity brokers and one or two active agriculturists in the list. Everything being ready, on January 12 of this year, the boys announced that trading in futures would begin. In other words, hedging. But what, the public wanted to know, is hedging? In fact, not a few of the members of the exchange wanted to know the same thing, too. So you see how new this operation is, and how little understood. Hedging, as we understand it, works something like this: Let us say that you are a sugar planter, and that you have a crop planted which will be ready for delivery in November. Today, the price of sugar on a spot basis (that is, for immediate delivery) is, let us say, P6.70 per picul. You don’t know whether, by next November, it will be P8.00 or P6.00. If it should be P8.00, and you wait until next November to sell, you make money; but if the price should drop by that time to P6.00, you don’t make so much. So you can hedge; in other words, you can contract to sell the crop which is now in the ground, to be delivered at some future time at a certain price. You may agree to sell November sugar, for instance, at P7.20 a picul, and somebody else will agree to buy it at that time at that price. If the price advances beyond P7.20 per picul by November, you as a grower do not get any more than the contract price of P7.20; on the other hand, if the price in November should be lower than P7.20, you still get P7.20 for your sugar. The idea is, in short, to insure yourself, as a grower, against possible downward fluctuation of prices in the future; or to assure yourself, if you are a buyer, against possible upward tendencies. Sugar growers of Cuba and Puerto Rico, we are in formed, have long known of the hedging system, and regularly hedge through the New York Commodity Ex change, which is in practice the barometer for not only Cuba and Puerto Rico, but for the Philippines as well. Being closer to New York, Cubans and Puertericans find it possible to operate directly through that exchange; out here this may not be so practical, but the same thing can be done through the newly created local commodity ex20 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 change, whose price changes in turn are a direct reflection of what goes on in New York. Another reason, too, why the local pro duce exchange is advisable is that the New York exchange only operates for one of our local products, sugar, whereas with a local exchange all other agricultural prod ucts can be included, though perhaps not all can be successfully dealt in as futures. Trading in futures here is now limited to sugar and rice, which are classified accord ing to standard grades and which thus lend themselves readily to selling for later del ivery. The exchange, according to Mr. Balmaceda, plans later to add copra and hemp to the futures list. However, other products, such as tobacco, for instance, are difficult to include in this classification be cause of lack of standardization. Your Sole Agents for PENNSYLVANIA PUMP & COMPRESSOR COMPANY Two-Stage Duplex Synchronous Motor Driven Air Compressor Orders recently placed and delivered: Palidan-Suyoc Deep Level Tunnel Co., Inc. 1-19" x 11" x 14" COMPRESSOR Itogon Mining Company, Inc. 1-25" x 14" x 16" COMPRESSOR San Mauricio Mining Company, Inc. 1-18" x 11 "x 14" COMPRESSOR United Paracale Mining Company, Inc. 1-18 x 11" x 14" COMPRESSOR Marsman & Company, Inc. 2-12" x 11" COMPRESSOR Surigao Consolidated Mining Co., Inc. 1-15" x 9%" x 12" COMPRESSOR YOUR ENQUIRIES ARE SOLICITED Sole Agents KOPPEL (PHILIPPINES) INCORPORATED ILOILO MANILA CEBU tobacco buyer, we are told, wants to per sonally inspect what he is buying, and this can’t be done when you are buying some thing that is possibly not yet planted in the ground. Such products as can not be included in futures trading will, however, be included in the spot trading list, so that a market place will actually be provided for agricultural products of all kinds. Proponents of the produce exchange maintain that without it, there is no ade quate competition among buyers of agri cultural products; that in consequence, the grower or producer is pretty much at the mercy of the buyer or dealer, who fixes his own arbitrary prices. The exchange claims that the open bidding which is compulsory on their floor, and the fact that all opera tions of the exchange are open to public scrutiny, operate not only to furnish the free competition which is essential to fair trade, but also to provide a ready market in which to buy or sell. Another point made by the exchange is that since its members are elected with emphasis on their business integrity and financial responsibility; and since the ex change operates under carefully worked-out rules and regulations which provide for penalties unless observed, trading through members of the exchange should work out as a protective measure for the grower or buyer. Undoubtedly there are advantages to tho exchange system. On the other hand, there remains one weakness of the hedging opera tion which the exchange has no power to overcome; that is, that if a grower of sugar, for instance, needs some ready cash before his sugar is ready for the market, his problem is where and how to get it. Sugar producers in Negros, for instance, have for many years been accustomed to using the big buyers as bankers, obtaining advances on their crops without difficulty from any one of several big concerns. That has been a great convenience to the grower. True, when his crop is ready for the mar ket he will only collect the going price, whatever it may be at the tim~ ’ugh or low; but meanwhile he does have some source of ready cash if he needs it. Agri culture being what it is, the grower very often needs ready cash, so the convenience of being able to get it might offset any advantages offered by the hedging opera tions possible for him to indulge in on the new produce exchange. Unless, of course, the local banks o-o into crop loans. That sort of business is com mon in agricultural districts in the United States, and may in time become equally common practice here. In that case, a grower who has hedged his future crop will take his futures contracts into his bank, borrow a certain percentage of the total value of his future crop, and deposit the futures contracts with the bank until the loan is liquidated. Simple enough pro cedure, if the banks will do it. Some ef fort is being exerted to create crop loan interest among local banks, and we hear rumors that the efforts may soon bear fruit. So far, however, there remains consider able difficulty for the grower dealing on the produce exchange to get cash now for a crop that he won’t harvest until some months later. First month of operation of the National Produce Exchange resulted in very little volume of trade, but considerable curiosity on the part of all concerned. The hedging procedure has been patiently explained by members of the exchange to lots of grow ers and buyers of commodities of all kinds, and the exchange management has reason to hope for gradually increasing business activity in their pit. Starting out in a building adjacent to the National & Corn Corporation, they soon found the loca tion too distant from the financial center and decided to move in next door to the International Stock Exchange, on the second floor of the Crystal Arcade. There, if things work out as hoped, one group of brokers will be yelling, “Sell 10,000 Utopian Gold at 43!’’, while next door another group hollers. “Buy 40 sugar contracts at 7.61!” While far from the Escolta. miners dig and farmers plant and wonder what it’s all about. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 21 Better Prospects for Philippine Coal By R. G. WUERKER, Dr. Eng. (Consulting Engineer & Geologist for the Gatbo Coal and Power Co.) Coal all over the world is still the most frequently used, and in nearly all cases also the cheapest natural product to supply power, to give man help in his mechanical jobs, light in his home and comfort in his private life. Unfortunately the coal in the Phil ippine Islands has an exceptionally bad reputation. The misfortune of the biggest enterprise in coal mining here deterred everybody from taking a chance in this field of mining. Only some die-hards who found in check ing up that a profit could be made with coal carried on the struggle which every industrial enterprise has to go through at the start. Now, as the price of coal is climbing, it is easier to see that profits may be real ized. But let us exclude these ex traordinary situations and deal henceforth with normal conditions. A usual objection is that the qual ity of Philippine coal is not good. Too young geologically, not able to compete in price or quality with coal from Australia, Japan and China, and what not else. Fact is that the only producing coal mine in the coun try today is selling its products readily for use in steam boilers, in the up-to-date coal dust boilers of the Meralco, etc. So the claim that Phil ippine coal is not good must not be entirely correct. Also the fact must be remembered that elsewhere hun dreds of millions of tons of a much lower grade than Philippine coal are consummed yearly. Valuable research work on how to make the best use of Philippine coal was done already in 1907-1908 by Mr. Cox, of the Bureau of Science. He came to the conclusion that with out doubt steam vessels can success fully use most of the Philippine coal, but for stationery power plants he recommended gasifying rather than burning local coal, which according to his findings was ideal for use in gas producing plants. In the meantime engineering science has not stood still, and has widened the range of use of Philip pine coal considerably. The coal dust boiler was developed and with it the possibility for use of nearly every kind of coal. Big boilers of this kind are of course only economical in very large plants. Outside of Ma nila there would be hardly any need for them. But where locally power has to be generated on a small scale, especially in islands with coal deposits (Mindanao, Cebu, Masbate, Batan, The Gatbo Coal and Power Co., capitalized at the modest figure of riUO.OOO, has under lease some 800 hectares of land on which are located some old Spanish coal workings. Ac cording to information furnished by the company, with about P60,000 ac tually paid in, a very considerable amount of development work is re ported by the engineers, principally in opening up the coal veins, putting in adequate drainage to enable continuous production during wet weather, and in improving transpor tation facilities. Rather large coal deposits have been opened up, inter estingly enough exactly in accordance with the plan of the old Spanish work ings, which present-day engineers found they could not improve upon. Production of coal so far has been confined to such amounts as were dug out in tunnelling, cross-cutting, and in making galleries for working the vertical veins of coal. The opera tors of the property expect shortly to be producing enough coal to make the mine self-supporting, and look for ward to a considerable volume of pro duction which, with modem develop ments in combustion engineering, they hope to be able to market for various purposes in the Philippines. No claims are made of a high-grade of coal, although we are told that some deposits of really good coal have been located in the Philippines. Mar keting possibilities for Philippine coal are mainly based on advances made in recent years in the technique of using coal, which we are told open up a wide variety of uses for local deposits. The accompanying article was writ ten for the “Journal” by the com pany’s consulting engineer and geol ogist, Dr. R. G. Wuerker. Catanduanes, Poliilo, Luzon, etc., the suggestion of Mr. Cox to gasify rather than to burn Philippine coal still stands as a useful possibility. On his recommendation a 67 H.P. Otto unit for power supply was in stalled on the compound of the Phil ippine General Hospital. Inquiries at the hospital show that this gasifier is now fed not only with coal but with wood, sawdust, husk and other refuse. That gasifiers are able to bum refuse as fuel may be another comforting fact (for the pessimists who have some doubts on the future of coal mining here). A better proof of economy may be a recently built suction gas plant which uses locally mined coal and therefrom supplies one of the big cities in these islands with electricity. A glance at the economy of such a coal gas plant in comparison with a diesel engine gives some very inter esting results. The suction gas plant is reported to generate 1 kilowatt hour at about half of the cost of the diesel of equivalent capacity. The initial cost of the gasifying plant is however about 50% higher. A remarkable feature of these gas suction plants, is what the engineer calls the thermal efficiency. That is, in other words, the relation between the amount of thermal units put into the boiler and the equivalent of ther mal units transformed in work. In ordinary steam engines this value is only about 10%, the greater amount of heat escaping unused through the generator, the cooling water, and other radiation. Possibly in the case of Philippine coal it is still less. In ;omparison with the steam engine the thermal efficiency of a suction gas plant is normally 25%. That means (besides cost saving) that in case Philippine coal is used in the future only in gasifiers instead of under boilers, one would have 150% more coal for use. With regard to the protection of the as yet comparatively small coal resources here this should not be over-looked. Another interesting feature of the suction gas plant is that the gas en gine is of a convertible type. That means that in case the coal supply stops for one reason or the other, such a convertible gas engine can be run with crude oil like a diesel en gine. A reserve supply of crude in every plant is a precaution usuallytaken. Another complaint against Phil ippine coal is that it is not cokable. 22 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 with the exception of a few seams in the Government owned mines in Mindanao. In the last few years a new process for the production of metallic iron has been successfully introduced. No coke, no blast furnace (with the tremendous investments involved) are required. In this new pro cess the iron ore is reduced to metal in simple rotary kilns as in a cement plant. Coal from the Malangas Coal Field and other Philippine coal after a certain pre paration can be used as reducing matter. Thus does technical progress clear new ways for use of Philippine coal, which may help to develop a local iron and steel in dustry. The two foregoing proposals—power generation in a modern way for small plants and fuel supply for an eventual Philippine iron industry—deal only with projects which can be carried out with coal already proven SOUTHWESTERN ENGINEERING COMPANY OF P. I., INC. ORE TESTING ASSAYING MINE, MILL, AND POWER PLANT DESIGN ORE MILL CONTRACTING If you have a metallurgical problem, or are planning erection of a mill, why not consult us? There is no charge for preliminary consultation. SOUTHWESTERN ENGINEERING COMPANY OF P. I., INC. 506-508 Calle Avilea San Miguel Manila, P. I. Telephone: 2-35-96 to exist in the Philippine coal fields. But the oft-repeated phrase, “hardly scratched mineral resources” of the Philip pines also stands for the coal fields. Should the coal miners have the same good luck as some of the gold-diggers had, and strike larger deposits, then a third pos sibility for use of Philippine coal by ex tracting by-products for chemical raw ma terials could well be realized. Pikers that's . . . (Continued from page IS) And as for “escrow shares,” there was no such thing in those days. The SEC had yet to be born, and while President Theodore Roosevelt did gain lasting fame as a “trust buster,” his period in office was all too brief to have seriously handicapped the operators of the financial three-ring circusses put on for the edification of the “great public. Roosevelt was followed by the genial and easy-going Taft, and financial whoopee was the order of the times. Roosevelt and Taft split, thus splitting the Republican vote, and Woodrow Wilson was elected. Wilson looked at things with a somewhat jaundiced eye, and the boys were beginning to fear that he might do some thing, but the War scare came along and kept him too busy maintaining America’s neutrality. All in all, that period from the late 1800’s, and including the War, was a glorious epoch. You could sell securities in any kind of mining project, proved or unproved, or even non-existent. No permits were required. No limits were imposed on the financial structure, either as to form or as to size. A million dollars was such an insignificant item that when American Smelting offered $11,000,000 for the Guggenheim’s privately ■perated smelters, which could be duplicated for $4,000,000, Dan Guggenheim snorted, “What kind of money is $11,000,000? In this country, nothing!” He was right, at that, for by holding out, he eventually got control of the entire Smelters trust. Heigh, ho, those were the days. When your broker calls up one morning and tells you that such-and-such is selling at 54 cents and liable to go to 56, your answer is apt to be, “So what? That’s only 2 cents!” And, you might add, so is our whole mining industry. Just the same, we like it this way— don’t you? Pikers we don’t mind being, but suckers, never! James Hopkins, Mining Engineer and Geologist announces he is now available for Mine Examinations, Geological Inves tigations and General Consulting work, and is opening his office in the S. J. Wilson Bldg., Room 7-E. Mr. Hopkins, who is a licensed Mining Engineer, has been in the Islands over 2 years and has been connected with Benguet Consolidated on some special geological work in the Baguio area and was En gineer in charge of Quartz Hill Mining Company until December of last year. He has also been in Africa connected with gold and diamond mining, reconnais sance Geology in South America and Mexico and various types of mining and geological work in the United States. Philippine Iron Dividend: A cash dividend of 5% on the common stock was declared by this company last month. This amounts to P2.50 per share, as the par value of each share of common is P50.00. Total amount in dividends will be PIOO.OOO.OO, on 40,000 shares outstanding. This is the only company in the Philip pines, so far, which produces iron on a large scale. Most of its goes to Japanese buyers. The property is located in Larap Penninsula, and in Camarines Norte. It is covered by Torrens Title. Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company manages the mine. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 23 Consolidated Since December of last year, the street has been buzz ing with talk of Consolidated Mines—engineers were being let out, the mine at Tumbaga had flopped, the chrome was inferior, not salable; Benguet was disap pointed in results, and what not else. Seeking to verify these reports, the Journal interviewed the chairman of the board of directors of the company, Mr. Courtney Whitney. Following this interview, Mr. Whitney has written a letter to the Journal, which we publish herewith, together with principal portions of a report on chrome operations submitted to Consolidated by Judge John W. Haussermann of Benguet, and a letter addressed by Mr. Whitney to the stockholders of the corporation, accompanying Judge Haussermann’s report: CONSOLIDATED MINES, INC. Derham Building, Manila February 15th, 1938 American Chamber of Commerce Journal, Manila, P. I. Dear Sirs: In response to your recent inquiries concerning the opera tions of this Company, please be advised that the devel opment in progress at our Tumbaga Mine is proceeding as contemplated in the report of our Chief Engineer, Mr. George 0. Scarfe, of January 18, 1938. The mill on this property has been running without interruption at approximately two-thirds its rated capacity, and be ing now well advanced on our schedule of mine develop ment, we look forward to bringing the property into the full production planned in a very short time. The prop erty, under the present scale of production, is now show ing a substantial operating profit. Subsequent to Mr. Scarfe’s report, our No. 3 Vein, which at that time had just been cut on the 150 Level, has been drifted on both north and south sufficiently to demons trate both in width and values considerable improvement over the 100 Level. Ore deliveries to the mill from our No. 3 Shaft have been averaging well over one ounce ($35.00) per ton in gold content. Concentrates being produced are running approximately five ounces of gold, six ounces of silver, and 20% copper per ton, with the net value of the copper being mon than sufficient to pay all smelting, transportation and marketing charges. Although only in production a few months, there has been sold and delivered from our Masinloc Chrome Dep osit ore of a gross value of One Million Twelve Thousand Forty Pesos (Pl,012,040.00) * , last month’s deliveries of ore sold alone amounting to Two Hundred Twenty-Nine Thousand Pesos (P229,000.00). These results would appear to best evidence the reception this ore is being accorded by the trade and gives an idea of the poten tialities of this operation once introduction of the ore in industrial channels has been completed. (Please turn to page 26) C°M • ® X MINING EQUIPMENT Sole Agents for the Philippines The Earnshaws Docks & Honolulu Iron Works P. O. Box 282 Tel. 2-32-13 Ingensoll-Rand 60-118 Second Street, Port Area Manila, P. I. Branch Office Bacolod, Occ. Negros Cebu, Cebu IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 24 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 The Pegs Rising prices on the stock exchanges of Manila have been the occasion for a considerable amount of agitation on the part of some brokers on both the International and the Manila for removal of the pegged prices on listed stocks. At this writing, no official action has been taken on the matter by either exchange. The pegs may or may not be removed; if the agitation becomes strong enough, or price levels rise high enough to make them ludicrous, they probably will be. In this connection, a very interesting hypothetical case has been described to the Journal. Suppose a group of operators in the local exchanges should see an opportunity, once the pegs are removed, to concentrate a relentless fire of rumors, misrepresent ations, or what not a about an issue on the exchanges which they might select because of its vulnerability. The Manila market is notoriously subject to fluctuations based on rumors, both good and bad, and it is not incon-, ceivable, having in mind past happenings of this kind, that a self-interested group with wide connections could sLaii a uepression in almost any but the very strongest issues on the boards. Assuming, then, in our hypothetical case, that such a group existed, that the pegs were removed, and that the group decided to concentrate the fire on a certain issue. A whispering campaign could be started—“did you hear this........?; “I understand that ....”; “some one was telling me that ....,” and so on. However base less or fantastic such rumors might be, they would spread rapidly, and would undoubtedly have at least a tempo rary effect on the issue involved. An effect that might push the price of the issue considerably below its pegged level. What, then, would there be to prevent the group from stepping in to buy up what they could at the depressed prices, then either start counter-rumors to bring the price back up, or wait for reports on the mine itself to bring the prices back to justified levels? Nothing. But if the pegs should be removed? It will be inter esting to see just what may transpire if the directors of the two exchanges should decide that the time has come to jerk out the pegs. Persons who know their way around on both exchanges, believe that it is entirely pos sible that such plots are already a-hatching. It will be interesting to watch later developments. February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 25 Surigao Iron An Editorial.—It is learned with regret that private enterprise has had to be denied opportunity to exploit the Surigao iron deposit, and that it has been turned over at least for the time being to the National Development Corporation. The corporation begins its activity at this deposit of low-grade iron with an outlay of P120,000 for a thorough-going survey of the full extent and average quality of the deposit. If not too late, in our opinion the project should still be made the subject of bids by private companies able to back their offers with bonds. It is our understanding that from private companies, royalties up to 50 centavos a ton of ore may be expected, while the National Development Corporation will, if it actually mines ore and sells it, pay the Commonwealth only 40!/2 centavos a ton. There is but one market for Philippine iron ore, Japan. Any company acquiring lease of this iron deposit will necessarily make its arrangements with Japanese buyers. No objection rises here, the Development corporation itself would have to do the same thing. If the corpora tion undertakes to mine and ship the iron, it will lack capital for the undertaking. In the end it will have low grade ore—probably not marketable even in Japan un less a contract exists that a forfeitable bond enforces. Why have the Commonwealth so close to such a tran saction? To us it seems highly imprudent. The present opportunity to move this iron, heretofore immobile in the Commonwealth’s resources, is fortuitous. It comes of special circumstances that are temporary. If it passes, there is no prospect that the iron will ever be moved. As we get the facts they are these: Japanese interests (tied up with shipping and steel) stand ready to get out two million tons of this iron a year under contract with a private company, the com pany holding from the Commonwealth under a twentyfive-year lease. The royalty to the Commonwealth would be a minimum of fifty centavos a ton, a million pesos a year during twenty-five years. Two hundred ship ments of 10,000 tons each, would be required to move a year’s production of the iron. To procure the ships, the tie-up with shipping and steel in Japan would have to be a close one. That is a concern of the Japanese who want the iron. The legitimate concern of the Commonwealth is the royalties the iron would pay to the public treasury, and the three million pesos a year that mining and loading the ore would entail by way of daily expenses, mainly for labor. The Commonwealth has at stake here, some four million peso# a year. The proposed buyers, dealing with a private company selected by the Commonwealth on the basis of royalty bids submitted, would assume all risks—under firm and sufficient bond. (Please turn to page 41) 26 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 Consolidated... (Continued from, page 2d) Concerning your reference to various rumors which have been circulated on the streets of Manila regarding the operations of this Company, although many ot such rumors have come directly to our attention, we have not given same serious consideration. In the first place, we reel that it 111-behooves a corporation to attempt to dig nify by answer every false rumor or report circulated pertaining to its activities. In the second place, xor tne most part such rumors have been so utterly fantastic as to merit and receive little or no consideration from responsible persons, without full verification. Of course, rumor and gossip, however convincing it may appear, cannot have tne slightest effect on operations and until such time that we are convinced the rights and interests of our stockholders are being substantially pre judiced by the circulation of same, we shall make no move toward their suppression. As to those responsible, al though they may reap immediate gain thru market mani pulation, the price to be ultimately paid for such gain will be considerable thru the loss of public confidence which must inevitably follow. I trust I have made our position quite clear. Very truly yours, (Sgd.) COURTNEY WHITNEY Chairman, Board of Directors *—This includes the value of 1,400 tons of ore now being loaded for shipment. CONSOLIDATED MINES, INC. February 15th, 1938 TO THE STOCKHOLDERS: 1 take pleasure in transmitting herewith copy of a report from the Benguet Consolidated Mining Company pertain ing to the operation of our Masinloc Chrome property during the year 1937. Although Masinloc has only been in production a few months, up to this writing there has been sold and del ivered from our Chrome Deposit, ore of a gross value of One Million Twelve Thousand Forty Pesos (Pl,012,040.00) * , last month’s deliveries of ore sold alone amount ing to Two Hundred Twenty Nine Thousand Pesos (1 * 229,000.00). These results, over a period in which the steel industry in the United States has been admit tedly badly depressed, would appear to lend emphasis to the favorable reception this ore is being accorded by both the metallurgical and refractory trades and give an idea of the vast potentialities of this operation once introduc tion of the ore in industrial channels has been completed. Although the purpose of this letter is to transmit Benguet’s report on the chrome operation, it appears oppor tune at the same time to advise that progress in our Tumbaga Mine development is proceeding as contem plated in the report of our Chief Engineer, Mr. George O. Scarfe, of January 18, 1938. Our mill has been run ning without interruption at approximately two thirds its rated capacity, and being now well advanced on our schedule of mine development, we look forward shortly to stepping up production to the full planned capacity. Under present production, a substantial operating profit is being realized. (Please turn to page 32) Model 6 BK, for example, Waukesha Marathon Six, is sturdily built for exact ing service in modem speed vans. The Ricardo Combustion Chamber speeds and completes combustion, saves valves and seats, produces more power with less fuel, reduces crank case dilu tion, prolongs life of bearings. See the Table for specif.cations — note there are seven main bearings, 2% inches in diameter THE ANSWER very likely will be ‘Yes” if the power unit required is for efficient, economical heavy-duty service in the fields of transport, agri culture, manufacture, mining and petroleum production Waukesha builds forty-three different engine models burning all gas or liquid fuels, 10 to 325 H. P. meet the pecialized power needs of thirty-four industries Waukesha Petrol Engine MODEL 6 BK Bore and Strobe 3% inches x 414 inches —M/M 9S Displacement . inches—Litres 4.S2 Seven Main Bearings Diameter . . 2% inches H. P.—60-80 Wt. 690 lbs. The Earnshaws pDocks & Honolulu Iron Works MOTOR SERVICE, INC WAUKESHA do it battel? For Bulletins covering the general line or special applications, pleas address the home office. A brochure. What Is That Hesselman Engine? describes this economical diesel-oil burning, spark-ignition, low-compression engine, aking especially remarkable records in bus operation. Ask for a copy. Also available in Spanish: iQUE ES UN MOTOR HESSELMAN’ WAUKESHA MOTOR COMPANY WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN, U. S. A. Cables: "MOTOR-WAUKESHA” 21-8:37 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERJCAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 I HE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 27 NON-FERROUS METALS GET GOOD START IN NEW YEAR Outlook gloomy for zinc but most prices advance slowly in quiet trading. (By the United Press) NEW YORK, Feb. 10—(UP)—Reflecting a general good sentiment, most non-ferrous metals got off to a good start in 1938, according to the monthly summary of the magazine Metal and Mineral Markets. Only a general confusion over the objectives of the administration prevented a strong advance in metal prices and production, the publication said. Trading was generally quiet. Copper started strong, but slumped slightly as stocks increased. The sales volume early in the month in the major non-ferrous me tals was the largest since last August. The lead industry showed increased activity and the outlook seemed bright. Difficulties were forecast for the zinc industry unless lower costs can be achieved. The publication noted some optimistic prospects for the copper market despite increased stocks. According to the Electrical World, the electrical utilities in this coun try plan to spend $472,640,000 during 1938 on new construction, an increase of four per cent over the appropriations for 1937, promising some help to the cop per industry. Business of lead producers is strong, the journal re ported, adding: “The trade appraises the business transacted during the last two weeks as having placed producers and con sumers in a comfortable position, and there has been no pressure to sell. . . “Domestic lead shipments for 1937 totaled 575,933 tons, which compares with 513,361 tons in 1936 and 433,456 tons in 1935. Shipments in 1937 averaged 47,994 tons monthly against 42,780 tons monthly in 1936 and 36,121 tons in 1935.’’ The lead industry of the United States has been steadily characterized, the publication continued, by con tinued improvement in regard to production, consump tion, price and stocks. Canada’s nickel production is increasing, the journal reported, with the eleven-month total for 1937 cal culated at 205,087,642 pounds against 151,689,604 pounds during the same period of 1936. Trading in tin has been generally inactive. With tin plate mills operating at 35 to 40 per cent of capacity and little in the way of encouragement in the news from Washington, buyers have been in no mood to expand their operations. Demand for quicksilver remains quiet. The silver market in both New York and London con tinues quiet and steady. The London price has stood around 20 pence most of the time. Lower costs or higher prices are necessary in 1938 if the zinc industry is to prosper and avoid drastic cur tailment of operations, Ernest V. Gent, secretary of the American Zinc Institute, reported. TAKE HOME WITH YOU THE PRIDE OF PHILIPPINE"^ T * ini TABACALE •& \ ^3 R A /A RESPOA73/NG TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OE COMMERCE JOl'RNAL 28 1 HE AMERICAN (.11 AMBER OE COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 In a review of the industry for 1937, Gent said that the industry began the new year in an excellent statis tical position to benefit from any upturn in business, but wages and other costs, and prices were unsatisfactory. Progress is being made, he said, toward improving technique in both the hot dipped and electro-galvanizing fields. Moreover, the use of zinc is expanding and labor relations in the industry are harmonious. As of December 31, 1937, the zinc industry had un filled orders of 48,000 tons, well under the 1937 monthly average of 76,468 tons, but not far under the 1936 monthly average of 50,903 tons. On December 31, stocks on hand totaled 64,776 tons, or about two months’ needs at the current rate of shipments. AVERAGE METAL PRICES FOR JANUARY, 1938 COPPER Gain or Loss from Dec. Electrolytic, Domestic refinery .. Electrolytic, Export, refinery . . . London, Standard Spot.............. London, Electrolytic, bid............ 10.025 9.758 40.187 44.000 + 0.125 -F 0.173 + 1.312 F 2.000 LEAD New York..................................... St. Louis ..................................... 4.900 4.750 0.150 r 0.150 Vse your good judgment Choose WHITE HORSE FINE AS A FINE LIQUEUR A blend of finest whiskies, each lending a trace of its own bouquet of peat or heather or pine: lone years of slumber in vaulted darkness while these many llavors and fragrances were mingled and married together; a touch on the tongue as smooth WHITE HORSE HANSON, ORTH & STEVENSON, INC. Sole Agents Whisky Residence: Telephone 5-69-61 OTHER METALS London, Spot ............................... 15.687 - 0.187 London, Forward ........................ 