Part 19
75. The Audiencia of Manila in a letter of November 9, 1722, taking into consideration another which they had written on August 6, 1713, in which they set forth the losses which that commerce had suffered--in [the wreck of] their galleons, the unsuccessful fairs of Acapulco, and the excessive pecuniary extortions that they had suffered in Acapulco on account of the royal duties and in other ways--to the end that new measures might be taken by his Majesty for the rigorous reëstablishment of the commerce of those islands, describe (influenced by the urgent representations made by the city and by previous information obtained by each auditor) the affliction which has been caused by the new decree of October 27, 1720. They declared that they judged necessary for the maintenance of these islands and the propagation of the holy gospel, not only the permission for the silk and the stuffs prohibited by the cited despatch, but also the increase of the permission from 300,000 to 500,000 pesos. The Audiencia affirmed that the Spaniards could not exist without this commerce, because the culture of the fields was in the hands of the natives and the management of the guilds [gremios] in those of the Sangleys and their mestizos; that the salaries and pay with which the military officers, soldiers, and civil officials were recompensed did not reach half the annual expense of their families, in consideration of which it was commanded to include then the distribution of the lading of the galleons; and that, while the permitted amount was 300,000 pesos, and the number of citizens so great, the investment of each one, even if all were alike in wealth and services, did not amount to 400 pesos, the profit on which was not enough for the proper support of a man who was not actually poor, and on this account they could not increase their wealth. When the Europeans see that it is useless to transport goods to those regions where there is not, outside of commerce, any motive which would induce them to remain, or which would bring other new traders, those who consider the matter have reason to fear that in a few years the capitals of those who live there will be consumed, and that others will refuse to enter into the same experience; then Philipinas will be left to the Indians and Sangleys, the gospel ministers without the guards of Spaniards for their protection, the military posts without garrisons, the natives without any control, and everything on the blink of a deplorable ruin.
76. That with the commodities which were allowed by the said royal decree, the lading of the annual galleon could not reach the gross amount of the 300,000 pesos of the commission. From this it resulted that that amount was diminished and the traders exposed to evident loss in Nueva España, on account of the abundance of those very articles of merchandise; and that would result in cutting off the proceeds of the many and large charitable funds, founded on the merchandise risked in those galleons, for the support of clergymen, hospitals, convents, divine worship, dowries to orphan girls, and many other alms--which, even though they were no more than those which were administered by the brotherhood of La Misericordia, and by the tertiary Order of St. Francis, were of the greatest importance, and their failure a most notable affliction to all the islands.
77. That by the exclusion of the stuffs and silks, which were the principal articles of commerce of the islands with China, all that commerce [i.e., with Nueva España] would come to an end, since all the rest was of so little value that it could not, without the substantial aid of the silks, allow any profit. From this would result another great difficulty in the propagation of the holy gospel, that if the Chinese do not come to the trade they will lose the opportunity for conversion which so many have attained, attracted by familiar intercourse with the Spaniards, with the occasion of this commerce, and there would be great difficulty in introducing the gospel ministers into those dominions; and these are motives which have always engaged the chief attention of his Majesty, to judge by the laws. The Audiencia concluded by expressing the opinion that the prohibition of the silks should be removed, and an increase be granted in the permission to 500,000 pesos, with the number of piezas which the city was proposing--this regulation being made in proportion to the number of citizens, in order that the islands might maintain themselves, and thus obviate the serious inconveniences that were experienced; and, as for the duties which the city proposed, this question was referred to the decision of the Council.
78. The fiscal of that Audiencia, Don Pedro Bedoya, [82] in a letter of November 15, in the same year, 1722, in consequence of the duplicate copy which he received of the royal decree of October 27, 1720, states on his part--after repeating his previous opinion regarding its execution, as given to the city of Manila, the action taken by the governor, the recourse by the city to the Audiencia, and the report made by that body--what his opinion is, in fulfilment of his obligation, in regard to the memorial of the city and the merchants; it is brought under four heads, which are:
I
The necessary dependence which the maintenance of these islands has on the commerce, in order that the Spaniards may maintain themselves in them; and the benefit from the charitable funds, in which are annually expended 75,000 pesos--which sum proceeds from the trading of the 150,000 pesos which are carried in the annual galleon on account of the said charitable funds.
