P7.37 1/2, and a cigarette
P1.87 1/2. The fines in Nueva Ecija amounted to an annual average of
P7,000 on a population of 170,000. From sunrise to sunset the native
grower was subject to domiciliary search for concealed tobacco--his
trunks, furniture, and every nook and corner of his dwelling were
ransacked. He and all his family--wife and daughters--were personally
examined: and often an irate husband, father, or brother, goaded to
indignation by the indecent humiliation of his kinswoman, would lay
hands on his bowie-knife and bring matters to a bloody crisis with
his wanton persecutors... The leaves were carefully selected, and
only such as came under classification were paid for. The rejected
bundles were not returned to the grower, but burnt--a despairing
sacrifice to the toiler! The _Cabezas de Barangay_ (_vide_ p. 223)
had, under penalty of arrest and hard labour, to see that the families
fulfilled their onerous contract. Corporal punishment, imprisonment,
and amercement resulted; of frequent occurrence were those fearful
scenes which culminated in riots such as those of Ilocos in 1807 and
1814, when many Spaniards fell victims to the natives' resentment of
their oppression.

Palpable injustice, too, was imposed by the Government with respect
to the payments. The Treasury paid loyally for many years, but as
generation succeeded generation, and the native growers' families
came to feel themselves attached to the soil they cultivated, the
Treasury, reposing on the security of this constancy, no longer
kept to the compact. The officials failed to pay with punctuality
to the growers the contracted value of the deliveries to the State
stores. They required exactitude from the native--the Government set
the example of remissness. The consequence was appalling. Instead of
money Treasury notes were given them, and speculators of the lowest
type used to scour the tobacco-growing districts to buy up this paper
at an enormous discount. The misery of the natives was so distressing,
the distrust of the Government so radicate, and the want of means of
existence so urgent, that they were wont to yield their claims for an
insignificant relative specie value. The speculators held the bonds for
realization some day; the total amount due by the Government at one
time exceeded P1,500,000. Once the Treasury was so hard-pressed for
funds that the tobacco ready in Manila for shipment to Spain had to
be sold on the spot and the 90,000