Part 19
1. He declares that having obtained two decrees from your Majesty some years ago (while acting in this capital as procurator-general of the kingdom), with regard to the trading-ships, ordering that your governor and captain-general despatch them some time in the month of June, as the greater part of their success in the voyage consists in that, and as that country has no other fruits and harvests except that commerce, for its conservation and increase, and also for the increase of your royal treasury: not only have they not kept the said decrees but have even done the very opposite. Thence have followed very many great wrongs and annoyances; and that community is greatly exhausted for that reason, and your royal treasury deeply in debt. [This affects the community] not only in material possessions, but also in the loss of your vassals, many citizens and sailors having perished for that reason. Although it is believed that your governor and captain-general, Don Alonso Faxardo, will (as is judged by his method of proceeding), correct this matter, because he has entered upon his office with so good beginnings, still, as he is mortal, and as a person may succeed him who may not attend to this--as others of his predecessors have failed to do, as has been seen hitherto:
He petitions your Majesty to order that this command be observed inviolate. The most efficacious expedient would appear to be to place the governors under a heavy penalty, which they would incur whenever they did not observe it, and that it be made an important clause in their residencias.
2. _Item_: That your Majesty issued a decree in the year 605, granting favor to the citizens of that community, and ordering your governors that the posts in the trading-ships be given to the deserving citizens for their profit, and that many be rewarded with this. Inasmuch as this is very advantageous to your Majesty's service and to the profit of trade, and inasmuch as the ex-governor always gave them to his relatives, and thus enriched them greatly, and the latter became very arrogant; and since, as this was the affair of the governor, no one dared to bring suit against them; and since this is greatly to the harm of the royal treasury, because they lade quantities of merchandise without registering it, and commit many illegal acts, and will continue always to commit them, for no one dares to speak plainly:
He petitions your Majesty to order the observance of the said decree by ordering the officials of your royal treasury, that should the governor appoint to such offices other persons than those whom your Majesty has ordered, no account be made of it in the royal books, that no salary be granted them, and that those appointed to these offices have their residencias taken at the end of the voyage; and that, until these shall be taken, they cannot be appointed to other posts.
3. _Item_: That your Majesty has granted to the citizens the toneladas of the said trading-ships, and that your governors allot these, to each one according to his rank and wealth. The citizens have been greatly injured in this, as happened in the year 613, when the governor despatched two small ships, and did not give the citizens one single tonelada; and under pretext of granting gratuities to retired officers, the citizens were obliged to buy space for their freight from those officers, at exorbitant prices. Further, he apportions a considerable number of toneladas to charitable institutions, so that they may sell the space and use, and the price obtained for it; and thus these toneladas are given to the great injury of the common welfare. The further disadvantage follows from this (besides defrauding the citizens of the reward given them by your Majesty) that the toneladas are sold to whomever will pay most for them, and they are bought for this reason by merchants who have companies in Mexico. Consequently, it is quite common for such men to own a great part of the said merchandise of the ships, and thus the citizens are deprived of the profits with which your Majesty has rewarded them.
He petitions your Majesty to order that these be not distributed at will, but that the orders given in this regard by your royal decrees be obeyed, and that the violation of your royal will in this be made a clause of the residencia, with the penalty that may be assigned to it.
4. _Item_: That your Majesty has ordered that four vessels be built for the trade, of 200 toneladas' burden; and that two of them make voyages each year, while the other two remain in port getting ready for the next year.
He petitions your Majesty that they be not employed in other matters by your governors, unless it be an urgent necessity, as happened last year, when they went out to drive off the Dutch enemy who had besieged us. In such case the citizens themselves shall go out in them to defend the city, since the profit of the citizens is so necessary in order that that community may be settled, and have the sinews with which to defend and preserve itself. They shall not be sent to Maluco or any other district, since thus your Majesty is no less defrauded of your royal duties.
6. _Item_: It happens that your governor and captain-general has to send to Great China for ammunition and other articles very necessary for your royal service. In order not to anger the Portuguese of the city of Macan, the ships go to its port, although they could go to another. There they are compelled to buy through the Portuguese, and are not allowed to buy from the Chinese in the city of Canton, the Portuguese alleging that the Chinese would charge them excessive rates. But they, as we have experienced, buy the articles needed, and afterward oblige our agents to take them at excessive rates, reselling them to your Majesty to the great prejudice of your royal treasury. That happened in my presence when Don Juan de Silva sent Captain Francisco Lopez de Toledo for that purpose. He brought back the supplies at prices more than thrice their value. While I was acting as the said procurator in China, I bought nails for less than sixteen reals per pico, or five arrobas, and Toledo brought them hither at fifty-six; and other things after this manner, because the Portuguese compelled him to buy through them.
