Note 32 — V. The Nineteenth Century and Economic Development

Why is it that writers attribute great significance to the coming of the foreign business men, especially the American and British?32 Why was it that the opening of the ports, and the coming of the foreigners, resulted in the material progress of the country? Two circumstances are of prime importance in considering the growth of new settlements, and the conditions determining their economic and social progress. The first is whether or not they possess markets for commodities which their natural resources enable the people to produce easily. This condition is important for, without markets in other communities new countries can possess no material advantage over old ones in the production of wealth. Now, the opening of Philippine ports to foreigners brought our products in contact with the world’s market, without which it would have been useless to attempt to produce any more than what was required by the local demand. In other words, the world’s demand for the commodities we produce easily, served as an effective stimulus to further production.