Part 6
Favors were granted to this hospital by our most Catholic king and sovereign, never sufficiently to be praised, your royal Majesty's father, Don Phelipe (whom may God keep in His heaven!); he allowed it one thousand five hundred fanegas of rice, one thousand five hundred fowls, two hundred pieces of cloth from Ylocos, five hundred ducados in money, and four toneladas of freight--this last being worth, one year with another, four hundred pesos. With this income (and we have no other), usually as many as two hundred poor persons are supported and cared for in this hospital; besides these, there are three or four religious who care for the sick and administer the sacraments, and a considerable number of other people who are in the service of the hospital. So small is the income, sacred Majesty, and so many are the poor who come for help, that often we suffer great hardships; for it is the glory of this hospital not only to belong to your Majesty, but also not to turn away any one who comes to it to be treated.
For this reason we religious who are in this hospital, as servants of the poor who are cared for in it, entreat your royal Majesty with the utmost humility that you will grant us aid so that we can treat these poor people with somewhat more convenience; and we especially entreat your royal Majesty that you will favor us by commanding that the said four toneladas of freight be continued to us, as we are accustomed to ship the goods free of customs duties or any other dues, whether in this city of Manila or in Nueva España, or in any other parts of your Majesty's realms where your ships enter.
In this your royal Majesty will render a great service to God our Lord; and may He preserve for us your royal Majesty, with increase of His holy grace, and life and prosperity, as your loyal servants desire. At Manila, July 3, 1599. Your royal Majesty's humble servant,
_Domingo de Santiago_.
[_Endorsed_: "Manila; to his Majesty; Domingo de Santiago, for the hospital of Santa Ana at Manilla. Referred by his Majesty, who directs that the archbishop and governor shall send information regarding the treatment of the sick in this hospital, and whether its income is sufficient for its needs. They shall also ascertain how its funds are disbursed, and if the accounts are audited; and if anything is lacking that is absolutely necessary, let them advise what and how much should be provided, in their opinion."]
Catholic and Royal Majesty:
Antonio Valerio, steward of the royal hospital which the discalced religious of our seraphic father St. Francis founded in the city of Manila, with royal expenditures and some alms, for the cure and healing of all these natives of all these Philipinas Islands which belong to your royal Majesty. I declare that although in this hospital we, three religious and myself, serve for the love of God our Lord--by our services saving the salaries of physician, surgeon, apothecary, and other officers; and I performing the duties of steward, and the said religious treating, as they do, all the sick, besides administering the sacraments--the work of this hospital is continually increasing to such an extent, by its aiding so many sick persons, and from so many places, that although the gifts which your royal Majesty has made to this your hospital are great, they are not sufficient to meet the necessary expenses to which the said hospital is liable. For the usual number of those who are cared for in it ranges from one hundred and sixty to two hundred poor persons; besides, most of the poor people of this city are provided from this hospital with ointments and medicines for their ailments. On account of these expenses the hospital is unable to accomplish many works which should be done--for instance, a house for the workmen and servants, the improvement of the vegetable-garden, and other things necessary for the treatment of the sick.
For these reasons I entreat and supplicate your royal Majesty, with the utmost humility, on my own part and on that of the said poor who are treated in the hospital, that you will do us the favor of adding some further charity to the grants which you have made to this hospital, for the supply of the many wants which arise every day and are increasing.
Still further, I entreat and supplicate your royal Majesty that the favor which the Catholic and royal Majesty, Don Phelipe our lord, the father of your royal Majesty (whom may God our Lord keep in His heaven!), granted to us, by commanding that we be allowed to send four toneladas of freight in his royal ships, be also continued to us free from customs duties and any other dues which pertain to your royal Majesty, whether in this city of Manila or in Nueva España, or in any other part of your realms.
Moreover, since the minister of this hospital is always a father who is a priest, who will administer the sacraments not only to the sick who come to the said hospital for treatment, but to all the people who serve therein or who reside on the stock-farm which belongs to the hospital, as well as to many other people in all this city and in the islands who usually come to this hospital for confession; and besides this, your Majesty pays from his royal treasury the archbishop, qura, and canons of the cathedral of Manila for their labors in ministering to the Indians, in all matters for which the tithes are not sufficient--I entreat your royal Majesty to command your royal officials in this city of Manila that they recompense the said archbishop, cura, and canons in such manner that they shall not enter the stock-farm of the said hospital to collect tithes and firstfruits, since hitherto they have never entered there. And in all things I entreat the royal Majesty of your royal Majesty, etc.
