exporters employ middlemen for the collecting of produce,
and usually require their guarantee for sales at credit to the
provincial purchasers of imports. These middlemen are always persons
of means, born in the Colony, and, understanding both the intricacies
of the native character and the European mode of transacting business,
they serve as very useful--almost indispensable--intermediaries.

It was only when the crisis in the Sugar trade affected the whole
world, and began to be felt in the Philippines in 1884, that the
majority of the natives engaged in that industry slowly began to
understand that the current price of produce fluctuated according
to supply and demand. Before transactions were so thoroughly in the
hands of middlemen, small producers used to take their samples to the
purchasers, "to see how much they cared to pay" as they expressed
it--the term "market price" seldom being used or understood in the
provinces, because of the belief that prices rose or fell according
to the caprice or generosity of the foreign buyer. Accustomed to
deal, during the first centuries of the Spanish occupation, with the
Chinese, the natives, even among themselves, rarely have fixed prices
in retail dealings, and nearly every quotation in small traffic is
taken only as a fancy price, subject to considerable rebate before
closing. The Chinese understand the native pretty well; they study his
likings, and they so fix their prices that an enormous reduction can
be made for his satisfaction. He goes away quite contented, whilst
the Chinaman chuckles over having got the best of the bargain. Even
the import houses, when they advertise their goods for sale, seldom
state the prices; it seems as if all regarded the question of price
as a shifty one.

The system of giving credit in the retail trade of Manila, and a few
provincial towns, was the ruin of many shopkeepers. There were few
retailers who had fixed prices; most of them fluctuated according to
the race, or nationality, of the intending customer. The Chinese dealer
made no secret about his price being merely nominal. If on the first
offer the hesitating purchaser were about to move away, he would call
after him and politely invite him to haggle over the bargain. [128]

The only real basis of wealth in the Colony is the raw material
obtained by Agriculture, and Forest produce. Nothing was done by the
conquerors to foster the Industrial Arts, and the Manufacturing Trades
we