II
That if the prohibition of the stuffs and other commodities from China remains, their former control of the trade therein will be disturbed, and the royal decrees issued for this purpose (some of which are compiled [83]) will be subverted--such as those which command that the commodities which they convey shall be bought from the Sangleys; and that if this [Chinese] commerce is prohibited that of Nueva España becomes unprofitable, as the bulky commodities do not fill up the amount of the permitted trade, and it will not be possible to pay the cost of traffic in them without those from China.
III
That for the maintenance of these islands, the support of the Spaniards, and the success of the charitable funds, it is necessary that the amount permitted be increased to 500,000 pesos and a million of returns, with the inclusion of the fabrics from China.
IV
The regulation of the lading, in order to avoid infractions of the law [is necessary]; as also that the dubious and burdensome obligation of making sworn declarations be laid aside, and that the quality and number of the commodities which are transported must appear in the registers.
79. [These points made by the fiscal are discussed at length by him in a report addressed to the king, dated November 15, 1722. Among other things, he states that the merchants prefer one galleon of 800 or 900 tons burden to two of 500 tons each, as being less expensive (on account of requiring fewer officers and men), safer (as carrying larger cannon) and less exposed to danger from either enemies or storms, than the two smaller vessels; that the industry and love of gain displayed by the Chinese who reside in the islands have secured to them the control of all the crafts and useful arts, and of the commerce of the islands save that with Nueva España, which is therefore the only resource of the Spanish citizens; that the current rate of income [84] is but five per cent in the islands, while that commerce brings in fifty per cent; that most of the rural estates [haciendas] are possessed by the religious orders; that houses constitute property of little value, on account of the frequent fires and earthquakes; and that consequently the charitable foundations [obras pias] have been necessarily based on the Acapulco trade. It is also declared that the annual situado from Mexico amounts to no more than 50,000 or 60,000 pesos, while the annual budget of the government expenses amounts to 500,000 pesos, which the royal treasury of the islands must pay from the proceeds of the duties on merchandise. The request of the Manila citizens for a permission to send 500,000 pesos' worth, in 3,500 piezas, is very moderate; as the trade has been conducted, the 300,000 pesos' worth has made 4,798 piezas, for the last five years--which is evidence of the infractions of law which have been committed in that commerce. Moreover, the proposition of the city that the duties belonging to the crown be levied on the number of the piezas, will be likely to prevent many of the frauds which are now practiced in this direction. The fiscal opposes the request of the city that the seamen be allowed an increase of the small amount already allowed them, free from duties, for investment on their own account, declaring that it will but increase the illegal trade already prevalent, and that the proposition to allow them 40,000 pesos' worth of trade (with twice that amount in returns for the merchandise) would allow the seamen a greater investment than even the citizens, since the former average only 115 men to each galleon. He advises that the officers of the ships be permitted to have a share in the lading of the ship, in place of their present wages; and that one large galleon be occupied in the trade to Acapulco, rather than two small ones. He reminds the king of the opening afforded by the trade between Manila and China for the conversion of the Chinese and the entrance of the gospel into that heathen empire.]
80. [The treasury officials at Manila also write, seconding the proposal to despatch one large galleon; and they add that the royal exchequer of the islands will be ruined if the decree of 1720 is enforced, "for the commerce would cease, and consequently the royal duties which it was producing."]
81. The archbishop of Manila, the dean and cabildo of that church, and the provincial of the Society [of Jesus], in their letters of November 6, 7, and 8 of the same year, support the entreaty of the city; they deprecate the ruin (both spiritual and temporal) of the islands, and express the same opinion as that of the Audiencia and the fiscal, as will be seen by their letters, which follow below.
82. The provincials of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine (both calced and discalced), in their memorials of the same year expatiate on the necessity and advantage of changing the aforesaid decree of 1720, and granting likewise to the islands the increase of the permitted trade which they solicit; and they reproduce in detail what the other prelates and ministers say.
83. [The letter of the archbishop (Fray Francisco de la Cuesta) states that he has been urged to write it by the city and merchants of Manila, and the bureau of the Misericordia; and he begins, very naturally, by arguing that the religious interests of the Philippines and of China depend upon the maintenance of the commerce of the islands. He refers to the opposition made to it by the merchants of Andalusia, which he thinks has no good foundation, since their trade with the other European nations drains from España more money than does that of Filipinas from Nueva España--this last being their ground of complaint against the Manila trade; but even if the Sangleys and other heathen carry away silver from Manila, "they have not harmed the [Spanish] crown, and are friendly to the [Christian] religion; while it is certain that the European nations, even if they are not all opposed to religion, at least have been at various times hostile to the crown, and that the amount annually transported by the said nations to Great China and other heathen kingdoms exceeds four millions [of pesos].... And although the argument [of the Andalusians]--that the fabrics from China cause injury, at the expense of those which are transported from Cadiz--would have some weight if all the fabrics in which the Andalusians trade were manufactured in España, since they are not made there the above argument has very little value." The Spaniards in Filipinas regret that so grievous burdens and restrictions are laid upon them through the influence of the Andalusians, and especially that the result of these must be very detrimental to the charitable funds which so greatly depend upon the Acapulco trade. Two-thirds of these, or 100,000 pesos, belong to the Misericordia alone, whose educational, religious, and charitable labors are so important to the public welfare and the maintenance of the Spanish colony in Filipinas; the remaining 50,000 pesos belong to other institutions. The archbishop therefore urges the king to accede to the requests of the Manila merchants.]
84. [The dean and cabildo of the Manila cathedral also support the merchants; they fear lest the income of the church will suffer from the impaired condition to which the decree of 1720 threatens to bring the Filipinas colony. They adduce similar arguments to those contained in the preceding letters, all taking for granted that the prohibition of Chinese silks means the ruin of the Acapulco trade. Incidentally this letter states the following facts of interest: "The poverty of the soldiers is such that they always go about as mendicants and in need; for as they receive no more pay than that of two pesos and a fanega of rice--which is given every month to the soldiers, but to the convicts who serve [forzados] in the troops only the rations--if they could not find refuge in the aid given by the citizens, the alms from the charitable funds, and the broken food at the convent doors, and in what the more industrious can earn by doing errands, they would certainly perish." The prebends of the cathedral find their salaries--which range from 500 to 200 pesos yearly, besides the dean's 600--pitiably small and inadequate, and they must even resort to the charitable funds and to the gifts of friends to eke out their incomes. The same difficulties beset the parish ministers; but worst of all is the condition of the poor clerics who receive no pay, who have no income save occasional offerings for masses and the alms of benevolent persons.]
85. [The provincial of the Jesuits, Father Joseph Fernandez, seconds the appeal of the merchants. [85] He states that since 1709 the fortunes of the wealthy citizens are nearly all ruined--by calamities, unsuccessful sales at Acapulco, the failure of the galleons to make the voyage, poor crops in Filipinas, or the quarrels of the governors and auditors--and those who formerly made contributions to the religious orders now need and ask for help from them. "This city of Manila (and in it all the islands) is reduced to eight or ten private persons who are able with their own wealth alone to make up the 300,000 pesos which your Majesty allows for their commerce; and the number of its citizens who, as Spaniards, can call themselves such is very nearly 882--although it is true that there are millions of converted natives, and those who are not converted are innumerable. All these citizens depend for their preservation on the three or four piezas which are yearly allotted to [each of] them, according to their merits, in your Majesty's galleon; and as most of them have not the means of their own to fill this space they have to give it up, or sell it to those who are richer; or they must ask for money from the charitable funds of the Misericordia, the tertiary Order [of St. Francis], or the religious, in order to fill their space on the ship. As they cannot ship therein anything except the coarse cloths and other goods which your Majesty names in your new regulations, the product of which is hardly enough to pay the expenses on them--duties, freight-charges, and carriers' fees--the poorer citizens will see themselves forced to seek some other way [to make a living]. That means the desertion of these islands for India, and consequently a great diminution in the number of your Majesty's vassals; and the islands will be exposed to the invasions of the Dutch and other enemies of your royal crown and of the natives. No few of these invasions have been experienced in recent years, and at this time we are being raided by the Mindanaos, the Joloans, and the Burneyans. And I can assure your Majesty that in the space of less than twelve years I have seen this stage [86] of the citizens of Manila changed five times. For, as it is composed of some who come from Europe (and they count for many), and of others who come from Nueva España, on account of the difference of the climate from that in which they were born they do not remain long; both classes, seeing the little comfort that they can find here, and how small incentive there is from riches (which is that which most influences those who do not possess enormous estates), either die in a short time, worn out with the misery of this country; or they leave the islands, to look for a more comfortable residence. Thus it comes to pass that only we religious and other ecclesiastics remain, with some persons who belong to the richer class (who are few), and these are Europeans, whom affection for their native land is always drawing away. If this [which I have mentioned above] happens (which may God not permit), all these millions of Christian natives will be left abandoned, and exposed to [the danger of] returning to their heathen condition; and of being possessed by the Dutch, or the Chinese, or any other nation that may find a profit in them." The argument that the prohibition of the trade in Chinese silks will check the drain of silver from Nueva España is refuted by the provincial; he says, "For we who are near China, Batabia, the Coromandel Coast, and other ports of India, know with certainty that the ships and pataches that come to them from Europa to trade in them carry hardly any money for their traffic except the silver, with the stamp and seal of your Majesty, from Perù or from Mexico; and as those vessels have directed their route from Europa by way of Cape Verde, Buena Esperanza [i.e., Good Hope], Cape Comorin, and Sincapura, it must be supposed that they do not obtain the said silver anywhere else than from the commerce in Europa. Your Majesty could, in the course of several years, prevent the silver that comes from Mexico to these islands from passing over to China, to the Coast, or to Batabia, by commanding your governors and other officials at Manila to make strenuous efforts that in the islands the natives, mestizos, creoles, and various other castes who live in them and are naturalized as subjects, be compelled to weave the cloth goods which are manufactured in other regions; and these people are no less skilful for the mechanical and even the liberal arts than are those of other nations. As for the fabrics of cotton, these people are able to weave them, for their own consumption, more durable and of better quality than the cloths which come from China and the Coast; and as for the silk goods, the hose which these natives weave are those which bring the highest price at Acapulco. The colors for dyeing the goods are furnished by the country itself; for there will be shipped from here to the empire of China during this year more than thirty champan-loads of sibucao, or campeche, a wood from which the Chinese obtain carmine for their dyes; and the other colors they obtain from trees and roots which also are found in these mountains in abundance. As for the cinnamon, it grows very abundantly in the island of Mindanao, where your Majesty has the fort and garrison of Samboangan, with some missions that are administered by priests of my order, and by other religious from the discalced of St. Augustine. It would be of no little advantage to be able to cultivate the cinnamon, as the Dutch do; for the silver which that nation would be obliged to carry for that product would remain among the vassals of your Majesty, and thus there would be an end to that difficulty (which the merchants of Sevilla certainly exaggerate) of your Majesty forbidding the shipment of the goods which your royal decree specifies, which are those that have some value, in order to be able to pay the cost on the more bulky goods. Who will have courage to weave them, or hunt for them, when he knows that he must lose on them? In these islands abundance of gold is collected in various placers, in which work the slow and patient disposition of the natives is occupied; but as their minds are so careless and ignorant they content themselves with washing out only the exact amount of their tribute, which is five reals for each person. But if your Majesty would give your royal directions to your governors and ministers, in the course of time it would be possible to secure the production of this gold in abundance; and if it were sent to Nueva España, and exchanged for the silver necessary for the maintenance of these your wretched vassals, the result would be that the latter product would always remain in the dominions of your Majesty. In these islands, also, some pearls are secured by diving, and in these seas some amber is gathered. In the mountains there is no lack of numerous civet-cats; and the civet, if measures were taken for its production, might be no small source of wealth to your vassals, and consequently furnish huge amounts to your loyal treasury." Father Fernandez mentions that Felipe IV "spent in twenty years 170,000 ducados solely in sending religious to preach the gospel in Philipinas;" and that the monopoly on the buyo industry had produced in one year 11,000 pesos to the royal treasury, and that on wine 18,000 pesos; (but these amounts apparently refer to the price paid for a three years' contract, rather than to the annual income of the crown from these sources). [87]]
86. All the papers and reports which have been mentioned in this "Period vii" having been received in the Council, and the deputies from Philipinas, Don Francisco Diaz Romero and Don Antonio de Echandía--who deposited their credentials and letters in the office of the secretary--having presented themselves in it, they set forth their claims and stated, in a printed memorial (which they handed in on June 14, 1723) the injuries which the islands were receiving from the practice of the decree of October 27, 1720. They entreated that its execution be suspended, and orders given that the commerce be continued with the yearly galleon in the same manner, so far as the lading was concerned, as was in use at the time when the aforesaid despatch was received there [at Manila]. The memorial, in eight leaves, is as follows: