The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Vol. XXVIII, No.4 (April 1952)

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Title: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Vol. XXVIII, No.4 (April 1952)
Issue Date: Vol. XXVIII, No.4 (April 1952)
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extracted text: Published monthly in Manila by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines 424 San Luis Street — Telephone No. 3-23-24 A. V. H. Hartendorp Editor and Manager Entered as second class matter at the Manila Post Office on May 25, 1921, and on December 10, 1945 Subscription rate: P5.00 the year; $5.00 in the United States and foreign countries Officers and Members of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines J. L. Manning, President; J. H. Carpenter, Vice-President; D. O. Gunn, Treasurer; F. C. Bennett, J. T. Hicks, J. A. Parrish, E. E. Selph, Harry C. Stevenson, and Paul H. Wood. Mrs. Virginia Gonder, Executive Vice-President; I. T. Salmo, Secretary Vol. XXVIII April, 1952 No. 4 Contents Editorials— Speaker Perez on the Attitude of American Investors........................ The Increasing Share of Filipino Traders in the Foreign Trade. . . The Philippines and the U.S. War Department and the U.S. Army As American Business Here Sees the Future...................................... The Mutual Security Agency Essential Supplies Program............. The Decline in the Copra and Coconut Oil Market............ ........... The Surrender in Bataan,—A Civilian Account............................................. Philippine Foreign Trade Statistics, 1951 and 1950 I. Total Trade, 1951 and 1950......................................................... II. Twenty Principal Imports............................................................ III. Twenty Principal Exports............................................................ IV. Imports by Countries, 1951........................................................... V. Exports by Countries, 1951........................................................... VI. Foreign Trade by Nationality of Trader 1951...................... J. L. Manning......................................................... A. F. Albers and O. J. McDiarmid............... H. Dean Hellis..................................................... A.V.H. Hartendorp.............................................. Bureau of the Census and Statistics................. 123 123 124 130 132 133 134 137 137 139 141 141 142 The Business View— The Government.................................................................................................................................... Banking and Finance............................................................................................................................ Manila Stock Market........................................................................................................................... Credit.....................................................................................:................................................................. Electric Power Production (Manila Electric Company and the Philippines as a whole)................................................................................................................................................ Real Estate.............................................................................................................................................. Building Construction.......................................................................................................................... Ocean Shipping and Exports.............................................................................................................. Mining....................................................................................................................................................... Lumber...................................................................................................................................................... Copra and Coconut Oil..................................................................................................... Desiccated Coconut........................................................................................................... Sugar...................................................................................................................................... Manila Hemp.......................................................................................................................................... Tobacco..................................................................................................................................................... Imports..................... ................................................................................................................................ Food Products......................................................................................................................................... Textiles...................................................................................................................................................... Legislation, Executive Orders, Court Decisions......................................................... Philippine Safety Council................................................................................................................... Cost of Living Price Index (1948-1952)................................................................................ ............. Message of President Quirino to Congress re Admission of Americans under Special Quota The “Let Your Hair Down” Column........................................................................................................ Official Sources......................................................... G. R. Hutchison.................................................... A. C. Hall................................................................ C. W. Muilenburg............................................... J. F. Cotton............................................................ A. Varias.................................................................. J. J. Carlos.............................................................. B. B. Tunold........... ............................................ N. N. Lim.................................................................. P. de Ocampo........................................................... H. D. Hellis............................................................ V. F. Murray.......................................................... S. Jamieson.............................................................. M. S. Robie.............................................................. L. A. Pujalte.......................................................... S. Schmelkes........................................................... C. G. Herdman....................................................... W. V. Saussotte.................................................... E. E. Selph.............................................................. F. S. Tenny.............................................................. Bureau of the Census and Statistics................. 142 144 144 145 145 146 146 146 147 147 149 150 152 154 154 155 156 157 158 160 161 162 163 50 CENTAVOS THE COPY Editorials " ... to promote the general welfare” The Philippines Herald for Sunday, March 23, gave great emphasis, yet, in our opinion, not too great an em phasis, to an account of an Speaker Perez exclusive radio interview with On the Attitude Speaker Eugenio Perez, broadof American Investors cast the previous evening by the Herald over a Manila radio station. The interview took place the day after the Speaker’s return from a three-months’ stay in the United States where he underwent a serious surgical operation. The Herald accorded the interview an eight-column headline on the front page,—“PROTECT FOREIGN INVESTORS—PEREZ”, and the sub-heads read: “U S Capital Eyeing P I Policies—Speaker Wants Tax Plans ReExamined with Revision of Bell Act”. According to the article: “American financiers would invest more heavily in the Philippines ' if we can give their capital the proper protection and if we can assure them that they can take home without any difficulty a fair share of their profits’. Speaker Eugenio Perez said last night in an exclusive radio interview with the Herald...” "Speaker Perez implied in the interview that the 17% foreign exchange tax and other taxes affecting foreign capital should be re examined with a view to giving foreign investors ‘fair and favorable’ treatment. “Speaker Perez was reporting on his impressions of the attitude and plans of American financiers toward investments in the Philippines. After his kidney operation, the Speaker conferred with a considerable number of American financiers and businessmen. “ ‘The greatest deterrent to foreign investments here,’ Speaker Perez said, ’is the unsettled Far Eastern situation.’ “Besides this, he added, American investors were closely following foreign exchange, monetary, and trade policies in the Philippines. He said that the recent favorable publicity about the Philippines * has raised the prestige of our country in the United States and throughout the world ... ’ “He gave the impression, however, that there was considerable worry over Philippine foreign exchange policies. While he did not advocate the outright abolition of the foreign exchange tax and other taxes on foreign investments, he came out strongly in favor of re-studying the entire picture in the light of recent developments. “Mr. Perez suggested that this could be in connection with the forthcoming revision of the Philippine Trade Act of 1946 (Bell Act). In this way, he implied, taxes on foreign investments could be made to harmonize with the overall economic policies. "He did not go into details in discussing the proposed changes in the Bell Act, but he reported that American legislative leaders and The Increasing Share of Filipino Traders in Philippine Foreign Trade businessmen with whom he conferred indicated they would be glad to have the Trade Act revised to conform to new conditions . . . “Reporting on the American attitude toward rendering the Phil ippines additional assistance, Speaker Perez said that everyone he talked with gave him the impression that America was willing to facili tate 'substantial economic and military aid’...” That a man of Speaker Perez’ importance should make such a report as to the attitude of American finan ciers and businessmen with respect to American invest ment in the Philippines and should voice such outspoken opinions of his own immediately after his return to this country, strongly reenforces the testimony to the same effect laid before the Philippine Congress recently by some of our local businessmen such as Mr. J. A. Parrish and several other members of the American Chamber of Com merce of the Philippines. Especially worthy of note is the Speaker’s fundamen tal observation that the foreign exchange tax and other measures affecting foreign investment “should be made to harmonize with the overall economic policies” of the Gov ernment. There has for a long time been no such concordance and the Government has continuously, so to speak, undone with one hand what it has tried to do with the other. Numerous specific measures have been taken which direct ly contradict and subvert the announced aims of the Gov ernment. Mr. H. P. Vibal, in his “The Day’s Business” column in the Philippines Herald for March 22, quoted some figures, which he stated were based on Import Control Com mission records, showing that during the period from July 1 of last year to March 19 of this year, the Filipino share of the import licenses issued amounted to only 16%, and he compared this figure to figures issued by the Bureau of Census and Statistics for 1948 showing that the Filipino traders’ share in the total imports that year was 23%. The comparison shows a drop of 7% and he concluded that 123 “it looks as if after the imposition of import control, Fili pino importers, instead of improving their position, have suffered instead. Mr. Vibal’s figures and his conclusion are interesting. We made an effort to verify his ICC figures but were unable to do so, but assuming they are correct, the fact remains that the import license figures could not be strictly com pared with the figures supplied by the Bureau of Census and Statistics which are based on data obtained from the Bureau of Customs. However, both sets of figures are highly interesting in themselves. Since the Bureau of Census and Statistics recently issued the Philippine foreign trade statistics for the year 1951, which are published in this issue of the Journal, we were able to compile the accompanying table covering the pertinent annual statistics of that Bureau for four years. These figures show that during 1951, the Filipino traders for the first time took second place, instead of third (after the American and the Chinese) in the total export and import trade, and that they also, for the first time, took first place in the import trade, while, they retain second place in the export trade, which they have occupied during the entire four-year period. As compared to 1950, the shares in both the export and import trades have risen for all three elements,— American, Chinese, and Filipino, but a graph line would show by far the sharpest upward movement for the Fili pinos. Now it might' be thought that whether this is “good” or “bad” depends on the point of view, but this is not en tirely true because we believe it is generally felt, even by the non-Filipino elements active in Philippine foreign trade, that for the Filipinos to take a larger part in this activity would be a natural and sound development and therefore desirable from the point of view of all those whose interests are tied up with the Philippines. And from the world point of view, it is the trade, the exchange of goods, which is of primary importance, not who handles the trade. As the Journal always has held, all that foreign tra ders in any country have a right to ask is that they shall not, in law or in policy, be discriminated against; they can not object to the very natural trend in underdeveloped countries toward the people of the country themselves taking an increasing part in its development. This natural trend can be allowed for and prepared for in business plan ning over a period of years and can be accepted with equinimity and is even to be welcomed. But foreign business in a country can never adequately prepare for sudden and arbitrary discriminatory government action against it; that is confiscatory and wrong,—and damaging all around. Philippine Foreign Trade By the traders of the principal three nationalities engaged in it* In Millions of Pesos Year Total Trade Imports Exports 1948................................... ........................ 1,774 1,136 638 American.................... ........................ 660 319 341 Chinese........................ ........................ 542 438 104 Filipino....................... ........................ 384 260 124 1949................................... ........................ 1,646 1,134 512 American.................... ........................ 589 333 256 Chinese........................ ........................ 495 423 72 Filipino....................... ........................ 359 263 96 1950................................... ........................ 1,378 712 666 American.................... ........................ 556 227 329 Chinese........................ ........................ 337 221 116 Filipino....................... ........................ 318 197 121 1951................................... ........................ 1,790 959 831 American.................... ........................ 639 275 364 Filipino........................ ........................ 528 354 174 Chinese........................ ........................ 393 257 136 •Figures for the traders of other nationalities are not given here. See the official figures for 1951 in the table on page 142. PHILIPPINE FOREIGN TRADE By Nationality of the Three Principal Traders 600 500 ¥00 . \ \ 300 '"X \ \ \ \ \ \ - J \ \ 7s7- •''’ / / Z<iQ X \ X X / / / X' / too ■ Ct,. (<1*3 /¥¥/ TOTAL TRADE ■ IMPORT TRADE----EXPORT TRADE............. The U. S. Defense Department in Washington an nounced on March 13 that — • ■ ~* The Philippines and the U. S. War Department and the U. S. Army President Truman had ap proved the transfer, effec tive March 15, of military respons-ibilities in the Philippine-Formosa area from the Commander-in-Chief of Commander-in-Chief of the the Far East (Army) to the _________ Pacific Area (Navy). The spokesman stated that this meant simply a “command change” relieving the Far East Commander General Matthew B. Ridgway of responsibil ities in the area and assigning them to Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific. The Army thus retains top responsibility in Japan, Korea, and Okinawa, and the Navy now exercises it in Formosa and the Philippines. However, it was also an nounced that the shift in command “will not involve any change in forces, subordinate commanders, or policy”. 124 April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 125 Protect your hand-held drills — all I your air operated tools—with the LO12 Automatic Line Oiler. It shuts off the air when it runs out of oil. Whether you’re drilling hard rock or tough rock—either solid or frac tured— you’ll find there’s a Gardner-Denver hand-held drill of the right weight and power for the work. All are famous for their hole-cleaning ability — powerful rotation — and low air consumption. For soft or medium formations — choose the lightweight S33. For fast drilling in any but the hardest rock—choose the medium weight S55. For deep holes or the hardest rock — choose the larger, more powerful S73. For efficient drilling with carbide bits — use the new S48. For heavy duty sinking — choose the heavyweight D73, D79, or D93 drills. Write us for complete information, or Atlantic, (inlf ! see your local Gardner-Denver distributor. & Pacific Co. OF MANILA Sole Distributors for the Philippines | SINCE 1859 GARDNER-DENVER ! Gardner-Denver Company. Export Division: 211 Broadway. New York 7. N. Y.. U. S. A. MERCHANDISE SALES DIVISION I Gardner-Denver Company. Quincy. Illinois. U. S. A. Robert Dollar Bldc„ Muellc del San Francis.-. X 23rd St.. Port Area. Manila I THE QUALITY LEADER IN COMPRESSORS, PUMPS AND ROCK DRILLS In the Philippines, the change meant that, as of March 17, Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen, Commander, U. S. Naval Forces, Philippines, with headquarters at the U. S. Naval Station, Sangley Point, Cavite, replaced MajorGeneral Ernest Moore, Commanding-General, 13th Air Force, with headquarters at the Clark Air Force Base, Clark Field, Pampanga, as the senior American military officer here. Admiral Cruzen assumed command control of all United States military forces in the Philippines as Com mander of the newly created “Philippine Command (United States)”. He retains his naval command and is directly under the orders of Admiral Radford, whose headquarters are at Pearl Harbor. Commentators have linked the establishment of two separate commands in the place of the unified command heretofore exercised by General Ridgway and before him by General MacArthur, with the American Senate’s rati fication of the Treaty of Peace with Japan and also with the Korean situation, but military sources at Pearl Harbor were quoted as saying that the command area shift follows a policy now established by the Joint Chiefs of Staffs that “authority in unified commands shall go to the service branch with paramount interest in the mission and area involved”, and it was pointed out that as top responsibility for defending the Formosa-Philippine area is a “sea job”, it is logical that a Navy Commander should hold top re sponsibility. During World War II, General MacArthur insisted upon as was given full command control of all forces,— naval, air, and grqund, which entered the Southwest Paci fic area, and his general view, even after the war, was that Japan, Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines constituted a defense line which should be under a single command. Such an opinion is of possibly lesser weight today than it was when the entire area was involved in warfare. yyTHATEVER the truth of this may be, in the Philippines ” the change means something of a wrench, even though the country is now an independent nation. The change will call for a readjustment in long-established habits of thought. Jt is true that it was a naval squadron under Commo dore Dewey which won the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, but although the Spanish Captain-General soon intimated his willingness to surrender the pity, De wey himself wrote as to this: “At that time I could not entertain the proposition because I had no force with which to occupy the city...” On August 7, more than two months later and after several contingents of American troops had arrived, Gen eral Merritt and Admiral Dewey jointly sent the Spanish Commander the following notice: "...the operations of the land and naval forces of the United States against the defenses of Manila may begin at any time after the expiration of forty-eight hours from the hour of receipt by you of this communication, or sooner if made necessary by attack on your part. This notice is given in order to afford you an opportunity to remove all non-combatants from the city ...” Manila surrendered on the 13th after a brief and ac tually only a token bombardment of the outer fortifications by the fleet and an attack by the troops. General Arthur MacArthur was appointed Provost-Marshal-General and Civil Governor of the city. During the next four years the government established by the Americans in the Philippines was headed by four successive Military Governors, all major-generals,—Mer ritt, Otis, MacArthur, and Chaffee, although civil adminis tration by Americans under the direction of the military commanders began immediately after the occupation of Manila. The Schurman Commission arrived in Manila on March 4, 1899, but its purpose was chiefly one of concilia tion and its activities were definitely subordinate to mili tary authority; it was recalled in September of the same year. The Second Philippine Commission, headed by Judge William H. Taft, arrived on June 3, 1900, and began the exercise of all the legislative functions of the Government on September 1 of that year, but the Commanding General remained Governor. The famous letter, “The President’s Instructions to the Commission”, was written for President McKinley’s signature by Elihu Root, Secretary of War, and the Commission was required to report to the Secre tary of War and all its actions were subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. Civil government was fully established on July 4, 1901, when Taft was inaugurated as the first Civil Gover nor, but the Military Governor, General Chaffee, con tinued for a year longer in the exercise of his authority over those districts where insurrectionary activities still con tinued or where public order was not yet sufficiently estab lished. W. Cameron Forbes, one of the great early governor generals of the Philippines, states in his book, "The Phil ippine Islands”: “During the period of pacification of the Islands, the Philippine Government naturally found its Washington home in the War Depart ment. Afterward there were so many questions constantly arising between the army and the civil government that this arrangement per sisted ... The Islands were most fortunate in the character of the men chosen to hold the position of Secretary of War. President Mc Kinley’s appointee was the Hon. Elihu Root, who was succeeded in President Roosevelt’s day by the Hon. William H. Taft, fresh from the governorship of the Philippine Islands, and who in turn was succeeded, unfortunately for only a brief term, by the Hori. Luke E. Wright, who had been Vice-Governor and Governor-General of the Islands.” Henry L. Stimson, who first was Secretary of War under President Taft (appointed 1911), was GovernorGeneral of the Philippines in 1928 and 1929; Dwight F. Davis, Secretary of War under President Coolidge (ap pointed 1925) was Governor-General of the Philippines from 1929 to 1931. Never Secretary of War, but a famous army figure, was Major-General Leonard Wood, who was appointed Governor-General of the Philippines by Pres ident Harding in 1921 and served until 1927. Other great soldiers who played important parts in the Philippines were General Pershing, Bliss, Harbord, and, of course, General Douglas MacArthur. The Organic Act of 1902, or the so-called Philippine Bill, incorporated the instructions of President McKinley to the Taft Commission in its provisions, thus continuing the authority of the Secretary of War; the Philippine Com mission addressed its annual reports to him. The Jones Act of 1916, which granted the Philippine Government a considerable degree of autonomy, still re quired the Governor-General to report annually the tran sactions of the Government of the Philippine Islands to the War Department, by which the report was transmitted to Congress. It was only with the enactment of the so-called Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, which provided for the estab lishment of the Philippine Commonwealth under a Filipino President and for complete independence ten years there after, that the authority of the War Department over the Philippine Government virtually ended. During the Com monwealth period, large powers were reserved to the Pres ident of the United States, who was represented in the Philippines by the United States High Commissioner; foreign affairs were to be “under the direct supervision and control of the United States”, and the powers of review by the U. S. Supreme Court were continued, but both the Commonwealth President and the High Commissioner (the latter had no administrative duties or authority within the Commonwealth Government), were required to report annually “to the President and the Congress of the United States”. They did so direct, and no longer through the War Department. It is a more or less open secret that considerable fric tion developed during the early years of the Common126 April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 127 Here’s How You Can Get Both Burglary and Fire Protection You’re endangering your business, if you try to hide your cash, or entrust it to an obsolete, old-fashioned safe. Clever thieves have ways of learning where your hiding places are. Pro fessional burglars have little trouble forcing open old heavy-walled safes. You owe it to your firm to give your funds the best possible protection against theft. That means keeping your money in a Mosier burglar-resistant Money Chest inside a Mosier Safe. 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Cables: “OMOPLAte newyork” For sale by: ELIZALDE TRADING CORPORATION 380 Tanduay St. Tel. 3-86-71 wealth between the War Department and the Office of the High Commissioner over this matter, the successive High Commissioners taking the position that under the law they were responsible to the President and to him alone. Pres ident Quezon also chose to deal with government entities in Washington principally through the Philippine Resident Commissioner’s Office. In 1939 the powers and functions of the long-estab lished Bureau of Insular Affairs were transferred from the War Department to the Department of the Interior and consolidated with the Division of Territories and Insular Possessions in that Department, Mr. Richard R. Ely at that time leaving the Philippines to become Chief of the Philippine Section of the Division. Early during the war, High Commissioner Sayre having resigned and the High Commissionership being vacant, President Roosevelt transferred the powers and duties of the High Commissioner to the Secretary of the Interior and an “Office of the High Commissioner” was then opened in the Department to which Mr. Ely and Mr. E. D. Hester were both attached for some years. The Office was closed when, after the Liberation, in September, 1945, Paul V. McNutt was again appointed High Com missioner, he holding this position until the establishment of the Philippine Republic on July 4, 1946. Several days earlier, Mr. Ely became Assistant Chief of the Division of Philippine Affairs in the State Department, later merged with the Division of South East Asian Affairs, now called the Division of Philippine and South East Asian Affairs. 