15.812 - 0.312 SILVER & STERLING EXCHANGE Silver, New York, per oz............. 44.750 Unchanged Silver, London, pence per oz. ... 20.000 4- 1.563 Sterling Exchange, “checks” . . . 499.750 -t- 0.225 ZINC St. Louis........................................ 5.000 Unchanged London, Spot................................. 14.687 - 0.188 London, Forward ........................ 14.937 i- 0.062 TIN New York, Straits ...................... 41.083 - 0.577 London, Standard Spot .............. 181.000 Unchanged Gold, per oz., U. S. price.............. $35.00 Quicksilver, per flask.................. 80.000 Antimony, domestic .................... 13.750 Platinum, refined, per oz............... $36,000 Cadmium ...................................... 132.888 Aluminum, 994 % per cent........ 20.000 CHROMIUM Chromium, 97CJ, per pound........ 85.000 Unchanged - 1.000 Unchanged - 2.000 - 9.612 Unchanged Unchanged MANGANESE ORE 52 to 55%, c.i.f. Atlantic ports .. 40.000 Unchanged (Domestic quotations, unless otherwise stated, are in cents per pound. London averages for copper, lead, zinc, and tin are in pounds sterling per long ton. Sterling exchange, checks, is in cents. New York silver is for foreign metal.) FINANCE & MINING INVESTMENTS CORP. General Merchants — Investments — Loans — Insurance FINANCE & MINING BROKERAGE Stocks a Bonds t 2 18 39 205-207 Crystal Arcade Fhones ' 2 42-65 I 2-76-14 Announcement James Hopkins Mininq Enqineer and Qeolcqist Hou? Jlvailable for Mine Examinations, Qeoloqical Investiqations and Qeneral Consultinq U?ork on Part Time Basis Address: S J. IPilson Bldq Telephone 4-03-57 /N RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 29 What the Diggers Are Doing BATONG-BUHAY: A conspicuous ex ample of a mining development which has continued quietly underway with a care fully planned program of development from the locating and prospecting stages to ore testing for a mill is Batong-Buhay (“live rock”). In his latest report to stock holders, Mr. Thos. I. Weeks, president, con fidently anticipates that the mine will go into production this year, and that 1938 “will decisively put the property on the mining map of the world.” Operations at the property were com menced by Earle W. Berry, superintendent, in the second half of November, 1936. Crews of trained prospectors were started all over the property for the purpose of discovering outcrops other than the orignal discovery at Dickson Creek. Work on one of the new outcrops thus found soon un covered the main ore body at what is known as Level G. This was then crosscut, and raises were run connecting the tunnels, all on a continuous vein. Sinking was started and carried through to a tunnel 100 feet below tunnel H on level G, and drifting was then in order. All of this has been done in accordance with a well studied development program in which exploration work is coupled with development thus increasing ore reserves as exploration work on the vein is carried out. The vein ‘ appears to be holding up strongly with depth and the southern limit of the commercial ore body, according to Mr. Berry, will exceed the present southern limits on the upper levels. It has been found very difficult, due to the erratic dis semination of the ore, to find a northern limit to the ore body. This main vein, the Dickson Greek Vein, is the one on which most development work has been concentrated, with a view to ex posing enough ore to warrant the construc tion of a mill as soon as possible. How ever, all outcrops have been plotted on the map, and at such time as the property goes into production, work will be started on all known outcrops for the development of large tonnage ore bodies. Positive ore as of January 1st, 1938, was P803.331.ll. Probable ore amounted to P89,305.93, and possible ore was P675,226.15. Stockholders have naturally been inter ested concerning the installation of a mill and getting into production. Mr. Weeks treats of this in his report, and states that the board of directors on Mr. Berry’s re commendation, has decided to secure expert opinion based on minute examination of the property and a fair representation of the ore to be treated before the mill equipment is ordered. In order to get a fair repre sentation of ore, it must be exposed in sufficiently large quantities so that it can be given the necessary metallurgical test by experts. The company is in communica tion with several mill equipment concerns regarding a mill, and preliminary tests arc being made at the mines by the engineer in order to render every assistance pos sible when the property is examined and final decision made regarding size and type of mill to be installed. In one of Mr. Berry’s reports, he has stated that, if the present favorable pro gress continues, he will be ready to recom mend a mill before the end of the present dry season. This is contingent on exposing LOW-HEAD SCREEN A HIGHLY EFFICIENT HORIZONTAL VIBRATING SCREEN REQUIRING: LOW HEAD ROOM, LOW POWER CONSUMPTION, LOW INITIAL COST, LOW INSTALLATION COST AND LOW MAINTENANCE THE EARNSHAWS DOCKS & HONOLULU IRON WORKS , 60-118 Second Street, Port Area Manila, P. I. P. 0. Box 282 Branch Office Tel. 2-32-13 Bacolod, Occ. Xep. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COM ME RCF JOURNAL 30 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 an additional large quantity of ore during the next three or four months in accord ance with a program layed out by him. Batong-Buhay Gold Mines, Inc. is capital ized at Pl,000,000.00, of which all but P82.759.67 has been paid up. Almost 5 million shares (par value P0.01) are held in escrow to be released when permission has been received from proper govern mental authorities. The stock has been sell ing in the neigborhood of P0.013 and P0.014. Amalaamateit minerals, Snr. 118 T. PINPIN, MANILA Telegraphic Address—“AMALGAMATED” OPERATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS OF MINES Base Metals Specializing in COMPLETE STAFF of ENGINEERS and GEOLOGISTS Buyers and Exporters of Copper, Manganese, Chromite and Other Base Metals Consultation Invited No Problem is too Difficult. We Operate Ships Under Special Charter A New Machine Shop Service To All Industries P. I. Mining Machinery & Electrical Supply Co., Inc. (Office) (Factory) 7 Plaza Moraga Balintawak— Phone: 2-93-44 (1 Kilometer beyond Monument) HAUSSERMANN: The Haussermannmanaged mines went along the even tenor of their way during January, producing about the same as in the previous month. Total Ilaussermann production was P2.147,922.22. Balatoc accounted for the largest single portion of this, producing Pl,088,930.92; Benguet was close behind with P911,184.84. Cal Horr bettered its Decem ber figure with P106,990.34, while Ipo ac counted for P42.816.32. REPRESENTING LEADING SMELTERS and BUYERS- THROUGHOUT THE WORLD We are equipped to manufacture any piece of equipment required by the Mining, Sugar, Lumber and Oil Industries. No demand is too large or com plex lor the P. I. Mining Machin ery & Electrical Supply Co. organ ization, and no requirement too small to receive careful attention. Our Nut, Bolt, and Nail factory will be in production shortly, manu facturing from American Wire and Bars these important products. Let us give you an estimate. MARSMAN: Coco Grove, the largest dredging operation in the Far East, went into production last month, after a long lay-off for the installation of the two huge dredges, the “Mary Angus’’ and the “Anne Petronella.” The “Mary Angus” is the first of these two dredges to go into produc tion, with the “Anne Petronella” close be hind. The “Mary Angus” was first put into operation for a run of 6 and % days, out of which it was stopped 31 hours for read justments. Actual operating time was about 125 hours. The clean-up amounted to approximately P24.000.00 from 30.000 yards, or a value of about 80 centavos per yard. Approximate return, therefore, was P200.00 per hour; P4.800.00 daily, or about P144,000.00 per month for this one dredge. From this first clean-up, costs of 30 to 35 ctvs. a yard were anticipated, but since then estimates of operating costs have been revised downward, and the first ten days of operation indicated that 20 to 25 ctvs. might be achieved. Substantial improvement in actual produc tion is also expected to be achieved later on, when problems naturally incident to initiating such a large dredging project are overcome. The two dredges are in fact un officially. expected to produce around P300,000.00 to P325,000,000.00 per month, better. Of the other Marsman mines, United Paracale, Itogon, and San Mauricio turned in better production figures for January than for December, while Suyoc Consol idated stayed about the same. SORIANO: Soriano mines were also up a bit in January. Antamok tonnage was valued at P430.104.59, which compares with 21,727 tons in December amounting to P415,626.98. IXL milled 10,025 tons in De cember, and only 9,944 tons in January, yet the value of the January production was about P60,000.00 greater than Decem ber, indicating higher-grade ore. Masbate Consolidated made the greatest improve ment of the group, with P268,329.86 worth of ore, milling 61.823 tons, against only P251,862.16 from 52,667 tons in December. NEW HIGH IN MINE PRODUCTION DURING 1937: While the stock market, concerned chiefly with mining shares, stayed in the doldrums of the memorable 1937 bear market, the mining industry itself plugged along steadily, and hung up a new high record in production of all metals for the year. According to figures released by the Chamber of Mines, gold production alone amounted to P51,260,646.00 for the year, and production and exportation of base metals accounted for P5.269,734.00 more, bringing the grand total up to P56,530,380.00, which does not take into account silver exports, which, for some reason, were not included in the Chamber of Mines figures. This thumping gold production makes the Philippines second only to California in U. S. gold producing areas. Director Quirico Abadilla predicts much larger figures for the coming year, because of the plans afoot to increase capacity of some producers, and the prospect that as many as eight, or even more mining com panies will join the ranks of producers during the year. It looks like a banner year ahead. Marsman has expanded the capacity of his mines most aggressively during 1937; in creasing the mill capacity of Itogon, in stalling new equipment and machinery' at San Mauricio, two new dredges at Coco (Please t il i n tn pain .,'P) ' CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOVRNAI IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN February, 1038 7 HE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 31 Culled from the News NIELSON: Tinago erects mill: Nielson and Company, managers of the Tinago Con solidated property in Masbate, announce that a mill to go into operation probably this month, is being constructed on the property. This mill will be the third placed in operation by Nielson interests, and will have a rated capacity of 50 to 75 tons daily. It is a very unusual type of mill. It will produce gold bullion with a process which is a combination of cyanidation and flotation, using charcoal as a precipitant. The JOURNAL understands that no mill of exactly this type has yet been con structed here. The mine has been developed so that no difficulties will be encountered in furnishing the ore necessary to keep the mill running after operations com mence. During the first month of opera tion, it is planned to run low grade ma terial through the mill until the metallurgy is completely straightened out and the mill staff and crew efficiently trained in the process. EAST MINDANAO HAS SMALL NET PROFIT: This company realized a net pro fit of Pl 1,470.68 during its fiscal year ended October 31 of last year, according to a report to stockholders. Bullion produc tion was P691,852.87. Operating expenses amounted to P411,331.75, leaving an operat ing profit of P267,307.40. This was re duced by allowances for ore depletion and ore depreciation, q.nd other charges. When these charges were made, and the deficit for the last fiscal year subtracted, the net profit was reduced to P6,672.33 for the period. The president and general manager, H. Gasser, reported ore reserves as of October 1st as P871,578.00 of which P548.845.00 is minable ore. Values average P21.74 per ton. MASBATE GOLDFIELDS TO PRO DUCE: Stockholders received good news at the annual meeting held on January 10th. William de Carbonnel, the company’s con sulting engineer submitted a report on the work done during the year, and it was an nounced that completion of the construc tion of a 125-ton mill will be accomplished, probably in March. Ore reserves were es timated at 69,820 tons, valued at P923,101.91. D. M. Young, mill superintendent, com menced designing and construction of the mill in August of last year. BUED STILL TESTING: This company is still testing its placer property in the Paracale district. Although placer ma chinery was installed last May, the com pany has not yet gone into production, as the work did not produce the results origin ally indicated, Mr, S. N. Schechter, pres ident and general manager stated. The company is also examining and testing several other placer properties i n that district which it has under option. Capital stock is P200,000.00, paid up, with par value of P0.10 per share. Other officers are: F. Umbreit, vicepresident; C. S. Banks, secretary, L. M. Duncan, and L. R. Hobbs, directors. N. E. MULLEN SELLS A PORTABLE DREDGER: Wert Conrad, Dutch manufac turer of gold dredges, has designed a port able dredge for the Philippines. It has a washing capacity of from two to six cubic yards per hour. N. E. Mullen’s machinMARINE ENGINES Diesel Locomotives Gas Producer Plants SAW MILLS & WOODWORKING MACHINERY Irrigation & Pumping Sets Ice & Refrigeration Machines Contractors Machinery RICE MILLS AND THRESHERS Sugar and Coffee Mills Starch Making Plant Oil Mills PHILIPPINE ENGINEERING CORPORATION MANILA CEBU — BACOLOD — ILOILO — COTABATO ery department handles the complete Conrad line. MINE FACTORS: A new conveyor sys tem and dock is occupying the energies of this company for its manganese property on (Please turn to page 40) DISTILLERIES Aerial Ropeways Road Rollers ELECTRIC MOTORS & GENERATORS Electrical Instruments Transmission Line Equipments Mill Supplies LUBRICATING OIL AND GREASES For Industrial Machineries IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 32 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 Consolidated . . . (Continued from, page 26) Subsequent to Mr. Scarfe’s report, our No. 3 Vein, which at that time had just been cut on the 150 Level, has been drifted on both north and south sufficiently to de monstrate both in width and values con siderable improvement over the 100 Level. Ore deliveries from our No. 3 Shaft to the mill have been averaging well over one ounce ($35.00) per ton in gold content. Concentrates being produced are running approximately five ounces of gold, six ounces of silver, and 20% copper per ton, with the net value of the copper being more than sufficient to pay all smelting, trans portation and marketing charges. Respectfully, (Sgd.) COURTNEY WHITNEY Chairman, Board of Directors *—Includes value of 1,400 tons now being loaded for shipment. BENGUET CONSOLIDATED MINING CO. P. O. Box 817 Manila February 2, 1938 To the President and Board of Directors Consolidated Mines, Inc. P. O. Box 1147 Manila Dear Sirs: Following is a summarized statement of the results obtained in our operation of your Masinloc chrome property during the past year. Tons of float ore mined ... Tons of ore from open cut . 21,275 32,302 Total ore mined ... 53,577 Disposition of this ore was as follows: LUMP ORE Tons Sold to General Refrac tories Co....................... 2,000 Sold to Harbison Walker 7,920 Sold to Mitsubishi Kaisha 3,300 Sold to U. S. Vanadium Co................................... 1,500 Sold to W. R. Grace Co. 500 Ore in stock piles at 12/31/37: Wharf bins ................. 6,674 Lower bodega storage 2,887 Mine ............................. 750 Mill bin ....................... 110 Overage shipped to com pensate for moisture content ....................... 808 -------- Tons 26,449 SIZED ORE Sold to General Refrac tories Co....................... 13,300 In stock piles at 12/31/37: Wharf bins ............... 2,768 Mill bin ..................... 139 16,207 Fines storage at mill ............... 10,921 Total ...................................... 53,577 CONSTRUCTION Although ore shipments started in April. 1937, the construction period extended throughout the year. At the end of the year there remained only the construction of additional ore storage facilities at the wharf to complete the program laid out for production of lump and sized ore. The following are the major construction pro jects completed during the year. 1. Completion of 29.5 kilometers of me talled road with traffic control system. This road was completed by June but dam age to the road during the rainy season immediately following, due to slides in the mountain section and settling in the swampy lowland section, was so severe that practically the entire road was remetalled. It is now provided with a crushed rock sur face at least 30 inches in depth throughout its entire length and we believe will sup port any amount of traffic. 2. Truck repair shop. 3. Power Plant. A Diesel engine power unit directly connected to a 75 K V A generator was installed to furnish power for the crushing plant. 4. Crushing and Screening Plant. Re quirements of the General Refractories Co. necessitated installation of a mill designed to produce a minus three mesn and plus ten mesh product. Unfortunately. (Please turn to page ■>!>) GOLD PRODUCTION OF 1937« Production list Total Value Production 1937 Total Value Stock Quotation Dec. si. list Stock Quotation Dec. 29, 1937 Dividends ,939 Ambassador ....................... P 68,095.62 P .002 Antamok ............................ P 5,033,479.54 5,234,398.96 P 1.75 .49 P 0.25 P 0.16 Baguio Gold ....'............... 