Note 6 — Trade and Agriculture Since the American Advent

At the period of the American occupation the Currency of the Islands was the Mexican and Spanish-Philippine peso, of a value constantly fluctuating between 49 and 37 cents. gold (vide table at p. 647). The shifty character of the silver basis created such an uncertainty in trade and investment transactions that the Government resolved to place the currency on a gold standard. Between January 1 and October 5, 1902, the Insular Treasury lost $956,750.37½ from the fall of silver. A difficulty to be confronted was the impossibility of ascertaining even the approximate total amount of silver current in the Islands. Opinions varied from ₱30,000,000 upwards.6 Pending the solution of the money problem, ineffectual attempts were made to fix the relative values by the publication of an official ratio between gold dollar and silver peso once a quarter; but as it never agreed with the commercial quotation many days running, the announcement of the official ratio was altered to once in ten days. Seeing that ten days or more elapsed before the current ratio could be communicated to certain remote points, the complications in the official accounts were most embarrassing. Congress Act of July 1, 1902, authorized the coinage of subsidiary silver, but did not determine the unit of value or provide for the issue of either coin or paper money to take the place of the Mexican and Spanish-Philippine pesos in circulation, so that it was quite inoperative. Finally, Congress Act of March 2, 1903, provided that the new standard should be a peso equal in value to half a United States gold dollar. The maximum amount authorized to be coined was 75,000,000 silver pesos, each containing 416 grains of silver, nine-tenths fine. The peso was to be legal tender for all debts, public and private, in the Islands, and was to be issued when the Insular Government should have 500,000 pesos ready for circulation. The peso is officially alluded to as “Philippine currency,” whilst the popular term, “Conant,” derives its name from a gentleman, Mr. Charles Conant, in whose report, dated November 25, 1901, this coin was suggested. He visited the Islands, immortalized his name, and modestly retired.