't'hus, though the importance of the War Department in Philippine affairs diminished through the years, it did loom vast on the Philippine horizon for nearly four decades and the telegraphic signature, “.SECWAR”, served for long to alert the higher echelons of Philippine official dom. npHE United States Army, itself, of course, or those units of it active here, played a much more noticeable role in the country than the United States Navy ever did. The Army suppressed the “insurrection”,—which the Filipinos rather call the war, in which at one time some 120,000 men were engaged on the American side. The fighting lasted some three and a half years. The Army in 1901 was garrisoning no less than 639 towns and stations and for years maintained numerous camps and “forts” here. Soldiers of the Army opened the first public schools, as well as many of the first police- and fire-stations. Army officers, or former army officers, assumed various insular government positions as well as provincial governorships and other provincial posts, and held them for many years especially in the non-Christian provinces. The Army early organized the famous Philippine Scouts as an integral part of the Army and also the equally famous Philippine Constabulary. Manila had its own American regiment, the 31st Infantry, which took an important part in the relief of Peking during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and which was virtually annihilated in Bataan in 1942. Then, in the memory of all today, there was General Douglas MacArthur who, as military advisor to President Quezon, organized the Philippine Army under the provi sions of Act No. 1 of the First Commonwealth Assembly, and who, at the outbreak of the war with Japan, organized and commanded the USAFFE (United States Army Forces in the Far East), composed at the outset of some 25,000 U. S. Army and Air Force, Navy, and Marine personnel, 12,000 Philippine Scouts, and 100,000 Philippine Army troops. There was the hopeless fight in Central Luzon, the desperate resistance in Bataan, the last stand on Corregidor. All was Army, not Navy. Then again, with the Liberation, in so far as the people knew, though the bombing from the air was mostly Navy, as well as, of course, the sea-action and the coastal bom bardments, which was all Navy, the landing and the liberation forces were practically wholly Army, and MacArthur again. During the Liberation and the months following, when the Philippines became the staging area for the fur ther conduct of the war, the people of the country saw at least a half a million American soldiers, gave them delirious welcome, feasted them, and finally, it must be confessed, got a little tired of them. The Philippines saw few sailors and few marines ashore. The Army, during all the pre-war years, had its head quarters in old Fort Santiago, in the ancient Walled City, the heart of Manila. There were large barracks, too, and there was the big Sternberg Army Hospital. The exten sive parks of Fort William McKinley lay only a few kilo meters away. Grim Corregidor, at the mouth of the Bay, plain to the eye except in stormy weather, was another constant reminder of the Army and its power and the protection it afforded. The Navy had its headquarters in Cavite, out of sight of Manila except for the high radio-towers on Sangley Point. The Subic Bay establishment was a hundred kilo meters away. The U. S. Asiatic Fleet “wintered” in the Philippines and every year the people saw the cruiser or two and the destroyers and submarines which composed this small fleet, called the “suicide fleet” in later years. On certain days each year the people were privileged to visit the ships. But that was about the only contact they had with the Navy, except for the Filipino workers em ployed mainly at the Cavite Navy Yard. Cavite Navy Yard was totally destroyed by enemy air attack on the third day of the war, Wednesday, Dec ember 10, the loss of life being estimated at over 2,000, includ ing many civilian Filipino workers; At the time of the outbreak of the war, the Asiatic Fleet consisted of 3 crui sers, 13 (over-age) destroyers, and 29 submarines, various auxiliary ships, and some 30 PBY planes,—also 6 of the motor torpedo boats which later became so famous. Not all of these ships were in the Manila area at the time, some were elsewhere in Philippine waters and several were fuel ing in Borneo. The Fleet was ordered south almost im mediately and did most of its fighting in Borneo and Java waters, suffering heavy losses, including the loss of the famous flagship, the USS Houston. Except, therefore, for the Battle of Manila Bay, in 1898, the Navy always played a quite subordinate role in the Philippines,—or so it has seemed. Actually, of course, during all of those years following the first years of the American occupation, the Army was only a holding force, hardly more than a token force. It was the Navy which controlled the Pacific or which held the potential control. The Japanese were not afraid of the local land and air forces. When they started the war they sought to cancel out the Navy by their attack on Pearl Harbor. And it was mainly the Navy and the Marines and the carrier air forces which won most of the important Pacific island victories during World War II. The Army did the heavy slugging in the larger islands and archipelagoes, like New Guinea and the Philippines. To win the war took the sea, ground, and air forces, all working together as a great and irresistable combina tion of force, but though the Chiefs of Staffs are no doubt correct in considering that the responsibility for defending the Formosa-Philippine area is mainly a “sea job”, the fact remains that the Army has always played by far the more conspicuous role in the Philippines, both adminis tratively and militarily, and therefore we said that the recent command shift from Army to Navy is something of a “wrench” to the Philippines which will require some readjustment of attitude. Jt is not without significance, certainly, that we never had a Navy man here either as Governor-General or as High Commissioner, or as Ambassador, until the appoint128 April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 129 Over 40 yeer* In the Philippine! INTMMATKMM HAAVtSTW COMPANY Of OFFICE: MANILA My corn harvests are richer [_I help feed the nation... I am a Farmall Cub!” Planting corn in Leyte To help bund a stronger Philippines, International Harvester provides mechanized Farming with McCormick International Farm Equipment; modern transportation with International Motor Trucks; industrial power with International Power Units. ment of the noted Admiral Spruance (retired), as American Ambassador, only a month or two before the change in area command control. These developments can not be unrelated. They appear to indicate an underlying shift to greater realism, at least with a view to present-day conditions, on the part of American strategists. The Philippines is inde pendent and the authority once exercised by the United States, whether through the President or various executive departments, the Congress, or the Supreme Court, has ended. And despite the treaty agreements between the United States and the Philippines providing for mutual defense, we shall probably never see any large American army establishments here again, or American navy estab lishments, either. But if, nevertheless, we are to become more Navyminded than we have been, let us hold in mind what this country owes both the American Army and the U. S. War Department. As American Business Here Sees the Future* Deterrents to Continued Friendly Partnership Cited By J. L. Manning President, American Chamber of Comrherce of the Philippines The following article, written by request for the Anniversary Edition of the Bulletin, is an expression of Mr. Manning's personal views and does not neces sarily reflect the official opinion of the American Chamber of Commerce. THE local American business community, comprised largely of importers, exporters, producers, and mer chants, with their managerial executives, technicians, and professional men, takes a natural pride in the great contribution which it has made toward the establishment and advancement of the Philippine economy during the past half century. American businessmen here look forward to the future with the conviction that they are well able to continue to make a highly constructive contribution to the further expansion of the economy, hand in hand with Filipino enterprise, but they feel, too, that whether they actually will make this contribution depends on whether the need for it is felt by the people and the Government of the coun try. The contribution that any business element can make consists of three factors, namely: men, merchandise, and money. The present restrictions on entry into the country and the trend toward a high degree of nationalization of employment, even technological, together with certain aspects of the foreign exchange control affecting the remit tance of funds which Americans employed here wish to send home, make it appear less likely that Americans may look forward to supplying any large number of trained and experienced men as their contribution to the up-building and advancement of the economy. A substantial section of the American business com munity has historically been engaged in the function of importing American manufactured and semi-manufactured merchandise. The import and exchange controls of the past few years, coupled with United States shortages in material available for export, has greatly reduced the vol ume of the business done by the American importers. The present trend toward the nationalization of the retail trade in general, and the relation of this trade to the import trade handled by American business, .will further tend to reduce the importance of the American contribu tion in both the importation and the local distribution of goods. That section of the American business community engaged in the field of exporting Philippine raw, semi finished, and manufactured goods, and that other section engaged in the production and processing of raw materials for foreign and local consumption may look forward to a brighter future. In looking to the future, the contribution of money to the Philippine economy by American business naturally falls into two distinct categories—first, capital investment already here, and second, possible future dollar capital investments. As for the first, American businessmen may feel rea sonably assured that this will remain in productive use in so far as this is possible under present trade restrictions, —if for no other reason than the great difficulty of repa triating such funds to the United States, a difficulty that amounts to a practical impossibility not only because of the exchange control but the high exchange tax. This brings us to the second category,—possible future investment, and. in this connection it must be borne in mind that the same restrictions which prevent the with drawal of already invested capital and the remittance of profits, naturally work also definitely to discourage the bringing in of new capital. On the whole, therefore, the outlook with respect to all three of the factors mentioned—men, merchandise, money—is none too cheerful from the point of view of the American businessmen. There is, however, an underlying, important, essen tially hopeful and optimistic element in the picture of the future which should be borne in mind and emphasized. For fifty years Americans and Filipinos have been friendly partners in a common effort that has proved highly constructive and productive in the past and which indeed is still so. American business in the Philippines enjoys the posi tion of a most welcome guest in the house of the friendly and hospitable Filipino people. To the extent that the above mentioned conditions will permit, our relationship should continue on the basis of friendly partners in a common productive effort to insure a healthy overall eco nomy, in which we all shall share in proportion to our con tribution. —From the 52nd Anniversary Edition of the Manila Daily Bulletin, March 31, 1952. 130 April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 131 NON-IDENTICAL TWINS which is best for your truck? These tires look alike... but there’s an important difference! Be sure you choose the correct type of U. S. Royal Fleetmaster tire—to give the best possible service for your particular needs. If your truck operates mainly on good roads, the HIGHWAY type provides longer mileage—plus the extra traction you need for occasional running on poor roads. If your truck operates mainly over rough terrain, you need the OFF-THE-ROAD type, which resists cutting and chipping—yet provides smooth riding for limited highway operation. On or off the road, both types provide outstanding durability and superior traction—help trucks roll up bigger profits mile after mile after mile. , FLEETMASTER SERVING THROUGH SCIENCE UNITED STATES KUliltEll INTERNATIONAL 166, 16th St.. Port Area Manila ' Tel. 3-20-36 Distributors: Manila Dealers: KER & COMPANY, LTD., Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davuo REYES AUTO SUPPLY, 687-689 Evangelista PHIL. AGRICULTURAL EXPORT CO. (PAECO), Legaspi SQUARE AUTO SUPPLY, 723-25-27-29 Reina Regente Division of United States Rubber Company The Mutual Security Agency Essential Supplies Program By A. F. Albers ANb O. J. McDiarmid* U. S. Mutual Security Agency FROM the inception of the United States Aid Program for the Philippines, in April, 1951, to the end of the current fiscal year, it is anticipated that about $47,000,000 will have been authorized for expenditure on goods and services for the economic betterment of the country. While by far the largest segment of the program is based on funds earmarked or expended for specific projects in agriculture, transportation, industrial development, public health, and vocational education, a not inconsiderable sum, probably amounting to nearly one-third of the total, will be used for the importation of commodities for more general use in the Philippine economy. Inasmuch as this “commodities” part as distinct from the “project” part of the program touches most directly the normal private activities of the commercial community, a brief explana tion of the reason for this part of the program and its manner of operation may be helpful. tt should be noted at the outset that the use of United ■^States aid funds for the importation into the participating countries of essential supplies, has been a very important element in the European recovery program, and that fur nishing economic assistance in this manner contributes to the effectuation of the general policy of operating through private commercial channels, thus leaving it to competitive market forces to determine the ultimate use and impact of the aid furnished. In addition to this general considera tion favoring the “commodities” method of furnishing economic assistance, the “commodities” portion of the Philippine program has certain specific objectives arising from local financial and economic considerations. When the Mutual Security Agency program was initiated in early 1951, the Philippine economy was suffer ing from serious shortages in many types of imported materials and essential producers’ goods. The stringent import controls which it wa$ necessary to impose in 1949 and 1950, combined with the international shortages and inflated prices following the war in Korea, had generated serious inflationary pressures in the local market. It will be recalled that the Philippine Government decided to relax import controls in the winter and spring of 1951, partly to cope with this internal inflationary situation and to raise levels of production, which had been somewhat reduced by the import control policy. Although the con tribution which the relatively small MSA program (ap proximately $5,000,000 of essential supplies in 1951) could make in this difficult situation, was obviously of secondary significance, the MSA financing of selected materials did contribute to domestic stability and productivity at this juncture. An additional reason for the inclusion of this element in the program was supplied by the fact that the import requirements of the Philippines might be expected to exceed the foreign exchange availabilities under a broad development program. It could not be assumed that enough foreign exchange would be available, even under the most optimistic expectations regarding Philippine exports and other foreign exchange earnings, to overcome the general balance-of-payment difficulties and permit the elimination of import and exchange controls. However, by financing additional imports required for certain productive opera tions, production bottlenecks could be minimized and export industries stimulated during a period' of more ex•Mr. McDiarmid is Director of the Fiscal and Trade Police Division and Mr. Albers is Internal Distribution Advisor. tensive internal investment. If, as a result of making MSA financed imports available, the liquidation of excessive inventories and some reduction of domestic prices toward international price levels could be accomplished, the com petitive position of Philippine exports abroad would be correspondingly improved. A third though related object of the general commodity program has been to provide a source of peso-funds to supplement whatever domestic investment-surplus was otherwise available from savings or tax revenues. Inasmuch as the general commodities program is the only portion of the MSA program which results in the importation of saleable commodities, thus generating peso-funds for deposit in the counterpart-fund, it makes a direct contribu tion to the other capital-consuming projects as well as to the general supply of investment capital for private indus trial undertakings. Of course, as the internal financial situation improves, as it has improved substantially during the past year, it should be possible to finance a larger por tion of the peso-expenditures connected with MSA-Philcusa** projects from the tax revenues and other sources available in the budget of the Philippine Government, and to this extent the general supplies program may be reduced. co much for the rationale of the program. In respect to operations under the program, as is clear from the above discussion of the part it plays in contributing to the counterpart-fund, MSA does not import goods for the purpose of their free distribution to manufacturers or consumers in the Philippines. It is in no sense a subsidy program except in the sense of giving balance-of-payment assistance to the economy as a whole. In the particular environment which has prevailed in the Philippines under the import and exchange controls, the selection of commodities to be imported with MSA funds has given rise to particularly difficult problems. Conscious of the various and sometimes conflicting in terests that may be involved in the selection of a particular commodity, the MSA Mission, in collaboration with the Philcusa, has attempted to make as comprehensive a can vass as possible of the local business community before final recommendations are submitted to Washington. The various local chambers of commerce and trade organiza tions, as well as individual importers and manufacturers, have given the Mission very valuable assistance in making these selections. The final decision must of course rest with the government agencies concerned and must be based on their best judgment as to the contribution the commodities can make to the Philippine economy. The availability in the international markets of the commodities requested may also have a decisive bearing on items pro gramed. Thus far, MSA-financed imports have included raw materials and capital equipment in about equal pro portions, with special emphasis on materials such as raw cotton, industrial chemicals, knitting yarns, and unmanu factured leather, required for dollar-saving or dollar-earning industrial operations, and agricultural and industrial machinery. The amounts which are made available for the com modities selected, are announced in the local newspapers and through the commercial banks. Importers interested in the importation of these commodities then submit appli••Philcusa—Philippine Council for United States Aid. 132 cations directly to their commercial banks which, in turn, contact the Central Bank. The Central Bank, having made sure that MSA regulations are observed, issues socalled subauthorizations in favor of the applying manu facturers or traders. These subauthorizations are the equivalent of import licenses. The subauthorizations enable the importers to place firm orders abroad with the assurance that the MSA will pay for the necessary letters of credit. On receipt of the documents, the importers pay for the goods in pesos, usually including the Philippine foreign exchange tax of 17% as in other import transactions. In order to assure a fair distribution of the MSA fund, the subauthorizations are issued by the Central Bank fol lowing, in general, the principle of “First come, first served”. Additional provisions are made to insure that no one im porter will receive more than a fair share of the allocation made for the procurement of any specific commodity. Moreover, in case of over-subscriptions, pro-rata alloca tions are made. These principles are adhered to so that the most efficient and non-discriminatory use of MSA funds will be attained. A s indicated above, many of the suggestions and recommendations which have been received in connection with this program have proved most constructive in con nection with future programing operations. It cannot be expected, of course, that any selection of commodities on the somewhat arbitrary basis which must be employed, will meet with the unanimous approval of all parties con cerned. To an importer who has acquired a substantial inventory for sale in a market subject to the scarcities induced by import control, further allocation of funds for his particular commodity may result in prices lower than he contemplated at the time his original importation was made. Even though the total amount imported, including that financed by MSA, may still be below the require ments of the market, such an importer may feel somewhat aggrieved, particularly if the price of his commodity has also declined in the international market in the interim. On the other hand, an importer with a small inventory may feel that larger amounts of MSA funds should be allocated for his commodity. If a person is in need of pro duction-equipment not available in the Philippines, he may feel nothing is more important than to make dollars available for that purpose, regardless of the point of view of members of the trading community whose profits depend on the foreign production and importation of the item involved. Like the plight of the merchant in the fable who, by attempting to please all the passers-by, finally met with disaster by losing his donkey in the river, the lot of those trying to decide between such not infrequently conflicting interests, is not always a happy one. However, the con tinuing cooperation and assistance of the business com munity will help MSA to make the best judgments possible, and regardless of shorter-term considerations the progress and stability of the Philippine economy will redound to the benefit of all those doing business in this country. One should also be mindful of the fact that the rela tively small amount of United States dollars expended in the essential supplies program will seldom determine whether or not a particular commodity is imported into the Philippines. Decisions with respect to international allocation of materials and decisions of the Philippines’ own authorities are of much greater significance. MSA, ■ through its technical assistance program, is doing its best to contribute to the efficiency of the latter. The Decline in the Copra and Coconut Oil Markets By H. Dean Hellis Vice-President, Philippine Refining Company, Inc. HOW FAR IS “DOWN”? This is no doubt the question the answer to which the Philippine Government, and we in the copra and coconut oil industry in par ticular, would very much like to know, as the continued sharp decline in the markets abroad for all oils and fats in general is definitely creating a serious problem in the overall Philippine economy and for those primarily engaged in the trade here. Based upon the average export values of both copra and coconut oil during 1951, and assuming that the total Philippine crop of coconuts is in the neighborhood of the equivalent of 1,000,000 tons of copra per annum, it would appear that the Philippines in 1952 may suffer the severe reduction in export values of copra and coconut oil alone to the extent ^>f close to $100,000,000 unless there is a decided improvement in the overall market situation later on in the year. Under such conditions, business in general throughout the Philippines must, of course, be affected and imports substantially reduced. The discouraging part of it all is that there presently appears to be no hope of support anywhere for improved prices of copra or coconut oil within the foreseeable future. As a matter of fact, all indications are that the markets have not yet reached bottom, as a consequence of which still lower prices seem at this writing practically certain. Statistically the oils and fats markets throughout the world continue very weak, inasmuch as the overall supply situation points to a surplus. For the first time since the war, Europe is faced with a surplus over requirements, and as far as the United States is concerned, there also is the problem of greatly increased domestic supplies and a severe reduction in the demand and usage of Philippine coconut oil. It is probably not generally realized by those not actually engaged in the trade that Philippine copra and coconut oil do not stand alone in the sharp decline in prices in the world’s markets. Practically all oils and fats every where have suffered much the same percentage-degree of price reduction, including copra both in the Straits and Indonesia. Likewise the markets in the United States for domestically produced cottonseed oil, soyabean oil, lard, tallow, etc., have declined in approximately the same pro portion. The same is true of palm kernels, palm oil, whale oil, and other oilseeds, oils and fats everywhere in the world where they are either produced or used. In general, at least for the present, the post-war scarcity of oils and fats seems a thing of the past. The unfortunate result here in the Philippines is that we are so largely dependent upon the coconut industry that such a drastic reduction in price for both copra and coconut oil represents a truly major blow to the overall economy of the country. Yet there seems little that can be done at the present moment in the way of any relief. Considerable progress is being made both here and in the United States in the effort to seek repeal of the 3-cent excise tax on the first processing of Philippine coconut oil in the United States, and perhaps it is not too early to begin to feel some optimism of eventual success. If the 133 tax is repealed, there is no doubt but that it must work to the benefit of the Philippine coconut industry. At the same time, however, we doubt that we should expect any prolonged substantial price improvement as a result of the repeal, the principal objective being to make Philippine coconut oil cheaper to the consumer in the United States and thus to place it in a far better competitive position, with resultant increased demand and usage. Furthermore, whereas the overall Philippine economy is so largely dependent upon the coconut industry, the coconut industry in the Philippines, in turn, is greatly dependent upon the United States. It is true that from time to time Europe is a large buyer of Philippine copra, but this can be so only to the extent that the countries there have dollars available and that such dollars cannot be used to better advantage. In other words, Europe will always prefer to buy its requirements of copra and coconut oil from the soft-currency producing areas, rather than to buy from the Philippines in terms of dollars, unless the amount of dollars available can purchase copra and co conut oil here at much lower equivalents than in terms of the soft currencies. For example, the last quotation we have on Straits copra is £65-5-0 c.i.f. Europe, and on Indonesian copra the equivalent of £64-9-0 c.i.f. Europe. Philippine copra, however, was quoted then at $155 c.i.f. Europe, which at the current London rate of exchange was the equivalent of £55-14-6. This is a difference of more than $25 per ton, while at other times we have seen the difference in similar quotations range as high as $35 to $45 per ton. ■vvthat then can be done, if anything, to enable Philippine suppliers to sell in terms of sterling, as well as in terms of dollars? If such a program were made possible, there is no doubt in our minds that the coconut industry here in the Philippines would be on a much sounder basis, as in the first place, we would not be so entirely dependent upon the United States, and secondly, we would thus be come more competitive in the world’s markets, with every probability of obtaining higher prices for our copra and coconut oil than under the present currency restrictions. Another means of improving the position of Philip pine copra in the world’s markets could result from an improvement in the quality of our copra. For years Philip pine copra has had the reputation in the markets abroad of being practically the worst quality produced anywhere in the world. We have only recently received information to the effect that the quality of Indonesian copra, which before the war was also rather a poor article, has improved considerably over the past years, and recent deliveries have been of excellent quality and far superior to the normal run of Philippine copra. This quality aspect has naturally not been of great importance during the acute shortages of oils and fats throughout the world in the post-war years, but now with an apparent surplus in the world it becomes an en tirely different matter, as obviously good quality copra must be given preference over poor quality if at approxi mately the same levels of price. It is true that attempts have been made on many oc casions here in the Philippines in the past to seek some improvement by way of export inspections and regulations, through various associations, official and otherwise, and by means of personal contact, unfavorable publicity, etc., but thus far it may be said that little, if anything, has been gained. The only place where the quality condition can be corrected is right at the source where the coconuts are grown and harvested, and where the copra is made there from. And unless the actual producer has the desire and the will to improve his product, we are afraid that not much can be expected in the nature of a general overall quality improvement. The Surrender in Bataan—A Civilian Account As told to A. V. H. Hartendorp In Santo Tomas Internment Camp, 1942 THE people in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp still refused to believe the reports of the fall of Bataan published in the Japanese-edited Tribune, but on Sunday afternoon, April 12, a number of American and British civilians were brought into the camp from Bataan. They told conflicting stories, and one man told totally different stories, so it was said, before and after he had been called into the Commandant’s office. One report was that the besieged American-Philippine forces had received no reenforcements whatever since the first of the year. The camp heard all this in bitterness, but still there were many who were unconvinced. Some people went about the camp saying that both the Corregidor and San Francisco radios had made broadcasts emphasizing that the Japanese were carrying on a campaign of unmatched lying and that not a word should be believed. . . Monday the Tribune contained reproductions of photographs of the surrender of General King, and persons in the camp who knew him personally had to admit that the man shown in the photograph as sitting at a table opposite a Japanese officer was King. However, others said that the picture was taken during a period of truce arranged for the purpose of burying the dead. On Wednesday, the Tribune published another photograph showing American soldiers with their arms up in the air in surrender. But hope died hard, and it was pointed out that the photograph actually showed only a small number of Americans, and there was also talk of faked photographs. Another rumor which ran through the camp was that the Japanese had violated the truce and seized some of the American officers and men by treachery. . . ofory of the Refugees from Bataan.—With the ^arrival in the camp of refugees from Bataan, it be came possible to put down a number of personal narratives which corroborated each other and furnished an outline of what had transpired there. One man1 from the Pampanga Sugar Mills set out for Bataan on the night of the 1st of January with his wife and two other couples, under the impression that American civilians would fee allowed to take refuge on Corregidor. He knew that they could not get to Manila be cause of the blowing up of the bridges. He said that the Army had started building a large airfield 3 or 4 kilometers from Del Carmen in October and that there was an engineering unit of 180 men there. They were still leveling the field at the outbreak of the war and the hangars had not yet been built, although the structural steel for the purpose was on the ground. A week before, when a “state of alert” had been ordered, an air-corps unit of around 80 officers and men had arrived and some 24 or 25 pursuit-planes were based at the field. These were P-35’s, unarmored and mounted with only light machine-guns. On Wednesday, December 10, the planes were up in the air most of the morning and had come dojyn for refueling when, at around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, the Japanese attacked, destroying most of the planes on the ground. The same morning, the commanding officer of the squa dron, Lieutenant Merritt, lost his life in sinking an enemy transport off Vigan. He had swooped down low over the ship and his first 'Because of the possibility that his manuscript might be seized by the Japan, esc, the writer always scrupulously avoided naming the sources of his information. 134 machine-gun burst penetrated to the ammunition hold, his own plane being caught in the explosion. The officer was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The loss of their commander and their planes took the heart out of the youthful pilots of the squadron and they moved to the sugar central to await orders. Among them, Lieut enant Hall was cited for bravery in Bataan later, he also receiving the D.F.C. Unhappily, this brave officer, too, was subsequently listed among the missing. Though the field near Del Carmen continued to be bombed almost daily after December 10, the engineers stayed on the job, trying to keep it in usable condition. Three or four days after the attack on Clark Field on the 9th, the people at Del Carmen saw five flying-fortresses coming from that direc tion, headed for Manila, confirming the fact that not all of these planes had been destroyed by the enemy. The Del Carmen people also said that there had been considerable fifth-column activity around the sugar central and the near-by airfield, especially by way of signalling at night with lights. The central itself was never bombed. The three families left in three automobiles around 8:30 in the evening of January 1, and arrived at Mariveles about 2:40 in the morn ing, a journey of around 100 kilometers. They passed through Lubao, Pampanga, the railhead, where freight-cars and trucks with supplies intended for Bataan had been bombed about noon on the preceding day. There had been no great loss of supplies, but many people had been killed or injured at the railway station. All the way to Mariveles the three cars had been mixed in with USAFFE convoys moving in an orderly manner in the same direction. The Del Carmen people had been frequently halted by sentries, but they carried a letter from an army officer stating that they had rendered valuable services to the USAFFE and that it was requested that they be aided to reach Mari veles or Corregidor. They found that Mariveles had also been bombed on the preceding day; a fire had swept it and there was practically nothing left standing in the town. They were advised by sentries to go back on the road for a few kilometers and stay there until the next morning, which they did, spending the night in their cars. The next day, however, they were not permitted to re-enter Mariveles and were directed to go to General McBride’s headquarters at Km. 167 (Mariveles is at Km. 178, — from Manila). They showed the General their letter and he said, “Since there is no place else for you to go, you may as well stay here”. His headquarters had been established there just that week, and the officers and soldiers were camped under the trees. The weather was so fine that they had not even pitched their tents. The place was rather hilly coun try, some kilometers from the Manila Bay coastline, and was thickly wooded. There were no mosquitoes in the locality. The Del Carmen people made their camps under the big trees and for a time subsisted on groceries they had brought along with them. There were ten Amer ican civilians camped in the neighborhood. Later on they all received supplies from the quartermaster who, in time, also fed some 17,000 civilian Filipino refugees who lived in three different camps,—at Cabcaben, at Km. 165 (near Lamao), and at Km. 180 (2 kilometers beyond Mariveles). According to other sources, there were ugly reports of the “high jacking” of supplies by certain army men and provincial officials and even of similar interference with supplies destined for the troops at the front. Some said that the drivers of the trucks gave away supplies to unlisted refugees and arrived at their destinations with little of their loads left. As early as the second week in January, army meals were reduced to two a day. Rations for the American and Filipino soldiers were the same except that the Filipinos got more rice and fish than the Americans and the Americans got more meat-hash. The lack of ice made it diffi cult to transport fresh meat and fish to the lines. Some supplies from the Visayas, rice and canned goods, reached Bataan in February and early March. On several occasions the coffee gave out and a substitute was made from the pods of a local tree which tasted something like “postum”. The 26th Cavalry, a Philippine Scout regiment, ran out of feed for the horses and, in March, the animals were butchered. Every one was glad to have a little horse-stew. For the first six weeks, the Del Carmen people listened especially at night to the heavy front-line artillery fire, which gradually dwindled in volume and became sporadic early in March. The Japanese attempted landings behind the USAFFE lines across the peninsula, but were always repulsed with heavy losses. Early in February, they almost succeeded at one place, only 4 or 5 kilometers from Mariveles, at which time it was discovered that the Japanese had secret stores of supplies there, brought no one knew how long before the outbreak of the war. The Del Carmen people also heard the heavy guns of Corregidor again and again shelling the Cavite coast and other localities along the Bay shore where the Japanese were reportedly constructing barges for the invasion of the island fortress. Corregidor was bombed very heavily by the enemy during the first week of January, but after that there seemed to be little bombing until toward the end of March. The Ja panese bombed the USAFFE front lines on Bataan almost continu ously, however, and with ever-increasing ferocity. Reports were that the USAFFE artillery fire was deadly and did great execution, but in so far as the air-arm was concerned, the American-Philippine forces appeared to have only three planes left and these were seen only rarely. The Japanese sent over a photographic plane almost every day and this became so familiar that the soldiers called the plane "Photo-Joe”. The thick woods, however, effectively concealed the USAFFE installa tions in the rear of the lines and there was never much bombing there until March 25 and after. The Del Carmen people never saw General MacArthur, but on several occasions they heard motor-cycle sirens and were told that he had passed through on inspection. General Wainwright was in com mand in Bataan and stayed there until he took over the command of all USAFFE forces in the Philippines at the departure of General MacArthur for Australia, after which Wainwright made his headquarters on Corregidor. It was estimated that there were some 98,000 USAFFE troops in Bataan, of whom a maximum of 10,000 were Americans.2 The best relations existed between the American and Filipino soldiers. Daily communiques were issued regarding the fighting, and on January 15 MacArthur made the definite statement that “hundreds of planes and thousands of men” were on the way to reenforce the defenders. Up to the end there was the liveliest hope that reenforcements would reach Bataan in time. For a time, the USAFFE used the provincial hospital at Balanga. Hospital No. 1, which had room for 300 patients, was originally at Limay and took care of the most badly wounded. Less serious cases were taken farther back from the front lines to Hospital No. 2 near Cabcaben at Km. 162. Later, with a shift in the fighting lines, Hos pital No. 1 was moved to the rear of Hospital No. 2, to a place called “Little Baguio”, at Km. 168. There was shelter there and the hospital was provided with a sheltered operating room. On the 13th and 14th of March, according to another source, the enemy bombed the village of Cabcaben with incendiary bombs of white phosphorus. Some 40 Filipino women and children were brought into the hospital, it was reported, “with their bodies still smoking”. According to the same source, there were on the morning of April 5, at this Hospital No. 2, then the advance hospital, some 4,000 patients of whom about half were wounded and the other half ill, the latter suffering mostly from dysentery and malaria in about equal proportions. Fifty-six were American officers, 90 were Filipino officers, 356 were American soldiers, and the rest were Filipino soldiers. This was only a few days before the surrender. According to the Del Carmen people, there was little sickness until the last, when they heard that beri-beri was becoming bad among the troops. All troops were regularly dosed with quinine and when the officers thought the men were not taking it, they put it in the drinking water? A quantity of quinine was received from the South late in March and a supply of vitamin tablets arrived, too. It was estimated that up to the end of March the USAFFE had suffered a total of around 8,000 casualties as against from 40,000 to 50,000 suffered by the Japanese. Heavy sectional bombing behind the lines began when, with the onset of the hot season, the trees began shedding their leaves. A number of rice-mills having been set up near the place where the Del Carmen people were camped and the locality having been made a food-dump, the Japanese discovered it and started dropping bombs. One fell within 400 yards and the next day another exploded within 200 yards of the big tree under which one family lived. The quartermaster had by this time moved his dumps some 3 kilometers to the south where there was a better coverage. The people from Del Carmen after making another effort through MacBride, to get permission to go to Corregidor, moved to the new location, too. MacBride had said that it might be possible to make arrangements for the women to be taken to Corregidor, but the women would not hear of leaving their husbands. On the second day at the new camp, an incendiary bomb exploded within 50 feet of the Del Carmen party, and this so frightened every body that they decided to move to some cave or hole in Mariveles Mountain. An old resident in the district directed them to a spot just off the road near Km. 174. There was only shrubbery growing there, but shelter was provided by huge boulders on the slopes of the moun tain. The three families found dug-outs constructed there by navy men in January and moved into them. They got their water from a near-by creek. There were mosquitoes in this area, and though they took their quinine daily, they later developed malaria due to their stay in this spot, which was relatively short, only from the 1st or 2nd of April to the 9th, the day of the surrender. 'T'he surrender took them by surprise, for up to the last there were A innumerable rumors of the arrival of reenforcements. Officers and soldiers alike had appeared confident,—at least until the 5th, after which the Del Carmen people lost contact with the troops. They 135 never knew just what happened. Some 31st-Infantry men' told them later that they could have held out if they had had some food in their stomachs and a few planes of their own overhead. According to another source, the men at the front had had nothing to eat during the final 36 hours. They were heavily outnumbered, and they were shelled, bombed, and machine-gunned incessantly, the shelling taking the greatest toll. The last fighting was with hand-grenades and knives and even stones. An American officer in command of a front-line unit told his men, “Do what you like from now on. If you can save your life, do so.” Another officer, separated from his men, was overtaken by darkness and lay down in the jungle to get some rest. He had picked up a Japanese helmet during the day and kept that on his head. During the night he heard someone approaching. The unknown stumbled over him and the officer decided to pretend that he was asleep. Then he felt a hand passing softly over his body and touching his Japanese helmet. This appeared to satisfy the man and he lay down beside the officer with a sigh of weariness. When the man, Who must have been a Japanese soldier, was asleep, the American quietly crept away, doing the Ja panese no harm. On the night of the 8th, the Del Carmen people heard the noise of heavy traffic over the road below them, moving to the south and then turning west over the new cut-off to the west coast of the peninsula. After midnight they heard great explosions in the direction of the ordin ance and signal corps dumps, as if ammunition and supplies were being blown up. About 8 o’clock on the morning of the 9th, a civilian employee came to them with a message from Colonel McConnel of the quarter master corps to the effect that he did not know what to advise them to do except that, if the Japanese came in, they should do whatever they were told, without argument. It was clear that the Colonel knew the jig was up. One of the Del Carmen men accompanied the messenger to the Bay shore several kilometers away, where there was a small pier, and got there just in time to see a launch chugging off with a load of army nurses. All the installations had been blown up and there was nobody left but a few American hospital-corps men and some Filipino employees. Japanese planes were overhead and swept down from time to time to strafe the beach. They also dropped a few bombs over the launch, but did not hit it. The Del Carmen man made his way back to the dug outs on the mountain, taking advantage of every tree and ditch and crawling through a culvert to cross the road. During the rest of the day the Del Carmen people saw American and Filipino soldiers and Filipino civilians alone or in small groups coming down the road or crossing the fields below. The soldiers carried their rifles and some of them waved white handkerchiefs. At times, they heard machine-gun fire from a nest concealed somewhere on the mountain, but they did not see any of the soldiers drop. Later in the afternoon they saw army cars and trucks rushing up and down the road, flying the Japanese flag. About 4 o’clock, the Del Carmen people decided to join what appeared to be a general movement toward Mariveles, taking two of their cars and leaving one man to guard the other which had a defec tive battery. Just before they left they were joined by a young man and his Chinese wife and their small baby. The man, who was a civilian employee of the Army, had been connected with a religious organization in Burma. The baby had been born in Hospital No 1, in February, and had been named “Victoria Bataan”. Reaching the road', the party came upon two Japanese sentries, the first Japanese they saw, clpse-to, since the beginning of the war. One of them spoke a little English, and when they told him they were on their way to Mariveles, he said, “All right”. They arrived at Mariveles about 6 o’clock. The town was full of USAFFE soldiers, with only a few officers in sight. There were no Japanese in evidence. No one seemed to know what to do. They met an American quartermaster lieutenant who told them he could give them a battery for their car and they all went back, including the Lieutenant and his wife. When they reached the sentries at the road junction, they were told they must remain there until the following morning, but the Lieutenant asked whether it would be all right for them to go back and spend the night at his house in Mariveles and report at the junction the next morning at 7 o’clock. The sentry said, "All right”. The next morning they started out, but were halted in the center of the town by the Japanese who were stopping all cars and taking out everything in the nature of weapons and tools, including not only bolos, but picks and shovels. The street was full of all sorts of goods which «An all-American regiment. the Japanese had confiscated from the possessions of people who were seeking to leave the town either to return to their homes to the north or in the hope of reaching Manila. The Del Carmen people, accompa nied by the Lieutenant and his wife, were made to get out of their car and ordered to get into an army reconnaissance car which was being driven by a Filipino civilian who was on his way to Manila. A Japanese officer gave them a written pass which, as it was in Japanese, they could not read. The young Chinese mother and her baby were in another car which was also stopped, and the Del Carmen people did not see her again. For several hours they drove on against the stream of the victorious Japanese army on its way to Mariveles. They were stopped innumer able times by men who broke ranks and searched them and their bag gage, relieving them of whatever took their fancy. The men in the party were roughly treated on several occasions and everyone was in desperate fear. The pass that had been given them aroused amusement every time they showed it, and it was passed around among the Japanese soldiers so much that soon the writing was almost obliterated. An officer then gave them a new pass, but the wording must have been similar to the first, for it also elicited laughter. After a few hours, the Lieutenant, though he was in uniform, and an American enlisted man whom they had picked up on the way, were ordered out of the car and forced to shoulder loads and start back to Mariveles; the officer was given a heavy box of ammunition to carry. The weeping wife was not permitted to accompany him. Later on, a Japanese ordered one of the Del Carmen civilians to get out of the car, yanking at his arm, but his wife grabbed his other arm, and after a short tug between them, the soldier gave up. About 1 o’clock in the afternoon, a Japanese colonel told the party that their car was interfering with the traffic and that they would have to walk, but when an under-officer, apparently an aide to the Colonel, saw that one of the American women had gray hair and that another could walk only with a cane, he took pity on the party and stopped an empty truck being driven north by a Filipino and told them they could ride in that. The truck had a Japanese placard on the wind-shield. All the way from Mariveles a pitiful stream of Filipino men, women, and children was moving northward along the sides of the road. As the USAFFE lines across the peninsula had fallen back, these people had fled from their homes, trusting to the defense line between them and the enemy. They had been living in the refugee camps, fed by the Army, but now there was nobody to look after them or feed them. They hoped to get back to their homes, but few would find the homes as they had left them. The Del Carmen people saw no signs of any Filipino habitations until they had reached Lubao, Pampanga. The whole Bataan countryside was laid waste. There was room in their truck for some of these weary people, and when one of the Del Carmen women signalled to a little girl she recognized to climb onto the truck and the child was clambering aboard, shouting to her mother to join her, the driver interfered and said that he was not permitted to allow any others to ride on the truck. When they arrived at Balanga, where the Japanese had established their headquarters, the Filipino who had driven them part of the way in the reconnaissance car was arrested as a USAFFE deserter and also the driver of the truck was accused of having tried to make off with it. Whether these charges were true or not, the Del Carmen people did not know, but both men were locked up. The party stayed overnight at Balanga and the next day military police took them and another Amer ican couple with two children to San Fernando. Arrived there, there were treated to white bread, butter, and cocoa, the first time they had seen such delicacies for months, and nothing, they said, ever tasted better. In the afternoon they were brought into the Santo Tomas Camp, April 11, and, as has been recounted, no one there would believe them at first when they said that Bataan had been surrendered. The Del Carmen people learned from an American who was interned in Santo Tomas some time later that the young Chinese woman and her child and the people with her had been detained at Mariveles for two days and that then they had started out for the north on foot. She had been separated from her husband and was anxious and un strung. She began to walk much faster than the two elderly people she was with, and, despite their pleas that she remain with them, she disap peared with the baby, Victoria Bataan, in her arms around a bend in the road, accompanied by a young Filipino soldier who had taken it upon himself to look after her. Later it was learned that the husband was in the prison-camp at Cabanatuan. But where was his young wife and little Victoria Bataan? “X70U cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakenJL ing the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by discouraging the rich. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independ ence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” —Abraham Lincoln. 136 April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 137 Trade Statistics, 1951, compared with 1950 By the Bureau of the Census and Statistics I. FOREIGN TRADE OF THE PHILIPPINES: 1951 COMPARED WITH 1950 1951 1950 Value (Pesos) Percent Value (Pesos) Percent TOTAL TRADE. 1,790,516,663 IMPORTS...................... 959,032,606 EXPORTS...................... 831,484,057 Balance of trade: Unfavorable........... 127,548,549 46,954,270 100.00 1,377,763,798 53.56 712,359,034 46.44 665,404,764 100.00 51.70 48.30 II. TWENTY PRINCIPAL IMPORTS: 1951 and 1950 Article and Country of Origin 1951 1950 Value Value (Pesos) (Pesos) 1. Cotton and Manufactures, Total . 145,999,374 74,475,582 Denmark............................................ Germany............................................ Hongkong.......................................... Argentina........................................... Great Britain................................... French East Indies........................ Other countries ............................. 398,194 247,112 185,184 165,924 106,980 87,896 239,436 357,870 169,418 215,616 51,832 725,290 United States................................ Japan................................................ Great Britain................................. Hongkong........................................ China............................ Switzerland..................................... France.............................................. India............ Italy.............................. Belgium........................ Other countries............................. 2. Grains and Preparations, Total. . . Thailand............................................ Canada............................................... United States.................................. China.................................................. 129,200,884 60,701,108" 3. Iron and Steel and Manufactures. Total....................................................... 71,523,364 7,295,828 4,709,286 3,389,582 1,514,118 3,222,576 4,756,642 Japan............................ 34,366,874 982,330 943,422 United States............ 25,345,846 722,372 548,520 Belgium........................ 5,690,292 500,166 409,378 Germany...................... 2,299,360 354,528 708,962 Great Britain............. 1,561,642 125,690 64,830 Netherlands................ 475,074 92,516 76,460 France.......................... 348,788 112,902 42,856 Sweden......................... 260,466 Hongkong.................... 259,032 90,512,800 50,854,010 Italy.............................. 226,298 Denmark..................... 224,568 Other countries......... 465,124 32,576,580 1,242,374 28,123,054 22,091,670 4. Mineral Oils (Petroleurn Products), 27,792,766 25,539,734 Total................................. 71,500,332 589,674 460,206 — 55,104,434 13,981,582 29,210,462 4,266,110 2,238,160 3,309,592 116,276 101,088 155,096 999,170 6,736 720,162 69,017,974 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES ESTABLISHED 1920 PURPOSES. The promotion and development of American trade, commerce, and industry in the Philippines and the Far East; The provision of means for the convenient exchange of ideas in this promotion and develop ment; The cultivation of friendly relations between Americans and Filipinos and other peoples of the Far East; The enrolment of all American citizens residing in the Philippines with a view to bringing about closer association in the achievement of the purposes set forth. MEMBERSHIP. Active membership is limited to (1) commercial, industrial, and other organizations, partnerships, and corporations organized under the laws of the Philippines or of the United States of America which are controlled by American citizens, the responsibilities and privileges of this class of mem bership being exercised by individual representatives of the member-entities who must rank among their senior members but need not be American citizens; (2) individual Americans residing in the Philippines, other parts of the Far East, or the United States. Associate membership is limited to individual American citizens who may be either Residents (residing within 100 kilo meters of Manila), or Non-residents (residing in the Philippines outside this radius or elsewhere in the Far East or in the United States). American business houses and individual Americana, not already members, are cordially invited to join the Chamber and to assist in the promotion of its purposes. Indonesia............................................ United States.................................. Arabia................................................ British East Indies....................... Iran..................................................... Malaya............................................... Hongkong.......................................... Italy.................................................... Great Britain................................... Other countries............................... 33,512,374 15,234,294 14,139,370 7,789,164 590,246 155,634 49,474 28,192 1,534 31,430,928 8,565,964 8,548,534 18,533,384 1,841,760 18,620 78,784 5. Automobiles, Parts of and Tires, Total...................................................... 57,843,960 33,430,966 United States.................................. 57,271,582 33,232,562 Japan.................................................. 252,350 324 Great Britain................................... 193,334 138,666 Hongkong.......................................... 50,300 11,852 France................................................. 34,244 10,784 Germany............................................ 12,242 38 Canada............................................... 11,894 6,258 Spain................................................... 11,000 2,980 Italy.................................................... 5,200 118 Guam.................................................. 1,814 — Other countries............................... — 27,384 6. Dairy Products, Total........................ 49,665,724 36,839,720 United States.................................. Netherlands...................................... Great Britain................................... Australia............................................ Switzerland....................................... Denmark............................................ Canada............................................... Japan.................................................. China.................................................. Hongkong.......................................... Other countries............................... 38,051,884 7,259,752 1,570,880 1,059,342 828,722 319,912 259,052 97,002 84,288 82,984 51,906 34,446,042 408,972 5,486 1,025,434 732,700 41,118 50,108 2,976 18 126,866 49,187,550 35,553,746 7. Paper and Manufactures, Total. . . United States.................................. 44,448,044 32,074,100 Canada............................................... 1,464,488 517,698 Japan............................ ...................... 948,052 425,792 ■Sweden............................................... 366,890 226,742 Germany................................... 329,218 60,960 Hawaii................................................ 298,494 378,378 Great Britain................................... 258,032 106,050 Spain.................................................. . 234,510 270,286 Hongkong................................... 196,884 512,132 Austria................................................ 142,712 117,376 Other countries............................... 500,226 86<|,232 8. Chemicals, Drugs, Dyes, and Me dicines, Total..................................... 45,946,968 33,327,604 United States.................................. Switzerland....................................... Japan............................ .................. Great Britain................................... France................................................ Netherlands...................................... Germany............................................ Sweden............................................... Hongkong.......................................... Other countries............................... 41,887,616 1,020,710 927,144 489,446 485,364 228,218 209,734 204,616 143,412 66,878 283,830 31,093,386 781,270 62,220 325,198 200,218 72,220 124,696 11,802 90,318 213,874 342,402 10. Rayon and Other Synthetic Textiles, Total......................................... 28,172,132 32,053,264 United States................................ 27,832,920 31,775,494 Hongkong........................................ 158,922 59,676 Switzerland..................................... 72,598 74,854 Japan................................................ 43,746 40,482 China................................................ 16,802 7,594 France.............................................. 13,296 30,104 Sweden............................................. 9,688 8,614 Belgium............................................ 7,246 21,636 Italy.................................................. 4,916 7,164 Malaya............................................. 4,730 88 Other countries...................... 7,268 27,558 11. Fish and Fish Products, Total.. . . 25,368,202 14,970,726 United States.;............................. 23,089,340 14,148,420 Canada............................................. 1,071,506 256,596 Japan................................................ 453,472 132,930 China................................................ 248,688 136,604 Portugal........................................... 228,948 148,554 Mexico............................................. 190,576 61,252 49,806 Hongkong........................................ 13,950 France.............................................. 13,834 3,488 Switzerland..................................... 7,066 — Great Britain................................. 3,262 4,926 Other countries............................. 258 75,452 12. Electrical Machinery and Ap pliances, Total................................ 22,234,894 26,241,528 United States................................ 20,679,524 25,464,288 Japan................................................ 845,372 195,386 Netherlands.................................... 220,866 105,332 Great Britain................................. 103,504 52,446 Switzerland..................................... 84,942 766 Hongkong........................................ 84,076 201,224 Germany.......................................... 72,950 22,556 Belgium............................................ 57,586 662 Italy.................................................. 22,332 10,616 Canada............................................. 20,834 46,312 Other countries............................. 42,908 141,940 13. Jute and Other Fibers, Total........ 19,443,190 11,201,810 India................................................. 6,358,674 3,533,332 United States................................ 4,840,814 2,141,020 Italy.................................................. 3,188,234 3,447,546 Spain................................................. 1,366,020 101,758 Japan................................................ 1,363,046 1,735,638 Pakistan........................................... 742,736 — Belgium............................................ 455,108 144,700 France.............................................. 281,326 — Canada............................................. 224,786 45,460 Switzerland..................................... 159,336 — Other countries............................. 463,110 52,356 14. Tobacco and Manufactures, Total...................................................... 17,246,216 23,135,572 9. Machinery and Parts, except Agri cultural and Electrical, Total. . 45,733,184 United States..................... ......... 17,213,702 23,134,482 Turkey................................... ......... 16,948 — Greece................................... ......... 9,214 — Hawaii................................... ......... 3,682 — Hongkong............................ ......... 2,232 946 Great Britain...................... ......... 398 84 Japan..................................... ......... 16 — Malaya.................................. ......... 14 2 Canada.................................. ......... 10 12 Other countries.................. ......... — 46 34,461,592 United States..................... ........... 35,334,340 25,484,536 15. Fertilizers and Fertilizing Ma Japan..................................... ........... 4,623,380 1,606,654 terials, Total.................................... 16,080,050 13,747,758 Great Britain...................... ........... 1,517,778 2,009,176 Italy....................................... ........... 1,387,812 2,581,578 Germany............................... ........... 1,073,446 669,376 United States................................ 12,757,542 11,955,858 Sweden.................................. ........... 754,332 170,824 Canada............................................. 1,935,716 1,626,638 Hongkong............................. ........... 282,150 590,468 Japan................................................ 757,650 — Switzerland.......................... ........... 224,960 30,040 Netherlands.................................... 455,000 — Belgium................................ ........... 113,508 62,300 China................................................ 87,388 86,754 3,262 Denmark.............................. ........... 90,516 6,642 France.............................................. 53,830 Other countries.................. ........... 330,962 1,249,998 Other countries............................. — 108,170 138 16. Non-Ferrous Metals, Total............. United States................................ Japan................................................ Malaya............................................. Germany.......................................... Switzerland..................................... Hongkong........................................ Great Britain................................. Sweden............................................. Belgium............................................ Australia.......................................... Other countries............................. 15,376,162 14,486,918 11,851,922 12,079,932 1,426,232 842,668 903,106 190,976 309,802 452,192 157,270 136,052 157,096 133,354 148,326 217,528 120,010 108,328 96,864 15,266 62,388 56,388 143,146 254,234 14,131,928 6,908,954 17. Cocoa, Coffee, and Tea, Total.... Brazil................................................ United States................................ Ceylon.............................................. Great Britain................................. China................................................ Costa Rica..................................... Hongkong........................................ Indonesia.......................................... Mexico.............................................. Japan................................................ Other countries............................. 8,234,602 2,197,736 1,849,152 650,034 445,198 252,244 245,770 ,110,412 89,352 34,156 23,272 1,850,676 2,765,584 798,394 497,948 40,218 331,324 14,266 532,788 30,156 47,600 18. Leather and Manufactures, Total United States................................ India................................................. Australia.......................................... Hongkong........................................ China................................................ Great Britain................................. Canada............................................. Argentina......................................... Japan................................................ British Guiana.............................. Other countries............................. 13,209,594 11,908,350 10,048,684 543,892 102,346 533,822 1,390,224 80,448 63,822 54,580 28,212 24,610 20,268 23,220 24,530 17,558 — 9,726 11,346 5,162 — 8,226 1,930 19. Vehicles, Other Than Automo biles, and Parts, Total............. . . United States................................ Belgium............................................ Japan...................................<........... Germany............................... Great Britain................................. Netherlands.................................... Hongkong........................................ Luxemburg...................................... Canada............................................. Italy.................................................. Other countries............................. 12,263,880 10,764,792 8,835,816 9,852,122 642,726 123,772 479,740 2,065,782 418,256 163,678 203,908 28,020 81,202 4,210 78,790 14,912 14,058 — 3,446 — 2,400 1,386 4,450 9,998 United States... 382,155,621 151,434,074 439,090,628 170,435,552 Netherlands... . 91,633,730 35,104,887 30,789,360 12,490,176 Belgium.............. 67,322,518 26,702,443 35,132,809 13,706,045 Italy.................... 32,108,965 12,892,832 24,016,226 9,215,997 Guam.................. 19,824,000 10,170,942 Colombia........... 24,566,671 9,481,906 18,070,460 7,032,722 Canada............... 22,790,836 9,305,471 21,666,229 8,294,644 Denmark............ 21,945,609 8,634,450 Sweden............... 17,627,600 7,153,144 8,128,000 3,505,897 Venezuela........... 15,240,000 6,770,700 22,811,028 8,747,588 Other countries. 76,887,232 30,537,578 98,785,665 39,403,793 2. Sugar, Cen trifugal, Total............ Kilo 615,543,898 136,923,008 438,850,060 97,679,891 United States ... 608,323,680 135,234,824 438,849,925 97,679,823 Japan.................. 5,029,753 1,296,073 135 68 French East In dies .................. 1,999,965 347,111 — __ Arabia................. 190,500 45,000 — — 3. Abaci, Un manufactured, Total............Bale 991,381 134,298,800 753,016 80,265,488 United States. . 496,088 72,172,658 377,229 44,602,562 Great Britain. . 159,092 20,589,001 87,626 8,260,495 Japan................... 124,855 15,862,112 119,192 12,179,384 France................. 45,659 .5,084,779 26,680 2,167,548 Germany............ 28,274 3,496,050 20,866 1,996,805 Norway............... 19,618 2,805,963 14,200 1,560,256 Belgium.............. 21,918 2,651,473 13,317 1,243,663 British Africa ... 16,970 1,982,053 7,450 628,115 Denmark............ 15,497 1,828,081 14,624 1,290,140 Canada............... 13,013 1,802,586 6,918 714,799 Other countries. 50,397 6,024,044 64,914 5,621,721 4. Coconut Oil, Total............Kilo 76,893,679 49,532,960 71,436,627 43,476,033 United States... 44,324,956 28,151,561 65,817,039 40,025,836 Netherlands.... 7,142,477 4,732,935 — — Switzerland....... 6,787,400 4,485,010 1,290,320 868,362 British Africa. . 4,690,639 3,388,286 2,717,974 1,651,444 Belgium.............. 3,261,095 2,137,868 — — Germany............ 2,870,148 1,866,254 — — Italy.................... 3,183,877 1,760,234 — — India.................... 2,628,403 1,552,395 . — — China.................. 812,257 603,497 5,102 4,613 Venezuela........... 503,200 425,407 847,615 562,622 Other countries. 689,227 429,513 758,577 363,156 20. Vegetables and Preparations, Total.......................................................... 7,220,314 10,396,096 United States..................... ......... 6,973,532 4,825,902 China..................................... ......... 1,718,558 1,053,886 Japan..................................... ......... 1,295,890 410,836 Hongkong............................. ......... 186,084 111,104 Mexico.................................... ......... 115,986 53,402 Egypt..................................... ......... 92,466 715,884 Switzerland..................................... 5,608 832 Indonesia................................ ......... 4,502 — France.............................................. 3,400 — Spain..................................... ......... 30 — Other countries.................. ......... 40 48,468 OTHER IMPORTS................... 138,696,094 115,371,320 III. TWENTY PRINCIPAL EXPORTS: 1951 AND 1950 Article and 1951 1950 Country of-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Destination Unit Quantity Value (Pesos) Quantity Value (Pesos) 1. Copra, Total..........Kilo 772,102,782 308,188,427 698,490,405 272,832,414 5. Logs, Lumber, and Timber, Total.. .Bd. Ft. 265,030,196 34,860,547 137,251,662 19,638,110 Japan.................. 165,512,941 18,427,965 55,467,762 7,618,409 United States... 72,889,358 12,442,705 61,556,714 9,524,999 British Africa... 7,440,502 1,301,619 1,764,149 344,311 Great Britain... 3,656,095 592,454 90,316 25,019 China................... 7,538,066 535,849 9,142,937 797,592 Hawaii................ 1,990,143 529,894 990,745 263,560 Canada............... 1,514,622 302,304 1,492,110 215,127 Hongkong........... 2,479,887 271,564 3,717,106 362,581 Guam.................. 936,701 177,215 479,387 84,694 Ireland................ 482,791 113,668 326,412 80,376 Other countries. 589,090 165,310 2,224,024 321,442 6. Desiccated Coconut, Total............ Kilo 44,279,567 28,678,760 72,869,462 47,935,667 United States... 43,542,730 28,192,951 69,992,604 45,911,273 Canada............... 499,714 337,885 1,956,227 1,377,008 Belgium.............. 194,631 118,013 716,528 513,140 Hawaii................ 26,865 17,181 22,676 15,610 Germany............ 11,927 9,327 — — Japan................... 3,145 2,902 — — Guam.................. 555 501 Hongkong........... — — 115,439 76,485 Switzerland....... — — 43,199 26,459 Italy.................... — — 22,789 15,692 139 7. Base Metals and Concentrates, Total..........Kilo 1,303,807,584 25,938,899 857,399,541 18,002,819 Japan.................. 969,107,301 16,570,715 585,950,690 8,300,281 United States... 334,192,283 9,338,184 261,254,851 9,443,378 Spain................... 508,000 30,000 — — Canada............... 9,982,400 252,000 Italy.................... — — 211,600 7,160 8. Embroideries, Cotton and Silk, Total.................... — 18,468,864 — 11,276,352 United States... 18,454,933 11,239,891 Japan................... 7,110 33,502 Guam.................. 3,848 2,750 Hawaii................ 2,973 209 9. Pineapple, canned, Total.............Kilo 50,767,886 15,382,500 66,506,033 19,362,762 United States... 50,704,505 15,342,908 66,505,908 19,362,675 Hongkong........... 63,381 39,592 — — France................. 100 72 Spain................... — — 25 15 10. Copra Meal or Cake, Total.............Kilo 68,072,631 7,099,722 59,944,881 6,219,572 United States.. 57,230,640 5,979,470 46,146,453 4,619,143 Denmark............ 8,952,200 922,512 11,888,429 1,405,293 Hawaii................ 1,483,391 160,140 1,554,399 160,936 Belgium.............. 406,400 37,600 355,600 34,200 11. Rope, Total..........Kilo 5,632,410 6,513,369 4,034,551 4,000,424 United States... 2,344,618 2,881,343 2,012,469\ 2,129,304 Indonesia........... 722,510 944,100 225,733 244,333 Malaya............... 647,724 634,613 41,580 40,446 Hongkong........... 379,545 399,054 450,422 359,445 French East In dies .................. 322,283 371,453 285,356 265,033 Chile.................... 312,481 328,061 45,948 44,072 Thailand ....... 219,614 221,744 158,319 144,395 Peru..................... 146,299 170,979 200,315 203,083 Puerto Rico.... 159,208 143,938 230,921 172,669 Hawaii................ 59,363 73,874 16,939 21,849 Other countries. 318,765 344,210 366,549 375,795 12. Tobacco and Manufac tures, Total.. . . — 6,035,252 — 3,473,266 Spain................... 4,064,095 2,119,660 French East Indies.................. 520,632 382,214 United States... 369,124 — 328,390 French Africa.. . 368,379 — Hongkong........... 222,384 188,604 Belgium.............. 221,820 288,596 Morocco............. 98,386 — Hawaii................ 71,683 49,200 Japan.................. 32,120 1,245 Australia............. 23,400 67,138 Other countries. 43,229 48,219 13. Gold and Concen trates, Total................... 5,807,915 3,943,528 United States... 3,716,588 3,886,672 Great Britain... 2,091,327 56,856 14. Molasses, Total............Kilo 126,030,970 5,695,092 58,534,815 1,074,554 Japan.................. 47,735,680 2,790,235 35,358,252 687,264 Great Britain... 48,945,750 1,827,150 — — Hongkong........... 15,196,024 630,216 8,255,920 153,170 Thailand............ 10,789,616 311,740 14,920,563 234,070 United States... 3,363,900 135,751 — — France................. — — 80 50 15. Scrap Me tals, Total. Kilo 54,157,489 4,231,521 29,766,478 3,304,532 United States. . 40,540,089 3,357,810 21,809,153 2,407,963 Japan................... 13,617,400 873,711 81,280 51,850 India.................... — — 992,665 668,709 Hongkong........... Malta, Gozo, 6,415,880 128,010 Cyprus........... — — 190,000 38,000 China................... — — 37,500 7,000 Israel................... — — 240,000 3,000 16. Chemicals, Total................... — 3,954,173 — 1,244,458 United States... 3,714,199 1,188,034 Malaya............... 150,471 — Thailand............ 86,524 54,603 Hongkong........... 2,919 1,266 China................... 60 ■Japan................... — 555 17. Shells and Manufactures, Total . . ........... 2,204,101 1,866,779 United States. . 2,102,381 1,824,527 Japan.................. 88,557 23,580 Spain................... 12,964 9,746 Mexico................ 147 — France................. 50 — Hawaii................ 2 60 Italy.................... — 5,625 Canada............... 3,241 18. Maguey, Un manufactured, Total............Bale 18,137 1,617,632 9,190 509,221 United States. . 8,266 747,368 42 1,904 Japan.................. 2,118 201,839 — — Belgium.............. 2,227 191,979 4,040 220,043 France................. 1,050 95,047 150 9,649 Germany............ 1,000 85,917 1,666 88,528 Sweden............... 850 65,428 100 6,344 Netherlands. . . 700 64,220 300 17,975 Hongkong........... 625 52,759 750 41,080 Finland............... 500 40,449 Italy.................... 295 28,493 392 23,714 Other countries. 506 44,133 1,750 99,984 19. Rubber and Manufactures, Total................... - 1,445,882 - 1,183,763 United States... 1,436,173 1,178,973 Guam.................. Other U. S. In 6,500 2,373 sular Posses sions................ 3,209 Hongkong........... 2,417 20. AbacA, other than rope and Unmanufac tured, Total... 1,340,775 1,167,456 United States . . 1,267,437 46,386 1,073,615 Hawaii................ 54,529 Japan................... 16,480 7,820 Switzerland....... 9,757 2,682 Australia............. 288 — Guam.................. 252 — Puerto Rico.... 175 19,693 British Africa ... — 3,147 Hongkong........... — 2,518 Peru..................... — 1,615 Other countries. — 1,837 Other Exports (including re-ex ports) .................. - 33,265,858 - 26,947,675 140 IV. IMPORTS, BY COUNTRIES: 1951 V. EXPORTS, BY COUNTRIES: 1951 (Value in Pesos) Percent- PercentCountry Total Trade age dis- Imports age dis tribution tribution PercentCountry Exports age dis- Domestic tribution Exports Re-Exports 1,790,516,663 100.00 959,032,606 100.00 Total................... 831,484,057 100.00 826,057,213 5,426,844 Total.............................. United States........... 522,390,296 63.24 520,386,728 2,003,568 United States.................. 1,194,593,576 66.72 672,203,280 70.09 Japan........................... 61,538,522 7.40 61,400,760 137,762 Japan.................................... 125,141,598 6.99 63,603,076 0.63 Netherlands............... 41,584,208 5.00 41,566,162 18,046 Netherlands........................ 50,869,274 2.84 9,285,066 .97 Canada........................ 11,789,071 1.42 11,785,235 3,836 Canada................................. 45,734,053 2.55 33,944,982 3.54 Belgium....................... 32,172,752 3.87 32,171,372 1,380 Belgium................................ 40,783,580 2.28 8,610,828 .90 Great Britain............ 25,259,278 3.04 25,256,120 3,158 Great Britain..................... 37,988,128 2.12 12,728,850 1.33 Indonesia.................... 3,006,892 .36 1,035,089 1,971,803 Indonesia............................. 36,979,192 2.07 33,972,300 3.54 Thailand..................... 806,259 .10 775,790 30,469 Thailand.............................. 33,405,937 1.87 32,599,678 3.40 Italy............................. 15,493,773 1.86 15,493,773 — Italy...................................... 20,877,131 1.17 5,383,358 .56 Germany..................... 8,778,794 1.06 8,778,794 — Germany.............................. 15,418,384 .86 6,639,590 .69 Arabia......................... 74,287 .01 74,287 — Arabia.................................. 14,222,113 .79 14,147,826 1.48 Switzerland................ 9,829,192 1.18 9,824,192 5,000 Switzerland......................... 13,783,922 .77 3,954,730 .41 France.......................... 10,553,709 1.27 10,548,909 4,800 France................................... 12,852,393 .72 2,298,684 .24 Denmark..................... 11,502,187 1.38 11,500,033 2,154 Denmark............................. 12,580,083 .70 1,077,896 .11 Guam........................... 11,266,639 1.36 10,865,132 401,507 Guam.................................... 11,282,015 .63 15,376 — Hongkong.................... 3,515,280 .42 3,243,439 271,841 Hongkong............................ 11,082,370 .62 7,567,090 .79 ' Sweden........................ 7,826,292 .94 7,826,292 — Sweden................................. 10,395,076 .58 2,568,784 .27 India............................. 2,344,563 .28 2,319,478 25,085 India..................................... 9,963,797 .56 7,619,234 . 79 Colombia.................... 9,521,809 1.14 9,521,809 — Colombia............................. 9,523,569 .53 1,760 — China... ....................... 1,259,847 .15 1,185,146 74,701 China.................................... 9,021,477 .50 7,761,630 .81 Brazil........................... — — — — Brazil.................................... 8,418,654 .47 8,418,654 .88 British East Indies. . 45,340 .01 — 45,340 British East Indies........... 7,938,106 .44 7,892,766 .82 Norway........................ 7,313,995 .88 7,312,370 1,625 Norway................................. 7,679,395 .43 365,400 .04 Venezuela................... 7,233,172 .87 7,230,364 2,808 Venezuela............................ 7,234,922 .40 1,750 — British Africa............ 6,860,166 .82 6,856,166 4,000 British Africa..................... 6,896,188 .38 36,022 — Spain............................ 4,451,670 .54 4,431,840 19,830 Spain.................................... 6,685,032 .37 2,233,362 .23 Israel............................ 5,434,061 .65 5,434,041 20 Israel............ ........................ 5,434,085 .30 24 — Argentina.................... 48,847 .01 41,897 6,950 Argentina............................ 3,477,893 .19 3,429,046 .36 Australia...................... 475,991 .06 312,437 163,554 Australia.............................. 2,797,233 .16 2,321,242 .24 Malaya........................ 834,359 .10 806,582 27,777 Malaya................................. 2,435,017 .14 1,600,658 .17 Ceylon......................... — — — — Ceylon................................. 1,849,998 .10 1,849,998 .19 Hawaii......................... 1,383,379 .17 1,365,414 17,965 Hawaii.................................. 1,815,449 .10 432,070 .04 French East Indies. . 1,247,748 .15 1,239,196 8,552 French East Indies......... 1,335,906 .07 88,158 .01 Lebanon...................... 783,538 .09 776,900 6,638 Lebanon............................... 783,538 .04 — — Pakistan...................... — — — — Pakistan............................... 742,778 .04 742,778 .08 Mexico......................... 25,143 — 25,143 — Mexico................................. 733,041 .04 707,898 .07 Uruguay...................... — — — — Uruguay............................... 698,576 .04 698,576 .07 French Africa........... 689,929 .08 689,929 — French Africa.................... 689,935 .04 6 — Chile............................. 684,061 .08 684,061 — Chile..................................... 684,249 .04 188 — Iran.............................. — — — — Iran....................................... 590,716 .03 590,716 .06 Peru.............................. 538,278 .06 538,278 — Peru...................................... 538,278 .03 — — New Zealand............ 469,744 .06 469,744 — New Zealand..................... 513,620 .03 43,876 — Ireland......................... 488,923 .06 488,923 — Ireland.................................. 489,197 .03 274 — British West Indies .. 405,040 .05 405,040 — British West Indies........ 405,360 .02 320 , — Portugal...................... 69,511 .01 69,511 — Portugal............................... 383,579 .02 314,068 .03 Morocco...................... 367,606 .04 367,606 — Morocco............................... 367,606 .02 Costa Rica................. 450 450 — Costa Rica.......................... 336,694 .02 336,244 .04 Korea........................... 292,310 .04 292,310 — Korea.................................... 292,564 .02 254 Porto Rico................. 246,134 .03 246,134 — Porto Rico.......................... 246,134 .01 — — Luxemburg................. — — — — Luxemburg.......................... 214,586 .01 214,586 .02 Poland......................... — — — — Poland.................................. 201,536 .01 201,536 .02 Austria........................ — — — — Austria................................. 178,512 .01 178,512 .02 Czechoslovakia......... — — — — Czechoslovakia.................. 171,836 .01 171,836 .02 Portuguese Africa. 171,415 — 6,015 165,400 Portuguese Africa............. 171,415 .01 — — Panama, Republic of 149,108 .02 149,108 — Panama, Republic of... . 149,178 .01 70 — Egypt.......................... 606 371 235 Egypt................................... 93,252 .01 92,646 .01 Panama, Canal Zone. 62,093 .01 62,093 — Panama, Canal Zone. . 62,093 — — — Turkey........................ 11,180 — 11,180 — Turkey................................. 45,616 — 34,436 — Finland........................ 40,449 .01 40,449 — Finland................................ 40,449 — — — Dutch West Indies. . 36,942 .01 36,942 — Dutch West Indies......... 36,942 — — — Cuba............................ 5,692 — 5,692 — Cuba..................................... 27,074 — 21,382 — Syria............................. 25,120 — 25,120 — Syria..................................... 25,360 — 240 — Ecuador...................... 17,001 — 17,001 — Ecuador............................... 17,039 — 38 — Dominican Republic. 14,973 — 14,973 — Dominican Republic.... 14,973 — — — Dutch Guiana.......... 12,993 — 12,993 — Dutch Guiana................... 12,993 — — — Cyprus Is., Malta Cyprus Is., Malta and and Gozo............... — — — — Gozo................................. 11,946 — 11,946 — Greece......................... — ■— — — Greece.................................. 9,214 — 9,214 — Other U. S. Insular Other U.S. Insular Poss... 8,941 — — Poss.......................... 8,941 — 7,901 1,040 Portuguese China............ 8,772 — 32 — Portuguese China. . . 8,740 — 8,740 — El Salvador........................ 8,327 — 552 — El Salvador............... 7,775 — 7,775 — British Guiana.................. 5,162 — 5,162 — British Guiana......... — — Nicaragua............................ 4,388 — — — Nicaragua................... 4,388 .02 4,388 — British Oceania................. 2,166 — 276 — British Oceania........ 1,890 — 1,890 — Jugoslavia........................... 1,334 — 1,334 — Jugoslavia................... — — — Honduras............................ 1,081 — — Honduras.................... 1,081 — 1,081 Burma................................... 665 — 40 — Burma.......................... 625 — 625 — Italian Africa..................... 402 — 402 — Italian Africa............ — 141 The Business View A monthly review of facts, trends, forecasts, by Manila businessmen The Government From Official Sources MARCH 1 — President Elpidio Quirino receives certain members of Congress and a delegation of Pampanga Sugar Development Company planters and other planter groups in Pampanga who tell him that the killing of the late Serafin Lazatin, of Pasudeco, was not due to unsatisfactory planter-tenant relations but to worsening peace and order conditions in the province. March 2 — The President and his party leave Manila by plane and arrive in Legaspi, on the first leg of a scheduled 6-day inspection trip of the Bicol. In the afternoon he opens the interscholastic athle tic meet and inaugurates the new ?2 78,000 Quirino Stadium in the city. During a conference with local officials, the President authorizes Secretary of Public Works Sotero Baluyot to release Pl00,000 for the improvement of the Legaspi wharf. March 3 — After seeing the devastation of the coconut plantations wrought by typhoons and the kadang-kadang coconut disease, the President sends instructions to Ambassador Carlos P. Romulo to rei terate the Philippine request for the abolition of the United States excise tax on Philippine coconut oil. March 4 — The President officiates at the laying of the marker for the new P850.000 high school at Sorsogon, being erected on the site of the former school there burned down by the Japanese. Announced that the Department of Foreign Affairs has proposed to the Indonesian Ambassador a restudy of the matter of the possible repatriation of many Indonesians who have entered the Philippines illegally. March 5 — The President, on learning of the breaking of the dead lock in the Senate and the election of Senator Quintin Paredes as Pres ident of that body after Senator Felisberto M. Verano broke the Nacionalista Party line by voting with the Liberals, writes letters of con gratulation to both. (A week later, March 13, Verano is expelled from the Nacionalista Party.) March 7 — Announced at Malacanan that the President has banned a prominent Chinese businessman in Manila, Chan Kian, a soy manufacturer, from doing business in the Philippines, the law department of the Import Control Commission, on investigation, hav ing determined that he was guilty of “material misrepresentation” in connection with an application for a license covering the importation of empty bottles worth some $14,000. The then ICC Chairman Al fredo Montelibano recommended the withdrawal of importing privi leges from Chan, “but considering the gravity of the offense, the Pres ident banned the offender from doing business altogether in the coun try”. March 8 — The President receiving a group of coconut producers informs them of his desire to meet all the members of the Philippine Coconut Planters Association during their convention in Manila this week to consult them about the plight of the industry and to find out the reason for the slump in the price of copra which has dropped to a new low of P19 per 100 kilos as against three times that amount during the latter, part of last year. The President and Secretary of Commerce and Industry Cornelio Balmaceda confer on the proposed Philippine International Fair to be held in Manila in 1953 to coincide with the second session of the Trade Promotion Committee of the ECAFE scheduled to meet here during VI. FOREIGN TRADE OF THE PHILIPPINES, BY NATIONALITY. OF TRADER: 1951 Nationality Total Trade Imports Total Export Dom. Export Re-export (Pesos) (Pesos) (Pesos) (Pesos) (Pesos) Total. American................ Filipincf................... Chinese................... British...................... Spanish................... Danish..................... Swiss........................ Indian (Hindu)... German................... Swedish................... Syrian...................... Argentinian........... Panaman................ 6zechoslovakian. . Dutch....................... Turkish................... Austrian.................. Indo-Chinese......... Belgian.................... French..................... Thai (Siamese).. . Jewish...................... Hungarian............. Indonesian............. Polish...................... British Malayan.. Finnish.................... Norwegian............. Italian..................... Armenian............... Irish (Free)........... Ecuadorian............. Cuban..................... Persian.................... Australian.............. Greek....................... Burmese.................. Egyptian................ Portuguese............. Colombian............. Korean.................... Peruvian................ Uruguayan............. Other nationality. 1,790,516,663 959,032,606 831,484,057 826,057,213 5,426,844 638,999,657 275,136,652 363,863,005 361,748,060 2,114,945 527,769,218 353,528,164 174,231,054 173,044,580 1,196,474 392,965,506 256,635,242 136,330,264 134,334,103 1,996,161 102,925,062 46,642,336 56,282,726 56,245,821 36,905 73,809,398 5,910,150 67,899,248 67,876,648 22,600 33,069,377 1,938,042 31,131,335 31,114,811 16,524 12,591,905 12,350,150 241,755 236,598 5,157 4,846,602 4.576,228 270,374 270,374 — 911,008 12,296 898,712 898,712 — 869,362 869,362 — — — 842,408 555,886 286.522 286,522 — 174,084 174,084 — — — 129,548 129,548 — — — 43,444 43,444 — — — 38,848 35,098 3,750 — 3,750 30,852 30,852 — — — 25,576 25,576 — — — 23,308 23,308 — — — 22,994 22,994 — — — 22,176 22,176 — — — 22,074 166 21,908 — 21,908 21,568 20,564 1,004 984 20 20,876 20,876 — 11,830 1,230 10,600 — 10,600 11,044 11,044 — — — 9,360 9,360 — — — 7,454 7,454 — — — 4,594 4,594 — — — 3,808 3,808 — — — 3,460 3,460 — — — 2,484 2,484 — — — 2,304 2,304 — — — 2,006 2,006 — — — 1,914 1,914 — — — 1,406 1,406 — — — 1,258 1,258 — — — 402 402 — — — 390 390 — — — 114 114 — — — 68 68 — — — 60 60 — — — 28 28 — — — 26 26 — — — 277,802 276,002 1,800 — 1,800 142 the early part of that year. The Fair has tentatively been set for three months, from May 1 to July 31, at Wallace Field, Luneta, and it is planned to organize a P6,000,000 private corporation to operate it as a national and civic enterprise. The Philippine-Swiss Air Agreement is formally signed at the Department of Foreign Affairs by Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Joaquin M. Elizalde and Max E. Buchi, the Swiss Consul. Under the Agree ment, flights of the Philippine Air Lines from Manila to Europe will include stops either at Zurich or Geneva. Other such agreements have been concluded with Pakistan, Greece, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States. Consul Buchi expresses the hope that the Agree ment will be the "forerunner, in the not too distant future, of yet closer ties between our two countries in the form of a treaty of friend ship and trade”. March 9 — Stockholders of the Manila Gas Corporation, of which the Government now controls 60% of the stock and the Inland Gas and Electric Company of New York 40%, at the annual meeting held today re-elect the existing board with the exception of Pablo Lorenzo, secretary-treasurer, who asked to be relieved and who is replaced by Ludovico Hidrosollo. Jose P. Bengzon is president and chairman, and Marciano Angeles and Manuel Elizalde are directors, all represent ing the Government. The other members of the board, representing the minority stockholders, are H. P. Thomas, vice-president and gen eral manager, Manuel Lichauco, and C. H. Coughlin. The Corpora tion is scheduled to resume operations during the last quarter of this year. March 10 — The President nominates Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals Alejo Labrador to the Supreme Court. The Philippine Committee for United States Aid (PHILCUSA) invites bids to furnish the Bureau of Forestry with surveying and drafting equipment and other supplies for some 15 survey parties which the Bureau is organizing with ECA aid for the purpose of classifying some 150,000 hectares of land all over the country but chiefly in Min danao, to enable its release for subdivision. March 11 — The Cabinet at a meeting today decides on further steps to increase food production, including the drafting of a bill for submission to Congress, and also to intensify the campaign against communism. It is also decides to revive the Mobilization Bill which provides for preparedness in case of war. The President speaks of the slump in the price of copra and directs Secretary Balmaceda and Economic Coordination Administrator Lorenzo to “ get to the bottom of the anomalous situation... The President wants to find out if there is any manipulation by any party or parties in the price of copra”. The slum and squatter problem in Manila is also taken up. March 12 — The President discusses the work of the World Health Organization in the Philippines with Dr. Brock Chisholm and other WHO and local health officials, especially the proposed measures to be taken against schistomiasis, or snail fever, which affects some 700,000 people in the Philippines. Malacanan announces that Ambassador Romulo has reported that the United States Government has given a priority rating for equipment and materials needed for the Maria Cristina and the pyrite plant projects in Lanao. The President issues Executive Order No. 494 establishing the hot-season office hours in the government service,—5 continuous hours, 8 to 1 o’clock, from April 1 to June 15; the order does not apply to Ba guio offices. March 14 — The President signs Senate Bill No. 250, "An act to fix the salaries of physicians under the Department of Health”, but vetoes two other bills, House Bill No. 1585 and House Bill No. 2126. The first, "An act providing for a revised schedule of salaries and auto matic promotion of radio and telegraph operators and other technical and field employees of the Telecommunications Service of the Govern ment”, was vetoed, said the President, because it does not conform to the Minimum Wage Law and favors officials and employees in the higher salary brackets more than those in the lower, when it should be the reverse. The second, ‘‘An act to regulate the practice of chemistry in the Philippines”, according to the President, runs counter to existing law and the general government policy governing the Boards of Exam iners and the supervision of examinations. March 15 — The Council of State endorses the President’s recom mendation for the extension of the four tax laws increasing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, the specific taxes, and the tax on foreign exchange. It also endorses the civilian defense and mobilization bills which the Cabinet recently decided to activate. The Council also approves the creation of a clearing committee on pending and projected legislation to be composed of three members nominated by the President from the Cabinet, three members nominated by the President of the Senate, and three members nominated by the Speaker of the House. The President extends the fifth annual fund campaign of the Phil ippine National Red Cross from March 14 for another month, up to April 15. March 16 — As his guests at a cocktail party at Malacanan, the President tells the delegates of the National Coconut Planters Associa tion that the Government will give full backing to the industrialization of the coconut industry; he expresses the hope that a Coconut Institute will be set up soon to make a scientific study of all the aspects and he states that similar institutes should be organized also for rice, tobacco, abaca, etc. He expresses interest in the corporation which is planning to manufacture gasoline from the coconut. March 17 — The President submits the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States and the Treaty of Peace with Japan to the Senate for ratification together with a message stat ing that he is submitting them together because they are the product of complementary negotiations for a single purpose,—to assure the security of the Philippines by helping to strengthen the defense ma chinery of the democracies in Asia. Manuel Vijunco, President of the Business Writers Association, at the annual awards dinner attended by President Quirino, pays trib ute to the President’s program of economic mobilization; the President, in a short address, urges the promotion of small industries throughout the country, especially in the fields of cottage industries and the retail business. March 18 — The President receives at breakfast two prominent American bank officials, Frederick Hartman and August Maffry, both vice-presidents of the Irving Trust Company of New York. The Cabinet lays down a policy against raising the ceiling prices of foodstuffs and other articles which may be classified as luxuries, follow ing a proposal of Secretary Balmaceda to raise the prices on a number of such articles, including salmon, sardines, coffee, cheese, and wines. The President states that if these articles can not be imported at pres ent prices, “it is for the best interest of the country that their entry should be limited and thereby encourage their production locally”. In this connection he recalls the pre-war plans for establishing a sardine cannery in Cebu. The Cabinet selects Secretary of Justice Oscar Castelo, Secretary of Finance Aurelio Montinola, and Executive Secretary Marciano Roque, to represent it in the 9-man "clearing committee” the organiza tion of which was decided upon in a recent meeting of the Council of State; the committee will facilitate action on bills pending or to be presented to Congress. March 19 — The President sends a message to Congress recom mending the extension for another 5 years of the 5-year period of the special quota of 1,200 American citizens to be admitted annually into the country under the terms of the Executive Agreement between the Philippines and the United States dated July 4, 1946. The President submits to the Commission on Appointments two more nominations for confirmation: Salvador Araneta as member of the National Economic Council and Emiliano Morabe as Chief of the Wage Administration Service. March 21 — The President approves House Bill No. 267 (which becomes Republic Act No. 672) appropriating P100.000 for the re habilitation and maintenance of the Aborlan Agricultural School in Palawan. Secretary Elizalde issues a statement declaring that it is significant that the United States Senate ratified the Japanese Peace Treaty and the Mutual Defense Pacts on the same day, indicating that the Senate considers that they could not be separated. March 21 — Speaker Eugenio Perez returns to Manila from the United States where he underwent a surgical operation, and is met at the airport by a large crowd headed by President Quirino. Secretary of the Navy Dan A. Kimball arrives in Manila for a 3-day inspection trip of naval facilities in the Manila area and tells newspapermen that the United States maintains an adequate naval striking force in the Pacific to deter aggression. He is taken to Mala canan for an immediate conference with the President. March 22 — The President, aboard a special train taking him to San Fernando, La Union, states the Government will carry out a plan to extend the railroad line to Echague, Isabela, and that Congress has already authorized the contracting of a P45,000,000 loan for the pur pose. Later in the day he lays the corner-stone of the P8,000,000 Cebu Portland Cement plant at Canaoay, barrio San Vicente, San Fernando; it will be completed in 16 months and will have a capacity of 2,000,000 bags a year. March 24 — The President, still in San Fernando, confers with Secretary of National Defense Ramon Magsaysay on the "fruitful” conversations which the latter had with Secretary Kimball on the 22nd. The President authorizes the release of P7.323.000 to cover the peso requirements of the Ambuklao hydro-electric project. The President issues a proclamation declaring April 9 as Bataan Day, the day marking the 10th anniversary of the fall of Bataan. Following criticism of the Japanese Peace Treaty by Senator Ca milo Osias, Secretary Elizalde states he is glad that the Senator “has still an open mind in his attitude” and that he hopes that those who oppose the Treaty will “take into consideration the world situation and all the problems involved therein”. March 25 — The President issues Executive Order No. 496 fixing the ceiling prices of certain brands of imported coffee and canned fish. The Department of Foreign Affairs announces that SCAP has made available to the Philippine Government the sum of $412,935 and Y391.345 representing the Philippine share of the total proceeds of the sale of properties found in Japan which had been looted by the Jap anese armed forces but could not be further identified, including such goods as gold, silver, gems, jewelry, etc. The total fund realized by SCAP from the disposal of these properties amounted to $3,441,125 143 and Y3,261,210, and the countries each entitled to a share and the percentage allotments as fixed by the Commission are: Australia, 8%; Burma, 12%; China, 20%; France, 8%; India, 8%; Netherlands, 12%; and Philippines, 12%. The money will be remitted to the Philippine Treasury to be held until the manner of its disposition is decided upon by the Government. March 27 — The President addresses the 4th national congress of the Junior Chamber of Commerce at Baguio, stressing the nation’s economic preparedness program. Mar. 28 — Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, accompanied by American Ambassador Raymond A. Spruance, is received by the President at Malacanan and later is guest of honor at an official luncheon at the Palace. In the afternoon she addresses a rally held in her honor at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Mrs. Roosevelt, who is on a world tour, arrived late yesterday afternoon from Java and enplanes for San Fran cisco tonight, after a dinner at the Embassy attended by Philippine women leaders. The President inducts Victor H. Dizon as acting Civil Aeronautics Administrator and speaks to him about improving the Davao and Cebu air ports; he states the transfer of the Cebu air port to Opon Island, as proposed by Governor Sergio Osmena, Jr., will have to wait as this would entail the construction of a bridge costing some P6,500,000. March 30 — The President expresses great sorrow at the loss of life in the fatal accident to a Philippine Air Lines plane which took fire at the take-off from the Baguio air port. Ten persons were killed and 18 more injured, 8 of them seriously; the plane was a C-47 and. was carrying 26 Philippine Junior Chamber of Commerce delegates and their wives, returning to their homes in Manila and Bacolod after a 3-day conference in Baguio. Among those killed was Joaquin V. Gon zales, President of the Chamber. The tight money situation continues unabated. Mer chants are reported to be holding on to their inventories hoping for higher prices. On the whole, collection experience appears to be satisfactory but requests continue for the extension of import bills. The Secretary of Finance has called for tenders for the purchase of about P 15,000,000 of one-year Treasury bills on a discount basis under competitive bidding. Banks and trust companies are not required to put up a deposit with their bids but bids from others must be accompanied by a deposit of 5% of the amount of Treasury bills to be purchased. The funds realized from this issue are to be used for current government expenses. The Collector of Internal Revenue announced recently that tax collections by the Bureau for the first 8 months of the current fiscal year (July, 1951, through February, 1952) amounted to 1*273,458,000, or an increase of P67,291,000 over the corresponding period of the previous year. In addition, the foreign exchange tax of 17% pro duced Pl 15,869,000 in revenue for the same 8 months period, or an overage of better than P 14,000,000 monthly. From March 21, 1951, to February 29, 1952, the govern ment realized P147,653,000 in revenue from the tax on sales of foreign exchange. Banking and Finance By G. R. Hutchison Manager, Port Area Branch National City Bank of New York ‘OMPARATIVE statement of condition of the Central > Bank: As of Dec. 31 As of Dec. 28 As of Jan. 31 As of Feb. 29 ASSETS 1949 1951 1952 1952 (In thousands of Pesos) International Reserve. . . P460.689 P492.456 P490.U3 P480.482 Contribution to Interna tional Monetary Fund. 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 Account to Secure Coin113,306 107,570 107,570 107,570 Loans and Advances........ 77,047 42,323 51,882 55,433 Domestic Securities.......... 92,197 241,700 241,181 . 240,586 Trust Account — SecuritiesStabilizationF und — 6,848 6,848 12,233 Other Assets...................... 20,390 33,063 33,685 29,548 P793.629 P953.960 P961.279 P955.852 LIABILITIES • ------------Currency —Notes........... P555.576 P592.127 P576.776 P573.332 Coins........... 74,384 93,128 92,942 92,775 Demand Deposits............. 117,682 226,463 244,648 247,176 Securities Stabilization Fund................................. 2,000 6,848 6,848 12,233 Due to International Monetary Fund........... 22,498 496 496 496 Due to International Bank for Reconstruc tion and Develop ment ................................. 2,389 2,383 2,383 2,383 Other Liabilities................ 2,636 5,055 8,660 8,237 Capital................................. 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 Undivided Profits............. 6,464 13,771 14,837 2,088 Surplus................................. — 3,689 3,689 7,132 P793.629 P953.960 P961.279 P955.852 Manila Stock Market By A. C. Hall Hall, Picornell, Ortigas Sf» Co. February 23 to March 21 GOLD mining shares have continued the easier trend of recent months and closing quotations show a pre ponderance of small losses as compared with a month ago. On the other hand, leading base-metal issues have registered small advances, during the period, principally as a result of moderate investment-demand encountering a lack of offerings. The tight money situation, mentioned in this column for the past several months, continues to prevail, but its only noticeable effect on the market, so far, has been to create some restraint on the buying side. The price of gold in the local free market has been steady throughout the period around P111/P112 per fine ounce. In the commercial and industrial section of the ex change, prices have tended lower in quiet trading. 1951-53 Range High Low MINING SHARES High Change Total Sales y^T the end of February, 1952, the international reserve,/ as published by the Central Bank of the Philippines, was P9,631,000 less than the previous month and ap proximately P20.000.000 in excess of the balance re corded on December 31, 1949. In July, 1950, the reserve was down to P440,000,000, or about P40,000,000 less than the present figure. Including the foreign exchange hold ings of other banks, the reserve was reported to stand at $286,000,000 at the end of January, 1952. 131.53 88 0.37 0 0.0925 0 7.80 4 0.14 0 2.80 2 0.0036 0 5.30 3 0.10 0 0.04 0 0.28 0 0.17 0 0.06 0 0.96 0 0.05 0 0.43 0 0.1275 0.06 M. S. E. Mining Share Acoje Mining Com pany .......................... Antamok Goldfields... Atok Big Wedge MinBaguio Gold Mining Co............................... Balatoc Mining Co.... Batong Buhay Gold Benguet Consolidated. Coco Grove, Inc......... Consolidated Mines, Inc.............................. Hixbar Gold Mining Co............................... Itogon Mining ComI.X.L. Mining Com pany Lepanto Consolidat ed* ............................. Masbate Consolidated Mindanao Mother Paracale Gumaus Con solidated ................... Up .52 8,549,892 30 05 70 0029 20 055 038 26 125 05 92 035 .26 .1275 275 048 275 048 Off Off 20 12 00 0025 90 048 036 048 24 125 20 Off .20 0025 Off 20 Up 048 Off 038 215 048 92 034 25 Up Up Off Off Up Off Off 1275 Up .002 3.665,802 .015 .0075 .001 .04 .001 .005 .0075 370,000 150,000 130,000 274,879 760,000 336,750 50,000 5 5 144 Credit By C. W. Muilenburg Manager, Credit S’ Collection Department International Harvester Company of Philippines (~)N Tuesday, April 15, the Association of Credit Men will hold its Annual General Meeting which will mark 20 years since this service organization was formed. At this meeting, 7 members of the board of directors will be elected who will be responsible for the affairs of the Association for the following year. A nominating committee has been appointed and will make nominations, while other nominations can be made from the floor during the meeting. The Association of Credit Men is a non-profit coopera tive organization, and the directors, elected annually from within the membership, all have regular full-time employ ments js credit executives in member firms, but year in and fear out these directors contribute materially of their time and personal efforts to the successful operation of the Association. Except during the war period, it has been in continuous operation since it was incorporated in 1932. During most of its history the Association has not even had a paid manager. There can be no question of the sub stantial benefits, to the members themselves and to the business community as a whole, which have resulted from the activities of the Association. A year ago the Association had a total of 66 active members. During the past year 2 members have resigned,— one a semi-govemment corporation and the other a local association; both found it difficult to take an active part in the Association due to the nature of their operations and activities. During the year 9 new members have been added, which brings the present active membership to 73 firms. The 9 firms which joined the Association during the year are: Philippine-American Drug Company, Amer ican Acetylene Company, Security Bank and Trust Com pany, Warner Barnes & Company, Ltd., Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company, Muller & Phipps (Manila), Ltd., Ma chinery & Engineering Supplies, Inc., Provident Insurance Company, and Parson’s Hardware. While this list of additions is impressive under the present circumstances, there are other firms, not yet mem bers, which are keenly interested in the Association, and the membership is therefore expected to increase consid erably in the near future. Obviously, the wider and larger the membership, the broader the scope of service and benefits. A printing schedule has been established for the Credit Manual, which, it is hoped, will be ready for distribution at the Annual General Meeting. Publication of this Ma nual, with specific reference to commercial laws and prac tices in the Philippines, is one of the most important pro jects of the Association. It is being prepared exclusively for the use of Association members and will be distributed to them at no charge. Electric Power Production (Manila Electric Company System) By J. F. Cotton Treasurer, Manila Electric Company 1941 Average—16,316,000 KWH January........................................................ February...................................................... March........................................................... May............................................................... June............................................................... July............................................................... August.......................................................... September................................................... October........................................................ November.................................................... December.................................................... Total........................................... ♦♦Partially estimated Kilowatt 1952 45,152,000 42,450,000* 45,160,000** Hours 1951 40,713,000 37,066,000 40,117,000 39,197,000 40,405,000 40,712,000 42,041,000 42,817,000 41,852,000 44,017,000 42,628,000 45,655,000 497,211,000 rvuTPUT in March was 5,043,000 kwhs or 12.6% over March, 1951. The higher than normal increase is because the Easter holidays were in March last year. npHE editor of the Journal has asked me: (1) What area is covered by the Manila Electric Company system, and (2) How does Manila Electric Company power production compare with the production of the Philippines as a whole? (1) The area served by the Company comprises 50 cities and municipalities. The load centers in Manila and surrounding territory. The system extends to Malolos in the north and in the south to Binan, Sta. Rosa, and Cabuyao, as well as to Cavite City. San Pablo, Lucena, Lucban, and a few other municipalities are also served. (2) Based on incomplete reports to the Public Ser vice Commission, all other electric plants in the Philippines selling to the public produced about 75,000,000 kwh in 145 1951 or about 15% of the Manila Electric Company’s pro duction. These figures do not include the output of private industrial plants such as those in mines, sugar centrals, etc., since no data from these plants are available. For comparative purposes the approximate energy output of a few of the larger provincial plants is shown below: Total............... 34,300,000 kwh 28,930,000 kwh 18% Principal City Served 1951 Output 1950 Output Increase Cebu.................... 10,300,000 kwh 9,000,000 kwh 14% Iloilo.................... 8,600,000 ” 7,700,000 ” 12% Baguio . . . 5,200,000 ” 4,200,000 ” 24% 30% Davao................. 4,800,000 ” 3,700,000 ” Bacolod............... 4,400,000 ” 3,700,000 ” 19% Zamboanga....... 1,000,000 ” 630,000 ” 59% It will be seen from this sampling that the energy output in 1951 in provincial cities increased in percentage more than did the Manila Electric Company system which had an increase in energy output in 1951 of 38,689,000 kwh, or 8.4% over that of 1950. It may be noted, however, that the 1951 increase of Manila Electric Company produc tion is more than the total 1951 output of six of the largest provincial plants. Real Estate By Antonio Varias Vice-President, C. M. Hoskins & Co., Inc., Realtors REAL ESTATE sales in the Greater Manila area regis tered during the month of March, 1952, numbered 658, with a total value of P7,360,485, as compared with 535, with a total value of P6,022,789, registered dur ing the preceding month of February. Of the March sales, 224, with a total value of P3,757,283, represented deals within Manila proper, while 434, with a total value of P3,603,202, were sales within the cities of Quezon and Pasay, and in the suburban towns of Caloocan, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Paranaque, and San Juan. Among the bigger sales registered during the month were: A concrete warehouse with a lot of 1,667.5 square meters on Basan Street, corner M. de La Quinta, Quiapo, sold by F. E. Zuellig, Inc. to Susana Realty, Inc. for P260.000; A property with a lot of 387.4 square meters at Echague and Chica streets, Sta. Cruz, sold by Ana Gernandez Roman to Angela M. Butte for P200.000; A property with a lot of 2,871.6 square meters on A. Mabini Street, corner Remedios Street, Malate, sold by Grims, Parson, and Razon to Edward M. Grimalt for the reported sum of P200.000; A property with a lot of 34,150 square meters in Manila Heights, Cubao, Quezon City, sold by United Philippine Artists, Inc. to Luisa M. Gonzales for P177.500; A property with a lot of 12,078 square meters in Makati, sold by Ayala Securities Corporation to Felipe Yupangco and Sons, Inc. for P157.014; and A property with a lot of 2,812 square meters on Broadway, corner 8th Avenue, New Manila, Quezon City, sold by Arthur A. Landahi to Lorenzo M. Tanada for P122.000. ip eal estate mortgages registered in the Greater Manila area during the month numbered 462, with a total value of P8,571,829, as compared with 458, with a total value of P7,459,943, registered during the month of February. Of the March total, 195, with a total value of 4,543,653, represented deals within Manila proper, while 267, with a total value of P4,028,176, were deals within the cities of Quezon and Pasay, and in the suburban towns mentioned above. REAL ESTATE SALES, 1952 Quezon Pasay Suburban Manila City City Towns Total January.. P6,085,610 Pl.592,939 P197.596 Pl,285,689 P9,161,834 February 2,629,939 1,052,519 274,017 2,066,314 6,022,789 March... 3,757,283 1,809,583 366,011 1,427,608 7,360,485 REAL ESTATE MORTGAGES, 1952 January,. P6,184,617 P4,245,805 P265.740 P3,933,904 P14.630.066 February 2,938,398 1,424,431 441,044 2,656,070 7,459,943 March... 4,543,653 1,607,573 548,067 1,872,536 8,571,829 Building Construction By Juan J. Carlos President, United Construction Co., Inc. President, Philippine Constructors’ Association DURING the month of February, the Office of the City Engineer approved building permits for con struction work amounting to P4,226,040. For the same period last year, the volume of work authorized amounted to P3,623,250, in comparison with P4,018,690 in 1950 and P7,179,980 in 1949. Among the big projects that were started during the month under review and which account for the increase in the costs over those of last year were: Reconstruction of a 3-story reinforced-concrete building on Anda, Walled City, formerly occupied by the Santa Catalina Girl’s College, now to be used as annex to the San Juan de Letran College, estimated at P350.000. A 2-story reinforced-concrete commercial. edifice and bodega on Echague Street, adjacent to the Firestone Rubber Company Office, costing P300.000, for Genoveva S. Villalon. For William H. Reynolds Company, a commercial building at 84-92 Magallanes, Walled City, estimated at P180.000. Two additional floors to the existing China Bank Building, at the corner of Juan Luna and Dasmarinas Street, costing P180,000. Reconstruction and repair of the Central Student YMCA building on Arroceros Street, estimated at Pl60,000. A steel building for the Caltex (Philippines) Inc., on Jesus Street, Pandacan, containing an area of 1,052 square meters, costing P150,000.00. A great shortage in the supply of Portland cement was K again felt in the market and blackmarketeers took advan tage of the situation by selling at P5 to P6 per beg, al though the factory price is only P3.20 per bag. With the inauguration of another cement factory at Guimaras Island, Iloilo, owned by Vice-President Fer nando Lopez and his brother Eugenio Lopez, it is expected that the recurrent cement shortage problem in the country, which affect builders so adversely, will be solved finally. Ocean Shipping and Exports By B. B. T unold Secretary -Manager Associated Steamship Lines TOTAL exports for the month of February this year, showed a decrease of about 27,000 tons as compared with exports during February of last year. 106 vessels lifted 301,535 tons of exports during the month, as against 329,260 tons lifted by 95 vessels during the same month last year. The decrease is mainly attributed to a reduction in junk metals, centrifugal and raw sugar, and general mer chandise exports. Exports during February, 1952, as compared' with exports during February, 1951, were as follows: Commodity Alcohol................................. Beer....................................... Cigars and cigarettes....... Coconut, desiccated........ Coconut oil........................ Concentrates, copper . . 1952 147 Tons 55 ” 18 ” 4,774 ” 6,898 ” 9,839 ” 1951 275 Tons 12 ” 5,325 ” 3,456 ” 6,397 ” 146 Concentrates, gold........... 274 ” Copra................................... 50,973 ” Copra cake and meal....... 6,349 ” Embroideries...................... 142 ” Empty cylinders............... 380 ” Fish, salted........................ 28 ” Fruits, fresh....................... 13 ” Furniture, rattan............. 954 ” Gums, copal....................... 42 ” Hemp.................................... 75,849 Bales Household goods.............. 206 Tons Junk, metal........................ 2,345 ” Kapok.................................. 18 ” Logs....................................... 7,890,088 Bft. Lumber................................ 4,704,092 ” Molasses.............................. 6,287 Tons Plywood and plywood products.......................... 93 ” Ores, chrome...................... 29,500 ” Ores, iron............................ 60,854 Ores, manganese............... 4,735 Pineapples, canned........... 7,718 Rattan (palasan).............. 109 Rope...................................... 415 ” Shell, shell waste............. 46 ” Skins, hides........................ 22 ” Sugar, cent,'raw................ 70,456 Tobacco............................... 758 ” Vegetable oil...................... 62 ” Transit cargo..................... 659 Merchandise, general ... 643 578 " 72,598 ” 6,074 ” 194 ” 368 ” 31 ” 77 ” 669 ” 54 ” 80,953 Bales 455 Tons 9,072 ” 6,515,484 Bft. 6,093,927 ” 7,533 Tons 89 ” 22,000 ” 34,377 ” 8,313 ” 217 ” 520 ” 23 ” 305 ” 107,840 ” 534 ” 16 ” 794 ” 4,135 ” Mining By Nestorio N. Lim Mining Engineer, Secretary-Treasurer Chamber of Mines of the Philippines PHILIPPINE GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCTION Names January February Quantity Pesos Quantity Pesos Au. 2,404 oz. 168,266 1,458 oz. 102,073 Atok-Big Wedge Mining Co., Inc....................... Ag. 1,484 2,107 816 1,159 Au. 261 oz. 18,270 1,344 oz. 94.660 Baguio Gold Mining Company..................... Ag. 165 235 679 1,196 Au. 8,762 oz. 613,356 7,335 oz. 513,478 Ag. 5,918 10,416 5,058 8,902 Balatoc Mining Com pany...,........................M.O. 40.44Q S.T. 623,772 35,750 522,380 Au. 7,459 oz. 522,108 8,448 oz. 591,365 Benguet ConsolidatedAg. 5,038 8,866 5,825 10,252 Mining Company. . .M.O. 35,071 S.T. 530,974 34,809 601,617 Au. 4,273 oz. 295,030 3,539 oz. 244,426 Ag. 5,461 8,683 4,539 7,263 Mindanao Mother Lode Mines, Inc. ............... M.O. 10,800 S.T. 303,713 10,400 S.T. 251,689 Au. 4,060 oz. 284,172 3,863 oz. 270,374 Ag. 3,190 5,614 4,750 8,360 Surigao Consolidated Mining Co.................. M.O. 12,049 289,786 11,050 S.T. 278,734 Au. 3,269 oz. 228,804 2,652 oz. 185,649 Ag. Itogon Mining Com pany .............................M.O. 11,901 S.T. 228,804 9,752 S.T. 185,649 Au. 3,310 oz. 231,666 3,522 246,519 Ag. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.................. M.O. 34,013 S.T. 231,686 32,273 246,519 Au. — __ 43,981 77,407 Ag. — — 1,700 77,407 Looc Lead Silver Mines Au. 332 oz. 23,230 130 14,342 Ag. 62 105 22 39 Nor-Min Ventures........Cu. Yd. 38,800 23,335 19,780 14,381 Tambis Gold Dredging Company.................... None None None None Au. 132 oz. 9,220 137 oz. 9,594 Surigao Placer Syndi cate.............................. Cu. Yd. 40,000 9,220 45,000 9,594 Total Gold and Silver Product Au. 34,74!i°oz. T 2,428,252 Au. 32,898 oz. T 2,305,377 Ag. 21,318 oz. 36,026 Ag. 65,670 oz. 114,578 Lode Mill Ore................ 162,283 S.T.) 2,464,278 Placer...................... 201,800 Cu.Yd.) 153,670 S.T.) 2,419,955 202,172 Cu. Yd.) —Compiled in the Bureau of Mines. Lumber By Pacif;co ds Ocampo Secretary-Treasurer Philippine Lumber Producers’ Association, Inc. EXPORT of Philippine logs and lumber during Feb ruary, dropped further to 13,338,420 bd. ft. as com pared to 16,582,884 bd. ft. during the previous month, or a decrease of 3,244,464 bd. ft., and was 9,200,250 bd. ft. below the export of 22,538,670 bd. ft. during the same month last year. This decline was mainly due to a reduc tion in shipments of logs to Japan—from 10,998,385 bd. ft. in January, to only 7,113,225 bd. ft. in February, or a reduction of 3,885,160 bd. ft. Shipments to the United States and Canada increased slightly by 177,908 bd. ft.— from 4,134,187 bd. ft. in January to 4,312,095 bd. ft. during the month under review; and those to other countries also increased by 462,788 bd. ft.,—from 1,450,312 bd. ft. in January to 1,913,100 bd. ft. this month of February. The following are the figures for the logs and lumber inspected for export during February, as released by the Bureau of Forestry: Shipper Destination Lumber Bd. Ft. Logs Bd. Ft. Agusan Timber U.S.A. 124,991 Corp.................................... Japan 1,099,991 Anakan Lumber U.S.A. 174,232 550,799 Co........................................ Japan 999,986 Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co., Inc.............................. Guam 7,009 Basilan U.S.A. 541,934 Lumber Japan 399,947 Co. Hongkong 137,729 Inc............................... S. Africa 226,610 Bislig Bay Lumber Co., Inc....................................... Germany 29,991 Cipriano Luna Enter prises .................................. Japan 1,709,024 Dahican Lumber Co., Inc. U.S.A. 700,000 114,023 Dongallo Enterprises......... Japan 490,393 Eduardo Co Seteng & Sons. Japan 450 Getz Bros. 8s Co.................. South Africa 89,249 Gulf Lumber U.S.A. 100,539 Co., Inc.............................. Singapore 131,069 In U.S.A. 667,840 su Hongkong 5,016 lar Hawaii 142,960 Lumber Erie 30,358 Co........................... Belgium 99,397 Marsman Development U.S.A. 166,195 Co., Inc............................. Hongkong 99,999 Misamis Lumber U.S.A. 70,000 Co., Inc............................. Japan 1,000,001 Nasipit U.S.A. 616,579 Lumber Canada 7,168 Co. Hawaii 220,896 Inc............................... Hongkong 104,962 North Bay Boulevard Saw mill ...................................... U.S.A. 19,987 P.P. Gocheco 8s Co., Inc... S. Africa 24,960 Pan Asiatic Commercial Co., Inc............................. Japan 400,129 Reynaldo Lumber Co., Inc....................................... U.S.A. 46,180 Sta. Cecilia Sawmills, Inc....................................... Hawaii 48,084 Sta. Clara Lumber Co., Inc....................................... U.S.A. 355,403 Surigao Timber U.S.A. 30,128 Co., Inc............................. Japan 313,073 Taggat Sawmill Co., Inc.. . Hawaii 129,024 Western Mindanao Lum ber Co., Inc..................... Japan 700,231 Woodcraft U.S.A. 8,971 Works, Hongkong 225,788 Ltd.................................. S. Africa 159,999 Zuellig, Inc........................... U.S.A. 17,126 Totals.............................. 4,882,232 8,456,188 147 148 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 RESUME of Exports to: Lumber Logs Total (Bd. Ft.) (Bd. Ft.) (Bd. Ft.) Japan.................................... 450 7,112,775 7,113,225 United States and Ca nada .................................. 3,136,751 1,175,344 4,312,095 Other countries.................. 1,745,031 168,069 1,913,100 Totals............................ 4,882,232 8,456,188 13,338,420 SUMMARY OF EXPORTS DURING FEBRUARY ARRANGED BY COUNTRIES OF DESTINATION IN THE ORDER OF VOLUME OF SHIPMENT TO EACH COUNTRY Lumber (Bd. Ft.) Logs (Bd. Ft.) Total (Bd. Ft.) Japan.................................. ......... 450 7,112,775 7,113,225 United States................... ......... 3,129,583 1,175,344 4,304,927 Hongkong.......................... ......... 573,494 — 573,494 Hawaii............................... ......... 540,964 — 540,964 South Africa..................... ......... 500,818 — 500,818 Singapore.......................... ......... — 131,069 131,069 Belgium............................. ......... 99,397 — 99,397 Erie..................................... ......... 30,358 — 30,358 Germany........................... ......... — 29,991 29,991 Canada............................... ......... 7,168 7,168 Guam................................. ......... — ’ 7,009 7,009 Totals................................... 4,882,232 8,456,188 13,338,420 shipment of logs and lumber to Manila during February, increased for the first time, since the recession in September, 1951, to over 14,000,000 bd. ft. as against shipment of 8,000,000 bd. ft. during the previous month, or an increase of 6,000,000 bd. ft. This increase in arrivals of logs and lumber may be attributed in part to favorable weather condition in places of production, improvement of prices in the local wholesale market during the previous month of January, and slackening of the export trade. "COR some time or until the opening week of the month under review, ending February 9, the local whole sale market for lumber continued the firmness and strength gained during the previous month. The week was fea tured by a slight increase in the price of apitong to P155P165 per 1000 bd. ft., as compared to P155-P160 of the previous week, and in the price of red lauan to Pl80-Pl90, as against P175-P185, with white lauan remaining stable at P145-P155. But when new arrivals of logs and lumber in big quantities began to flood the market, the pressure was moderately reduced and resulted in steady prices during the second and until the third week ending February 23, with red lauan slightly raised during the Trend of Exports to: February Month Ago Lumber Logs Lumber Logs (Bd. Ft.) (Bd Ft ) (Bd. Ft.) (Bd. Ft.) Japan_____ 450 7,112,755 — 10,998,385 United States and Canada 3,136,751 1,175,344 2,486,354 1,647,833 All others.. 1,745,031 168,069 1,174,017 276,295 Year Ago Lumber Logs (Bd. Ft.) (Bd. Ft.) — 14,400,485 3,439,266 1,307,116 1,884,608 1,507,195 Totals... 4,882,232 8,456,188 3,660,371 12,922,513 5,323,874 17,214.796 COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF EXPORTS MADE TO DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE MONTHS OF JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1952 January, 1952................... February, 1952................. Difference (Increased+: Decrease—) Western States Lumber in ............... 1,813,995 ............... 2,284,884 Eastern States 376,546 627,516 Bd. Ft. Gulf States 35,016 15,297 qAH 260,797 201,886 2,486,354 3,129,583 Western States 224,484 989,827 Eastern States 185,517 Bd. Ft. All Others 400,000 Total 1,647,833 1,175,344 Total1 4,134,187 4,304,927 .............. 470,889+ 250,970+^ 19,719— 58,911— 643,229+ 765,343 + 185,517+ 1,023,349— 400,000— 472,489— 170,740 + Steel Fabricators • Contractors ENGINEERS • MANUFACTURERS • MERCHANDISERS Specializing in FABRICATION AND ERECTION OF BRIDGES, TANKS AND BUILDINGS RIVER AND HARBOR WORK SHIPS REPAIR Operating: MACHINE SHOPS FOR CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR FOUNDRY FOR CAST IRON, BRASS & BRONZE STRUCTURAL STEEL FABRICATING SHOP MARINE REPAIR SHOPS WELDING SHOP WOOD PRESERVING PLANT • ATLANTIC, GULF & PACIFIC CO. OF MANILA (PHILIPPINE CONTRACTORS SINCE 1905) EXECUTIVE OFFICES • ENGINEERING DIV. MERCHANDISE SALES DIVISION STRUCTURAL a MACHINE SHOPS Robert Dollar Bldg. Muelle de San Barrio Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila Francisco & 23rd St., Port Area, Manila Tels. 6-75-31 • 6-75-32 • 6-75-33 Tel. 3-36-61 (Connecting all Depts.) April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 149 third week to Pl80-Pl95. As buyers began to restrict their purchases and sellers pressed the sales of their big stocks, the market, toward the closing week of the month, lapsed into an easy undertone, the price of white lauan being reduced to P140-P150, apitong to P155-P160, and red lauan to P180-P190. Copra and Coconut Oil By H. Dean Helus Vice-President, Philippine Refining Company, Inc. February 16 to March 15 IT will be recalled that the export copra market closed during the middle of February at around $140 c.i.f. Pacific Coast. During the month that followed—i.e., from February 16 to March 15—prices fell rather rapidly as a result of continued poor demand, particularly from Europe. Dealers and re-sellers, still feeling the weakness in the overall picture, continued to sell the market short at prices below actual offerings made by first-hand export sellers, and as the period under review closes, business has been done as low as $120 c.i.f. Pacific Coast. Correspond ingly, the European market for Philippine copra dropped from around $165 c.i.f. during the middle of January to $138 c.i.f. a month later, with buyers’ ideas now being $135 c.i.f. Locally here in the Philippines there was much the same reduction in prices from about P24.50 per 100 kilos to around 1*20 to f*21 per 100 kilos at mid-March. The coconut oil markets registered similar declines, dropping from 9-1, 2 to 8-1/4 cents per pound f.o.b. tank cars Pacific Coast, and bulk oil from 10-1 - 2 to sellers but no buyers at 9-1 z4 cents per pound c.i.f. Atlantic Coast. The European market for coconut oil was for the most part inactive, with buyers expressing ideas of $195 c.i.f. at close. Copra cake and meal values also suffered further declines, and as we close we quote the market at approxi mately $72 per short ton c.i.f. Pacific Coast, against $80 to $82 per ton a month earlier. Total exports of copra during February, 1952, were down considerably, as follows: To United States Pacific Coast...................... 12,796 long tons United States Atlantic Coast................... 2,646 ” ” United States Gulf Ports.......................... 3,184 ” ” Canada, Pacific Coast................................ 1,000 ” " Europe............................................................. 21,725 ” ” South Africa.................................................. 3,07 5 ” ” West Indies, Central and South Amer ica................................................................. 5,480 ” ” Japan............................................................... 197 ” 50,103 long tons By way of comparison, the January, 1952, exports of copra ‘amounted to 66,683 long tons, while during February, 1951, there were exported 72,598 long tons. The total for January/February, 1952, now amounts to 116,786 long tons, against 127,723 long tons during January/February, 1951. With regard to shipments of coconut oil, total exports during February, 1952, were as follows: To United States Atlantic Coast................... 2,318 long tons Europe............................................................ 3,288 ” India................................................................ 759 ” ” South Africa.................................................. 533 ” ” 6,898 long tons This compares with 6,586 long tons exported during Jan uary, 1952, and 3,456 long tons during February, 1951. ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT rfc & SUPPLY COMPANY, Inc. MACHINERY • MECHANICAL SUPPLIES • ENGINEERS • CONTRACTORS AIR CONDITIONING For Offices, Theatres, Hospitals, Stores, Restaurants, Hotels, Clubs and Homes ★ ★ ★ Suppliers of MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT and INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES For Sugar Centrals, Mines, Sawmills, Power Plants, Machine Shops and All Industrial Plants ★ ★ ★ ENGINEERING — DESIGN — APPLICATION — ESTIMATES INSTALLATION — MAINTENANCE — SERVICE - REPAIRS General & Sales Office 1 74 M. de Comillas Manila Tel. 3-29-21 ★ ★ ★ Operating: MACHINE SHOPS • STEEL PLATE SHOPS STRUCTURAL STEEL SHOPS • WELDING SHOPS • BLACKSMITH SHOPS • SHEET METAL SHOPS • MARINE RAILWAY Engineering Shops No. 1 Calle L. Segura & Pasig River Mandaluyong, Rizal Tel. 6-65-68 150_______________________AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL________________ April, 1952 The total for January/February, 1952, now amounts to 13,484 long tons, against 11,444 long tons during the same period in 1951. In summary, it is impossible to foretell what the future may hold market-wise for Philippine copra and coconut oil, but right at the moment the outlook is most discourag ing and grim. On the other hand, however, there is always the possibility of unforeseen developments or events oc curring, as they have in the past when least expected, that could well result in at least some market improvement for these particular export commodities so essential to the overall economy of the Philippines. Desiccated Coconut By Virgil F. Murray Provincial Manager Peter Paul Philippine Corporation AS indicated in this column last month and further evidenced by the shipping statistics for the month of February, which follow, it may clearly be seen that production in those Philippine desiccated coconut factories still operating continues at only a fraction of that possible, or usual, in normal times. Whereas 16,946,750 lbs. of desiccated coconut were shipped in February, 1951, only 5,557,760 lbs. were shipped in February, 1952; and the feeling in the industry is that worse is yet to come. Further drastics cutbacks in production for those compa nies presently operating part-time are highly probable during the month of April and, unless some of the companies which have not operated throughout the first quarter resume production, the first month of the second quarter will undoubtedly set a new low in postwar desiccated coconut production—this, despite the fact that copra, to which the price of nuts for desiccating is closely linked, is at a new postwar low and desiccators would ordinarily be taking advantage of low raw-material prices, which are unusual at this time of the year. In an effort to assure an adequate supply of nuts for their irregular operation and to obtain the best quality available for desiccating, producing desic cators have been paying several pesos more per thousand nuts than competing copra makers. The consistently falling market, in which the nut-buyers—thinking surely the price of nuts will not go any lower—contract 5 to 7 days’ supply, only to learn the following day that copra has again dropped another peso or two, also enters in this picture. In commenting on present-day production, it is inter esting to note that of the 12 companies operating at one time or another since the last war, so far in 1952 only 4 (all pre-war companies with old established marketing facilities) have been in production even a part of the time. At the regular annual meeting of the Philippine Desic cated Association held March 14, 1952, Mr. Jose Tiosejo of Cooperative Coconut Products, Inc., was elected to fill the chair of the outgoing president, Mr. Theobald Diehl, of the Franklin Baker Company of the Philippines. In' last month’s column, mention was made of the impending purchase by the Department of Agriculture and National Resources of a plot of land in Quezon Province for the establishment of a badly needed coconut experi ment station to be equipped with funds provided by the U. S. Mutual Security Administration. At this writing, more than a month later, although to the writer’s knowl edge many tracts of land, of varying degrees of suitability, have been offered for this purpose and inspected by repre sentatives of the Department prior to the writing of last month’s article, still no purchase, or at least selection, has been made and so another month has been subtracted THE Access to the Markets of the World PAMPANGA: CLARK FIELD NATIONAL CITY BANK offers to world markets through 48 overseas its own — more overseas branches than other American banks together. long established correspondent important banks throughout the quick access branches of those of all In addition it has relationships world. NATIONAL CITY BANK OF NEW YORK Jirit in World-Wide dSankin# Branches in the Philippines MANILA Main Branch: Juan Luna Street Port Area Branch: 13th Street with CEBU: CEBU CITY April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 151 from the time available for this Department to work on the many pressing problems which confront growers and threaten the continued existence of the coconut industry in some localities. Regarding legislation affecting coconut desiccators, there are two bills which have had their first reading and are presently under consideration by the Committee on Government Enterprises. Interesting is the fact that while one proposes a new tax, the other proposes that the industry be exempted from an already existing tax affect ing it. One of these, House Bill No. 2243, introduced into the current session of Congress by Congressman Manguera for the purpose of creating a Philippine Coconut Institute, is laudable in its announced objectives, but it must be pointed out that its provision for financing the Institute by the imposition of a 10-centavo tax for each 300 nuts processed could not, in the face of the obstacles currently confronting desiccators, be more untimely. Further taxa tion of this industry at this time could very well be the straw that will break the camel’s back. While it is true that the increase in cost per pound of desiccated coconut the imposition would necessitate would be small, to an industry already keeping its books in red ink, or at best working on a marginal basis, the effect cannot be disre garded. The other, House Bill No. 2493, introduced by Con gressman Concordia of Laguna, is entitled “An Act to Amend Section 189 of the National Internal Revenue Code,” and runs as follows: lAllied industries"—local oil mills dependent wholly or in part upon the dried coconut parings which are a by-product of desiccated coconut manufacture, and charcoal makers who purchase the coconut shells not needed by the desiccated fac tories as fuel. ^Shipments by an individual company are not necessarily indicative of the production by that company during the period covered by the shipping statistics re port. The figures sometimes represent old or purchased stock. “Section 1. Percentage tax upon proprietors or operators of rope factories, sugar centrals, rice mills, coconut oil mills, corn mills, and desiccated coconut factories. Sec. 189.—Proprietors or operators of rope factories, sugar cen trals, rice mills, coconut oil mills, corn mills, and desiccated coconut factories shall pay a tax equivalent to two percentum of the gross value in money of all the rope, sugar, rice, coconut oil, ground or milled corn, and desiccated coconut manufactured or milled by them, including the by-products of the raw materials from which said articles are produced or manufactured, such tax to be based on the actual selling price or market value of these articles at the time they leave the factory or mill warehouse: Provided, however, That this tax shall not apply to coco nut oil (and) DESICCATED coconut AND the by-product of copra from which it is produced or manufactured, if such oil (and) COPRA by-products AND DESICCATED COCONUTS shall be removed for exportation and are actually exported without returning to the Philip pines, whether so exported in their original state or as an ingredient or part of any manufactured article or product.” This wise and timely piece of legislation, if enacted, would serve as proof that the Government, which has never pre viously been asked for help by the desiccating coconut industry, is willing to assist one of its former largest dollar - producing industries in its time of need. Apparently its author realizes that the loss of revenue to the Government in this case is of far less significance than the loss of em ployment by the thousands of people dependent for their livelihood upon the desiccated coconut and allied indus tries.1 The exemption of desiccated coconut from this tax would enable it to sell for approximately one-half a centavo less per pound, which again may not seem very much, but is at least a step in the right direction—toward meeting the threat of desiccated coconut, from sources other than the Philippines, underselling our coconut in the American market. The shipping statistics for February 1952 follow2: Shippers Pounds shipped Franklin Baker Co.......................................................... 2,402,400 Blue Bar Coconut Co.................................................... 162,860* Peter Paul Philippines Corp........................................ 0 INSULAR LUMBER COMPANY FABRICA, OCC. NEGROS -------------*-------------SPECIALISTS IN KILN DRIED LUMBER and MANUFACTURERS OF BOXES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS MANILA DISTRIBUTORS: Norton & Harrison Company 814 Echague Manila D. C. Chuan & Sons, Inc. 14-30 Soler St. Manila Insular Saw Mill, Inc. 340 Canonigo, Paco Manila MANILA OFFICE-. 401 FILIPINAS BUILDING 152_______________________ AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL________________ April, 1952 Red V Coconut Products, Ltd................................... 2,420,000 Sun Ripe Coconut Products, Inc.............................. 75,000 Standard Coconut Corp................................................. 50,000 Cooperative Coconut Products, Inc.......................... 627,500 Tabacalera.......................................................................... 0 Coconut Products (Phil.) Inc...................................... 0 Total............................................................................ 5,557,760 lbs. ‘Lusacan factory production.................................................. 44,360 lbs. Zamboanga factory production........................................... 118,500 lbs. Total BLUE BAR SHIPMENT ................................. 162,860 lbs. Sugar By S. Jamieson Secre tary-Treasurer Philippine Sugar Association THIS review covers the period from March 1 to March 31, 1952. New York Market. Prices for raw sugar ad vanced during a month of heavy trading. Deliveries to refined distributors improved, and are now running ahead of last year. In spite of substantial purchases of duty-free Philippine and Porto Rican sugar, refiners realized that these were not enough to run their plants at capacity for long, and that, with the depletion of their stocks by heavy withdrawals by distributors, they must go to Cuban holders for supplies to fill their current refining requirements. It soon became evident that prices would have to improve before Cuban holders would sell in volume. The specta cular market advance that followed came as a boon to Philippine producers who had heretofore been forced to sell a large part of their production at the low prices pre vailing since the start of the season. The upward trend of the market had begun before General Batista’s seizure of power in Cuba in the early part of the month, and this had little effect on the market, the trade feeling confident that no serious disturbances would result. With Cuban holders now in a strong trading position and the United States domestic consumption quota set at a low figure, the market may remain firm for some time to come. On March 3, the opening trading day of the month, the market was firm; 2,000 tons Philippines, late March arrival, were sold at 5.80/, which was also the spot price. Next day, 4,500 tons Philippines, March/April shipment, and 15,000 tons, May arrival, were sold at 5.90/. On the 5th, spot advanced to 5.95/; 1,000 tons Philippines, March/ April shipment, were sold at 5.90/, and 21,000 tons Porto Ricos and Philippines, March/April/May arrival, at 5.95/. Operators started buying Philippines at prices varying with the date of arrival—the later the date, the higher the price. Parcels were taken at 6.05/ for arrival after June 1, and at 6.10/ and 6.14/ for arrival after June 15 and July 1, respectively. On the 6th, spot rose to 6/, and sales in cluded 1,000 tons Philippines, March/April shipment, at 5.95/, 2,000 tons Philippines, April/May shipment, at . 6.05/, and 24,000 tons Philippines and Porto Ricos, March April arrival, at 5.99/ to 6/. Operators took four lots of Philippines at the following prices: 6.07/ for arrival after June 1, 6.10/ after June 15, 6.15/ after July 1, and 6.20/ after August 1. On the 7th, spot was 6.10/, and there were sales of 8,000 tons Porto Ricos and Philippines, April arrival, at 6.10/, and 16,000 tons Philippines, March/April shipment, at from 6.10/ to 6.20/. On the 10th, the news of the Cuban revolution had an unsettling effect on the market but did not stay the advance. Spot reached 6.20/, and 6,000 tons Philippines, March/April shipment, were ■sold at 6.25/. The 11th was a day of very heavy trading. Refiners alone probably bought over 100,000 tons of Cuban, Porto Rican, and Philippine sugar at 6.25/, while operators bought the following Philippine parcels: 2,000 tons for April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 153 arrival after May 31 at 6.30/; 2,000 tons for arrival after June 1 at 6.33/; and 13,000 tons, May/June/July dis charge, at 6.27/ to 6.35/. It was not unexpected that after such heavy buying the market turned easier. On the 12th, spot fell to 6.20/, and 3,000 tons Philippines, May/June shipment, and 1,000 tons, April/May shipment, were sold at 6.20/. On the 13th, spot was 6.15/, and 13,000 tons Philippines, Porto Ricos, and Cubas, April arrival, were sold at the same price to refiners. On the 14th, spot was 6.13/, at which price a parcel of prompt Cubas was sold, while 2,500 tons Philippines, April/May shipment, and 2,500 tons, May/June shipment, were sold at 6.20/ and 6.25/, respectively. Next day, another parcel of prompt Cubas was sold at 6.13/. On the 18th there were sales of 2,000 tons Philippines, due late April, at 6.12/ and 5,700 tons prompt Cubas at 6.15/. On the 20th the market became firmer on renewed buying interest by refiners. Spot advanced to 6.25/ and 7,000 tons Philippines, Porto Ricos, and Cubas, April shipment, were sold at the same price. On the 21st, Philippine sales included 4,000 tons for arrival after June 14 at 6.30/ to 6.32/, and a parcel for April/May arrival at 6.25/. On the 24th, spot was 6.24/, and 1,625 tons Philippines, May/June shipment, and 3,000 tons, for arrival after July 1, were sold at 6.32/ and 6.35/, respectively. Next day, 1,000 tons Philippines, April/May shipment, and 2,000 tons, May/June shipment, were sold at 6.32/. On the 26th, spot was 6.28/ and Cubas, April/May arrival, were sold at 6.30/ to refiners. On the 27th, spot jumped to 6.35/ and sales included a parcel of prompt Cubas at 6.38/, 3,000 tons Philippines, April/May shipment, at 6.38/, and 2,000 tons, July arrival, at 6.40/. There were indications that Cuban holders would sell freely at 6.40/, but buyers were hesitating. On the 31st it was reported that Eastern refiners had increased their prices from 8.50/ to 8.65/, and Pacific Coast refiners from 8.50/ to 8.70/, but the raw market did not immediately respond to these increases, closing with substantial offerings at 6.40/ and buyers holding off. We give below quotations on the New York Sugar Ex change for Contract No. 6 as of March 31, and, for com parison, the peak quotations during the month: Closing Peak quotations quotations May............................................. July.............................................. September.................................. November.................................. 5.80(5 5.85(5, March 27, 1952 5 91 5.95 5.94 5.97 5.95 5.98 World market contract March 31 as follows: No. 4 quotations closed on May............................................. 4.35(5 July.............................................. 4.35 September....................................... 4.38 October....................................... 4.24 January, 1953............................. 4.09 March.......................................... 3.88 May............................................. 3.89 The world market spot price on March 31 was 4.30/, compared to 4.25/ on February 29. Sales of Cuban sugar in the world market included 19,000 tons of refined to the U. S. Army Procurement Office at 5.23/ f.o.b. Cuba, for March/April shipment to Greece; two cargoes (possibly three) of raws to Japan at 4.25/ for April/May shipment; and 2,500 tons to Holland for which no price and shipment details are available. Local Market, (a) Domestic Sugar. The market was steady during the month, with prices rather firmer at the close, particularly for washed sugar. Buyers were indicating from P13.75 to P14.00 per picul, ex mill ware house, for ordinary centrifugal sugar, P15.50 to P16.25 for ordinary washed, and P16.50 to P17.50 for high grade washed. (b) Export Sugar. The local market was very active throughout the month. At the beginning there were transacI'llIFII MERC HIKING C0RF0 RAT I ON 449 Dasmarinas Manila EXCLUSIVELY REPRESENTING.... CORBIN LOCK COMPANY AMERICAN RADIATOR & STANDARD SANITARY CORPORATION UNION CARBIDE & CARBON CORP. National Carbon Division “Eveready” flashlights & batteries Linde Air Products Division “Union” Carbide PABCO PRODUCTS, INC. “Pabco” Products AMES BALDWIN WYOMING COMPANY BALL BROS. MASON JARS MALLEABLE IRON FITTINGS CO. FAIRBURY WINDMILL CO. CAPEWELL MANUFACTURING CO. SLOAN VALVE COMPANY BOMMER SPRING HINGE COMPANY COLUMBUS COATED PRODUCTS CO. KEENEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY BADGER METER MANUFACTURING CO. DICK BROTHERS MANUFACTURING CO. CARBORUNDUM COMPANY BADGER FIRE EXTINGUISHER CO. STEEL PRODUCTS HOUSE FURNISHINGS GENERAL HARDWARE PLUMBING 154 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 tions at ex mill warehouse prices of P13.15 per picul for prompt, P13.40 for April, and P13.50 for May deliveries. Prices advanced steadily and at the close of the month there were buyers at P 14.20 for prompt and P14.30 for April/ May/ June deliveries. Heavy shipments were made to the United States during March, and large quantities are already booked for shipment in April and May. General. United States Beet Sugar. The Govern ment’s report on 1952 plantings indicates 747,000 acres of beet, compared to 759,000 acres last year. Porto Rico. Up to the end of February Porto Rico had sold between 110,000 and 120,000 short tons of sugar in the world market. Manila Hemp By Merle S. Robie Vice-President and General Manager Columbian Rope Company of Philippines, Inc. THIS review covers the period frorri February 15 to March 15. Prices in consuming markets were rela tively steady at the opening of this period, as indi& CO., INC. j. m. menzi bldg. reina regente cor. soler • manila tel. 2-79-27 cated in our last review, but weakened steadily due to very large offerings by all Philippine exporters in both London and New York. Also sisals were not as firm as they were during the previous month. The rope business in both European and American markets was reported to continue poor and, with pro duction of Manila hemp continuing at high levels through out the Philippines during this period, it soon became ap parent that prices had to decline further. On the whole it can be said that the better grades of both Davao and non-Davao suffered less, as the quantity available seemed to be small. However, in the medium and lower grades of both Davao and non-Davao, prices fell a minimum of 2 cents per pound between February 15 and March 15. There was every indication at the close of the period that a further easing of prices was to be expected. The sisal market showed signs of weakness about the middle of March, and, in addition, there was every indica tion that there would be a continued shortage of dollars available for European countries to use for the purchase of Manila hemp; although there is as yet nothing definite, there are indications that the new United Kingdom budget will restrict imports from dollar areas even further. Davao production has continued at very satisfactory levels as indicated by the figures below, and non-Davao was also at a high level for the period under review. How ever, we shall soon be entering a period of somewhat smal ler production in non-Davao, and this may result in a some what steadier market. Below are listed the comparative figures for balings and exports for the months of January-February for the years 1947 to 1952, inclusive. BALINGS—JANUARY-FEBRUARY INCLUSIVE 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 Davao................. Albay, Camarines, and Sor85,951 78,472 47,473 34,541 40,147 50,511 sogon............... Leyte and Sa 36,280 61,193 34,400 23,677 43,781 36,732 mar.................. All other non33,426 31,257 19,338 18,398 20,692 10,865 Davao............. 13,184 20,991 . 14,175 16,022 25,841 6,488 168,841 191,913 115,386 92,638 130,461 104,596 153,189 186,776 94,840 89,434 117,379 79,079 EXPORTS—JANUARY-FEBRUARY INCLUSIVE 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 United States and Canada.. 68,809 103,253 41,579 31,383 65,195 65,209 Continental Eu rope................. 31,854 32,771 15,872 18,936 20,106 13,070 United Kingdom 28,733 23,577 12,885 3,180 25,335 575 Japan.................. 18,273 23,150 20,475 32,416 3,816 — South Africa.... 1,875 1,470 395 300 — — China.................. 2,575 1,555 1,309 2,939 1,305 225 India.................... 820 1,000 1,000 200 — — Korea.................. — 700 — — — Australia and New Zealand. 250 — 625 — 42 — All other coun tries................. — — — 80 1,580 — Tobacco By Luis A. Pujalte Secretary-Treasurer Manila Tobacco Association, Inc. A BILL has been approved by the lower Chamber of Congress which would curtail the importation of Virginia leaf tobacco. The Bill imposes a gradual limitation on the importa tion of Virginia leaf as follows: 1. For 1952, importation would be 75% of the total impor tation in 1950. April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 155 2. For 1953, importation would be 50% of the total importa tion in 1950. 3. For 1954, importation would be 25% of the total importa tion in 1950. 4. For the succeeding years, importation would be 10% of the total importation in 1950. Though this is meant to encourage the planting of this type of tobacco in certain tobacco growing provinces and to protect a new industry, i.e. the re-drying of this type of tobacco, the effects on the industry in general, on the specific tax collections by the Government, and on the millions of cigarette smokers would be very adverse. In spite of what its apologists maintain, the culture of Bright Tobacco Leaf in the Philipines is still in an experimental stage and will continue in that stage for many years, and, in my opinion, many hundreds of thou sands of pesos will be lost during these experimental years before any definite knowledge is obtained as to the true possibilities, quality, and general characteristics of the Philippine crops. It is most unfair that the general public, which is heavily burdened by taxes; the industry, which has grown tremendously with import control, which has established blends, is constantly striving to improve the quality of its products, and has m.any millions of pesos invested; and the Government, which derives approximately 25% of its annual income from this industry; that all these should suffer for the sake of an experiment the outcome of which, even if favorable, would not solve any of the great problems of our national economy. I wonder if-this Bill, if approved, will not turn out to be another piece of rush legislation to be added to that collection of laws which have had to be amended shortly • after their approval. Imports By S. ScHMELKES Mercantile, Inc. ALL figures are in kilos with the exception of those for foodstuffs which are given in package units: Commodities February, 1952 February, 1951 Automotive (Total)........................... 1,264,490 751,419 Automobiles................................ 147,537 , 169,239 Auto Accessories........................ 3,136 347,434 — Auto Parts................................... 129,605 Bicycles......................................... 6,323 19,242 2,090 Trucks........................................... 196,662 Truck Chassis............................. 155,081 74,540 Truck Parts................................. 168,387 13,266 Building Materials (Total)............. 8,456,804 3,085,528 Board, Fibre............................... 21,737 44,994 Cement ............... ........... 4,381,541 309,360 Glass, Window........................... Gypsum........................................ 508,908 618,717 43,545 56,699 Chemicals (Total).............................. . . . 14,596,439 12,679,478 Caustic Soda............................... 484,639 1,038,560 Explosives (Total)............................. — 7,023 Firearms (Total)................................. 5,608 803 Ammunition................................. 3,341 570 Hardware (Total)............................... 4,525,091 3,992,940 Household (Total)............................. 1,092,849 701,374 Machinery (Total)............................. 2,028,428 1,575,445 Metals (Total)..................................... 5,795,943 6,612,229 Petroleum Products (Total)........... . . . 47,983,236 46,535,163 Radios (Total)..................................... 25,048 23,721 Rubber Goods (Total)...................... 1,045,392 564,893 Beverages, Misc. Alcoholic............. 4,827 3,660 Foodstuffs, (Total Kilos)................. 26,141,874 28,672,863 Foodstuffs, Fresh (Total)................ 92,512 67,079 Apples............................................ 32,870 15,175 Oranges......................................... 10,731 3,658 Onions........................................... 13,947 23,731 Potatoes....................................... 9,778 9,456 Foodstuffs, Dry Packaged (Total). 28,510 9,910 Foodstuffs, Canned (Total)............. 201,343 541,567 Sardines........................................ 50,746 269,639 Milk, Evaporated...................... 59,961 111,455 tyfour Calling. Card,,, ^our /Personal Stationerg 3* tyou! McCullough PRINTING COMPANY PRINTING HEADQUARTERS SINCE 1899 (A Division of Philippine Education Co.) Are they engraved, printed or monogram med in the best of taste? BE SURE THEY ABESEE US NOW! Choose Your Type: the accepted, familiar type faces'of old or the smart new type styles of tomorrow. 1101 Caslillcjos, Quiapo. Manila Tel. 3-24-70 Today9 s World Society Grows! You need this comprehensive study of international life in your library— YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 1951-52 In the pages of this Yearbook: • FULL DETAILS OF TIIE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING IN THESE FIELDS— Peace. Science, Religion, Politics, Welfare, Industry, Labour & Professions, Education, Sport & Touring, Documentation, Agri culture, Technics, Philosophy, the Arts, Law & Administration, Cinematography, Medicine. 1230 pages—Price P 18.90 (post. P/..1.9) • TIIEIR NAMES, STATUS, HISTORY, PURPOSES, MEM BERS, STRUCTURE. OFFICERS, FINANCE, RELATIONS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. ACTIVITIES, PUBLICA TIONS, are fully described. 156 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 found wherever fine cars travel veedol MOTOR ‘the film of protection” 25,335 502,409 432,583 744 Milk, Condensed.............................. 10,000 Foodstuffs, Bulk (Total)........................ 761,160 Rice...................................................... 10 Wheat Flour...................................... 718,333 Foodstuffs, Preserved (Total)............... 148 Bottling, Misc. (Total)........................... 536,638 823,487 Cleansing and Laundry (Total)........... 135,167 110,705 Entertainment Equipment (Total). . . 243 20,703 Livestock-bulbs-seeds (Total)............... 5,750 1,540 Medical (Total)......................................... 458,051 353,491 Musical (Total)......................................... 45,891 75,107 Office Equipment (Total)...................... 77,144 61,188 Office Supplies (Total)............................ 158,495 35,511 Paper (Total)............................................. 7,558,029 3,688,853 Photographic (Total)............................... 48,245 49,418 Raw Materials (Total)............................ 1,011,916 816,289 Sporting Goods (Total).......................... 18,434 17,652 Stationery (Total).................................... 129,934 188,259 Tobacco (Total)........................................ 1,839,550 617,598 87,000 110,568 27,009 786,112 Chucheria (Total)......................... 102,940 Clothing and Apparel (Total).... 313,960 Cosmetics (Total).......................... 19,082 Fabrics (Total).......................................... 853,666 Jewelry (Total).......................................... 397 Leather (Total)......................................... 107,373 Textiles (Total)......................................... 3,994,871 Twine (Total)................................. 46,333 Toys (Total)................................... 19,844 General Merchandise (Total).... 616,731 Non-Commercial Shipments (Total) . 61,271 Advertising Materials, Etc. (Total).. . 26,624 104,924 944,858 19.724 43.724 442,809 21,814 4,276 TIDE WATER ASSOCIATED OIL COMPANY nr ADVERTISE in the JOURNAL ★ It goes straight to the desks of leading government and business execu tives every month Food Products By C. Tj. Herdman Director, Trading Division Marsman & Company, Inc. DURING March there was very little change in the Philippine market on food products. In all essentials, conditions remained the same as during preceding months. The situation with regard to the Philippine flour-import allotment under the International Wheat Agreement was entirely cleared, the Canadian mills having voluntarily withdrawn advance bookings they had made under IWA where they did not have firm orders in hand from importers duly covered by ICC licenses. Final figures of the ICC indicate that there remain approximately 1,300,000 bags available during the present crop-year under IWA. Li censes are now being issued to apply against this quantity, and it is anticipated that the entire amount will be licensed within the next few weeks. Flour stocks on hand in the Philippines and now afloat show the country will have ample flour available until probably the end of May. It is probable that new licenses now being issued will be placed with American and Cana dian mills, but not for immediate shipment. Most probably they will be for shipment during May and June. During the month shipments of evaporated and sweeten ed condensed milk arrived in fair quantity and stocks on hand are ample, although we no longer have the heavy overstocks previously existing. Stocks of milk powder on hand, however, are considerably in excess of immediate requirements. The situation as regards canned fish may become quite serious. There are ample stocks on hand for the time being, but there is no doubt there will be a serious shortage before supplies can be secured from the new pack ing season in California which will not be before the middle of August; the new supplies could not arrive in the Philip pines until late September. Recent importations, placed in warehouse, Manila, cost the importers considerably in excess of present government ceiling prices. Request by importers for increased ceilings were disapproved. A re consideration of this decision has been requested and it is April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 157 sincerely to be hoped that the request will be granted and favorable action taken. If not, there can be no further importations of canned fish, which is an essential item in the Philippine diet, as no importer will bring in further stocks knowing that he would have to take a serious loss to dispose of them. The market continues to be seriously overstocked on canned meats in general. The market remains unchanged here on fruits and vegetables, both fresh and canned. Supplies are entirely inadequate. Dealers, both wholesale and retail, complain of greatly reduced sales all along the line. Recession in sales of food products occurs each year during the summer months and it is improbable there will be any marked improve ment before June at the earliest. Coupled with this sea sonal recession is the fact that individual buying power has been seriously curtailed, due to the greatly reduced prices now ruling on copra and hemp, main export pro ducts from this country. Textiles By W. V. Saussotte General Manager Neuss, Hesslein Co., Inc. LOCAL market prices remained unchanged during the first half of March. Although there was no change in rayon prices during the entire month of March, there has been an upward tendency as regards prices for practically all types of cotton goods, which increases oc curred during the latter half of March. It is expected that local market prices will continue to advance from now on due to the sharp reduction in current arrivals in comparison with arrivals during the last 8 months. The feeling in the local market, based on the values of the licenses issued by the ICC for the last 6 months of 1951 and scheduled for issuance during the first 6 months of 1952, is that arrivals will be considerably below current consumption. This thinking is already confirmed by March arrivals which are estimated to have been only about half of a normal month’s con sumption. Prices in the United States were basically, unchanged during March although there were some declines in certain rayon constructions. However, the prevailing low prices in the United States in respect to cotton goods are not expected to last much longer and during the last few days of March, there was a noticeable firming tendency. During the early part of this year many mills reduced their production and in some instances mills were shut down entirely. This has had the effect of bringing supply and demand into closer balance but could conceivably lead to shortages in certain constructions of cloth, which would, of course, tend to raise prices. t'xuring March, arrivals from the United States totaled 8,844 packages, in comparison with 23,781 packages which arrived during February. March arrivals were the smallest since June, 1951. The arrivals from the United States included 3,013 packages of cotton piece goods, 2,706 packages of rayon piece goods, 588 packages of cotton remnants, and 670 packages of rayon remnants. In comparison with February’s arrivals, these figures represent a reduction of about 65% in the instance of cotton piece goods, 50% in rayon piece goods, 85% in cotton remnants, and 65% in rayon rem nants. Included in the March arrivals from the United States were 209 packages of sewing thread, 263 packages of cotton seine twine, and 417 packages of cotton knitting yarn. Arrivals of all textile items from countries other than the United States totaled 2,135 packages. Included were PASIG RIVER BODEGAS GENERAL BONDED WAREHOUSES ¥ SOUTHWESTERN SUGAR & MOLASSES CO. (FAR EAST) , INC. MOLASSES BUYER 145 Muelle de Binondo Tel 2-63-10 THE POSITIVE RODENT DESTROYER One whiff of this amazing rodenticide will instantly kill all rats in a burrow or hideout. CYANOGAS is more effective than any known rodent destroyer because it attacks rats through their weakest spot, the one function they cannot control— BREATHING! CYANOGAS reacts with the natural moisture in the air. It is spectacular in its result—the slow gas liberated does not single out one rat, but rapidly kills all rats in a burrow before they have a chance to escape. Exclusive Distributors: Philippine American Drug Co. CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT Port Area, Manila 158 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 BUILD Will JACKBILT BLOCKS Your Answer Io low cost housing Gives you: Fire Safety Lifelong Durability Low Upkeep Low Insurance Rates Weather Tightness Vermin Proofness Sole Distributors NORTON & HARRISON COMPANY 814 ECHAGUE, MANILA Tel: 3-34-11 Tel: 3-34-12 HISS, HESSLED & CO., If. 75 WORTH ST., NEW YORK, N.Y. FOREMOST SUPPLIERS OF TEXTILE FABRICS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD for 86 years and FOREMOST SUPPLIERS OF TEXTILES TO THE PHILIPPINES FOR 51 YEARS. ♦ FAUST SUITINGS FLATTERY PRINTS WALDORF PERCALES SEINE TWINE & YARNS AGUILA DENIMS • CARABELA CHAMBRAYS • COMMANDER BROADCLOTH • COTTON & RAYON POUND-GOODS -------------------------- MANILA OFFICE:---------------------------209 ROSARIO ST. MANILA PHONE 2-69-17 Cable Address “NEIIESCO” 2,397 packages from China, 325 packages from Japan, and 1,279 packages from Europe and 896 packages of jute bags also from Europe. There were also 279 packages of sewing thread from Great Britain. Legislation, Executive Orders, and Court Decisions By E. E. Selph Ross, Selph, Carrascoso & Janda HOUSE Bill No. 2681 provides for the creation of the National Crop Insurance Corporation. House Bill No. 2609 provides for publication in a newspaper of general circulation for two consecutive weeks of all cases of compromise of tax liability involving P500 or more. House Bill No. 2597 increases the workmen’s com pensation benefits by about triple that provided in the old law. For example, the burial provision is increased from Pl00 to P300 and the amount payable for total disability is increased from P3000 to P9000. House Bill No. 2592 provides for the creation of a Commodity Credit Corporation for the purpose of stabi lizing, supporting, and protecting farm income and prices. House Bill No. 2662 provides for the registration, inspection, and analysis of commercial fertilizers. The Committee on Agriculture has recommended approval of this bill. House Bill No. 2591 provides for the extension of the Export Control Law to December 31, 1954. House Bill No. 2537 provides for the creation of a Bureau of Standards with power to fix standards for all commodities for which a standard has not been fixed, for inspection and certification for export, and for the collection of a fee of 1 /4 of 1 % of the declared or manifested value of each shipment. It is estimated the revenue from this Bureau will be Pl,200,000 per annum and its proposed appropriation for expenses is P300.000. House Bill No. 2590 proposes amendment of the 17% tax law to exempt books, magazines and newspapers, and text books, reference books, and readers for educational institutions. Also, “remittances of foreign capital invested locally in agricultural and industrial, as distinguished from commercial, enterprises”. House Bill No. 2631 extends to December 31, 1954, authority of the President to fix ceiling prices, and au thorizes PRISCO to make arrests, searches, and seizures and to issue subpoenas duces tecum. House Bill No. 2765 provides for registration of trade marks owned by foreigners, provided the country of citi zenship affords substantially similar privileges to citizens of the Philippines. House Bill No. 2766 provides for increase in the fees of the Securities and Exchange Commission. House Bill No. 2768 provides for progressive restric tion on the import of pencils of wood, paper, or any ma terial other than metal. House Bill No. 2758 provides for adding to the Patent Law, provisions for ornamental designs and things which may not be inventions but are of practical utility. One of the examples given in the explanatory note is a “match box with built-in ash tray”. Another is a “telephone set with built-in writing pad and lamp”. House Bill No. 2719 provides for eliminating the requirement for filing income-tax returns to those whose gross income does not exceed the total amount of personal exemptions. House Bill No. 2650 provides for legalization of occu pation of land in a public forest, if occupied in good faith April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 159 for more than five years prior to January 1, 1952, and if more fitted for agricultural than timber purposes may be sold to the occupant in accordance with the provisions of the Public Land Act. House Bill No. 2635 provides that legal hours of work in government offices “shall not be more than eight (8) hours a day, including time for lunch, for five (5) days a week or a total of forty (40) hours a week, except dur ing the hot season, when they shall not be less than five (5) hours a day”. The explanatory note contains the following: “According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), an especialized agency of the United Nations Organization, of which we are a member, the following facts are already being observed by member nations for white collar workers: ‘seventy-two per cent (72%) of the companies now report that no regular office work is done on Saturday as against fifty-six per cent (56%) in 1946. The standard work week in hours is also shrinking. Almost twice as large a percentage of com panies show a work week under 37 hours as did in 1946”. House Bill No. 2624 provides that hereafter, motor vehicles can be registered only in the town or city where its owner resides. House Bill No. 2623 provides for maximum prices • for admission to theatres—general admission P0.80, bal cony Pl.20, loge P2.00. A recent case (Manila Oriental Saw Mill Co. vs. National Labor Union, L-4330) on labor law, decided by the Supreme Court on March 24, 1952, is of considerable interest in the light of recent occurrences. In May, 1950, the labor union of employees of the Sawmill Company made a contract with the employer, which was approved by the Court of Industrial Relations. This agreement was for one year, but on August 14, 1950, most of the members of the union joined another union and made new demands on the employer. The employer answered that it would not do anything unless the existing contract was set aside by the Court of Industrial Relations. On August 28, 1950, these employees went on strike. The case went to the Supreme Court on the point that the strike was illegal. The Supreme Court said: “The new union then sought to present a seven-point demand of the very same employees to petitioner, which in many respects differs from their previous demand. It is evident that the purpose of their transfer is merely to disregard and circumvent the contract entered into between the same employees and the petitioner on May 4, 1950, knowing fully well that contract was effective for one year, and was entered into with the sanction of the Court of Industrial Relations. If this move were allowed the result would be a subversion of a contract freely entered into without any valid and justifiable reason. Such act cannot be sanctioned in law or in equity as it is in derogation of the principle underlying the freedom of contract and the good faith that should exist in contractual relations. “A labor organization is wholesome if it serves its legitimate pur pose of settling labor disputes. That is why it is given personality and recognition in concluding collective bargaining agreements. But if it is made use of as a subterfuge, or as a means to subvert valid commit ments, it outlives its purpose, for far from being an aid, it tends to un dermine the harmonious relations between management and labor. Such is the move undertaken by the respondent union. Such a move cannot be considered lawful and cannot receive the sanction of the Court. Hence, the strike it has staged is illegal.” DAVE HARVEY Painting and Contracting The BEST In WORKMANSHIP & MATERIALS 920 M. H. DEL PILAR TEL. 5-11-17 ★ LUZON STEVEDORING COMPANY, INC. Manila ★ 160 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 SMITH-CORONA PORTABLE One glance at the new SMITH-CORONA. . . and you’re convinced that it’s the most beautiful and sturdy portable typewriter you’ve ever laid eyes on! Not just a “new model”. . . it’s a revolutionary all new typewriter. . . with a total of nineteen new features plus fifteen SMITH-CORONA “exclu sives”! Its smart, new Color-speed Keyboard is full standard office machine size. . . has rimless keys colored a restful non-glare green and “comfort shape” to cup your finger tips. ERLANGER & GALINGER, INC. 123 T. Pinpin, Manila • Magallanes St., Cebu City ern Equipment American President Lines’ fast, dependable Cargoliners have heavy lift gear for extra heavy cargo. . . Cargocaire dehumidifying systems to protect cargoes subject to damage by moisture. . . radar. . . fire alarm systems throughout all compartments. . . deep tank heating systems to maintain bulk liquid cargoes at correct temperatures. . . pilfer-proof specie chambers and precious cargo lockers. Finest equipment is just one of many reasons why. . . It Pays You Well To Ship A.P.L. Philippine Safety Council By Frank S. Tenny Founder & Executive Director INTENSIVE activity continues to mark the “national safety movement” in a large variety of fields. Four local insurance companies have recently become Council members—Associated Insurance & Surety Co., Inc., Pro vident Insurance Co. of the Philippines, Equitable Insur ance 8c Casualty Co., Inc., and Century Insurance Co., Inc. This brings the insurance company members total to seventeen. Two government safety agencies, the Fire Prevention Board and the Manila Mayer’s Traffic Committee, have resumed the holding of meetings and the agendas of both groups are heavy with important matters. The Fire Board is working on a revision of the Arson Law and the creation of qualified fire-cause investigating committees throughout the Philippines. The Council has formally recommended to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (1) the marking of town locations on roofs in the provinces, (2) mandatory weather reports from all licensed radio stations early each day, and (3) adequate fire-fighting equipment and person nel at airports. Two articles on the Philippine traffic problem appeared in the March 28 edition of the Evening News and the 52nd Anniversary Edition of the Manila Daily Bulletin. Both analyzed current factors and made emphatic, specific recommendations. The Executive Director also appeared at a hearing of the Manila Municipal Board in opposition to the plan to allow free and unrestricted use of all city streets to animal-drawn vehicles. Plans for the First Annual National Safety Week progressed with the information that a Presidential-exe cutive order will proclaim the second week in July as the official period of observance. Offers of support and co operation have so far been received from fourteen key groups, with others expected momentarily. The^Council is expected to largely coordinate the affair. The “week” will be composed of six different days, each devoted to a special field of safety. American Chamber of Commerce members are in vited to inquire about the Council’s air payroll-delivery service. No adverse reports were received from members after being on a “security alert” over March 29-30.