Letters from the Royal Fiscal to the King
Sire:
After having given an account to your Majesty, in so far as concerns my office of fiscal of this royal Audiencia of these Philipinas Islands, of the affairs of justice, by another letter which accompanies this, it seemed best to me to give one concerning those things which touch the royal exchequer, in the following manner.
1. The royal exchequer of your Majesty in these islands is not sufficient by a large sum to supply the salaries and expenses which are here paid out and incurred. For before the royal Audiencia came here, the archbishop and bishops drew from Mexico fifteen, twenty, and some years thirty thousand pesos apiece; but, even with all this, all those who had to draw money from the royal treasury were complaining and irregularly paid. Many works were neglected, and necessary expenses were abandoned. With the new stipends and salaries of an archbishop, three bishops, four auditors, and a fiscal, which amount to twenty-four thousand pesos, we must cut down much more. All that sum, which is the salary of powerful people, must be maintained; and therefore we must suffer wretched service, and abandon, as has been done, works and affairs in which there should be no lack. For some remedy and alleviation of this difficulty, I will point out some expedients which, in my opinion--as one who understands the present state of affairs, and has some knowledge of the country--your Majesty, if you are so pleased, can use, employing such of them as appear to be most expedient.
2. I find no basis on which people could rest their opinion that there should be in these islands the said archbishop and bishops; for the population of them all does not exceed six hundred Spanish citizens, and the one bishop who was in this city was sufficient. One is sufficient for all matters which might arise of which the prelates take cognizance, or which are necessary, for they are very few and unimportant; and those who appeal to the metropolitan go to Mexico and return in one year. The three provinces in which were lately erected the three bishoprics are so near this city that one can come from them in ten or twelve days; and in the one which has the largest settlement of Spaniards there are not more than a hundred citizens, or even so many--namely, in Zubu. The other two, which are Camarines and Cagayan, do not amount, each one, to seventy Spaniards. In each one there is a curate, who administers the sacraments to the Spaniards; and convents of friars, who administer them to the Indians who live in the said villages and their neighborhood. If the prelate who is chosen in Manila is a religious of proved integrity, and industrious, he can very well attend to these matters easily, and without overwork. Whatever has been said or may be said to your Majesty to the contrary, either arises from ignorance of the matter or from private designs, and does not aim at expediency.
[_In the margin_: "There is nothing to answer."]
3. By a decree of your Majesty which came in the past year, ninety-eight, the governor of these islands was commanded to discontinue a number of false musters which were being paid, and additions to the expenses of the royal treasury. Without mentioning the decree, he pronounced an edict in which he commanded the officials of the royal exchequer of your Majesty to erase them from the royal books, and pay them no more. Afterward, with different pretexts and by various means other salaries and additional expenses were incurred, which it had never been customary to pay--as, for instance, paying salaries to the captains, alferez, and other officers of war for the citizens in the villages. The governor appointed, as alferez of the captain of the town of Arevalo, Don Juan Fajardo; and designated as his salary that of the post of musketeer, for which he served in the said post of alferez. Having appealed it before the Audiencia, after examination and review there, he was commanded to pay the said salary for the time while he had served in the post of alferez. Captain Francisco Rrodriguez, as he was of the troops from Zubu, when he was alcalde-mayor there was ordered by the said governor to give a hundred pesos of additional cost. He appealed from this, and his case is pending in the Audiencia. Although these things appear of little importance, so far as events hitherto are concerned, they may be very important for the future; for, as they are said to be confirmed by the Audiencia the governors will take it as a precedent, in order to be able to make the same move with the other captains and alferezes. The expenses of the royal treasury will thus suffer a large increase, and in matters which never have been done nor are now necessary. It would be well, if your Majesty were so pleased, to command that all the wages, salary, and additional expenses which have been given in the said manner be returned to the royal treasury by the person who ordered them, and that henceforward none should by any means be granted; and, if it be expedient to give any, your Majesty should be informed and a royal order for that purpose awaited.