He petitions your Majesty to issue a royal decree, so that the persons sent on a similar commission by your governor may buy freely; and, where they cannot buy freely, they may make another port, where they can trade with the Chinese; and that the governor send an experienced and practiced person on this errand.
7. _Item_: Inasmuch as the ships built in the Filipinas cause your Majesty great expense, and have ruined and exhausted the natives; and inasmuch as your Majesty owes them a great sum of money from the time of Don Juan de Silva, for their personal services and things that he took by force from them: it is very advisable, not only for your royal service, but also for your royal conscience, to relieve them from so great oppression.
He petitions your Majesty to order your governors that they be prohibited from doing this, and that they send to Yndia to have the said ships built; for besides their incomparably greater cheapness there, one built there lasts as long as ten built in Filipinas, because the woods in Yndia are incorruptible. In this your Majesty will save a great sum of ducados, and the natives will be relieved of so much hardship. For that a decree from your royal Council of Portugal is needed, and it should be charged upon the governor of Filipinas to do this with the mildness and prudence advisable. If it is desired it can be easily effected, and it is of great importance. Of all this he has more minutely treated in clause 7 (which corresponds to this clause) in the memorial which he brings approved from Filipinas.
8. _Item_: He petitions your Majesty to do him the favor to order the viceroy of Nueva España [91] not to allow a vessel to go thither from Japon (which is a most serious evil), and to order that gate to be closed; and, inasmuch as the Japanese do not know how to navigate without a Spanish pilot and sailors, to have an edict published forbidding such persons under severe penalties (which he [_i.e._, Coronel] does not declare, because he is a priest) from sailing in such ships to Nueva España. For that, in another guise, means to teach a barbarous nation how to navigate, and is rash, and opens the gate to many evils, for which afterward there will be no remedy. It will even be advisable to order father Fray Luis Sotelo not to go to Japon, for he was the one who began this, and it may be feared that he will further it.
9. _Item_: There is no entrance to the city of Manila except by the mouth of the bay, and the Dutch enemy is wont to seize that mouth, and not allow any ship to enter or leave--as has happened thrice, namely, the years of 10, 15, and 17--thereby placing the city in great straits. But it may be presumed that this can be remedied by opening up two rivers--one in Zambales, called the river of Tarla; and the other in Laguna de Bombon, where it was resolved in the former year of 17 that some one should go to examine it, because of their great need--although this was not effected on account of the success obtained in driving away the enemy.
He petitions your Majesty, for the reasons here stated, to order the governors to consider that matter and examine this matter, and to charge themselves with it, as it is a thing of so great importance; and, if it be feasible, to put it into execution with the mildness and skill that is advisable, without injuries to, or extortions on, the natives; and that they send for that purpose a prudent and competent person. For, if the Spaniards possess these routes, the enemy can do no harm to the city, nor prevent it from being supplied with all necessaries. Besides, this is of the highest importance for the service and accommodation of the mines that have been ordered to be opened; and it will avoid the loss of many Spanish and native vessels that are continually being lost. [92]
15. _Item_: Inasmuch as the Indians of the islands of Mindanao and others near by are declared enemies and are in insurrection, and have embraced the religion of Mahomet; and inasmuch as they have confederated with the Dutch, and committed incredible depredations on the vassals of your Majesty, both Spaniards and natives, and there is no security there:
He petitions your Majesty to charge your governor straitly to try to punish them, and to attend to that carefully, since it is of so great importance; and inasmuch as it will be of great help in facilitating this, to declare those people to be the slaves of whomever captures them in war, since through the greed of gain the natives will help willingly, and the soldiers will go much more eagerly. He petitions that you have your governor proclaim them as such, establishing the above facts with sufficient investigation, and justice on the part of your Majesty to order it; and that this be done quickly, since it is so advisable to your royal service and the security of your vassals.
