The most commonly used trade statistics for examining the total amount of the Philippine trade from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century are Census: 1903 and Report of the Bureau of Customs, 1907-1940. The trade statistics during the American period were compiled by the Bureau of Customs and we assume that they are reliable data. On the other hand, the statistics during the late 19th century compiled in Census: 1903 were all taken from the annual trade reports published in the late 19th century and we have to compare the date in Census: 1903 with those of the original reports.
It is Legarda's disssertation which assumed the above task and even extended the coverage of the compilation of the statistics of the total amount of the Philippine foreign trade, citing the data from contemporary reports. Legarda pointed out the fact that in 1865-1871 the original figures were carried in escudos, of which there were two to a peso; however, in Census: 1903, the original data were carried as if they had been given in pesos. Thus, all foreign trade values in 1865-1871 were double in the table of Census: 1903 [Legarda: 1955, 198].
However, Legarda did not clarify the following two points in his work. First, in the 19th century trade statistics, were the transactions for gold and silver separate from those of merchandise? Second, in the annual trade reports of the 1850s, the items for re-export kept in bonded warehouses were included in the total amount of trade. Were these items also compiled in the total amount in Census: 1903?
According to the author's examination of the limited number of volumes of the late 19th century trade reports, the following answer can be given to the above questions.
First, examining the annual report of foreign statistics from the 1850s to the 1870s, gold and silver coins and bullion were included in the import commodities, while in the report of 1894, they were not in the import commodities. It is assumed that gold and silver coins and bullion were excluded from the import commodities, when the classification method of the import items in the annual reports of foreign statistics was finally determined in the mid-1880s.
Second, it is clearly verified that in Census: 1903, the total amounts of trade in the late 19th century were calculated excluding the re-export items kept in bonded warehouses, in comparison with the statistics given in the annual trade reports in the late 19th century and Census: 1903 .
Chart 1 shows the trend of the Philippine foreign trade from 1831 to 1940. The statistics of 1835, 1868-1871 and 1896-97 are taken from Legarda's dissertation and those from 1837 to 1895 are taken from Census: 1903, revising the data for 1865-1867. All the data for the American period is taken from Report of the Bureau of Customs, 1940. Chart 1 is based on the nominal amount of trade, without considering price increases from 1810 to 1940. Needless to say, the actual increase of the amount of trade can be estimated based on the price index and this work still remains to be done in the future.
In spite of these limitation, Chart 1 gives us the picture of the general trend of Philippine exports and imports from 1831 to 1940. This might be divided into four periods; (1) from the 1830s to the 1860s; (2) from the 1870s to the 1890s; (3) from the 1900s to the 1910s; and (4) from the 1920s to the 1930s.
In the 1830s-1860s, foreign trade grew gradually after the opening of Manila as international port. After the opening of Suez Canal in 1869, the amount of trade increased rapidly and it fluctuated largely during the period from the 1870s to the 1890s. During the Philippine revolution (1896-1902) foreign trade declined drastically before recovering in the 1900s-1910s under American rule. In the 1920s the amount of trade fluctuated rapidly after the economic boom of World War I and fell in the 1930s as a result of the world depression.
In 1831 to 1940 which countries were major trade partners with the Philippines? How did trade partners change from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century? We will discuss this issue in the next section.