4. In some provinces where there was one alcalde-mayor only, they have been so multiplied that now there are three, and each one with a deputy--all with salaries from the royal exchequer. To some of them the governors give, beside the salary, additional expenses, amounting to a hundred pesos; because such alcaldes-mayor are captains of the citizens, in the manner explained in the clause before this. Likewise some of the said alcaldes-mayor have Spanish alguazils, although not with salaries, and although there are royal decrees directing the governor to check this, and not allow offices to increase. It would be fitting for your Majesty to command, if you so please, that these alcaldes-mayor be reduced to the following:
In the province of Laguna, one alcalde-mayor with three hundred pesos of salary, which is the ordinary amount. On the opposite coast of Mauban, one corregidor; this is the district next to the said Laguna. He should have two hundred pesos of salary. In the province of Camarines, another alcalde-mayor, with the same salary of three hundred pesos. Another alcalde-mayor, who has recently been appointed in the said province for the island of Catanduanes, should be removed; and the said alcalde-mayor of Camarines should care for that, as he used to do. In the province of Cagayan, another alcalde-mayor, with the same salary. In that of Ylocos, another alcalde-mayor, with the same salary. In Pangasinan, another alcalde-mayor, with the said salary. In the province of Panpanga, another alcalde-mayor, with the proper salary, who should administer the jurisdiction of the district of Bulacan, which borders upon it; all this was formerly under one alcalde. The one who was lately added in Bulacan should be removed.
In the village of Tondo and the bay of this city of Manila (all of which is the suburbs and outskirts of the city), the governors keep another alcalde-mayor and lieutenant, although the whole of it is within the five leagues which, by your Majesty's grace, this city of Manila has as a jurisdiction--whose alcaldes-in-ordinary used to administer justice in all the districts of the said alcaldía-mayor of Tondo. Now they have no more than within the walls of the city, although they are vested with authority and can make arrests outside. It would be well, if such be your Majesty's pleasure, to discontinue this alcaldía-mayor of Tondo, and let it be served by the two alcaldes-in-ordinary from this city of Manila, each one six months of the year, while the other one is present in this city. In this way, with the provincial judge, there will be quite sufficient people to administer justice in the civil cases; and in the criminal cases there are the auditors and the said alcalde-in-ordinary. In this way the salary of the alcalde-mayor of Tondo will be saved, which is now paid from the royal treasury; and this city will consider it as a singular grace and favor. So likewise will the Indians, for they will be better treated and less annoyed by this form of government; because the man who is appointed to the said alcaldía must make his living from it, and on that account must do things which are illegal--but, as he is usually a retainer of the governor, the latter shields him in the matter. This will cease with the alcaldes-in-ordinary, for they perform their duties without any selfish considerations, being always men of honor and rich, who do not seek the offices through greed for money.
In the province of Zubu there used to be only one alcalde-mayor; but about two years ago another was added in the islands of Leyte, Çamar, and Babao, which are close to Zubu. It was done to the great displeasure of the citizens of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus, which was the first city founded and settled in these islands; for the said three islands were under the jurisdiction of the alcalde-mayor resident in the said city, and with the other one they would be greatly annoyed and molested, since most of the citizens who reside in the said city are encomenderos in the said islands of Leyte, Çamar, and Babao. The alcalde-mayor of these islands takes them from the said city and enters suits against them. He takes them to the said islands as prisoners; and, as they have their property there, and must needs go there every year for the collection of tributes from their encomiendas, they cannot refuse to go; and thus the said alcalde-mayor molests them as encomenderos, and he of Çubu, on the other hand, as citizens. As this is so, if your Majesty be pleased, the said alcalde-mayor of the said three islands might be removed, and they put under the jurisdiction of the said island of Çubu, whose alcalde-mayor could very well serve all of them.
On the river of Butuan, which is on the confines of this island of Zubu and close to the island of Mindanao, is another corregidor, with a salary of two hundred pesos. In the island of Calamianes is another corregidor, with the ordinary salary. In the district of Oton is an alcalde-mayor, with a salary of three hundred pesos. In Panay is a corregidor, with two hundred pesos salary. All the alcaldes-mayor and corregidors besides those mentioned should be done away with; and no alcalde-mayor or corregidor should have a deputy except when he is absent, and such deputy should not be given a salary.
[_In the margin_: "If there is any reform to be made, have the new governor act therein, and advise us of his action. _Idem. Idem. Idem_ in this matter."]
5. One of the things in which, I have understood, the royal exchequer of your Majesty has been the most defrauded and the citizens of these islands the most aggrieved, is in the freighting and despatching of vessels which go from here to Nueva España with merchandise; for the governors have, for some years past, assigned to this duty various special friends and confidants of themselves, and even at times their own servants. The said persons lade in the ships their own property, and even that of their relatives and friends--and likewise, it is said, of any person who will pay them for it. This transaction and negotiation is of great profit for them, and a great fraud upon the royal exchequer; for all the merchandise which they lade in this way, outside of the amount allotted, goes without paying your Majesty the royal duties, and is not a part of the cloth which is assigned to the citizens in the general allotment which is made to them. As a remedy for this, it will be well that in the future, when the allotment of the cloth is made, there should be present and superintend it, besides the governor and the other persons who are appointed, an auditor and royal official in rotation, each year, commencing with those longest here. As soon as the said allotment shall be finished, the royal official shall take a copy of it, and the persons to whom allotment is made of the said cloth shall come with their invoices, to bale it and pay the royal duty in the presence of the royal officials, who should give warrants for it. One or two of the officials should be present at the port of Cavite, which is the landing-place of ships, two leagues from this city; and there should be also present on the ship, during its lading, the freighters who are ordinarily appointed, and an auditor, so that no cloth will be allowed to be laded except it be that contained in the said allotment. That which is thus authorized shall be vouched for by warrants from the said royal officials that the duties are paid. So great has been the irregularity in this matter that, by having it checked by these strict methods, there would probably be a great gain to the royal treasury.
[_In the margin_: "Write to the new governor about the information given in this letter, and the complaints that are made; and have him remedy this evil, appointing for this persons who are of satisfactory record, and taking care that all this be done with justice--and, if it seem best to him, being sometimes present in person at the inspection."]
6. From the payment of tributes by the Indians in the usual currency there have resulted and still result many inconveniences, losses, injuries, and diminutions to the royal exchequer; for formerly they paid the eight reals of tribute each year in kind, which they gathered on their lands. A short time ago they were given the alternative of paying it in coin if they wished; and since then they have ceased to cultivate the land, make linen fabrics, raise fowls and cattle, or obtain gold from the mines and rivers, with which articles they used to pay the said tribute. A great part of those articles usually remained with them, because they had all the year for trading and labor, by which the country was supplied with many provisions at a low cost, and clothing of various kinds of linen, with which they were dressed. The encomenderos sailed with these things to Nueva España; and it was not necessary to pay the Chinese what was brought thence in return, and have them carry it off to their country, as they now do, in exchange for the said cloths which they sell. There was a great quantity of gold which was also taken to Nueva España, and from that your Majesty was paid the tenths, which amounted each year to six or eight thousand pesos--not counting another larger quantity which was paid by the tributaries of the encomiendas which are under the royal crown. By reason of the said Indians not paying in kind, so little gold has come to be mined, that in the past year, ninety-eight, from tributes and tenths even, the amount which was collected on your Majesty's account was not a thousand pesos. From this there follows another inconvenience, in that, as the natives of these islands are inclined to laziness and to the vices attendant upon that, since they can easily pay the tribute for one year with ten reals in coin, they seek and pay it, and dress themselves with two or three pieces of cloth, which cost somewhat more. As they find these for sale by the Chinese, they themselves do not manufacture them. It would be expedient, in order that these inconveniences may cease, as well as others which may be seen to result from this matter, that henceforth these Indians should be compelled to agricultural labors and the raising of cattle, according to the conditions of the provinces where they live, and to taking gold from the mines and rivers. If this were put in force, a great deal would be gained by it; for there is a large quantity in the said mines, rivers, and placers. In this way a great part of the trade with the Chinese would cease, and the returns from what was carried to and sold in Nueva España, from both gold and cloth, would remain in this country, and would not be taken away to China, as it now is. The said Indians would be compelled to this, in such manner that, with the practice and profit which they would get from it, in a few years they and their descendants would do it of their own will, without compulsion. The principal thing to be done in order to start the Indians to do this is, to have them pay the tribute in the kind which they raise and harvest.
[_In the margin_: "With this report write to the new governor to call together the Audiencia, the ecclesiastical prelates who are present in Manila, and the superiors of the religious orders; and have him communicate with those who could not conveniently go there, getting their opinion in writing; and have all of them confer as to what is expedient and ought to be done in this matter--taking into consideration the fact that the Indians should not be annoyed or aggrieved; and that their object should be the cultivation of crops and other things which the land bears; and that for this purpose the tribute should be paid in kind, and the valuation should be as equitable as possible. Whatever they may resolve in regard to this matter, the governor shall cause to be executed, and advise us as to what he does, seeing to it that the Indians labor and are not idle."]
7. With the reestablishment of the said royal Audiencia, the expenses of the royal treasury have been increased by more than sixteen thousand five hundred pesos in the salaries of four auditors and one fiscal. Wherefore it would be well, were your Majesty so pleased, to command that the encomiendas or repartimientos of Indians which may in the future be vacated, up to the amount of ten thousand pesos, be placed under the royal crown, as an aid to the payment of the said salaries; and that, until these are so placed, the governors shall not be able to assign any person an encomienda or repartimiento of Indians.
[_In the margin_: "Have the governor and Audiencia send an information in this matter, and the archbishop a separate one."]