1,077,106.50 1,267,775.24 .27 •141/2 0.01 0.015 J cash 1.35 Balatoc Mining .................. 12,760,521.24 13,040,055.94 ) stock 50% Benguet Consolidated........ 9,013,309.98 9,887,198.06 14.25 8.80 1.25 1.00 Benguet Exploration ........ 274,913.90 268,263.78 .06 .01 Big Wedge ........................ 594,450.22 1,361,164.79 ’ 371/2 .091/2 Cal Horr (Incl. Ukab) .. 1,173,735.86 1,268,498.22 Coco Grove.......................... 723,573.44 .36 Demonstration .................... 1,473,999.22 1,654,609.30 .81 .331/2 0.04 0.04 East Mindanao .................. 225,648.56 653,343.15 .31 .10 Gold Creek ...................... 226,860.80 262,947.20 .25 .07 0.0075 Ipo Gold ........................... 641,214.85 622,400.34 .09^ J cash 0.015 °-015 1 stock 3% Itogon ................................. 2,821,717.69 3,370,689.96 1.65 .34 0.03 0.015 IXL Mining ....................... 1,279,688.06 2,216,379.89 1.70 .57 0 02 Jcash ° 0425 ) stock 50% Mindanao Mother Lode . . . 674,327.84 IXL Argos ........................ 211,315,18 178,129.41 Masbate Consolidated........ 2,022,304.63 2,975,097.51 .57 .10 North Mindanao.................. 124,371.31 Northern Mining.............. 67,570.70 17,880.29 .045 Royal Paracale.................. 148,403.84 Salacot Mining.................... 413,053.20 281,253.96 .013 San Mauricio ..................... 1,720,127.11 2,001,401.58 3.15 .41 .04 Suyoc Consolidated .......... 1,160,022.55 1,434,024.78 .52 .14 .01 Tambis Gold .................... 106,368.50 179,897.80 Twin Rivers....................... 130,952.67 .20 .03 United Paracale................. 1,380,611.83 1,914,126.33 1.50 .41 0.025 Total ...................... P44,402,653.51 P51,273,086.50 * * Including Lone Star Mining P24.958.29. t Figures furnished by Chamber of Mines. AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL FOR LARGER LXTERIXLANDERS in the Commonwealth's four-year ruction of a harbor north of the rding to the cut iboee.—Reelamation of land <-ea for a future t'oriign-trade zone, and for manufac turing for export.—.1 siltini/ problem, is inrolved, it is not known at what depth the channel may be maintained, but it is hoped that one deep enough for ocean freight ships may be feasible.— If the problem, i? solred satisfactorily enough to aceommodat them, a leading interisland sliippi n predicts that new <i)i modern interislanders did) feet l< II soon be in operatio Necessity to dock in th ic sir.' of interislande , while pa nds cal! for largi Canadian Pacific Gross DisplaceTonnage ment Tonnage EMPRESS OF JAPAN .................................... 26,000 39,000 EMPRESS OF CANADA ................................ 21,500 32,250 EMPRESS OF RUSSIA ................................... 16,800 25,200 EMPRESS OF ASIA ........................................ 16,900 25,350 Maintaining a fortnightly service from the Philippines to the Pacific Coast. When necessary, connection can be made at Honolulu direct to San Francisco or Los Angeles. At Victoria connection can be made for Seattle and points in the U. S. A. At Vancouver the Empresses dock at the new C. P. R. Pier which adjoins the Canadian Pacific Railway Station. Ask us about the new low first class, intermediate class and coach class fares to points in Canada, and the U. S. A. Canadian. Pacific Telephones 2-36-56 and 2-36-57 Cable Address “GACANPAC” 14 David, Manila It’s Economy To Use Good Paint! 'T'HAT’S the reason that property A owners choose Sherwin-Williams Paint for their buildings. It pro tects the surface for many years longer—it insures fine appearance and increases property values. Sherwin-Williams Offers a complete line of ready-mixed paints, enamels, varnishes and lacquers for every requirement. You’ll find a Sherwin-Williams product especially suited to the special paint job you have in mind. Pacific Commercial Company Distributor — Sherwin-Williams Products /N RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 19 38 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL Low-Cost Housing for the Poor • The Solution of this Problem Will Not Only Benefit the Country But Enrich the Benefactors Tho Problem: Erection, at a cost ranging from P500 to Pl,000, of cool, sanitary houses providing healthful living conditions for from four to eight persons; houses to be sold on monthly pay ment basis over a period of not less than 10 years, with interest on unamortized balance not to exceed 6% per annum. (Cost of land is not included in the above figures, but should not exceed 1/3 of cost of house.) It is generally recognized that the poor of this country are wretchedly housed. This is not to single out the Philippines as being unique in this respect; on the con trary, it is pretty generally the lot of poor people in any country to put up with living conditions well nigh in sufferable. The problem of providing better living conditions here has from time to time had the attention of governmental authorities and of private business; but despite all the thought that has been lavished on it, the problem remains unsolved to this day. It also remains perhaps the most important problem of the country. We can not believe that the problem is incapable of solution. It has been solved in other countries with not able success, and with profit to the solvers as well; people with no greater incomes than the poor of this country have been provided with living quarters within their means and with every reasonable provision for sanita tion, comfort, privacy. That it can be solved here, we have no doubt. Our only doubt is that it will be solved by private capital; lenders have long been accustomed to interest rates here ranging from 8 to 12 per cent, which is too stiff an interest rate for poor-housing, if not indeed for almost any other kind of housing. That it can, if necessary, be solved by intervention of the government, remains not only a possibility but, in our opinion, a strong probability. The problem, as stated in this article, arises from the present conditions among the poor; and each phase of the solution is essentially the exact opposite of the exist ing conditions. Thus, a fire-proof house is the exact opposite of the nipa or mixed-materials of the present; so is a sanitary house, the word sanitary used in the broad sense to include not only provisions for personal hygiene, but proper sleeping accommodations to minimize contagion from infectious diseases; and a weather-proof house is surely the exact opposite of what the poor now have to shiver in in wet misery when the heavy rains fall or the typhoons blow or the floods rise as they always do. One obstacle, so far as urban areas are concerned at least, has always been high land values. By the time a poor man has paid for a plot of ground large enough to build a house on, his income will not permit him to build a decent house, and consequently he must content him self with bare shelter. This also leads to “doubling-up” among families, with two or more families living in the same quarters, under conditions made to order for the spreading of disease, from common colds to tuberculosis and other serious ail ments. PURE PREPARED n k PAINT Whether your paint ing job is an in terior or exterior one, FULLER & CO. have a superior paint prod uct to suit your requirements. FULLER PRINTS NORTON & HARRISON CO KNEEDLER BUILDING MANILA, P. I. /A' RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OE COMMERCE JOURNAL / HF AMERICAS’ CHAMBER OF COM MlRC E JOURS'AE lebruarv. 19 >b 34 So we suggest the solution that has worked out so well elsewhere—apartment houses for the poor. We don’t mean the accessorias and entresuelos of the present, which seldom rise above two stories and are almost always fire traps providing scarcely better living conditions than those of the nipa house. We mean real apartment houses, rising to a height of four or five stories from the street. With apartments of various sizes, renting at a cost, say, of P4 per room. Can it be done? It has been done. The Portuguese have done it at Macao, the English have done it in Hong kong, it can be done in the Philippines. First essential is financing. Ideal solution of this would be for private capital to dig in and undertake the enterprise; failing this, the government, through its National Development Company, or through some other agency especially created for the purpose, might do it; or the government might encourage private capital to enter the game by providing part of the necessary money. We make no attempt to advocate a course; we only know that somehow if the desire is sufficiently strong, a suit able financing method will be developed. Second essential is intelligent planning. This involves not only a thorough knowledge of local conditions, in cluding native customs and culture, but also a knowledge of the methods applied in other Asiatic centers. Archi tects working on this problem should have the oppor tunity to study at first hand in Hongkong, in Macao, and other places where the problem has been so brilliantly solved. Third essential is cheap but good building materials. Although in the Chinese cities mentioned, concrete and brick are the predominant materials, it is possible (we do not know) that in the Philippines such materials would prove too costly for the purpose in mind. But this need not stop us; the country is abundantly supplied with adobe stone, and with clay from which at least one new factory will shortly be turning out fine building materials at very low cost. We have a theory that the generally despised adobe, with a steel frame work, and if necessary with an outer coating of water-proof cement, would do wonders. Final touch would be to devote the flat roof expanse to a play space for the children, keeping them off the streets for safer and healthier recreation. The foregoing applies to urban areas, where high land values make it impractical to indulge in the luxury of single-family dwellings. In the smaller towns and vil lages, where land is exceedingly cheap, no reason exists why standardized houses could not be erected to provide not only decent but eminently desirable living conditions for every low-income family with ambition enough to want them. Why we of this age do not utilize the native materials more than we do, is an unaccountable mystery. The Spaniards found the adobe good enough to build their churches, and the wall around Intramuros in Manila, and other structures which endure gloriously to this day. They also found the local clay to be excellent for tiles, and roofed with these tiles before galvanized iron was heard of. The harder of the local woods they found anay-proof and rot-proof, and they used these for fram ing, for balustrades, and elsewhere where permanence was essential. The wood is so good that we would like (Please turn to page 48) Always a Jump Ahead at MANDALOYON ESTATE Tune in on our regular Tues day Night' Program over Sta tion KZRM from 9:00 to 9:30 Where the Convenience of a Modern City Meets the Freedom and Charm of Country Surroundings, and Produces a Perfect Residential Setting for Discriminating People. Lots Sold as Low as from P0.60 to P2.00 per Square Meter ORTIGAS, MADRIGAL Y CIA. S. EN C. FILIPINAS BUILDING MANILA TELEPHONE 2-17-62 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 19 38 7 HE AMERICAN CHAMBER OE COMMERCE JOURNAL LUMBER REVIEW By Florencio Tamesis Director, Bureau of Forestry Lumber and tim ber exports in No vember, 1937, show ed a wider range of distribution than in previous months but they registered a de crease of 20.4% from those of the preceding month, chiefly on account of the limitation made in Japan to the im portation of our tim ber. Compared with the corresponding month of 1936, however, the total lumber and timber exports during the month un der review showed an increase of 26.6%. Shipments to Japan, consisting entirely of round logs, amounted to 6,223,048 board feet as compared with 11,541,280 board feet in the preceding month, or a decrease of 46.1%. This is considered only tem porary. It is expected that as soon as the present Sino-Japanese conflict will be over, the exportation of logs to Japan will re sume its unusual activity as it is reported that the plywood industry into which most of the Philippine timber imports is manu factured in Japan has increased 600% dur ing the last six years and the same would continue to increase in view of the fact that researches connected thereto are be ing backed up by the Government. The Chinese market which was complete ly paralized during the previous month showed a revival during the month under review. Shipments to this market amounted to 439,688 board feet consisting entirely of round logs. It is expected that the Philippine lumber and timber imports in this market would soon pick up as it is reported that the situation in Shanghai is becoming peaceful and that many of the factories are resuming operation. Lumber and timber exports to the United States in November amounted to 3,180,000 board feet, of which 319,272 board feet consisted of round logs, as compared with 2,591,912 board feet of the previous month, or an increase of 22.7%. Shipments to Australia amounted to 950,184 board feet as compared with 108,544 board feet in the previous month, or an increase of 775.4%. It is possible that consumption of the Philippine logs in this market would increase sooner or later as it is reported that the sawmill ing industry in Australia is now being developed. Despite the unsettled condition in Europe and the lack of sufficient bottoms, lumber and timber exports to Great Bri tain in November amounted to 775,496 board feet as compared with 25,016 board feet in October, or an increase of 3,000%. On the other hand, shipments to British Africa registered a decrease of 74.2%. The demands in the local market con tinued to be active during the month on account of the building construction that went on despite the unfavorable weather conditions. However, prices were slightly lower than in the first half of the year as a result of overstocking the local market. Mill deliveries exceeded the mill produc tion by 0.2%. The following statement shows the lum ber and timber exports, by countries, and the mill production and lumber inventories STATEMENT SHOWING TIMBER AND LUMBER EXPORTS DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, 1937 1 9 3 7 1 9 3 8 Destination Quantity in Board Feet Declared Value Quantity in Board Feet Declared Value Unsawn Timber ........ 6,223,048 111,152 6,121,712 133,641 Japan Sawn Lumber ............ — — — _ Unsawn Timber ........ 319,272 17,542 23,320 2,755 United States Sawn Lumber ............ 2,860,728 194,682 2,461,320 174,489 Unsawn Timber ....... 439,688 9,169 _ _ China Sawn Lumber ............ — — 68,264 3,771 Unsawn Timber ........ 342,168 13,539 — _ Australia Sawn Lumber ........... 608,016 35,806 129,320 10,847 Unsawn Timber ........ — — — _ Great Britain Sawn Lumber ........... 775,496 58,253 237,016 22,206 Unsawn Timber ....... — — — _ Ireland Sawn Lumber ........... 43,672 3,706 15,264 1,633 Unsawn Timber ........ — — _ _ British Africa Sawn Lumber ............ 202,248 13,111 335,808 23,429 Unsawn Timber ....... — _ _ _ Portuguese Africa Sawn Lumber ........... 25,016 2,867 54,696 3,950 Unsawn Timber ........ — — _ _ Canada Sawn Lumber ............ 55,968 3,543 31,800 1,875 Unsawn Timber ....... — _ _ _ Finland Sawn Lumber ........... 14,416 1,596 _ _ Unsawn Timber .... — _ _ _ Netherlands Sawn Lumber ........... 12,296 610 _ _ Unsawn Timber ........ — _ _ _ Norway Sawn Lumber ........... 16,960 1,326 9,752 1,098 Unsawn Timber ........ — _ _ _ Denmark Sawn Lumber ........... 27,984 3,414 — — Unsawn Timber ........ _ _ _ _ Hawaii Sawn Lumber ........... 5,936 542 — — Unsawn Timber ........ — — — — Sweden Sawn Lumber ........... 17,808 1,440 5,088 410 Unsawn Timber ........ — — — — Br. New Guinea Sawn Lumber ............ 47,064 2,912 — — Unsawn Timber ........ _ _ _ _ Germany Sawn Lumber ............ — — 15,688 780 Unsawn Timber ........ — — — — Turkey in Europe Sawn Lumber ............ — — 2,120 295 Unsawn Timber 7,324,176 151,402 6,145,032 136,396 Total Sawn Lumber ........... 4,713,608 323,808 3,366,136 244,783 GRAND TOTAL ...................................... 12,037,784 475,210 9,511,168 381,179 1 N S L IR. A N ' For Every Need and Purpose ClIE WORKMEN’S FIRE COMPENSATION MARINE PUBLIC LIABILITY ACCIDENT AUTOMOBILE PLATE GLASS ----------------------------- ryr _ ------- : ■ -ATLAS ASSURANCE CO. LTD. THE EMPLOYERS LIABILITY CONTINENTAL INSURANCE CO. ASSURANCE CORPORATION LI I). ORIENT INSURANCE COMPANY INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA General Agents E. E. ELSEI . INC.• Telephone 2-24-28 — MANILA — Kneedler Building for the month of November, 1937, as com pared with the corresponding month of the previous year. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 36 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL Fcbruarv. 