n one voyage to two-and-a-half millions of pesos (_vide_
p. 88). After the independence of Mexico (1819), tribute in kind
(tobacco) was, until recently, shipped direct to Spain, and Peninsula
coin began to circulate in these Islands (_vide_ Currency).

Consequent on the banishment of the non-christian Chinese in 1755,
trade became stagnant. The Philippines now experienced what Spain had
felt since the reign of Phillip III., when the expulsion of 900,000
Moorish agriculturists and artisans crippled her home industries,
which needed a century and a half to revive. The Acapulco trade was
fast on the wane, and the Manila Spanish merchants were anxious to get
the local trade into their own hands. Every Chinese shop was closed
by Government order, and a joint-stock trading company of Spaniards
and half-breeds was formed with a capital of P76,500, in shares of
P500 each. Stores were opened in the business quarter, each under the
control of two Spaniards or half-breeds, the total number of shopmen
being 21. The object of the company was to purchase clothing and
staple goods of all kinds required in the Islands, and to sell the
same at 30 per cent. over cost price. Out of the 30 per cent. were to
be paid an 8 per cent. tax, a dividend of 10 per cent. per annum to
the shareholders, and the remainder was to cover salaries and form a
reserve fund for new investments. The company found it impossible to
make the same bargains with the Chinese sellers as the Chinese buyers
had done, and a large portion of the capital was soon lost. The
funds at that date in the _Obras Pias_ amounted to P159,000, and
the trustees were applied to by the company for financial support,
which they refused. The Governor was petitioned; theologians and
magistrates were consulted on the subject. The theological objections
were overruled by the judicial arguments, and the Governor ordered
that P130,000 of the _Obras Pias_ funds should be loaned to the
company on debentures; nevertheless, within a year the company failed.

A commercial company, known as the "_Compania Guipuzcoana de
Caracas_," was then created under royal sanction, and obtained
certain privileges. During the term of its existence, it almost
monopolized the Philippine-American trade, which was yet carried on
exclusively in the State galleons. On the expiration of its charter,
about the year 1783, a petition was presented to the Home Government,
praying for a renewal of monopolies and privileges