^The Caltex-Council safety-leaflet campaign has been^ com pleted with the distribution of over 150,000 pieces to “jeepney” and bus drivers. The next cooperative project will be a “Dim-your-lights” campaign in conjunction with the Manila Trading & Supply Co. Good results continue to be obtained by the careful driver screening-and-training plan being used by the Taxicab Inspection Service operated for the Manila Taxicabs & Garages Association. Consid erable interest has recently been evinced by various mem bers, associations, and government groups in (1) driver training programs, (2) fire-protection programs, (3) pre vention of industrial accidents, and (4) safety-security factors. MARY BACHRACIi BLDG. AMERICAN PRESIDENT LINES Your Aiticricaii Hotel Abroad 25th Street, Port Area Tel. 3-32-81 AGENTS TELEPHONES BROKERS 3-34-20 CHARTERERS 3-34-29 American Steamship Agencies, lie. Manila and Tokyo Cable Address: 203 Myers Bldg. “AMERSHIP” Ara April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 161 COST OF LIVING PRICE INDEX OF WAGE EARNER’S FAMILY* IN MANILA BY MONTH, 1948 TO 1952* (1941 = 100) Bureau of the Census and Statistics Manila 1948 All (100) 1 House 1 cloth. Fuel, Light and Water (7.73) (w'm) ing Power (63.43) | (11.96) | ing (2.04) January.......... 390.7 427.6 453.9 224. 5 304.6 249. S1 .2560 February........ 369.8 394.0 453.9 223. 8 301.1 254.4 .2708 March............. 349.4 361.0 453.9 214. 6 308.1 255.9 .2862 April................ 354.6 374.1 453.9 209. 4 289.7 254.51 .2820 May................. 349.8 360.2 453.9 214. 2 289.7 271.t .2859 June................. 354.3 370.4 453.9 205. 2 283.2 262. S1 .2823 July................. 356.4 374.2 453.9 201.3 281.6 262.41 .2806 August............ 363.6 385.7 453.9 199. 8 281.6 261.5 .2751 September. . . 370.6 397.2 453.9 199.2 279.6 260. f .2698 October.......... 374.9 404.0 453.9 204. 8 283.2 257.9 .2668 November... . 368.7 394.4 453.9 202.0 281.6 258.5 .2712 December... . 365.9 389.9 453.9 202. 0 282 4 258.9 .2732 1949 January........... 363.8 386.8 453.9 202.0 279.0 258.9 .2750 February........ 343.8 355.5 453.9 203. 0 277.5 258.9 .2909 March............. 345.3 358.2 453.9 202. 0 .276.3 258.1 .2896 April................ 348.7 362.6 453.9 197. 6 287.5 257.1I .2868 May................. 348.8 362.8 453.9 197. 2 287.5 257.1I .2867 June................. 349.0 362.9 453.9 203. 9 287.5 257.2! .2865 July................. 351.7 374.0 453.9 194. 2 265.8 240.' .2844 August............ 337.5 351.2 453.9 196. 3 266.6 241.5! .2963 September. . . 333.6 345.1 453.9 190. 3 264.8 243.11 .2998 October......... 332.9 343.3 453.9 199.9 264.8 245.0 .3004 November.... 339.6 356.1 453.9 191. 1 258 4 239.1J .2945 December . . . 329.6 335.9 453 9 202. 9 259.5 256.2 .3035 1950 January ......... 332.3 336.8 453.9 238.10 253.1 269.3 .3010 February........ 336.9 340.2 453.9 233.3 257.8 284.1 .2969 March............. 339.0 341.4 453.9 236.7 257.8 292.6 .2950 April................ 331.8 328.6 453.9 237.'7 252.9 301.2 .3015 May.................. 320.2 308.6 453.9 244.'7 249.7 309.1 .3123 June................. 323.1 310.9 453.9 243.!5 249.7 319.1 .3095 July.................. 332.0 322.4 453.9 252.15 249.7 328.7 .3012 August............ 334.4 325.9 453.9 258.'7 251.1 328.4 .2990 September . . . 341.3 335.0 453.9 317.4 252.5 327.5 .2930 October........... 352.8 351.1 453.9 337.:3 249.7 334.5 .2835 November .... 354.1 353.2 453.9 322.13 249.7 335.9 .2825 December. . . . 352.2 350.5 453.9 325.2 249.7 334.8 .2839 1951 January......... 355.2 355.0 453.9 331.:5 249.7 334. C .2816 February.. . . 358.4 359.8 453.9 342 .;8 249.7 334.4 .2790 March........... 352.4 349.3 453.9 379.4 248.8 334.31 .2838 April............... 361.2 362.6 453.9 398j6 247.5 334.5 .2769 May............... 365.0 367.0 453.9 410.4 247.5 339.5 .2740 June................ 367.8 372.0 453.9 399. 5 247.5 337.5 .2719 July................ 366.3 370.1 453.9 382. 0 247.5 339.0I .2730 August........... 365.1 371.4 453 9 354. 0 247.5 329.1 .2739 September. . . 363.0 369.0 453.9 356.4 247.5 325.41 .2755 October......... 358.1 361.1 453.9 350. 4 247.5 326.5 .2793 November . . . 351.1 351.1 453.9 343. 8 247.5 323.3I .2848 December . . . 349.0 348.9 453.9 335. 2 247.5 319.41 .2865 1952 January........... 355.1 357.8 453.9 323. 0 247.5 324.6 .2816 February......... 348.0 349.8 453.9 282.'9 243.4 318.3 .2874 March............. 344.3 345.1 453 9 273. 7 243.4 315.C) .2904 i Average number of persons in a family = 4.9 members. *For explanatory note, see the August, 1951, Journal. COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY OF PHILIPPINES, INC. HEMP AND COPRA EXPORTERS STEAMSHIP AGENTS * 206 Myers Building Port Area, Manila, P. I. ¥ BRANCHES. Davao • Tacloban • Cebu • Tabaco FOR BETTER SERVICE—Call 3-29-05 ALLIED BROKERAGE C0RP0R1TI0J Marsman Building Port Area MOTOR SERVICE CO, II. AUTOMOTIVE PARTS • ACCESSORIES GARAGE & SHOP EQUIPMENT BATTERIES • TIRES • TUBES 230 13th St., Port Area Tel. 3-36-21 Individual attention and competent supervision given to your customs brokerage requirements. CUSTOMS BROKERAGE FREIGHT FORWARDING WAREHOUSING TRUCKING HEAVY HAULING 162 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 Message of President Quirino to Both Houses of Congress RE ADMISSION OF AMERICANS TO THE PHILIPPINES UNDER THE SPECIAL QUOTA OF 1,200 A YEAR: “March 18, 1952 “Sir: "I refer to Article VI (2) of the Executive Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, entered into on July 4, 1946, entitled CAN )AGREEMENT CONCERN ING TRADE AND RELATED MAT TERS,’ which provides as follows: •2. There shall be permitted to enter the Philip pines, without regard to any numerical limitations under the laws of the Philippines, in each of the calendar years 1946 to 1951, both inclusive, 1,200 citizens of the United States, each of whom shall be entitled to remain in the Philippines for 5 years.’ "This Agreement was entered into by the President of the United States of America through his duly empowered Plenipotentiary in pursuance of an act of the United States Congress (Philippine Trade Act of 1946) with the President of the Philippines, acting pursuant to the provisions of Commonwealth Act No. 733. “The special quota of 1,200 a year was in addition to the regular quota of 500 under the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 which was later on reduced to 50 by Republic Act No. 503, approved on June 12, 1950. It TODAYS modern, smart home owner demands two qualities above all from any home furnishing or accessory: it must render perfect service . . . and it must add charm and beauty to her home. That’s why in most modern homes today, Lifetime graces more windows than any other Venetian blind. was intended for American citizens and their families who were proceeding to the Philip pines as technicians directly connected with rehabilitation activities of the Philippine Government or of private organizations. In practice, however, especially during the time of the late President Roxas, a liberal policy was followed in the allocation of these special quota numbers to American citizens as long as there was an indication that their work or business would aid in the rehabilita tion of the country. “With the special quota no longer available after December 31, 1951, in accordance with the above-mentioned Agreement, and with the regular quota reduced from 500 to 50, it is not now possible for a large number of American citizens to come to the Philippines for business or employment. They may not come in as temporary visitors because tempo rary visitors are not allowed to engage in any work in this country. Besides their stay would necessarily be limited to only one year. “The United States Embassy has infor mally approached our Government to explore the possibility of extending the special quota of 1,200 to American citizens under the Agreement through some kind of understand ing or supplementary agreement. “I believe that there is no question as to the desirability of, if not the need for, the continued entry of this class of special quota immigrants in the interest of our economic development program. They are mostly executives and skilled technicians and do not therefore offer any competition to Fili pinos engaged in the same activities. “However, unlike other kinds of executive agreements which are entered into by the President by virtue of his independent power as Commander-in-Chief or the sole constitu tional organ for the conduct of foreign rela tions, this Philippine-United States Agree ment concerning trade and related matters was made in pursuance of a legislative au thorization granted by a specific statute passed by the United States Congress au thorizing the President of the United States to enter into it by virtue of a law passed by our own Congress granting a similar author ization to the President of the Philippines. It seems clear, therefore, that any modifica tion or amendment to be introduced into any of the commitments of the Philippines under that Agreement needs either a prior authoriza tion from the Congress of the Philippines or subsequent legislative approval in order that such modification or amendment may be come valid and effective. “In view thereof, I propose to instruct the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to begin nego tiations with the United States Government for the conclusion of a supplementary agree ment extending the operation of Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Agreement for another five calendar years beginning 1952, subject to the same causes of termination as those provided for in Article X, paragraph 2, of the Agreement. I shall appreciate the concur rence of the Senate (and House of Represen tatives) to this proposed course of action for the reasons stated above.” Call 5-42-74, or Write P. O. Box 285, Manila, For Free Estimates CADWALLADER PACIFIC COMPANY 337 Perez Street, Manila Borromeo Street, Cebu City This Journal is one of the best media for advertising addressed to business and plant managers April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 163 “LET YOUR HAIR DOWN” “T JUST solved a little problem with 1 the help of Kant,” said the editor, grinning. “What did you say?” we asked. “How do you manage to solve a thing you can’t?” “Kant,” said the editor. “Kant, old Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher.” “Now what can Kant have to do with you and the Journal"}" said we pityingly. “You’d be surprised,” said the editor. “Well?” “It was this way. .. One of our column editors called me up on the telephone a while ago and told me that the editor of another business publication in Manila had asked him to send him a carbon copy of the article he writes for the Journal every month, so that he could print it in his periodical too. Our contrib utor asked me what I thought of that.” “That’s a hot one!” said we. “Yes, isn’t it?” said the editor. “But what was I to say? The Jour nal depends on voluntary contribu tions for its column material. None of our column editors receives any pay for his work. They are all pro minent businessmen, experts in their lines. The Journal could not hope even to begin to pay such men for their time. We have no contracts with them. They are under no legal obligations to the Journal whatever. Certainly, under such circumstances, I could not demand or even request that they write only for the Journal. I could not even object to their send ing copies of what they write, pri marily for the Journal, to other pa pers also ...” “Well,” said we, “the ‘Business View’ department in the Journal was your idea. You organized the thing several years ago. You en listed the help of all those business men. You have kept it going, get ting new contributors from time to time as some of the original contrib utors dropped out. You add new columns. What right has another editor to take advantage of all your work?” “I am not saying that he has the right, ethically, but he did make the proposal I have told you about, and the contributor put it up to me.” “What did you say?” “Well, I said that I had no right to ask him not to write for this other magazine, or even not to send him a carbon-copy of what he writes for the Journal, but, I said, suppose that this other editor asks all of our column editors to do the same thing and they all agree—out of the kindness of their hearts, their desire to oblige, or their sense of fairness, say. Then, I said, there would be two Journals, one published by the American Cham ber and the other published by this also— BEARINGS Ball, roller and babbitted bearings are available from the outstanding LinkBelt line. Unique design plus precision manufacture, combine to give them de pendable, economical, job-proved service. Complete line of mounted and unmount ed bearings to meet al) requirements. OTHER LINK-BELT PRODUCTS INCLUDE: Shaft Couplings and Col lars... Clutches... Speed Reducers and Increasers... Variable Speed Chan gers ... Conveyors of various types, etc. Let us figure your needs. Exclusive Representatives for Link-Belt Co., U.S.A. THE EARNSHAWS DOCKS & HONOLULU IRON WORKS Cor. Tacoma & 2nd Sta. Port Area, Manila Telephone: 3-35-41 P. O. Box 282 other entity, both exactly alike!” “What did your contributor say?” “He laughed,” said the editor, “and then he said that the two jour nals might be alike as to that one department, but certainly not as to the rest. A compliment, you see.” “Yeah,” we said, “but what did you mean about Kant? What did he have to do with it?” The editor smiled triumphantly. “Don’t you remember”, he asked, “Kant’s categorical imperative: ‘Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law'}” Chains and Sprockets The line includes chains of all types —Silent, Roller, Malleable Iron, Promal, Steel and other alloys—in scores of standard sizes with a wide range of attach ment styles, in cluding sprockets for every mechan ical power trans mission and con veying service. Branch Office at Bacolod, Occ. Negros 164 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 “Oh, yes, of course. How apt!” said we. “Matter of fact,” said the editor, “that so-called categorical impera tive always infuriated me; that’s why I remember it. Why should I first have to make up my mind that anything I want to do would be all right for everybody to do before I can go ahead in good con science and do it? I have always gotten a kick out of doing what I know very well wouldn’t be good for everybody to do. Why, some of the best, dearest, sweetest. . . Not that I think it right to make an ex ception in my own favor, as Kant would have said. No, I just don’t SAVINGS These tires are made with the wider, flatter tread that puts more rubber on the road to spread the load ... by B. F. Goodrich Goodrich International Rubber Co. 13th and Atlanta Sts. Port Area MANILA TEL. 3-37-21 believe in absolutes. I am no Prus sian . . .” “What are you talking about?” asked we. “Secret”, said he, turning away. “Wait a minute!” we cried. “So, by your own reasoning, this other editor is justified in stealing your contributors if he feels like it?” “No, I wouldn’t say that exactly,” was the answer. “But I wouldn’t say that he was absolutely wrong in trying. As a matter of fact, it was not a bad idea,—for him!” “T'XAD, here is an article about I J Great Britain, and it says that if that great country uses up all its foreign exchange it would be bankrupt. How can that be? Sup pose the Philippines had no more dollars in the United States. We would still have our pesos here, wouldn’t we? And the country would still be the same, with the same natural resources, the same people, the same production.” “Right, son. The country would still be the same and we would still have our pesos,—of a sort, which we could use among ourselves, but we wouldn’t be able to buy anything from abroad with them . . . “Think of a nation as if it were a family, like ours. So long as we deal only among ourselves here in the house, we can get along as we are for a while, even if we had no money. We have the house, so we have shel ter. We have a vegetable garden and some food in the pantry, so we can eat. We can get along with the clothes we have, too. If necessary, we can borrow pieces of clothing and other articles from each other. But that couldn’t last. Before long we would be bound to need things we have to go out of the house and out side our own yard to buy, and to do that we would have to have money. “Suppose we had a little money. How did we get that, in the first place? We got it because some of us were working, were doing something or selling something for which we received the money. As far as our own little community here in the house is concerned, that money is our ‘foreign exchange’, a fund we built up by rendering some service or supplying something to people outside our family. “If we spent all the money we had and none of us were earning any thing, we wouldn’t be able to bring into the house all the things we need and we would soon be suffering severely. “It is the same with every family and every nation, too. If a country could be entirely self-supporting, if it produced all the things it needed itself, it would not need either to buy or to sell anything to other countries. All the trading could be domestic; there wouldn’t have to be any trading with foreign countries. “But nations can no more be en tirely self-supporting than families can. Even the people of the largest and richest countries must obtain many of their necessities from other countries and, in return for those goods, they send out their own sur plus goods. In that way, the dif ferent countries of the world work for one another and help one another. “In a rough way, we can say that what a country exports is a measure of the help it gives other countries, April, 1952 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 165 and, of course, this help is recipro cated for by what the country re ceives from other countries in the form of imports. It is all a very necessary and friendly thing. That is why trade treaties between coun tries are generally called ‘treaties of friendship, commerce, and naviga tion.’ Understandings about navi gation are important because most of the international trade of the world is sea-borne. “Now if a country imports more than it exports for any length of time, and is not able to pay for the differ ence either by credits established by past sales or services, or by paying in gold (the only generally accepted international medium of exchange), then it is bankrupt,-—that is, its ‘bank’ is ‘broken’; it is no longer able to pay. And, if unable to pay, it can not continue to buy even the most essential necessities from abroad. “That is why it is so important for a country to keep up its international exchange funds,—not, of course, by simply not spending them, but by spending them for necessary imports only and continuously replenishing them by the sale of exports. That is equivalent, in the case of a family, to some of the members of the family working and bringing money into the house. “The Philippines’ foreign exchange funds are spoken of as its ‘dollar funds’ for the reason that most if not all of the reserve, though called the ‘international reserve’ is in' dollars, and that is principally because most of the Philippine foreign trade has for many years been with the United States and that is where the Philip pines naturally built up its reserves. This is true, today, of most other countries, too, the United States being the world’s greatest market. Even the United States, however, with all its wealth, could not indefi nitely continue to import,—that is, buy, more than it exports,—that is, sells. Its treasure, too, would run out,—just as sure as the money in my own bill-fold here ...” “How much have you got, dad? Enough for us to go to a show?” “Dammit! Haven’t I just been telling you this is our ‘foreign ex change’ that we ought to spend only for essentials?. . . What picture do you want to see? What time would you get home?” “Oh, we’d be home early, papa dear!” “Talk about a self-supporting, selfcontained, self-sufficient family, or country either!” mumbled dad. “I must feel just like Mike Cuaderno.” *-pHE editor received the following A interesting letter from Mrs. Ger trude C. Hornbostel, a former Phil ippine resident whom many readers of the Journal know. As for the concoction of fermented brown sugar syrup, flavored with maple and wal nut extract, which Mrs. Hornbostel tells about and which she made for her friends in the camp in an effort to give a “tobacco flavor” to the tomato, papaya, and other kinds of leaves people were smoking in Santo Tomas, —the editor says he used to get a small vial of this too, once in a while, and that it did give these leaves a EVERYDAY MARCH OF PROGRESS Means Service to You. Yes, great strides arc being made to keep ahead of your growing demands for electricity. Progress is being made everyday. . . in modern equipment, in greater system capacity and in new transmission lines. ¥ wi MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY 134 San Marcelino kind of mock pipe-tobacco flavor, but he said that like people used to say of “near-beer”, these substitutes did not have the “authority”. The editor further confided that instead of using the concoction for the pur pose Mrs. Hornbostel had in mind, he usually,—without of course let ting her know, drank it! “We were proud and delighted to be count ed -among those receiving a copy of your book, ‘A Few Poems and Essays’. Thank you so very much. “It is through a man’s writings that we learn really to know him, and yours are no different in that respect. They show what an absolute sentimentalist you are at heart, Our distribution systems and the all-important trans mission lines are the vital links between the power plants and your home. All transmis sion lines are built with spare capacity, to be sure of meeting your daily power require ments. Our distribution systems, which have been designed to care for more customers, usually have several sources of power. Our constant efforts are devoted to supplying you •ith the best service possible. Manila 166 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL April, 1952 that you have no faith in all the religions concocted by as many individuals, but that you nevertheless have a warm, a deeply religious personality; you try to cover that fact with a cloak cold matter-of-factness but the attempt is quite unsuccessful. "What I want to say is: We like your little book immensely. Your visit with Major Turnbull just before he died, your little poems on love, your ‘Tobacco in Santo Tomas’, and so many other pieces, all bring back memories of one kind or another, be sides the enjoyment they give by their lite rary fulfillment. “Take your poems on love, for instance; your trying to raise a black tulip on the roof of the Uy Yet Building in days of yore, was a reminder that I must tell you that I have very successfully raised enormous black ones that are just ready to bloom again this year. I have several in a bed with white, lavender, and purple ones; the flowers were enormous, on stems two feet tall. Every time I look at them, I think of you. Or rather we both do, as we can’t help being reminded of you by these flowers. And that usually brings us back to that lovely roof garden. But the fact that you tried to raise that black tulip was the incentive to my trying it here in my own garden. ‘‘The 'Tobacco in Santo Tomas’ chapter from your history of the camp, reminded me of my efforts in behalf of some of the inter nees to supply them with something reminis cent of real pipe tobacco for their pipes. I had a letter from Charlie Cushing while I was laid up in hospital down south, telling me how good the concoction was. I can now enjoy myself just thinking of the ingredients that went into the stuff. During that ty phoon we had in ’43 (I think it was) some of my brown sugar got wet. It wasn’t much, just about five or six pounds, but precious beyond words, as you well know. I saved Republic of the Philippines Department of Public Works and CommuniBUREAU OF POSTS Manila SWORN STATEMENT (Required by Act No. 2580; The undersigned, A. V. H. Hartendorp, editor and manager of the American Chamber of Commerce Journal, published monthly in English at the OfHce of the American Cham ber of Commerce of the Philippines, Manila, after having been duly sworn in accordance with law, hereby submits the following state ment of ownership, management, circulation, etc., which is required by Act No. 2580, as amended by Commonwealth Act No. 201: Editor, A. V. H. Hartendorp, 424 San Luis, Manila Business Manager, A. V. H. Hartendorp, 424 San Luis, Manila Owner, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines 424 San Luis, Manila Publisher, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines 424 San Luis, Manila Printer, McCullough Printing Company 1104 Castillejos, Manila Stockholders owning one per cent or more of the total amount of stocks: None. Bondholders, mortgagees, or other security holders owning one per cent or more of the total amount of security: None. Total number of copies printed and circu lated of the last issue, dated March, 1952: Sent to paid subscribers............................ 800 Sent to other than paid subscribers.... 1200 Total................................ 2000 (Sgd.) A. V. II. Hardentorp Editor and Manager Subscribed and sworn to before me this 24th day of Sept., 1951, at Manila, the affiant exhibiting his Residence Certificate No. A-0056371 issued at Manila on January 8, 1952. Felix P. Wijangco Notary Public Until December 31, 1952 Doc. No. 542; page 84; Book No. 18; series of 1952. all I could of it, but because the water rose so high and it took so long to go down, and we couldn’t do any cooking for a while, as all the wood and charcoal had gotten wet, the sugar had begun to ferment, which gave it that rummy flavor. I cooked it and strained all the flies and bees out of it and kept it in a couple of bottles until things began to get scarce. One day I opened one of the bottles and took a whiff of it; it had a mighty powerful odor of good rum, which gave me the idea of doing a little experiment ing with the addition of a little maple extract artd walnut flavoring, which we had on hand from our former candy business, this being now the latter part of ’44, with hardly any tobacco available any more. As you may remember, people were smoking all sorts of different kinds of leaves with which they would mix whatever little tobacco they might have left or could get their hands on. I asked my next-door shanty-neighbor, Hooper, to let me have whatever he was smoking at the time and I believe what he gave me was culitis and papaya leaves, dried and crushed. I put the stuff in a pan and poured a little ’ of the fancy preparation I had made on it, stirred it in the pan for a while, so it would be thoroughly mixed and softened by the heat, then packed it into a tin can and -told Hooper to wait until the next day and then try it. When he had tried it he told me that one couldn’t tell the difference between it and good smoking tobacco. I don’t think he was jollying me either, because I had learned a great deal about tobacco by asking ques tions of the men working in my grand mother’s tobacco factory in Switzerland as a child and also from my father’s efforts at finding a way to make .a good pipe tobacco in Saipan and Guam, where he raised and smoked his own for many years. Anyway, I found many other takers, and Hooper remained a steady customer. I never charg ed anyone for the stuff, since it gave me too much enjoyment to be able to make some thing that would fill an urgent need at that time. "And so it goes; I could go on and on. Your children in the book remind me of our own, of whom Johanna arid her husband, with their two wonderful boys, are here right now. They have rented a little house down the street, within easy walking distance from ours, to spend their vacation. Today we shall celebrate the two boys’ birthdays, both of whom-were born in March; one is now five, the other three. “Alec took Sandy, who was in Santo To mas with us, to school in Scotland before going back to the Philippines. His school is close to his grandparents’ home, so that he can spend his spare time with them. We enjoyed having them all here for Christmas. “I wish you could get that history pub lished for posterity I I would like several copies of it myself and I am sure that most of the other internees feel the same way about it as I do. I am getting more and more hazy about dates and things that hap pened. An effort, no doubt, on the part of my subconscious to push the whole night mare into the background as much as pos sible. “Again many thanks. My husband joins me in wishing you the best of Easter greet ings. “With kindest regards “Gertrude C. Hornbostel” C. F. SHARP & COMPANY, INC. 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