1 0 "> S THE RICE INDUSTRY By bit. V. Blencamixo Manager, National Rice & Cor,, ( orgomfi,,,. The only event o f importance that transpired during the period covered by this report was the announ cement made on January 3, 1938, by the National Rice & Corn Corporator about the price which is to gov ern its 1938 pur chasing opera tions. It is to be recalled that in the pre ceding month there was considerable acti vity from certain interests representing the producers to have the Corporation fix a much higher price than P2.50 for 1938. After carefully deliberating on this sub ject the Corporation decided to adopt the same policy it followed in the preceding year,—to fix the same price of P2.50 and to refrain from taking any hand in the SANSHIN PLYWOOD SUPPLY Lawan Sen. Oregon Pine Douglas Fir Plywood Telephone 2-91-08 P. O. Box 1262 741 Echague Manila, P. 1. A IL IH A Ml IB IRA CIIGAIRS continue to be the recognized leaders in QUALITY cigars C<DIR<DMAS« A IL IM A Ml IB IRA normal course of the market until the price reaches a level considered excessive and detrimental to public welfare. In effect, the price of P2.50 is merely to insure to the producer that he could obtain at least that much. If the trade desires to pay higher, the Corporation will not intervene until a point is reached where it becomes necessary for it to do so in the interest of the con sumers. The price of palay may, there fore, go to P2.75, P3.00, or even higher. The announcement, however, was capi talized by millers and speculators to depress the market. They were partly successful in the attempt when the price of rice both in Manila and in the primary sources reg istered minor recessions. This situation, however, was only temporary. After a week or so, the law of supply and demand asserted itself and prices began to move upward. At the close of the month all losses registered during the early period were fully recovered with indications of further hardening of values. The quality of the new crop leaves much to be desired. The bulk of the new rice being traded in the market contains a good portion of chalky, partially developed, and otherwise defective grains. Except Elonelon and Ramay, it is difficult to obtain first quality rice of the new crop from the market. Milling reports give a recovery of less than 50 cavanes of rice for every 100 cavanes of palay. Arrivals were comparatively heavy mainly because of shipments made by the NARIC which, however, were not intended for immediate sale. A total of 208.850 cavanes were received in Ma nila by rail during the month of which 24,651 belongs to the National Rice & Corn Corporation now being held in storage as a stabilizing factor in the trade. Prices moved as follows: Opening High Lou- Closing Macan No. 2 . P6.10 P6.00 P6.15 (Old crop) Macan No. 2 . 5.65 5.60 5.85 PALAY The announcement of the NARIC’s buy ing price of P2.50 was a disappointment to palay producers some of whom miscon strued it to mean that it was a price for everybody to follow. When the confusion however, cleared away, confidence was fully restored and the market made a steady advance, with the month closing in a strong position. The belief among traders and other well-informed quarters is persistent that the crop is a big failure and that, were it not for the substantial carry-over from the 1937 harvest, prices would have already reached higher ground. Opening, high, low, and closing quotations in Cabanatuan are given below: Opening High Lou- Closing Macan No. 2 . P2.65 P2.55 P2.75 (New crop) FOREIGN MARKETS Advices from foreign markets indicate exportable quantities in Buram and Indo China,—smaller than those in the preced ing year. Siam, however, reported some gains, present estimate placing at 1,600,000 tons the exportable surplus for 1938. Cur rent prices range from about P3.90 to P4.10 per cavan c.i.f., Manila. Including duty it would amount to about P6.85, c.i.f. REAL ESTATE By P. D. Cabman Houle card Heights The January total is the lowest for that month since 1932 and less than any month during the past two years. After a record-breaking year in rary slump was un expected although pos sibly explained by the natural tendency t<> defer transactions unpolitical and lands be rem< Snles City of Manila 1937 . P 610,588 P 101,278 99,824 155,355 650,477 83,095 88,764 — 71,200 62,200 97,499 18,318 772,297 144,255 106,332 29,611 16,537 24,332 57,700 22,816 128,000 25,200 — 22.000 27,500 44,602 P2,726,718 1 * 733,062 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 37 FOREIGN EXCHANGE By Leon Ancheta Manager, Por<i0,i Dept., Phil. Nat. Hank Without receding at any time from its firm position of the previous month, the dollar moved steadily upward during the month. With strong de mand for T.T. New York at pai at the beginning of the month, the rate hardened to 200.25 at the close cf the first week. It remained at this level up to the end of the third week when it went up again to 200.50 at which it closed with a strong undertone. Buying for 60 days bills on New York also moved up to 199 compared with 198.75 of the previous month. The position of the dollar during Jan uary is ordinarily easy or down due to seasonal heavy movements of exports. At the same period last year T.T. New York was selling at 198.75 and buying rates for 60 days bills at 197.50. Comparatively, the dollar’s appreciation in exchange value during the current month represented about 10y2% per annum on banks’ T.T. selling rates on New York and 3% per annum on banks’ buying rates for 60 days dollar bills. There is no trade factor that influences the movement of the dollar more than the Islands’ exportation of sugar. Shipments covering the 1937-38 sugar quota up to January 15, 1938, slightly exceeded those corresponding to the same period last year. However, the shrinkage in value suffered by it due principally to the processing tax and increased freight rates and the curtail ment of demand for coprax, hemp and other export products reduced considerably the supply of dollar exchange. On the other hand, merchandise imports substan tially increased during last quarter of 1937, the liquidations of which undoubtedly ac counted for the sustained heavy demand for dollar exchange during past two months. Increased circulation which created more purchasing power and therefore greater de mand for goods and provided local banks with a record supply of funds also consti tuted a decisive factor in the rise of the dollar. middle of the month. The dollar’s momen tary recovery was due to a break in the French Franc. Toward the close, how ever, induced by the depressed condition of the New York market European hold ers of dollar funds sold and sterling again moved up sharply, closing at $5.01 9/16. Last year at the same period, sterling was quoting at an average of P-1.906. The crisis in the French Franc again re appeared, was the outstanding development in the foreign exchange situation. This ex change which ruled steady during the pre vious month opened at $3.40 1/4 and broke down to $3.21 1/2. America and partic ularly England assisted the French Con trol to help avert a collapse that might threaten to upset the tripertite monetary accord. The difficulties had not been com pletely overcome up to the close, as pres sure continued under nervous selling. Last year at the same period French Franc was quoted at an average of 4.6628. The Yen slightly weakened during the month in the New York market reaching a low of $29.04 and a high of $29.13 com pared with $29.08 and $29.14 respectively of the previous month. In Japan, it also ruled easier, generally quoting at $29 com pared with $29 1/16 of the previous month. Japan appeared to be a keen bidder of for eign exchange during the month. Hongkong rates were up in sympathy with the strength of the sterling, reaching a high of $31,375 and a low of $31.30 com pared with $31.3125 and $31.27 respec tively, of the previous month. Shanghai was also slightly up, ruling between $29.17/32 and /29.21/32 compared with $29 1/2 and $29.9/16 of the previous month. OXY-ACETYLENE Welding & Cutting Equipment Philippine Acetylene Co 281 CALLE CRISTOBAL, PACO MANILA, P. I. ESTABLISHED 18'2 In the foreign exchange market, the new year started with a declining dollar in re lation with the sterling. Business reces sion, further rumors of devaluation and anxiety over the President’s message to Congress caused this exchange to ease sharply from $4.99 25/32 at the close of December to $5.01 1/16 at the beginning of January. The dollar’s initial weakness was halted temporarily, sterling moving back to $4.99 23/32 several days later and reaching a low of $4.99 1 '2. toward the - -- -- - - - Capital (Paid) - - U. S. $ 77,500,000.00 Surplus —------ ” 44,250,000.00 Undivided Profits ” 14,682,376.17 Total Assets----- $2,011,517,768.39 (as of September 30. 1937 i COMPLETE BANKING SERVIGES MANILA OFFICE National City Bank Building January, 1937 ................................................... 199.50 199.25 2 0 3/8 2 '0 7 16 9.45 9.45 58.90 58.60 59.75 59.60 63.15__ 63.05 January, 1938 ................................................... 200.75 200.25 1/11-11/16 1-11-13 16 7.00 6.75 57.80 57.00 60.40 59.S0 61.80 6135 FOREIGN EXCHANGE REVIEW U. S. Dollars Sterling Frans Yen Shanghai Hongkong High Low High L<>w High I.ow High Low High Low High Low /.V RESPO.VD/NG 7'0 ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION FHE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 38 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 Here’s how to get Manila’s! Genuine Manila Long Filler Cigars in cellophane are obtain able in your city or nearby! C. A. Bond Philippine Tobacco Affentt New York City List o f Dist r i - b u t o r s furnished upon re quest to— 220 W. J2 St., Collector of Internal Revenue Manila, P. 1. M A N I L AS made under sanitary conditions will satisfy your taste! (Health Bulletin No. 28) Rules and Regulations for the Sanitary Control of the Factories of Tobacco Products. “Section IS. Insanitary Acts.— No person engaged in the handling, preparation, processing, manufacture, or packing of tobacco product or supervising such employment, shall perform, cause, permit, or suffer to be permitted, any insanitary act during such employment, nor shall any such person touch or contaminate any tobacco products with filthy hands or permit the same to be brought into contact with the tongue or lips, or use saliva, impure water, or other unwholesome substances as a moist ening agent;...”. COPRA AND ITS PRODUCTS By KENNETH B. DAY and LEO SCHNURMACIIER Kenneth B. Day The year 1938 opened with markets in fairly good shape and with the anticipa tion of somewhat better prices. The month was not very old, however, before political uncertainties the world over crept into the picture and these, combined with a slowing up of industry with its economic recession made for constantly decreasing prices dur ing the second half of January. COPRA—December arrivals of copra were very small because it was the general feeling that prices would be better in Jan uary and consequently large stocks of copra were accumulated in the provinces. When it became evident about the 13th of the Leo Sciinurmacher month that the tide was likely to turn downward rather than upward, dealers began to unload their stored stocks with the result that copra poured into Manila in January in quantities constituting an alltime record for this month. The same thing happened in Cebu. In Manila Jan uary arrivals were 71% above the last twelve years average, nearly 48% above December, 1937 and 73!,&% above receipts for January, 1937. In Cebu, January re ceipts were 86.8% above the average for the preceding nine years, 5% above those of December, 1937. and 81% above those for January, 1937. It must be remembered, however, that January, 1937, was a pretty small month and that these figures do not represent increased production but rather liquidation of stocks. The month opened with buyers in Manila offering P8.25 for resecada with sellers holding for P8.50 and not much selling in terest at that. The market eased off in the first week and some business was done at P8. Thereafter, in' view of a little spot demand for oil in the States, the market advanced to a point where on January 13th and the next few days following a very large volume of copra was sold at P8.50. On the 20th the market lost its firmness and thereafter gradually lost ground until to ward the end of the month nobody would pay over P7.50 for copra. On the last day of the month the market stood with buyers at P7.50 but with a slightly better tone to the market which induced sellers, who by this time had liquidated as much of their stocks as they felt necessary to hold back for P7.75 with the hope that the market might react even above that figure. Export markets were erratic. On the Coast copra advanced from 2.30< * to 2.40^ but then commenced to decline and by the end of the month there were no buyers at over 2.15<J. Comparatively little business was done to the Coast because the Euro pean market for January shipment was far preferable. The European market carried with it a 62/6d freight rate for January only. It was thought that this rate would be continued to February, but contrary to expectation it was not, and on February 1st the 75/- freight rate came into effect, thus putting Europe entirely out of the picture for the time being. During the month of January, however, considerable copra was sold for January shipment at prices rang ing from a low of £11/12/6 to a high of £12/17/6. Most of this trade was for the lower grades to Marseilles. Unfortunately, space for Marseilles was inadequate and some shipments scheduled for January were held over into February because of the late ness of steamers due to congestion in North China ports. Taking it as a whole, how ever, the local mills paid the best average prices for copra during January with the expectation that arrivals should drop radi cally within the next month or so and that copra bought in January would prove a good investment in the Spring. Copra shipments for the month totalled something over 16.000 tons, of which a lit tie better than half went forward to Europe. On the whole the copra market for Jan uary was very disappointing, particularly to dealers who had been figuring that with the new year copra prices would steady up after the long decline of 1937. Statistics for the month follow: Arrivals: Sack. Manila........................................... 422.448 Cebu ............................................. 422,386 Shipments: Pacific Coast................................. 8.062 Europe .......................................... 8,267 China and Japan ......................... 22 Other Countries ........................... 286 16,637 Stocks on hand— Manila ................... Cebu....................... Bepinninr of Month Metric Tons 21,918 21,775 End of Month Metric Tons 31,468 40,236 COCONUT OIL—The coconut oil mar ket opened with buyers not particularly in terested in New York at 3% cents and with very little spot business being done on the Coast at 3’6 cents. If anything, the market declined in the first week, but thereafter was stimulatad by a temporary optimistic situation to a point where oil was sold in New York as high as 4 cents and on the Pacific Coast at 3^i cents. Most of this oil was for late spring shipment and ,vas sold to large soapers who were well covered for immediate requirements but were willing to pay slightly better prices for delivery later in the year. By the 20th of the month the edge was off the market, however and prices declined to a point where buyers dropped out en tirely shortly before the end of the month. At the end of the month it was possible to /.N RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAl February. 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 39 do a small amount of business for forward shipment at 3% cents c.i.f. New York and 3% cents f.o.b. Pacific Coast. In sell ing coconut oil local mills experienced se vere competition from low-priced cottonseed and peanut oil, both of which were avail able in large quantities. Statistics for the month follow: Shipment— Pacific Coast .................................. Atlantic Coast .............................. Gulf Ports .................................... China and Japan ......................... Other Countries ............................. Metric 509 9,024 1,628 7 11 11,179 Beginning of Month Metrio Tone Stocks on hand in Manila and Cebu ....................... 7,185 (Please turn to page 44) End of Month Metrio 8,845 Consolidated... (Continued from page 32) no operating data regarding chromite was available so we were forced to proceed on an experimental basis until such operating data could be obtained. We are glad to say that by the end of the year all revision of mill design found to be necessary in prac tice had been installed and that we are now in a position to produce about 200 tons per day of a clean, accurately sized product. 5. General Office and Housing Facilities. 6. Wharf Bin Construction. Reinforced concrete bins with a total capacity of abo.it 10,000 tons and provided with underground loading gates at the wharf level have been erected. An apron around this bin is now being constructed which will increase the storage capacity to 25,000 tons. 7. Concrete Wharf. A reinforced con crete wharf has' been constructed which can accommodate all vessels which ordinarily enter Philippine waters in 35 feet of water at low tide. We have successfully main tained an ore loading rate of 1,000 tons per day over this installation. MINE The mine has been opened up by a series of inclined benches permitting truck trans portation throughout. Excavation is done by bull-dozers with hand sorting of lump ore. It is our intention to mechanize the entire mining operation as much as pos sible. Mining costs have been high due to the necessity of training men in this new method of mining and due to the forest cleaning incidental to opening the mine. MILL The year’s operations were largely of an experimental nature. We have proved to our entire satisfaction that Masinloc ore can be crushed and sized to an ideal product at an operating cost of about P0.50 a ton. COSTS Based on the operations so far which, as explained above, include a great deal of pioneering and preliminary work, the aver age operating costs to date have been as follows: Mining ................................ P0.60 Crushing and s zing ......... 0.50 Transportation ................... 2 00 Loading................................ 0.25 Road maintenance ............. 1.00 P4.35 OUTLOOK We feel that the year’s operations have been entirely satisfactory, taking into ac count the time element involved in starting a project of this size, presenting so many entirely new problems. Capital investment has been heavy but necessarily so in order to properly establish a project with the long life of operation which Masinloc promises. Once production was started all delivery commitments have been promptly met. At the present writing, our customers are, in fact, overstocked and, in one case, have suspended their contract. We believe, how ever, that the uniform quality of Masinloc ore will be gradually established in the market and that eventually it will become a standard product for manufacturers of refractories. Sales have actually been made in Japan, the United States and Ca nada and samples have been submitted to users, at their request, in many other coun tries. At the same time, research along lines seek ing for chemical uses has been going on continuously and we hope eventually to find a substantial outlet for Masinloc orc in this field. Yours very truly, BENGUET CONSOLIDATED MINING COMPANY (Sgd.) JOHN W. HAUSSERMANN President What the Diggers ... (Continued from page 30) Grove, more than P800,000.00 in new build ings, equipment and new claims spent on United Paracale, large sums spent on the Paracale smelter and on development work at Suyoc are among the important expenses for expansion the Marsman high command has considered advisable. Marsman mines will almost certainly increase their pro duction substantially during the coming year. Among now-producing mines which plan to increase production are Mine Factors (operating the manganese and copper property at Siquijor), North Min danao, and others, as well as those men tioned in the preceding paragraph. Batong Buhay, Treasure Island, Capsay, (developed by Mine Operations), Santa Rosa (under contract with Union Management Com pany), Nalcsbitan Venture, Corona Man ganese Mines (operated by Federated Min erals, Inc.), Masbate Goldfields and Tinago Consolidated are, according to the latest reports, certain producers in 1938. Prob ably there are others. Yes, 1938 should see a considerable in crease in the production of Philippine mines. In glancing back over the year’s statis tics, we were struck with a number of in teresting facts, which we pass on to our readers for what they are worth: Out of a total of 29 producers, 13 turned in more than a million pesos worth of ore. These 13 leaders, however, constituting less than 50% of the total number of produc ing mines, accounted for about 75% of the total ore production during the year. Seven of the 13 produced more than two million pesos worth of ore apiece during the year. They were, Antamok, with over 5 million, Balatoc, with better than 13 million. Ben guet, with almost 10 million, Itogon, with less than 3 and million, IXL, with con siderably better than 2 million, Masbate, with almost 3 million and San Mauricio with barely over 2 million. Although Ba latoc was almost 4 million pesos ahead of its nearest rival, Benguet, it is apparently not in the richest ore. Average value per ton of ore milled at Balatoc was P29.32, which was exceeded by Benguet Consol idated, Big Wedge and San Mauricio. The mine with the lowest average value of its ore is Masbate Consolidated. It is way down, averaging only P4.87 to the ton. The only mine close to this is Salacot, which could find ore worth only P5.63 to the ton before it closed up. Yet, Masbate Con solidated stays in the picture in a very important way with its tremendous mill— 2,000 tons daily capacity. Even with its low grade, it turned out almost 3 million pesos worth of ore in 1937. Antamok has as good a record as any of them, judging from the figures. It is in ore of more than P10.00 lower grade than Benguet Consolidated, and has a mill DAWSON WHISKY WITH ANY MINERAL, ■ IS THE SAFEST AND i MOST SUITABLE BEVERAGE IN THE EAST Peter Dawson SPCdM. SCOTCH WHISKY .SMITH, belU colto. SOLE. DlSTliawTCiAi /N RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 40 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 19 38 of 800-900 tons, compared with Benguet’s 1,000 tons, where it also takes care of the tonnage from Gold Creek, yet, with P5,234,398.96, it came within about 4 mil lion pesos of this big producer. Of the producing mines, 10 paid dividends during the year, amounting in the aggre gate to P19,535,339.00. This was about the same as the total amount all mining com panies, both producers and non-producers paid out in salaries and wages during the period, and is, therefore, an excellent record. Masinloc (Consolidated Mines)—Courtney Whitney, chairman of the board of directors of Consolidated, states that over Pl,000,000 worth of chrome ore has already been shipped to American and foreign markets from the Masinloc property, and that in January of this year, over P210 000 worth was shipped direct to smelters in the U. S. The January shipments ran the usual aver age of about 34%, and according to Mr. Whitney is all destined for smelters, where it will be made into ferro-chrome for steel alloy. From the same source we learn that tests made at Niagara Falls of Masinloc ore proved that it was suitable for metal lurgical use, and that present shipments are mostly destined for this purpose, with a possibility of larger shipments hinging upon acceleration of the whole steel in dustry in the States. The impression that Masinloc’i? ore was suitable only for re fractory purposes and not for metallurgical has, Mr. Whitney states, been conclusively refuted by the fact that Consolidated is now making large shipments for smelter use. Pan Philippines Corporation has 180 men working on its Treasure Island pro ject (Lahuy Island, off the Caramoan coast of Camarines Sur), it was learned at press time from the chief engineer, Orlando Mc Craney, who had just spent two weeks visiting the property. Tunnel work pro gresses at the rate of about 750 feet a month, under supervision of Edw. A. Hammermeister, superintendent. There is radio phone communication with the Manila of fice, with daily reports, and a landing field for which swamp has to be cleared is half completed. Additional machinery has just been shipped to the property. Mr. McCraney reports A vein actually developed for 400 feet with highgrade values in a width of 4V6 feet. A distance of 200 feet more on this vein is indicated by old workings extending from the surface to the hor.zon of the present development work. No old workings below water level have been found at the property. B vein was discovered in crosscutting to contact C vein 160 feet north of A vein and roughly paralleling it. B vein is a well mineralized strong shear zone eighty feet in width, Mr. McCraney says, of which 9 Vi feet averages $26.90 a ton; over the width of 61 feet the average is $7.80 a ton. Lateral develop ment on B vein by drifting is being carried on rapidly in both directions. The shaft on A vein is down 140 feet, with 30 feet more to go in order to connect with No. 1 station on the adit level that was excavated and completed in advance of the shaft’s coming through to this point. West of the switch a wince has been started, and has, Mr. McCraney reports, developed a width just under 2 feet wide of very high-grade ore. Culled from ... (Continued from paye 31) the small island of Siquijor. The system, which has been designed by Mr. L. J. Har vey, president of Mine Factors, will be built by administration, and is expected to in crease the company’s production of man ganese to 20,000 tons a month, according to Mr. H. W. Lombard, of Mine Factors. We saw a sketch of the conveyor-dock design, and were impressed with its sim plicity. From a huge central “storage bin’’ conveyor buckets will carry the ore directly to steamers anchored at the pier. Funds for the project are forthcoming from stockholders under the right recently granted them to purchase one share at par for each five shares now held. This is ex pected to bring the paid-up capital of Mine Factors to P500,000.00. About 6,000 tons of manganese a month is now being shipped from Siquijor. All of the company’s output is contracted for by two local buyers for foreign sources, under arrangements which call for 80% payment at shipside, and the remaining 20% on arrival of the ore at the port of destination. The buyers pay an average of P19.00 to P22.00 per ton. Mr. E. S. Mackay, formerly employed by Consolidated Mines and Tumbaga, has recently been ap About Advertising,,, Newspaper advertising is merely the salesman that talks to more prospects than any other salesman can. No merchant would think of employing his star salesman on the floor hit and miss—a day now and a day next month, giving him a job whenever he happened to feel in the mood. Every merchant wants his star salesman on the job regularly. Smart merchants, who know how to make advertising pay, keep their advertising, which talks to more prospects than all their salesman to gether, many times over, on the job regularly. An advertisement in the Manila Daily Bulletin reaches more “ableto-buy” people than any other advertising medium in the Philippines. MANILA DAILY BULLETIN IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 41 pointed mine superintendent at Siquijor. He is a Colorado School of Mines man. While Siquijor manganese is the most important Mine Factors activity at present, other projects are at hand, about which announcements will be made at the proper time, Mr. Lombard told the JOURNAL. Paracale National has Marsman contract: According to a bulletin recently issued by officials of the Paracale-National Gold Min ing Company, Marsman and Company has undertaken the management of the 24 lode claims in Mambulao. Partial provisions of the contract give Marsman and Com pany Pl,000.00 monthly compensation, plus a bonus on the net profits made by the com pany when the property is brought into production. An interesting thing about this mine is the fact that Mr. J. R. Reed, now the pres ident of the Paracale National company, first commenced development work in 1909, and has performed development work at intervals since then. Other officers are C. Roesholm, vice-president, B. S. Ohnick, director, Phil Crovat, director, and Manuel M. Crudo, director. WENDT: Reports on the progress of work on the Maligaya and Malaguit prop erties managed by the H. A. Wendt & Co., show encouraging results. In fact, assays and ore showings at the Malaguit prop erty, according to the engineer in charge, justify expenditures looking toward com pleting the work in progress to the point of constructing a mill and getting into production in a reasonably short time. Meanwhile, Wendt & Co. has agreed to suspend its monthly charge for manage ment until such time as the mine is def initely proven. Amalgamated Minerals made a further shipment of copper ore last month amount ing to 5,000 tons. A further shipment of manganese ore goes out on the s. s. Tanered for Europe. So far, this company has shipped more than 30,000 tons of various ores. BUREAU OF MINES TO EXPAND: Enrouraged by an appropriation for the year of P260,000.00, which is more than double last year’s appropriation, Director Quirico Abadilla has announced plans for the expansion of the activities of the Bureau of Mines during 1938. Some 84 new positions will be filled, some of them with Americans. Americans now on the staff of the Bureau include Russell Fleming, Benjamin W. Meek, and Dean Frasche. Dr. H. Foster Bain, mining adviser to the Commonwealth Government is also available to the Bureau. Two more American experts will probably be brought over, including Mr. W. F. Boericke, a spe cialist in mine safety measures. His ap pointment is made necessary by the fact that the duty of supervising safety meas ures in the mines was recently transferred from the department of labor to the bureau of mines by President Quezon. In addition to the present Baguio Min eral District, two new mineral districts will be organized, with mining recorders and trained personnel constantly available. The seats of these two districts will be at Paracale and Cebu. Director Abadilla also plans to use some of his enlarged staff in inquiring into the mineral resources of some of the “wild cat” companies, thus complementing the investigation into their financial status con ducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Director Abadilla deserves credit for the patience he has shown in developing a com petent bureau from scratch in a very short (Please turn to page i!,) Surigao . . . (Continued from puge 25) The quantity of ore in the deposit has been estimated from 50,000,000 to 500,000,000 tons. One sound estimate seems to be 300,000,000 tons. De pletion of the deposit by 50,000,000 during twenty-five years would leave an abundance for future contingencies. By that time, possibly, the Commonwealth would have an iron market of its own—a steel industry of its own. Yet it would still wish to sell iron ore abroad. The time to sell low grade ore is now. That is why we urge the arrangement on a basis independent of the Commonwealth—costing the Commonwealth no capital and no anxiety. The ore is reported to average 45% ferrous oxide. For ore 15% higher, the current price is P4.50 a ton. Below this average the price drops 8 centavos a point. That is to say, Pl.20 for 15 points. This makes this Surigao ore worth P3.30 a ton aboardship. Deducting 50 centavos as royalty leaves P2.80 a ton. We hear that the cost of mining is P2.50 a ton. You are now down to a margin of 30 centavos a ton. Income and other taxes are still to be paid. If mining costs are shaved materially, a tremendous investment in equipment must be laid out. And still more money remains in the Commonwealth, since the margin of 30 to 40 centavos a ton must be shared between the buyers and the private company that holds the lease. It is evident that here is no bonanza, but only an arrangement to procure iron. As we believe, on the face of things the buyers interested to effect the arrangement are also interested in smelters, ships, and steel. They could afford operations at actual cost, or even somewhat below cost, -and could find their profit further along in the industrial process. It seems to us that neither a private company nor the Development corporation, lim ited to the mining, sale and perhaps smelting of this low grade iron, could do this. The practical assumption is that higher grade ore is essential here, when mining in the whole operation. It is 60% ore that is moving from the Commonwealth, of course to Japan. Smelting by the Development corporation, at Surigao, seems out of the question. Smelters cost tremendously, and a smelter for this ore at Surigao would net the Commonwealth no other iron customer. Her sole mar ket, in probability, would still be Japan. Sum up as you will, business procedure would be to lease to a private company—the company to make its own arrangements about mining and marketing the ore. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 42 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 SAILINGS MANILA to U. S. TRANSPACIFIC £23 Dasmarinas, Manila Courtesy- EVERETT TRAVEL SERVICE Tils. i 4-96-76 5 4-9S-91 Leave Leave Leave Leave° Leave Leave Leave Arrive Arr|,e Arrive Manila Hongkong Shanghai *Nag£akl Kobe Yokohama Honolulu . pprti'nd Vancouver Seattle Arrive L. Angeles New York N. Orleans Rates Line VESSEL See Table 13 KL GRANVILLE Feb. 22 Feb. 26 Apr. 2 Mar. 25 Mar. 20 6 AML PRES. GRANT Feb. 21 Feb. 24 Feb. 27 Mar. 3 Mar. 5 Mar. 16 Mar. 16 9 NYK TA1Y0 MARU Conn. Str. Mar. 7 Mar. 9 Mar. 18 Mar. 24 Mar. 26 3 CPR EMP. OF ASIA Conn. Str. Feb. 23 Feb. 25 Feb. 27 Mar. 1 Mar. 12 16 SL BENGALEN Feb. 23 ♦Mar. 15 Mar. 19 Mar. 24 16 SL SILVERWILLOW Feb. 25 ♦Mar. 28 Mar. 23 Mar. 19 10 NYK HEIAN MARU Conn. Str. Mar. 14 Mar. 17 Mar. 28 Mar. 29 4 DSSL PRES. COOLIDGE Mar. 2 Mar. 5 Mar. 8 Mar. 10 Mar. 11 Mar. 18 Mar. 23 Mar. 27 2 CPR EMP. OF CANADA Conn. Str. Mar. 8 Mar. 10 Mar. 12 Mar. 14 Mar. 22 Mar. 27 6 AML PRES. JACKSON Mar. 7 Mar. 10 Mar. 13 Mar. 17 Mar. 19 Mar. 30 Mar. 30 9 NYK HEIYO MARU Mar. 10 Mar. 14 Mar. 22 Mar. 26 Apr. 5 Apr. 13 Apr. 15 3 CPR EMP. OF RUSSIA Mar. 14 Mar. 18 Mar. 20 Mar. 22 Mar. 24 Mar. 26 Apr. 4 14 BF IXION Conn. Str. Mar. 15 Mar. 22 Mar. 26 Mar. 29 Apr. 12 Mar. 14 12 BL TAI PING Mar. 15 Mar. 18 Mar. 23 Mar. 27 Mar. 30 Apr. 10 Apr. 12 Apr. 28 13 KL CORNEVILLE Mar. 22 Mar. 26 ♦May 2 Apr. 22 Apr. 17 6 AML PRES. JEFFERSON Mar. 21 Mar. 24 Mar. 27 Mar. 30 Apr. 2 Apr. 13 Apr. 13 15 ML PETER MAERSK Mar. 23 Mar. 26 Apr. 1 Apr. 5 Apr. 8 Apr. 22 May 9 1 CPR EMP. OF JAPAN Mar. 28 Apr. 1 Apr. 3 Apr. 5 Apf. 7 Apr. 14 Apr. 19 10 NYK HIKAWA MARU Conn. Str. Mar. 28 Mar. 31 Apr. 21 Apr. 12 10 NYK HIYE MARU Conn. Str. Apr. 11 Apr. 14 Apr. 25 Apr. 26 6 AWL PRES. MCKINLEY Apr. 4 Apr. 7 Apr. 10 Apr. 14 Apr. 16 Apr. 27 Apr. 27 14 BF TALTHYBIUS Conn. Str. Apr.. 16 Apr. 23 Apr. 27 Apr. 30 May 14 May 16 5 DSSL PRES. LINCOLN Apr. 16 Apr. 20 Apr. 23 Apr. 25 Apr. 26 May 4 May 10 May 15 13 KL PLEASANTVILLE Apr. 22 Apr. 26 ♦June 2 May 23 May 18 15 ML GRETE MAERSK Apr. 24 Apr. 27 May 3 May 7 May 11 May 25 June 12 10 NYK HEIAN MARU Conn. Str. May 2 May 5 May 16 May 17 13 KL ROSEVILLE May 22 May 26 July 2 June 22 June 17 15 ML NEIL MAERSK May 24 May 27 June 2 June 6 June 10 June 25 June 13 MINIMUM RATES FROM MANILA J First P90 P190 P250 P275 $365 $450 . $450 $450 1 CPR (EMP. JAPAN) (Tourist 58 105 155 170 220 270 270 270 J First P90 P190 P250 P275 $360 $440 $440 $440 2 CPR (EMP. CANADA) | Tourist 58 105 ‘ 155 170 215 260 260 260 J First P90 P190 P250 P275 $326 $440 $440 $440 3 CPR (EMP. ASIA-RUSSIA) (Tourist 52 95 140 155 190 230 230 230 J First P90 P190 P250 P275 $365 $450 $460 4 DSSL (P. COLIDGE) ] Tourist 58 105 155 170 220 270 275 1 First P90 P190 P250 P275 $360 $420 $430 5 DSSL (535-PRES. TAFT) Tourist 52 95 140 _ 155 190 230 235 1 First P90 P190 P250 P275 $400 6 AML (PRES. JACKSON) (Tourist 52 95 140 155 230 J First $360 $440 $450 8 NYK (ASAMA-TATSUTA) (Second 215 260 265 9 NYK J Cabin $285 $345 $350 (TAIY0) | Tourist 155 190 195 10 NYK SEATTLE SERVICE J First $345 Tourist 180 11 FL First $150 ♦$260 12 BL First $20 $35 $55 $55 $195 $290 13 KL First $140 14 BF (Rate from Hongkong) First £35.0.0 15 ML First $25 $45 $70 $75 $220 t$320 16 SL First $20 $60 $165 $160 CPR—-Canadian Pacific BL—Barber Line DSSL—-Dollar Line KL—Klaueness Line AML—-American Mail Line BF—Blue Funnel NYK--Nippon Yusen Kaisha ML—Maersk Line ♦ "Fernglen” $270 to $290 F.L--Fem Line SL—Silver Line t •'Niel Maersk" & Gertrude Maersk" $265 GREENMAN PUBLISHES “PHILIP PINE TRADER AND INVESTOR’’: Clif ford A. Greenman, economist and statisti cian with the Securities Service Corporation brought out a financial publication last month, which will offer a varied investment service to its subscribers. The service is in three parts, or, rather, three publications. The First, called the “Current Stock Bulletin,” is divided into an “Ear-to-the-ground” department, in which Mr. Greenman discusses all factors which might influence stocks or the indus trial picture, and attempts to appraise rumors fof their true worth; recommenda tions of selected stocks in Manila and in New York with details on recommended issues; and excerpts from opinions of lead ing business analysts on the industrial situation in the United States. The first issue also contained the first part of an article on whether or not the price of gold will be raised at Washington. “Making Money in Stocks” is a serious attempt to educate the layman into some of the mysteries of market trading, and to point out some of the pitfalls. A third feature of the service is a Flash Bulletin, issued periodically when news of importance breaks. Mr. Greenman will attempt to give information to subscribers "before it is made public.” February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 43 SHIPPING REVIEW By H. M. CAVENDER General Agent, The Robert Dollar Co. From statistics compiled by the Asso ciated Steamship Lines during the month of December there were exported from the Philippine Islands the following:— The year 1937 has passed into history, the total exports from the Philippines amounted to 2,743,1G7 revenue tons and exceeded 1936 by ap proximately 50,000 tons. During Decem ber last the tonnage was 238,132 and ex ceeded November 181,861 tons. The 1937/1938 sugar movement is un der way and 70,297 tons were forwarded during December. The movement of coco nut products was slightly less than for the preceding month. The desiccated coconut trade shipped 5,388 tons maintaining their trade at its usual level. Shipments of oil to the United States by berth line vessels, were 22,242 tons, Europe took none, and China used 112 tons. The copra trade took a slump—the United States taking 20,271 tons only and Europe 5,610 tons. Business in copra cake-meal was also less than in November, the United States tak ing only 2,564 tons and Europe 10,800 tons. The copra shippers were still dependent on chartered tonnage. Hemp shipments—91,273 bales—are de cidedly below normal. The United States took 21,572 bales, Japan only 20,316 bales, Europe 42,533 bales and 6,852 bales were scattered to various other destinations. A Grand Total of 238,132 tons with a total of 85 sailings (average 2,684 tons per vassel) of which 29,531 tons were carried in American bottoms with 9 sailing (average 3,281 tons per vessel). To TtmA. With Mi * e. Sailing, O! Which Tana Were car. med in American bottom. China and Japan ............................... .......... 63,024 37 1,231 5 Pacific Coast local ............................ .......... 22,185 12 7,721 4 Pacific Coast Overland ..................... .......... 819 10 794 3 Pacific Coast Intercoastal ............... .......... 1,646 7 794 3 Atlantic and Gulf Coast ................. .......... 120,136 27 18,669 5 European Ports ................................ .......... 27,179 19 113 2 All other Ports ................................. .......... 3,143 20 209 4 The movement of lumber and logs picked up to the extent of a million feet. The United States, Japan and Europe increased their purchases while Australia and Africa took very little. The movement totalled 8,288,886 board feet. The shipments of iron ore to Japan were 46,486 tons. This trade is still unable to get the necessary vessels to move their reg ular 60,000 tons. In addition to the iron ore Japan also took 709 tons of copper concentrates originating in the Mountain Province—the first shipment ever made of this commodity. The trade in chromite and manganese was decidedly good. The United States Atlantic trade amounted to 11,775 tons and January bookings indicate a fur ther expansion. Europe now enters the picture with 2,110 tons shipped. Concen trates of gold contents amounting to 1,153 tons went forward to Tacoma for refining. The total shipments 62,233 indicate that our friends in the mining business are in good position. Among the minor commodities we note gains in embroideries, glycerine, gums, junk metals, and molasses. The tobacco shipments went up to 1,133 tons but cigars were not as active as they have been. The furniture people shipped only 215 tons, the kapok trade dropped to 12 tons, and the cutch factory made only one shipment of 220 tons. The rope factories shipped 538 tons of which only 49 tons went to the United States. About 1,825 tons of Shang hai distressed cargo was forwarded. The following figures show the number of passengers departing from the Philip pines for China, Japan and the Pacific Coast for the month of December, 1937:— DOLLAR STEAMSHIP LINES AMERICAN MAIL LINE SAILINGS TO SAN FRANCISCO & LOS ANGELES Via Hongkong, Kobe, Yokohama & Honolulu TO SEATTLE & VICTORIA Via Hongkong, Kobe & Yokohama SS PRES. COOLIDGE ........... Feb. 28 SS PRES. CLEVELAND Mar. 22 SS PRES. WILSON ................ Apr. 5 SS PRES. TAFT ....................... Apr. 19 SS PRES. COOLIDGE May 1 SS PRES. JACKSON .............. Mar. 10 SS PRES. JEFFERSON ......... Mar. 21 ss pres. McKinley ........ Apr. 4 SS PRES. GRANT .................. Apr. 18 And every fortnight thereafter TO EUROPE & NEW YORK Via Straits, India & Egypt TO ILOILO—ZAMBOANGA—CEBU SS PRES. ADAMS .................. Apr. 17 SS PRES. HARRISON ........... May 15 SS PRES. POLK ....................... June 12 SS PRES. GARFIELD.............. July 10 and every 28 days thereafter S. S. “MAYON” Sails every Tuesday 2:30 P. M. Returns Sunday 8:30 A. M. Port Area MANILA Phone 2-24-41 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 44 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 19^8 h'irnl Inter mediate Third 59 50 98 10 4 36 — 2 40 19 15 11 4 Hongkong ................. Shanghai ................. Japan ....................... Honolulu ................... Pacific Coast ........... Europe via America. Total for December, 1937 ................... Total for Novem ber, 1937 ............. 92 71 185 102 178 150 Culled from... (Continued from p. 41) time and with limited funds. Every one of his policies, including the bringing-out of American mining experts on short-term contracts appears to be justified and pro ductive of quick results. Most of these experts are trained in different fields, and train Filipinos in their specialties while here. Where they have not yet completed their work when their short-term (usually one year) contracts expire, the Director re commends their renewal for short addi tional periods. In this way, he is building up a real staff of experts. The director is a man worth knowing. Copra and ... (Continued from p. J9) COPRA CAKE AND MEAL—The freight rate on copra cake to Europe advanced 3/3d on January 1st with another increase of 7/6d scheduled to take place the first of April. Under these conditions selling of copra cake was very largely confined to shipment the first quarter of the year and a fail * amount of business was done at prices ranging from P41.00 to P43.00 f.o.b., or the equivalent of P32.50 c.i.f., Hamburg. Meanwhile a small demand for meal sprang up chiefly for January to March shipment at prices ranging up to P27.50 c.i.f. Paci fic Coast. Toward the end of the month the demand for cake slacked off and the month closed with. buyers’ ideas around P38.50 f.o.b. with sellers having sold as much as they wanted and not particularly interested in doing additional business with the hope that the April advance might not go into effect. Luzon Stevedoring Co., Inc. Lightering, Marine Contractors Towboats, Launches, Waterboats Shipbuilders and Provisions SIMM1E C& GRILK Phone 2-16-61 TOBACCO REVIEW By P. A. Meyer January, 1938 R a w L E a F : Transplanting un de r favorable weather condi tions continued during January in Isabela and some districts of Cagayan. There still re mains in both provinces some tobacco unsold of the 1937 crop. Comparative fig ures of shipments abroad are as fol lows: Rawleaf, Stripped Tobacco and Scraps Holland ......................... 18,762 Hongkong ..................... 900 Straits Settlements .... 1,298 United States ............... 246,465 267,425 593,620 360,144 United States 7,484,655 4,946,104 14,698,292 January, 1938 ... December, 1937 . .. January, 1937 ... Cigars: Shipments to the compare as follows: January, 1938 .. January, 1937 .. December, 1937 .. Statistics for the month follow: Shipments— Pacific Coast ................................. 2,519 Europe .......................................... 4,233 China and Japan ......................... 61 6,813 Port Area Das mar mad, Manila Line VESSEL LT VICTORIA CR tCAP TOURANE HAL DUISBURG NYK FUSHIMI MARU MMIC (PORTHOS Lea»e Lent Lean Manila Hongkong Bataria •Haiphong Feb. 21 •Feb. 22 Feb. 25 Feb. 26 •Mar. 4 G&S GLENAFFAR1C Mar. NLRDM tJ. V. OLDENBARNEVELT NDL GNEISENAU Mar. MM ARAMIS LT CONTE VERDE Mar. P&O COMORIN Mar. 5 SEA * NAGARA Mar. 9 Mar. 12 BF HECTOR ("A") Mar. 9 NYK HAK0ZAKI MARU Mar. 12 KL dDEMPO Mar. 16 EALBS iJUTLANDJA HEAL 'SEROOSKERK BF MENELAUS WL ‘TAI PING BF GLENSHIEL Mar. 14 Mar 15 Mar. 14 Mar. 16 ♦Mar. 22 Mar. 17 CR CAP ST. JACQUES MM MAR JOFFRE EALBS ZMEONIA Legend— DSSL —Dollar Steamship Lines P&0 —Peninsular & Oriental BF —Blue Funnel Line NYK —Nippon Yusen Kaisha MM —Messageries Maritimes LT —Lloyd Triestino NDL —Norddeutscher Lloyd CR —Chargeurs Reunis EALBS —East Asiatic Line—Japan Service Besin- * Stocks on hand in Manila Month 1 and Cebu..................... 5,767 DESICCATED COCONUT—The ness in desiccated coconut in January was poor. While prices were unchanged in New York, both sales and consumption were low and stocks on hand remained high. It was evident that the prices of desiccated would have to be cut in the near future. Under these conditions Philippine desiccated mills were operating at limited capacity. In fact one or two of the mills were snut down entirely for the month and the balance were probably restricted to not over 50% production. Owing to the large supply of peanuts and other edible nuts m the United States, the prospects for an in crease in desiccated demand were not very good. Shipments for the month totalled only 1,205 tons, thus reflecting the overstocked position in the United States. GENERAL—At the end of January all markets were in an unsettled condition. There were a few favorable signs in evi dence but these were more than counter acted by unfavorable developments and general business uncertainty. It was diffi cult to predict what might happen in Feb ruary, but the general consensus of opinion looked toward lower prices in all coconut products, although in Manila at least the season of the year was fast approaching when production would be curtailed for natural reasons, and although copra prices were fast reaching the point where the average producer was losing money whether he knew it or not. End of die Month 4,813 ; busiIN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 45 SAILINGS MANILA TO EUROPE VIA SUEZ Courtesy-EVERETT TRAVEL SERVICE Tel. ±-98<>l Saigon •Bangkok Leave Leave Leave Leave Penano Colombo Bombay Singapore * Belawan f Madras Leave Arrive Aden Suez •Dlboutl tMassoua Leave Leave Arrive Port Said Malta Naples Arrive Arrive Arrive Genoa Marseilles SouthHampton •Venice 'Trieste •Plymouth London Hamburg Gothenberg Rotterdam •Bordeaux ’Bremen •Amsterdam Brindisi •Alexandria Feb. 24 +Feb. 28 Mar. 2 Mar. 6 iMar. 9 Mar. 12 tMar. 13 Mar. 1 Mar. 4 Mar. 10 ♦Mar. 18 Mar. 24 Mar. 30 Feb. 28 Mar. 7 Mar. 20 Mar. 25 Apr. 6 Apr. 3 Mar. 3 Mar. 5 Mar. 9 Mar. 16 Mar. 20 Mar. 21 Mar. 25 Mar. 27 Apr. 4 Mar. 9 Mar. 11 Mar. 17 Mar. 20 ♦Mar. 28 Apr. 1 Apr. 2 Apr. 7 Mar. 5 Mar. 6 Mar. 10 Mar. 17 Mar. 18 Mar. 21 Mar. 27 Mar. 31 Mar. 28 Mar. 11 ♦Mar. 12 Mar. 16 Mar. 25 Mar. 31 Mar. 29 Apr. 4 ♦Apr. 5 Mar. 8 Mar. 10 Mar. 16 ♦Mar. 21 Mar. 24 Mar. 25 Mar. 30 Mar. 9 Mar. 13 Mar 15 Mar. 23 ♦Mar. 25 * Mar. 26 ♦Mar. 26 Apr. 1 Apr. 7 Mar. 19 Mar. 25 <Mar. 30 Apr. 9 Apr. 18 Apr. 6 Mar. 16 Mar. 18 Mar. 22 Apr. 2 Apr. 7 Apr. 13 Mar. 17 Mar. 19 Mar. 23 Mar. 30 Apr. 3 Apr. 4 Apr. 8 Apr. 10 Apr. 18 Mar. 18 ♦Mar. 19 Mar. 23 Apr. 1 Apr. 5 Apr. 10 Apr. 11 Mar. 1 Mar. 8 Mar. 11 Mar. 15 Mar. 22 Mar. 27 Apr. 1 Apr. 9 Apr. 13 Mar. 19 Mar. 21 Mar. 26 Apr. 6 Apr. 11 Apr. 13 Apr. 27 Apr. 21 Mar. 19 Apr. 10 Apr. 20 Mar. 21 Mar. 28 Apr. 9 Apr. 28 Apr. 24 Mar. 21 Apr. 13 Apr. 25 Mar. 29 Apr. 1 Apr. 7 ♦Apr. 16 Apr. 22 Apr. 28 Mar. 22 Mar. 24 Mar. 30 ♦Apr. 4 Apr. 7 Apr. 8 Apr. 13 ♦Mar. 22 Mar. 29 Apr. 1 Apr. 5 Apr. 12 Apr^ 17 Apr. 22 Apr. 30 May 4 HEAL —Holland East Asia Line NLRDM—Netherlands Lloyd Royal Dutch Mail RL —Rotterdam Lloyd HAL —Hamburg Amerika Line SEA —Swedish East Asiatic Line G&S —Glen & Shire Line EALBS —East Asiatic Line—Bangkok Service WL —Wilhelmsen Line MMIC —Messageries Line—Indo-China Service Notes i Also calls at Tourane and Pondicherry <• Also calls at Antwerp '• Also calls at Amsterdam xAlso calls at Port Sudan, Algiers and Antwerp t Calls at Nantes and Bordeaux t Also calls at Sabang (Indo-China), Ville Franche and Gibraltar z Also calls at Malacca and Port Swettenham n Also calls at Haifa * Also calls at Sabang, Gibraltar, Tangier and Lisbon Roosevelt Steamship Agency, Inc. 'RET'RESEfiTl/iC Kerr Steamship Co., Inc.—New York Silver Line, Ltd.—London Prince Line, Ltd.—London Pacific Java Bengal Line—Amsterdam Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha—Kobe Operating the Following Services: Prince Silver Round the World Service (Philippines to U. S. Atlantic Coast Ports via Java, Straits Settlements, Colombo and Cape of Good Hope) Silver Java Pacific Line (Philippines to U. S. Pacific Coast and Gulf Ports, also to Java, Straits Settlements, Bombay, Persian Gulf and Calcutta) "K" Line Round the World Service (Philippines to U. S. Atlantic Ports via Suez) “K” Line Express Service to Atlantic Ports (Philippines to U. S. Atlantic Ports via Panama) Chaco Bldg. Tel. 2-15-21 MANILA Far East—Europe RAPID LUXURY LINERS S.S. “Conte Biancamano” S.S. “Conte Rosso” S.S. “Conte Verde” M S “Victoria” Via Singapore—Colombo—Bombay—Massowah— Suez—Port Said Regular fortnightly sailings from Manila or Hongkong for Venice. Trieste. Naples or Genoa and monthly to Hongkong and Shanghai Through Tickets to the U. S. and Round the World at Reduced Fares. For passage and further particulars apply to F. E. ZUELLIG, Inc., Agents CEBU MANILA ILOILO SS-63 Rosario Passage Tel. 2-31-16 Freight Tel. 2-31-15 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMRFR OL COMMFRCF lOrRV-U 46 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 MR. RIPLEY: PLEASE NOTE At a bend in the Rio Guinobatan near the present millsite of the Masbate Con solidated company, in 1902 a lad named Jose Ganao sat fishing one day. Bites were few. As the sun rose toward midday, Jose parked his pole, leaned back against a tree, and fell asleep so soundly that his mouth gaped. Presently a frog, just graduated from a pollywog, jumped into this void; and when Jose suddenly woke and gulped with spasmodic astonishment, the frog leaped again—this time down his gullet. This was the beginning of one of tho strangest true stories we know of, evidence of which is Jose Ganao himself, now of course a man past middle age, and the frog that he has kept in ether ever since his riddance from it. On realizing he had swallowed a frog, he ran frantically home, where his mother told him the frog would unquestionably die and be digested like ordinary food. For a long time, all concerned thought this had happened, but later the boy complained a LEFT Model t-S Powered by McCormickDccring Z’/i-f’.i h. p. Engine. Capacity of 2 Cu. Ft. Mixed Concrete. RIGHT Model “Automix” Powered by McCormiekDeering 3-5 h.p. Engine. Capacity 3'/- Cu. Ft. Mixed Concrete. Batch-a-Minute Concrete Mixers International Harvester Company OF PHILIPPINES 154 M. de Comillas, MANILA ILOILO . BACOLOI) . CEBU DAVAO . LEGASPI . BAGUIO hicCoimick-Dcering l*/2 to 2'2 h.p. Engine con nected to a Deep Well Pump throuqh a specially designed Pump Jack. They Turn on Ball-Bearings The secret of good concrete is a good mixer. These simple inexpensive outfits turn out a surprising amount of thoroughly mixed concrete. The Model 2-S can be operated by either hand or a McCormick- Deer ing 1% to 2% h.p. engine. The “Automix” is powered by a 3 to 5 h.p. McCormickDeering engine, all mounted on a trailer truck for trailing a truck. great deal of stomach trouble and at night queer gutteral sounds came from his mid riff. It was feared the frog still lived, though reason put this possibility aside in favor of ulcers or tumors; and as for the sounds, they could be the boy’s grinding his teeth in pain. This was precisely the diagnosis Captain C. S. Sol, an army surgeon, made of the case when it was brought to his attention on one of his periodical visits to the army station in that vicinity. Whereupon the Ganaos arranged with him to operate. But lo, when incision had been made in the stomach, out leaped the frog—grown of course to considerable size, but not green coated and mottle legged, but all as white as just the vest of a frog is when it grows up out of doors. Naturally, before the leap was completed, the frog burst and died— the sudden change of atmospheric pressure was fatal. Retrieving the corpus delicti and turning it over to the Ganaos, Captain Sol exclaimed, "No wonder the name is Ganao!” For ganao in the language of Masbate means frog pond. BONDS ON THE BOARD On the First of February, the Manila Stock Exchange began regular trading in Philippine bond issues. This marks the first time in the history of the local ex change that bonds have made their ap pearance on the board. Seventeen issues of Insular bonds, and fifteen issues of Insular collateral bonds were approved for initial listing. Their face value ajnounts to $55,684,000, out of a total insular bond issue (including all types and series) of $73,008,500. The move on the part of the Manila Stock Exchange directorate is hailed as a step forward, and was in response to an increasing public demand that the exchange provide a market place for bond holders. No startling amount of trading in bonds is likely to develop for some time, how ever, since gold stocks now are in the driver’s seat. Nevertheless, the move is a step forward, and is another sign that the local stock market is growing up. After all, the gold industry, while important to the national economy of the country, is a long way from being the most important industry in the Philippines. It has been anomalous that trading interest has concerned itself exclu sively with gold stocks. Eventually, as the country develops new industries and be comes generally more industrially minded, we can look forward to a healthily diver sified interest on the part of the investing public in industrial stocks, gold stocks, and bonds. Encouragement of this on the part of the Manila Stock Exchange through listing Insular bond issues is to be com mended. — List of Newly Licensed Min:ng Engineers There were 29 successful candidates in the latest examination for licenses to prac tise as mining engineers in the Philippines. The names and grades given to each are as follows: Lee E. Blinzler .. 83.93 Charles W. Heyda ............................ 83.08 Jose G. Licuanan ............................ 82.6 Victor E. Balota .............................. 81.38 Arturo P. Alcaraz ............................ 80.28 Mauro Gonzales .............................. 78.88 Frank E. Delahunty ........................ 77.9 Norbert S. McKenna ......................... 77.85 Pablo Capistrano .............................. 76.6 Frederick H. King .......................... 76 6 Harve I. Ashby ................................ 75.53 Warren Gilkison................................ 75.1 Raoul G. Bergman .......................... 74.95 Harold E. Heide................................ 74.95 Byron A. Johnston .......................... 74.85 Bienvenido Garcia ............................ 74.8 Roscoe H. Canon .............................. 74.68 Olimpio Bolong y Serian ............... 73.73 Honesto Gapud y Abella ................. 73.53 D. A. Davis ...................................... 73 David P. Cruz ................................ 72.73 Theodore F. Adams.......................... 72.35 A. C. Melting .................................... 71.28 John F. Patton ................... 71.15 Kenneth H. Hanson ........................ 70.68 Lazaro A. Cruz ................................ 70.58 Maximo P. Garcia ............................ 70 5 Lawrence J. Skinner ...................... 70.4 Ignacio S. Antonio............................ 70.1 IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February, 1938 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 47 PRINCIPAL EXPORTS Commodities Canton (Low Grade Cordage Fiber) Cigars (Number) .......................................... Coconut Oil ........................................................ Copra Meal ....................................................... Cordage .............................................................. Desiccated and Shredded Coconut .............. Embroideries ..................................................... Hats (Number) .............................................. Hemp ................................................................. Chromium Ore .................................................. Leaf Tobacco .................................................... Lumber (Cu. M.) ........ ................................. Gold Bullion (oz.) .................................... Other Products .................................................. Total Domestic Products ............................ United States Products ................................ Foreign Countries Products .......... Grano Total ................................................... Calendar Year 1937 Calendar Year 1936 Monthly Average for the Calendar Year 1937 Articles Quantity 3.871.421 204.619.993 162,767,818 236.543.566 110,528.941 7.461.370 40,744.896 665.394 165.339.398 69,855.606 8.075.799 127.385 15.585.203 1.268.254 871.045.130 Value % Quantity T 546.430 6.144.719 40.926.802 31.969.399 5.800.358 2.872.021 12.693.263 7.399.002 933.190 43,279.373 1.542.100 2.485.753 3.959.805 2.174.213 27.365.429 115.412.387 34.9 25.978.158 7.8 0.2 5.818,377 1.9 178.334,078 12.3 158.908.371 9.6 291.087.730 1.8 108.267.545 0.9 6.604.873 3.8 33,712,600 2.2 — 0.3 728.032 13.0 167.124.218 0.5 11.890.602 0.7 14.442.474 1.2 129.647 0.7 21.706.809 8.2 950.093 899.838.367 Value <% P 516.879 5.492.653 27.577.767 29.999.568 3.659.079 2.317.739 8.794.125 8 549.110 1.176.578 34.177.197 307.618 4.532 606 3.586.369 2.116,407 20.493.158 123.874.644 16.407.156 Quantity Value % 13.563.985 19.711.964 9.210.745 621.781 3.395,408 55.449 13.944 949 5.821.001 652.983 10X15 1.298 767 105.688 72,587.094 331.483.302 99.3 2.030.358 0.6 407.734 0.1 293.579.553 97.4 1.375.340 0.5 395.422 0.1 3,410.567 2.664.117 483.363 239.410 1.057.938 616 583 77.766 3.606 614 128 508 207.146 329.984 181.184 2.280.452 9.617.699 2.164.847 f333.921.394 P295.350.315 P27.826.783 Note:—All quantities are in kilos except where otherwise indicated. PRINCIPAL IMPORTS Calendar Year 1937 Calendar Year 1936 Monthly Average for the Calendar Year 1937 Value Automobile ...................... P 7.150.297 Automobile Accessories . Automobile Tires ........ Books and Other Printed Matter ..... Breadstuff Except Wheat Flour .......................... Cacao nnd Manufacturers Except Candy .......... Cars and Carriages .... Chemicals, Dyes, Druys, Etc. Coal .................................. Coffee Raw and Prepared . Cotton Cloths .............. Cotton, All Other ........ Dairy Products ............ Diamond and Other Pre cious Stone Unset .. . Earthen Stone and Chinaware ................ Eegs and Preparation of Electrical Machinery .. Explosives ...................... Fertilizers ........................ Fibers, Vegetables and Manufactures of ..... Fish and Fish Products Fruits and Nuts ........ Gasoline ........................... Glass and Glassware .. India Rubber Goods ... Instrument and Appa ratus not Electrical . Iron and Steel Except Machinery ............ . Leather Goods .............. Machinery and Parts of Meat Products .............. Oil, Crude ...................... Oil, Illuminating .......... Oil, Lubricating ............ Other Oils, Animal. Min eral and Vegetables . Paints, Pigments, Var nish. Etc....................... Paper floods Except Books . Perfumery and Other Toilet Goods .............. Rice .................................. Shoes nnd Other Footwear . Silk. Artificial .............. Silk Natural .................. Sugar and Molasses .. Tobacco and Manufactures of Vegetables ...................... Wax ................................ Wheat Flour ................ Wood, Reed, Bamboo and Rattan .......................... Woolen Goods ................ Other Imports .............. 2.070.470 2,757.262 1.882.103 1.437,258 1.266.662 1.813.826 5.702.083 1.566.798 1.358.545 21 357.095 13.448,128 7.438,745 866,960 1.247.537 306.605 6.854.637 1.908.306 3.504.361 4.144.788 3.559.057 2.391.818 . 4.953.584 2.050.014 1.743.066 1,134,560 23.297,735 2.558.915 15.192.096 2.642.923 3.831,909 2.291.914 1.482,413 1.357.709 1.861.865 5,739.095 1.695.262 4.863.344 572.497 4.506.751 1.688.950 1.027.455 400.226 7.340.246 3.502.957 1.072.128 8.204.725 1.088.463 996.116 16.920,239 CARRYING TRADE IMPORTS % Value 3.3 P 6.614.261 0.9 1.929.626 1.3 2.864,250 0.8 1.910.988 0.7 1,266,905 0.6 923.865 0.8 1.474.139 2.6 5.576.887 0.7 2,082 920 0.6 1.302.200 9.8 18.609.388 6.1 11 833.960 3.4 8,137,284 0.4 1,049.934 0.6 1.105.601 0.1 297.201 3.1 5.830.861 0.9 1.776.181 1.6 4.271,720 1.9 3,881.983 1.6 3.058,815 1.1 2.834.001 2.3 5.955.594 0.9 1.506.684 0.8 1.565.544 0.5 742,849 10.7 1.2 6.9 1.2 1.8 0.7 20.080.128 2.097.826 11.718.381 2.887.070 3.993.192 3 030.533 1.346.182 0.6 1,050.657 0.9 1.778.860 2.6 4.531.659 0.8 1.449.133 2.2 5.874 635 0.3 552.165 2.1 • 3.279.842 0.8 2.484.567 0.5 848.774 0.2 353.845 3.4 7.130.860 1.6 3.382.919 0.5 919.361 3.8 7.900.519 0.5 913.243 0.5 1.085.112 7.7 15.109.145 % Value % 3.3 P 595.858 3.3 0.9 172.539 0.9 1.4 229.772 1.3 0.9 156,842 0.8 0.6 119.771 0.7 0.5 105,554 0.6 0.7 151.152 0.8 2.8 475.173 2.6 1.0 130.566 0.7 0.6 113.212 0.6 9.2 1.779.758 9.8 5.9 1.120 677 6.1 4.0 619,895 3.4 0.5 72,247 0.4 0.5 103.962 0.6 0.1 25.550 0.1 2.9 571.219 3.1 0.9 169,025 0.9 2.1 292.030 1.6 1.9 345.399 1.9 1.5 296.588 1.6 1.4 199.318 1.1 2.9 412,798 2.3 0.7 170.835 0.9 0.8 145,255 0.8 0.4 94,647 0.5 9.9 1.941.478 10.7 1.0 213.248 1.2 5.8 1.266.008 6.9 1.4 220.243 1.2 1.9 319.326 1.8 1.5 190.993 1.1 0.6 123.534 0.7 0.5 113.142 0.6 0.9 155.155 0.9 2.2 478.258 2.6 0.7 141.272 0.8 2.9 405.279 2.2 0.3 47.708 0.3 1.6 375.663 2.1 1.2 140.746 0.8 0.4 85.621 0.5 0.2 33.352 0.2 3.5 611.687 3.4 1.7 291.913 1.6 0.5 89.344 0.5 3.9 683.727 3.8 0.4 90.705 0.5 0.5 83.009 0.5 7.5 1.410.019 7-7 Nationality Calendar Year 1937 Calendar Year 1936 Average forthe of Vessels Calendar Year 1937 EXPORTS Value % Value * Value American .................... P42.587.362 20.1 P67.690.327 34.3 P 3.548.947 20.i British ............................ 83.071.236 62.743.896 31.8 6.922.603 39.1 Chinese .......................... 1.050.066 0.6 1.580.041 0.8 87.505 0.5 Danish .......................... 7.592.414 3.6 4.807.101 2.4 632.701 3.6 Dutch ............................ 14.621 246 6.9 11.673 331 5.9 1,218.437 6.9 French ........................ 177 270 30.814 14.772 German ........................ 13.802 359 6.5 10.707.217 6.4 1.150.197 6.5 Greek ............................ 69.216 335 281 0.2 5.768 Italian .......................... 210.823 0.1 52.260 17.568 0.1 Japanese ...................... 24.438.912 11.5 17.388.189 8.8 2.036 576 11.6 Norwegian .................. 16.403 202 7.7 15.517.933 7.9 1.366.933 7.7 Panaman .................... 6.428.092 3.0 3.655.726 1.9 535.674 3.0 Philippines .................. 418.813 0.2 173.533 34.901 0.2 Swedish ........................ 1.342.474 0.6 1,245.301 0.6 111.873 0.6 By Freight .................... 212.213.485 97.4 197,600.949 97.7 17.684.455 97.4 American Aeroplane . 49.171 6.096 4.098 Mail .............................. 5.788.834 2.6 4.645,304 2.3 482.403 2.6 Total .................. . . P218.051.490 - P202.262.349 — Pl 8.170.957 - Nationality of Vessels Calendar Year 1937 Calendar Year 1936 American .................. Chinese ...................... French ...................... German ...................... Greek ........................ Italian ...................... Japanese .................... Norwegian ................ Panaman .................... Philippines .............. Swedish ...................... By Freight ................ American Aeroplane Mail ............................ P21R 051 400 — P202 252 349 — P18.170.957 TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES Ports Calendar Year 1937 Calendar Year 1936 Monthly Average for the Calendar Year 1937 Monthly Average for the Calendar Year 1937 Value Value % Value % P94.120.682 65.668.618 2.129.046 10.664.334 12.429.621 70.794 8.609.954 1.114.745 1.420.052 63,495.815 39.855.346 2.658.078 277.409 2.646.254 305,060.698 46.849 28.815.207 30.8 P85.173.208 21.6 63,849.241 0.7 586.229 3.6 9.734.536 4.1 10.913.340 2.8 5,292.133 0.4 184.160 0.6 1.444.179 20.8 60.303.958 13.0 29.856,895 0.8 3.641.103 — 65.231 0.9 2.346.846 91.4 273.379.747 — 253 8.6 21.970,013 31.1 P 7.843.390 23.4 6.472.385 0.2 177.420 3.6 888.699 4.0 1.036,793 — 5.899 1.9 717.496 — 92.895 0.6 118.338 22.1 6.291.318 10.9 3.321.279 1.3 213.173 — 23.117 0.8 220.621 92.6 25,421.726 — 3.791 7.4 2,401.267 333.921.394 — 295.350.316 — 27.826.783 30.8 21.6 0.7 3.6 4.1 28 0.4 0.6 20.8 13.0 0.8 0.9 91.4 8-6 TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES Countries Calendar Year 1937 Calendar Year 1936 Monthly Average for the Calendar Year 1937 Value % Value Mnnila Iloilo Value % Zamboanga Davao .... Jose Pangamban P350.874.648 77.216.965 77.735.463 855.675 5.606.048 23.276.941 11.315.325 174.101 4.919.718 Value % 63.6 P304.431.316 13.9 88.129.851 14.1 66.552.711 0.2 524.117 1.0 4.376.941 4.2 18.677.962 2.0 16,009.766 Value 0.9 61.2 29.238.664 63.5 17.7 6.434.747 13.9 13.4 6.477.955 14.1 0.1 71.306 .2 0.9 467.087 1.0 3.7 1.939.662 4.2 3.0 942.944 2.0 — 14.508 — — 409.977 0.9 ...................... P561.972.884 — P497.602.664 — P45.997.740 United States ........ United Kingdom Australia .................... Austria ...................... Belgium .................... British East Indies . Canada ...................... China .......................... Denmark .................... Dutch East Indies . . France ........................ French East Indies Germany .................... Hongkong.................. Italy .............. ............. Japanese-China .. • ■ Netherlands .............. Norway .................... Switzerland .............. Other Countries . • • • Total ................ P402.040.647 17.933.491 6.091.769 134.450 4.787.697 6.222.368 4.446.452 8.557.189 1.351.652 6.429.627 3.276.446 2.807,130 11.911.413 4.267.488 2.196.238 52.233.835 261.201 6,543.671 866.715 2.006.475 382.260 1.796.427 1,162.664 5.266.689 72.9 P362.235.432 3.2 13.602.405 1.1 6.671.694 — 98.512 0.9 3.492 720 1.1 4.857.890 0.8 3.689 556 1.5 7.340.402 0.2 1.274.469 0.9 4.060.174 0.6 5.321.990 0.5 4.287.469 2.2 10.725.506 0.8 2.380,031 0.4 2.499.167 9.4 43.314.802 1.2 9.137.301 0.1 589.062 0.4 1.976.847 — 4,692.745 0.3 1.249.481 0.2 1.063.768 0.9 3,807.378 % Value % 72.8 P33.503.379 72 9 2.7 1.494,458 3.2 1.1 507.647 1.1 — 11.204 — 0.7 398 975 0.9 0.9 518.631 1.1 0.7 370 638 0.8 1.5 713.099 1.5 0.3 112 638 0.2 0.8 462 469 0.9 1.1 273.037 0.9 0.9 233.927 0.8 2.2 992.618 2.1 0.6 365.624 0.8 0.5 183.019 0.4 8.7 4.352.819 9.4 — 21.767 — 1.8 545.306 1.2 0.1 72.226 0.1 0.4 167.206 0.4 0.9 31.854 - 0.3 149.619 0.3 0.2 96.889 0.1 0.8 438,891 0.9 P551.972.884 — P497.602.664 P45.997.740 48 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL February. 1938 RAIL COMMODITY MOVEMENTS By LEON M. LAZAGA Traffic Manager, Manila Railroad Company FREIGHT REVENUE CAR LOADING COMMODITIES Fr The volume of commodities received in Manila during the month of JANUARY, 1938, via the Manila Railroad Company are as follows: Rice, cavanes ............. 211,989 Sugar, piclus ............... 878,344 Copra, piculs ............. 106,637 Desiccated Coconuts, cases........................... 12,375 Tobacco, bales ........... 841 Lumber, board feet .. . 829,324 Timber, kilos ............... 859,000 The freight revenue car loading statistics for four weeks end ing January 22, 1938, as compared with the same period of 1937 are given below: Rice............ PaJay ........ Sufrar Cane Coconuts . . Molasses . Tobacco . .. Livestock . 1.134 653 2.83T Mineral Products Lumber and Timber Other Forest Products Manufactures ................ All Others including L.C. Total .............. 56 6 4.351 2,395 2.192 15,660 15,056 16,092| 246.840 268,591 SUMMARY Week ending Jan. 1 Week ending Jan. X Week ending Jan. 15 Week ending Jan. 22 3,041 4,376 4,392 4,283 38,838 48,578 64,522 72,792 70,3621 75.960 73,118 71,824 246.840 268,5911 ( Note—Figures in parenthesis indicate decrease (639) 9,T40> (461) (8,207) (181 (5,598) 145 , 1,794 i (1.036) (21.761 Low Cost... (Continued from page JJt) to buy all of it in any house 100 years old or more that is being demolished to make way for concrete; we have bought it before, and used it for our own house, and we know how good it is. There is nothing wrong with our native materials if properly used; and they are cheap. That is, in this instance, their main virtue. But they are also fire-proof, can be made anay-proof as well, and weather-proof. The Spaniards did it. With the present administration policies set on social justice, and with the housing problem looming so large as a factor of social justice, we believe it will not be long before the government begins to take some sort of action. What form of action will be taken remains to be seen; but that something will at last be done to pro vide better living conditions for the poor, we confidently expect. ----------BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY SUBSCRIBE For Your FAVORITE MAGAZINES Thru The UNION CIRCULATION CORPORATION 217 Dasmarinas Tel. 4-87-50 CO-OPERATION—SERVICE ECONOMY ft ® ft 4> CHINA BANKING CORPORATION MANILA. P. I. Domestic and Foreign Banking of Every Description P. O. Box 1 3 94 Telephone 2-20-70 J. A. STIVER Attorney-At-Law—Notary Public Certified Public Accountant Administration of Estates Receiverships Investments Collections Income Tax 121 Real. Intramuros Manila. P. I. Philippines Cold Stores Wholesale and Retail Dealers in American and Australian Refrigerated Produce STORES AND OFFICES Calle Echague Manila. P. I. AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL P. O. Box 1 638 —Manila — 180 David RATES Philippines - P4.00 per year United States - - $2.00 ” ” Foreign Countries - $3.00 ’• IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL Creosote Is An ‘Antidote’ for Ants White ants simply will not associate with creosote or anything that has creosote in it. Taking Advantage of this knowledge it will pay you to use nothing but ClkimSCTIEID IL CM IB IL Ik Rot is another problem that causes large losses. Again creosoted lumber brings a great saving. Actual use of this has proven that it will prolong the life of lumber for many more years. We have ample stocks for all purposes, including piles and ties. ATLANTIC, GULF & PACIFIC COMPANY Your Electrical Servant — Reddy kilowatt—says: “Food Cooked ELECTRICALLY Tastes Better” “I am ready to prove this statement but it’s up to you to give me a chance. Rent A Range “Call me at the office of......... MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY /V K/AS7’O.V/)/AG TO AE>\’ER TISEMEXTS PLEASE MFXT/OX THE AMERICAX ('HAMPER ()/• (OMMER( E JOL’RXAL The Home and Garden which you always dreamed of— SAN JUAN HEIGHTS is the best place for it. SAN JUAN HEIGHTS CO., INC. 680 Ave. Rizal P. O. Box 961 Tel. 2-15-01 MANILA /A RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS Pl EASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL