Note 26 — V. The Nineteenth Century and Economic Development

The increased production, due to the improved methods of cultivation, had a great effect on the inhabitants of the islands, for, not only did it bring about greater welfare because of more adequate satisfaction of their necessities, but also because it developed a demand for other necessities; hence, raising the standard of living. Referring to the same phenomenon in Iloilo Mr. Loney in a report as vice-consul of Great Britain, said that the current testimony of all the elder residents in the province was that during the last few years a very marked change had taken place in the dress and general exterior appearance of the inhabitants of the large pueblos, owing in great measure to the comparative facility with which they obtained articles which were formerly either not imported, or the price of which placed them beyond their reach. In the interior of the houses the same change was observable in the furniture and other arrangements, and the evident wish to add ornamental to the more necessary articles of household use.26