16. _item_: That whenever any cause that concerns the governor or any of your auditors or the fiscal is to be voted on in the sessions of your royal Audiencia, he petitions your Majesty to order that such persons shall not be present at the meeting; for their presence is very undesirable, and the execution of your royal justice is obstructed. In regard to this, many disorderly acts have followed, as has happened when opponents have left the session, and even offensive words have been bandied.
17. _Item_: That your Majesty order that neither governors nor auditors send people thence to this court. That is very annoying, as has been seen in the one sent by Don Juan de Silva.
18. _Item_: Your Majesty is served by the Indian natives as soldiers in Maluco and other regions--who, as we know by experience, serve very faithfully; and so long as they are at the war, they cannot attend to their fields and sustain their households. And in the repartimientos which are generally made by the governors, both in personal services and in food, the chiefs and cabezas [de barangay], through whom the apportionment is made, practice great cruelty on the wives of those soldiers upon whom they make the said repartimientos, thus giving occasion for the women to sell their children, or to take to evil ways.
He therefore petitions your Majesty that such repartimientos be not made on women whose husbands are thus engaged in the war in your Majesty's service, and that they pay no tribute until their husbands return--also making this concession to those whose husbands shall have died in the war; for not only will this be a service to your Majesty and to our Lord, but the natives will thus be encouraged to go to service willingly, and many wrongs will be avoided.
19. _Item_: That the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical affairs in the islands of Maluco is subject to Eastern India. Innumerable troubles result from the archbishop of Goa having to place ministers there, who, being of another nation and under another prelate, act very badly.
He petitions your Majesty to grant him the favor to decide that this jurisdiction be subject to the bishop of Cibu, who is the nearest one, and that ministers be provided thence--which can be done easily, as it is so near, while it is done very inadequately from India.
20. _Item_: In regard to the trading-ships between Filipinas and Nueva España and the numerous things worthy of reform (which is advisable both for the royal treasury of your Majesty and for the community, and for the avoidance of many death of the seamen), that which it is advisable straitly to charge and order your governor is the following:
That the accommodations given the commander be moderated, conforming to the capacity of the ships. We have seen them during those years laden by the commanders with a third of the cargo, because they are relatives of the governor, under pretext of having a dispensation of taking the space of fifty toneladas.
20 [_sic_]. _Item_: That the said commanders, admirals, and masters, give the residencia for their posts before being appointed to others, which your Majesty has ordered by a decree of the year 604.
_Item_: That the masters in the port of Capulco [_i.e._, Acapulco], in addition to the duties that are paid to your Majesty, charge excessive prices for the guards of the boxes, barrels, and other articles of merchandise, without anything being due them; and these fees were not formerly charged, because their office is given to them for that purpose, and that duty [of guarding freight] is annexed to it. He petitions your Majesty to order the royal Audiencia of Manila, or the governor, to set the price that they can charge; and, if they exceed that price, those aggrieved can make claim in the residencia.
21. _Item_: That your Majesty be pleased to order your governor to be careful, in the muster-roll of sailors and common seamen made out by the royal officials, that all such be efficient; for it happens that a ship may take sixty sailors, thirty of whom are men who have been named as sailors without any knowledge of their duties, but only by favor. Then in times of need there are not any to work, and the few who do understand it cannot attend to the work, which should be divided among so many. Consequently there is signal danger, because the voyage is so long and difficult.
22. _Item_: That it be ordered that the common seamen who serve in the said ships, who are always Indian natives, be all men of that coast, who are instructed how to navigate; and that they be made to wear clothes, with which to shelter themselves from the cold; for, because they do not, most of them die in high latitudes, of which he [the writer] is a witness. Inasmuch as the factor enrolls other Indians who live in the interior, and who do not know the art of sailing, and as they are a wretched people, they are embarked without clothes to protect them against the cold, so that when each new dawn comes there are three or four dead men (a matter that is breaking his heart); besides, they are treated inhumanly and are not given the necessaries of life, but are killed with hunger and thirst. If he were to tell in detail the evil that is done to them, it would fill many pages. He petitions your Majesty to charge your governor straitly to remedy this.
_Item_: That inasmuch as the kitchens where the food is cooked are not located in the first part of the forecastle, as is seen in [ships on] these seas, but in the waist; and inasmuch as at the first storm the sea carries them away, after which each one cooks his food in his messroom where he can make a fire (and it is a miracle from God that the ships are not burned)--he petitions your Majesty to order your governor to remedy that, since he is so excellent a sailor. The reason for that abuse is that the officials appropriate the largest storerooms of the ships.
23. _Item_: That slave women be not conveyed in the ships, by which many acts offensive to God will be avoided. Although that is prohibited by your royal decree, and it is also entrusted to the archbishop to place upon them the penalty of excommunication and to punish them, this evil has not been checked; and many sailors--and even others, who should furnish a good example--take slave women and keep them as concubines. He knew a certain prominent official who carried with him fifteen of these women; and some were delivered of children by him, while others were pregnant, which made a great scandal.
24. _Item_: That no sailor, and no passenger unless he be a person of rank, be allowed to take more than one male slave; for they load the ships with slaves who eat the provisions, and steal whatever they lay hands on, besides the risk that is run of a plague being started by them. He also petitions your Majesty that the fifty pesos paid as duty on each slave be moderated, and that these imposts be paid according to the tariff in España; and that these duties be paid in the port of Capulco--where by selling the slaves, their owners may have the wherewithal to pay the imposts; for it is a great inconvenience to pay them in Manila. For that reason, great deceits are practiced on the royal treasury now; for they take the slaves without being registered, because of the high amount of the duties, and are allowed to take them off at the port [of Acapulco] for twenty pesos. If the said duties were moderated, and paid in the port, no one would take them without registering them, especially since the said slaves serve and aid the sailors in their necessities, and your Majesty gives them no allowance of either food or water. Consequently in no part of the Indias is so large a duty paid.
25. _Item_: Inasmuch as the good treatment of the sailors is so important, in order that they may be inclined to go there, since there is so great need of them, he petitions your Majesty to order that good treatment be shown them, and they be given leave to take away their boxes in which they carry their clothing and certain small wares freely, without having to open them. For in this matter the guards practice many extortions on them, and take away their little possessions, and harass them so that many refuse to return, and many acts of oppression are practiced.
26. _Item_: Inasmuch as the officials of the vessels, such as commander, master, boatswain, etc., lade a quantity of merchandise beyond the share given them, and overload the ships by occupying the place of the ship's stores in the storerooms and magazines; and inasmuch as this cannot be checked, as has been seen: there is no other remedy unless your Majesty order the clerk of the register not to receive on the register more than only the allotment of shares that your governor makes; for he proportions the cargo which the vessel can carry, in accordance with its need, and anything more only overloads the ship. But if these goods were not admitted to register, the officials would not dare to lade them, because of the great risk of their being seized as smuggled goods. Consequently great losses would be avoided by proceeding in the above manner.
_Item_: That neither your governor nor auditors and fiscal be allowed to act as godfathers to the citizens; for that involves very great annoyances, as that kingdom is so new, and as all make claims.
27. _Item_: That it is the practice or abuse that fowls are given to your governor, auditors, and other officials of the royal Audiencia at lower prices than are current; and that the governor of the Chinese is ordered for that purpose to allot the share of all [the Chinese], and each one is obliged to give weekly so many fowls at a certain low price, and he who does not give them is punished and fined. The worst thing is that on this occasion the governor of the Chinese steals as many more, at the same price. That amounts to a vast sum; for, since there is no other flesh eaten except beef and pork, these fowls amount by the end of the year to more than twenty thousand. In this way signal injury is done to the Chinese.
They also provide their houses with rice, which is the usual bread; and they take it as well as other things from your royal storehouses, at the prices for which they are given to your Majesty as tributes. It results that your Majesty's treasury, in the course of the year, encounters a deficiency of supplies, on account of the great expense, and these must be bought afterward at very high rates. He mentioned this so that your Majesty should provide what may be deemed advisable; for it is a pity to see your Majesty's treasury poorly administered, since it is so necessary there. [93]
28. _Item_: Inasmuch as certain regidors of the city have their encomiendas in the Pintados Islands and other districts, and as the governors, in order to annoy them, command them to go to live on the encomiendas, thus obliging them to leave their offices, to their own great loss and inconvenience; and as that is even the cause of their being unable to exercise their offices with freedom, in order not to anger the governor: he petitions your Majesty that, if your governor thus urge a regidor to go to live [there] in person, he may maintain in the said encomienda a soldier in his stead, since it is the same thing; and it shall be understood that he is under no further obligation. The same also is to be understood with the leading citizens of Manila.