Of the information given by the commercial interests of España,
in regard to the injuries arising from the Philipinas trade;
and orders given by his Majesty in the year 1718 prohibiting the
[trade in] the silk fabrics from China.
45. As the result of the memorial sent to the king by the consulate
and commerce of Nueva España (which his Majesty was pleased to refer
to the Council), in which they described the backward condition in
which their trade was, and stated the arguments why the trading-fleets
annually sent to that kingdom [from España] should not be continued,
the Council agreed that the consulate and commerce of Sevilla should
give a report upon their opinion of this memorial, calling together for
this purpose in a general conference all the shippers and merchants
who were in that city; and that their discussions, proposals, and
joint opinions should be exactly copied, with the individual opinions
which were offered, and the whole sent to the Council.
46. The body of traders having assembled in Sevilla on January 27,
1714, in order to comply with the order of the Council, and the
importance of this matter having been discussed at length in the
conference, it was unanimously agreed that the injury arising from
the notable, frequent, and large importation of foreign goods which
had been made throughout America had been very pernicious to the
commerce of Sevilla; and that it was impossible that that commerce
should return to its former condition if those importations were
not checked--which they had entreated his Majesty to do in repeated
remonstrances, which they now made again, trusting that the earnest
and truthful utterances of vassals so faithful as they could not be
displeasing to the royal ears.
47. [They further declared] that the injury caused by the large amount
of freight which was earned into Nueva España by the ships from China,
rivaled, if it did not exceed, that from the other importations. For,
although the merchants of Mexico did not touch on this point in
their memorial, the silence in which they kept back this subject
(although it was a more odious source of damage) readily explained
what interests were concerned in tolerating and continuing those
ships, at the same time when the latter had so injured and driven out
the commerce of España that no words were sufficient to explain the
grief and resentment [of the Sevillans] over the great losses which
had been caused to it. For although the ships which were bringing in
the cloth and other goods (a matter to which the consulate of Mexico
attached much weight) were ruining the commerce of España, in those
important lines of linen goods, and others which they were bringing
in, [nevertheless] the knowledge, suspicion, or information of what
they were could perhaps make the [resultant] damage to the Spanish
commerce less serious, such knowledge causing the refusal to injure
that commerce; but that could not be guarded against in the ships
from China, for their cargo was composed of all the silks and other
goods generally which could be traded in by the merchants of España,
of those which are manufactured in these kingdoms; and, whatever might
be lost in that region on the part of the commerce of España by reason
of foreign importations, it lost everything through those from China.
48. That, his Majesty having granted to the island of Luzòn (in which
was located the city of Manila) and to the other islands around it
only this, that every year there should go to the port of Acapulco one
ship to obtain the situado for the maintenance of the fortified posts,
conveying only what pertained to white and colored cotton stuffs,
pepper, porcelain, raw silk, and other similar commodities which are
produced by the islands which obey [the king of España], and with the
prohibition of every kind of woven silk stuffs as contraband--for which
reason the latter have always been burned on account of the notion of
their being made in China and Japòn (which are countries governed by
idolaters, Mahometans, and heretics, who are not under the dominion
of this crown)--the abuse of this permission had reached such a state
that the ship came with a lading of eleven or twelve thousand bales
from China and Japòn, so dexterously packed by those infidels that
the largest bale which the commerce of España was shipping to the
Indias did not include the volume or the value that was enclosed in a
bale of those silks, which was less than a vara deep. Moreover, they
put therein imitations of all the satins, velvets, ribbons, mantles,
hose, and every kind of silks, which were manufactured in España;
[and these were] so showy and beautiful that, not only for this reason
but on account of the very moderate prices at which they were sold
throughout Nueva España, no other kind of silks were used than those
of China. The result of this was that all the silk factories in España
(which were paying so enormous duties to the royal treasury) had been
broken up and destroyed; and the fortunes of those who were trading in
the Indias were ruined by the great losses which they had encountered,
since the Spanish commerce was deprived of a line of goods so important
and rich as is that of the silk, in all its kinds of fabrics.
49. That this loss had passed over to the woolen goods, such as
picotes, barracans, [75] and others which were shipped in the
trading-fleets; for those who had clothed themselves with these
throughout Nueva España were now despising them, observing that for
half of what a woolen garment cost them they could procure another of
China silk--being apparently as well clothed, although in the quality
of the goods they had been deceived. In this manner the Chinese
goods carried out of the country three or four millions of pesos in
each ship, which was but little less wealth than that carried by a
regular trading-fleet.
50. That the damage which this illegal trade occasioned to the royal
treasury and to the Spanish trade enabled one to judge of the great
amount of property which those ships transported, of the treasures
which they carried, of the loss which they caused to the commerce of
España, and of the amount which they did not contribute [to the royal
revenues]--augmenting by this means the power and wealth of those
infidels, who are enemies to the Christian faith and to the crown. For
this reason, and because the consulate and commerce of Sevilla firmly
believed that this was the greatest loss and the greatest source and
cause of the ruin of the trading-fleets, and that which most urgently
called for relief with the most prompt and energetic measures: they
concluded by entreating his Majesty that he would deign to give orders
that the permission given to Philipinas be strictly observed, under the
most severe penalties, commanding that its limits be restricted within
the limits of its first concession, for this purpose despatching the
most rigorous orders; and that the trading-fleets should go punctually
and frequently, each year. On this point they expatiated at length,
and it is omitted because it does not belong to this subject.
51. In view of this information and of the proceedings in the Council
(of which there is no account in the Expediente) it is found that by
decree of January 8, 1718, his Majesty stated to the Council that,
having been informed of the quantity of stuffs, silken fabrics, and
other merchandise which the ship from Philipinas brought, by which
the greater part of the silver of Nueva España was carried out of
that country, he had decided to prohibit absolutely the trade in the
aforesaid commodities. He declared that the only trade which could be
carried on was in linen goods, porcelain, wax, cinnamon, cloves, and
other products which are not carried from España, to such an amount
of these kinds of goods as the Marqués de Valero should notify to
the governor of Philipinas, which must be transported by one of
the ships which for the last five years had arrived at Acapulco
[from the islands]. His Majesty furnished with this a copy of the
order to this purpose which he had given to the Marqués de Valero,
the tenor of which is as follows: [Here follows a copy of the decree,
dated at Madrid on January 8, 1718.]
53. By another decree of June 20, in the same year, 1718, his Majesty
sent to the Council, for its information and guidance in the matters
which belonged to it, a copy of another decree (which was issued to
the Council of Castilla), prohibiting the importation and use of the
fabrics from China and other parts of Assia, since this was to the
injury of the manufactures and commerce of España; its tenor is as
follows: [A copy of this decree is also given].