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:
87. [This memorial by the city and merchants of Manila presents in
detail the amount of their annual commerce in the various kinds of
merchandise that are permitted in the decree. The gold exported from
Filipinas to Nueva España amounts to less than 12,000 pesos, and is
sent not as bullion or coin, but in the form of the slender chains
[bejuquillos] wrought by the Malay natives for personal adornment;
for in no other form could it compete with the abundance of gold mined
in Mexico. The Chinese porcelain is shipped in small quantity, being
mainly an article of luxury, like the gold ornaments; moreover, it
is bulky and fragile. As for spices, Manila complains that the market
for these in Nueva España is already appropriated by the merchants of
España who send spices in the trading-fleets to Vera Cruz; in the fleet
(of seventeen vessels) commanded by Don Fernando Chacón was carried the
enormous amount of 170,737 libras of cinnamon, and more than 70,986 of
pepper and cloves, besides various bags and chests of all these kinds
of spice the weight of which was not noted. The only products of the
islands which have commercial value in Nueva España are wax, lampotes,
Ilocos blankets, and cordage; and the value of all that is exported of
these, even counting with them the previously mentioned gold chains,
does not go beyond 30,000 pesos. The linen goods have hitherto been
shipped from Manila to Acapulco only to fill in empty spaces in
the allotments of lading, and have amounted to hardly 60,000 pesos,
on which very little profit was obtained. If the main part of the
galleon's cargo has to be composed of these linens, the Acapulco market
will be overstocked with them, and the prices there will be so low that
Manila cannot afford to send another cargo of this sort. Moreover,
as these goods are procured from the foreign factories at Batavia,
Madrasta, Patàn, Punticheri, and Vengala, as soon as the traders at
those posts understand that the Manila galleons must carry most of
their lading in goods to be procured at those factories they will
advance their prices enormously, and the galleon will be compelled to
sail in ballast, and then only to procure the situado. The floss and
raw silk which is the only form of that product permitted to Manila is
so bulky a commodity, and the consumption of it in Nueva España is so
small, that it too has been shipped only to fill up space; moreover,
"for several years it has been increasing in cost, on account of the
great amount of it which the Dutch, English, and French obtain from
China for the fabrics which are manufactured in Europe." The deputies,
to substantiate their statements, refer to the official reports of
the viceroys of Nueva España, and offer to bring forward evidence
in their favor from various persons at Madrid who have resided in
Filipinas. They claim that the Manila trade in silken fabrics has not
harmed the merchants of España, since the silk which is produced in
that country is hardly sufficient to supply the home demand, and it is
necessary to bring to it foreign silks--exporting to Nueva España some
goods which have little demand in España; but even these do not occupy
one hundred and twenty-five toneladas of space. The greater part of
the silk goods woven in España are silks and velvets, and if the value
of these has fallen, it is not the importation of Chinese goods which
has caused this, but the change in the style of magistrates' robes,
[88] in which those goods are used, and the small amount of them that
is used in the military service. "Just as in these kingdoms [of España]
most of the persons of rank are clothed in no other fabrics than those
which come from foreign countries on account of either their better
quality or their luster--so the same thing occurs in Nueva España,
where they follow in everything the customs of Europa; and for this
reason most of the silken fabrics which are carried thither in the
trading-fleets are from the kingdoms of Inglaterra and Francia, and
the provinces of Holanda--as silver and gold tissues, brocades and
laces of the same sort; hose, and other stuffs, the sale of which does
not injure that of the Chinese silks, on account of the greater value
placed upon the former. Therefore, as the silken fabrics which the
aforesaid shippers carry [to Nueva España] are not all from the mills
of España, but these Spanish silks are in very small quantity and of
the sort which are rejected here, it is evident that the injury is
not to the commerce of Andalucia, but to the foreign nations. For,
since all the gold and silver which comes [to España] is carried
in trading-fleets and galleons--except what is obtained for wines,
brandies, oil, and other products--the slender profits which the
traders of Philipinas gain from the sale of the Chinese fabrics will
also be given up for their benefit by the foreigners on account of
the abundance of the products from their own mills which they will
ship to Cadiz, in order that these may be carried to the Indias." The
argument is repeated, that most of the profits in the Acapulco trade
must go to European foreigners, if it is restricted to the few and
unimportant products of the islands, and thus the enemies of España are
strengthened; while if the Chinese trade is allowed those profits fall
into the hands of people who cannot and will not injure the Spanish
power. The enforcement of the decree will injure not only the citizens
of Manila, but the revenues of the crown, which amount annually to an
average of 228,557 pesos, besides the duties produced by the Acapulco
trade, which amount to 250,000 pesos more. The treasury will have no
means to buy the rice of the Indians, their only valuable product;
the Sangleys will have no occasion to trade at Manila, which will
lose the amount of their licenses (more than 23,000 pesos), besides
the import duties and alcabalas which they pay there, which amount to
more than 37,000 pesos; and the situado sent to both the Philippines
and Marianas must be taken from the Mexican treasury directly,
which will be too heavy a burden for it. The king is reminded of
the poverty of the Philippines in all natural resources save rice,
and their dependence on the Acapulco traffic for money, clothing,
and all other needs save that of food. The recent building of two
small galleons has caused the treasury a great amount of expense,
quite disproportionate to that of the one large vessel which hitherto
had been used for the Acapulco trade--to say nothing of the extra
expense caused by the duplication of crews, officers, and soldiers
which is thus rendered necessary. The smaller ships are less able to
resist either storms or pirates, and the few experienced seamen in
the islands must be divided between them, when they should be massed
in one vessel. Again is mentioned the dependence of the missions,
and the conversion of the heathen, upon the Acapulco trade; the
Indian villages that are more or less christianized now number 457,
with 111,683 families, who are in danger of relapsing into heathenism,
or being converted to Mahometanism, if the missions cannot be kept up.]
88. The Council, on June 14, 1723, agreed that this memorial should
go to the fiscal with all those that came before, with the letters
of the Audiencia, officials, and prelates which had been laid before
the Council on the twelfth of the same month.
89. The consulate of Cadiz, by a memorial presented in the Council
on the twenty-first of the same month and year-being informed of
the petition from Manila requesting that changes be made in the
decree issued on October 27, 1720--asked the Council to order that
the argument recently brought forward by Manila in regard to this be
communicated to them; this having been referred to the fiscal, he was
of opinion that the aforesaid document should be communicated to the
consulate, as had been done in the year 1720 by order of his Majesty;
and the Council agreed to this by a decree of July 12, 1723.
90-92. [On September 4 following, a conference was held by the
representatives of the commerce of Sevilla, to consider the question
of the Philippine commerce in Chinese silks and the royal decree
forbidding that trade; a copy of the memorial sent from Manila, and
other documents bearing thereon, were submitted to that body by the
consulate of Cadiz, who had already taken action thereon, and now
asked for the support and coöperation of the Sevilla merchants. In a
formal resolution by the latter, they express their entire concurrence
with the views of Cadiz, and request the king to enforce the decree
of 1720. They make light of the statement regarding the great amount
of spices carried to Nueva España by Chacón's fleet, and intimate the
probability that the remonstrance by Manila is really instigated by
the traders of Nueva España, who, on account of the enormous profits
which they make by sending money to the Philippines for investment,
must be most affected by the proposed restrictions on the Manila
commerce. Sevilla answers the argument of Manila that only one hundred
and twenty-live toneladas of Spanish silks are sent to Nueva España, by
declaring that even that small amount will soon be reduced to nothing
unless the king strictly prohibit the introduction by the Filipinas
ships into Nueva España of fabrics woven of silk and gold or silver;
also that the silk-mills of España will be ruined and abandoned,
and consequently the cities of that country will be inundated with
poor people and criminals. On the day before this conference, a
similar one was held by the consulate of Cadiz and representatives
from the merchants of that city, who made a vigorous remonstrance
against the injuries caused to Spanish commerce and industry by
the Manila-Acapulco trade, and especially by the frauds and the
infractions of law therein, on which they expatiated in the above
conference. In the report drawn up by them they mention several
of these. For instance, the merchants of the City of Mexico sent
large sums of money to Acapulco for preparing the Manila galleon
for its voyage; "and in the three months during which the ship was
detained at that port it unloaded an enormous cargo, held its fair,
and returned laden with silver, without wintering in that kingdom, on
account of the easy and prompt disposal of all that it carried. This
cargo was usually 10,000 or 12,000 bales, half of silken fabrics and
half of linen goods, [lencería], the proceeds from which reached four
millions of pesos; and all this in pesos, eight-real and four-real
pieces, since in exchange for the said goods they did not desire
or carry any produce, nor even doubloons, nor bars of silver, for
all must be new pesos and of Mexican coinage, these being the coins
which are current in Turquìa, to which country they were going, since
the greater part of the said goods come thence." Reliable witnesses
have told of mule-trains entering Mexico laden with Chinese stuffs,
which must amount to almost the value of the goods carried by the
eighteen vessels in the trading-fleet which that year came from Spain
under Don Manuel de Velasco; and the market of the latter was ruined
by the former. "Although the silk fabrics which the ships bring from
Philipinas have not the quality or durability of those from España,
and the linen goods are all of cotton, and do not last half as long
as do those from France, yet as the former are sold cheap, and have
a good surface, and are showy, while they last the commerce of España
is checked and suspended." The merchants of Mexico send so much money
to Acapulco that not enough is left to send the trading-fleets back
to Spain, which are compelled to winter at Vera Cruz in order to
obtain the proceeds of their cargoes and equip the vessels for the
return voyage. "So sweeping and irreparable is the great injury which
these goods from China, or from the Turks (which is the more certain),
cause to the most important cities of España that when the said ship
was not allowed to carry those goods Sevilla had more than 12,000
looms for the manufacture of silks of every kind; and with these,
even without other stuffs, so great a number of people were employed
on them, and so great was the opulence of that city and of all its
domain, as is made evident by the great services which on all occasions
Sevilla rendered to his Majesty, with sumptuous buildings--churches,
hospitals, government buildings, and private houses. But without
greater casualty than that of the importations in the ships from
China, that city found itself in a straitened and miserable condition,
not two hundred looms being left in it, on account of there being
no consumption for its fabrics; and the great mass of poor people,
who then supported themselves by their labor, are now miserably
perishing. No less proof is afforded by what is occurring in Granada;
for there more than 12,000 looms were employed only on taffetas (both
double and plain), satins, plushes, and all kinds of silk-weaving;
and more than 50,000 persons, men and women, were engaged in the
industry and labor of making silk goods. For this reason, the amount
of silk worked up each year was more than 180,000 libras, from which
proceeded considerable profits to the royal exchequer, for the duty on
each libra amounted to thirteen reals and three cuartillos; but, with
the one but sufficient reason of the importations of Chinese goods,
[that industry] has so fallen away that the amount of silk sold in
that city at each gathering of silk does not reach 40,000 libras,
and the number of looms operated, on coarse stuffs, is less than
2,000--a similar condition to those of Sevilla.... The same troubles
are suffered by Cordova, Jaen, Ezija, Priego, and Alcalà la Real,
with many other places which in both the Andalucias were growing and
being maintained by the said manufactures. It is not less worthy of
attention that the silk-growers of the aforesaid kingdoms of Sevilla,
Granada, Cordova, and Murcia are, for lack of sale for the silk that
they produce, giving up the cultivation of the mulberry-trees, and
abandoning their farms and the places where they dwell." Cadiz cites
the action of Conde de Monclova, viceroy of Peru, who prohibited the
shipment of Chinese goods from Acapulco to South America, making them
contraband and confiscable, recognizing "their poor quality and lack
of durability, and the great detriment which this trade caused to
the merchants [of Peru], who go down to Portovelo to hold the fair
[at the arrival] of the galleons, which has been the greatest in the
world;" and urges the king to enforce strictly the decree of 1720. Such
action would greatly benefit the realms of Spain, and would not cause
injury to the Philippines, because none of the said Chinese stuffs
are made in the islands; "and the only ones who could grieve over it
are the Turk, and other princes of Assia, Mahometans, and enemies of
our holy Catholic faith." As for the complaint of Manila that the
propagation of that faith depends on the silk trade, Cadiz refuses
to believe this, and refers the king to a document in Manila which
refutes that notion. This is "a memorial or report made by a minister
of that Audiencia, N. Calderòn, in which is inserted another, written
by Father Fray Victorio Ricci, [89] of the Order of Preachers, who
was for many years a missionary in the empire of China, and afterward
in the Philipinas Islands; it was sent by the Supreme Inquisition
to its commissary in the islands, in order that he might send to his
Majesty information on the points therein.... In these papers it will
be clearly evident that the progress and propagation of the faith
is not diminished by depriving the islands or the kingdoms adjacent
to them of the commerce prohibited to them, or by the restriction
which his Majesty has laid on it;" the above prohibition, therefore,
is not the cause of the ruin of the citizens of Filipinas.]
93-94. [These replies by the merchants of Andalusia call forth
another memorial from the Manila deputies, which occupies fourteen
printed sheets. They repeat their former arguments, enforcing them
by reference to the despatches from the Audiencia of Manila, the
archbishop, and the various religious bodies there, and still more
to the letters previously addressed to the king by the viceroys of
Nueva España; and they adduce various instances from the history of
the Manila-Acapulco trade to the same effect. They also undertake
to refute the charges made by the merchants of Sevilla and Cadiz,
and claim that the latter have misrepresented certain facts. We note
here some points made by the Manila envoys, as giving new information
on the matter at issue. They say that the maintenance of Filipinas,
including the missions and military posts, costs the Spanish crown
annually 515,568 pesos, for which sum the royal treasury of Mexico
should be responsible, according to the laws of the Indias; but it
sends thither only 40,000 pesos in money and some 60,000 in goods, and
even this remittance comes from the duties which the Manila galleon
pays at Acapulco. But in 1637 and for some years later, the situado
sent to the islands amounted to more than 325,000 pesos in money, and
enough goods to make up the 500,000 pesos. This, however, was largely
the result of the failure of the Manila merchants to ship goods to
Mexico, a proceeding caused by the undue harshness and severity of
the royal visitor Pedro de Quiroga; [90] but it led to the abolition
(by royal decree of September 3, 1639) of the restriction on the
kinds of goods permitted to Manila, only limiting the amount of their
investments. It is strange that Manila has pursued this commerce for
one hundred and forty years without any protest from Andalusia until
now; the decadence of the latter is due rather to lack of economy
in the use of their wealth than to the competition of Filipinas; and
Andalusia has always encountered trouble, since the persons interested
in the greater part of the lading of the galleons and fleets have been
and are foreigners--French, English, and Dutch. Andalusia claims that
the galleon unlades at Acapulco more than 12,000 piezas, half of them
containing silk goods; but the certificates of the royal officials
show that in the ten years from 1710 to 1720 the total number of piezas
(in ten galleons) was 36,895, including therein the 4,299 half-chests
in which the silk goods were shipped--making the average lading of
each galleon only 3,660 piezas. The detention of Velasco's fleet was
not due to the arrival of the Manila galleon, but to other causes. The
fleet of 1698, in charge of General Mascarùa, was sent lightly laden,
and in 1699 Velasco's fleet followed it, but encountered the other
at Vera Cruz; the presence of the two large fleets at one time,
and the ravages of yellow fever [bomito negro, i.e., "black vomit"]
at that port, rendered it impossible to sell the goods to advantage,
to transport them to Mexico, or to equip the vessels for the return
voyage. When Velasco could set out for Spain, he received news of the
death of Carlos II, and the danger of war between Spain and other
powers, which made the merchants unwilling to risk their property
on the seas at that time. Finally the Spanish fleet was escorted
to Spain by a French squadron of warships, but on reaching Vigo was
attacked by an English and Dutch fleet, which inflicted considerable
loss on the Spaniards. Moreover, the trading-fleets sent from Spain to
Nueva España are nearly twice as large in the last few years as they
used to be, which overstocks the colonial markets with goods. Manila
claims that the decadence of the silk industry in Andalusia is due
to the pest which ravaged that province (with especial mortality
in Sevilla) in the middle of the past century; and that part of the
remaining population had emigrated to Murcia and Valencia, where they
had cultivated mulberry-trees and built up the manufacture of silk
goods. Another reason assigned by some writers for the decrease of
prosperity in Andalusia was the imposition, at that time, of heavy
war-taxes. As early as 1666, the city and the merchants of Sevilla
had represented to the crown "their lamentable condition, and the
ruin of their looms, caused by the imposition of the millones [91]
and the concourse of foreigners to Cadiz to introduce their own
merchandise." This led to a resolution by the royal Council that
the decree of January 25, 1661, should be enforced, which provided
that the custom-house and collection of duties for the Indias should
be withdrawn from Cadiz, and that the galleons and fleets should
take on their lading in the river of Sevilla and the port of San
Lucar. As for the stuffs from foreign countries which, it is alleged,
are brought to España and crowd out the manufactures of that country,
these are only the fabrics which the more industrious French, English,
and Dutch make with the raw material, both wool and silk, which España
exports. In 1696 Sevilla complained to the king of the injury which it
was experiencing from the importation of foreign goods, but did not
mention the Chinese stuffs among these. "In Madrid and Valencia the
manufacturers are at present complaining that the price of silk has
risen very high, not because the crop [that is raised in España] is
not an abundant one, so much as on account of the so great export, not
only from that kingdom but from other regions, to foreign countries,
that which the French alone have bought this year amounting to more
than 300,000 doubloons; and if asked about this, any dealer in these
goods or any official will answer with entire candor, without blaming
the commerce of Manila." The foreigners bring back these silk goods
to España, in order to supply with them not only that country but
the Indias, through the fleets and galleons; "and this is what the
consulate [of Cadiz] is defending, in order that these goods may,
by not introducing into Mexico those from China, be sold [there]
with a higher reputation." The highest authorities all concur in the
statement that the Spanish silks sent to Nueva España do not amount to
one hundred and twenty-five toneladas. The statement that the Manila
galleon carries from that country 4,000,000 pesos is unwarranted;
the only possible ground for it is that in 1717 the viceroy allowed
the galleon to carry to Manila 2,000,000 pesos, because for three
years past no money had been sent to the islands--on account of poor
sales at Acapulco, a galleon forced back to the islands by storms,
etc.--on condition that the king's ten per cent be paid on that
amount. In other years the amount of money illegally shipped has been
very small. Cadiz has alleged that money has been scarce there for
some years; but Manila declares that from December, 1720 to July, 1723
over 40,000,000 pesos worth of gold and silver, in coin and bullion,
has been landed at Cadiz, without including the value of the other
products of the Indias. Cadiz asserts that the money obtained from
Nueva España goes to the Turks, the enemies of the Catholic faith;
but the Spanish merchants are continually furnishing money to other
enemies of the faith, the English and Dutch. Moreover, the commodities
which the Manila galleon carries are not obtained from the Turks,
but (through the European factories) from Indostan, Tunquin, Lao,
China, Japon, and the Philippine Islands; while Manila is not even
permitted to trade with Arabia and Persia, whose products are carried
to the ports of the Levant, and at those fairs the traders from all
the European nations buy those goods, with money which has come from
the Indias. Manila declares that the trading-fleets carry to Vera
Cruz no Spanish products save wines, brandies, oil, raisins, and
almonds, and the previously-mentioned small amount of silk goods;
all else in their cargoes is of foreign make. The spices which the
decree of 1720 allows to the islands will not suffice to pay the
expenses of the voyage, especially when Manila must compete with the
trading-fleets from Spain in the shipment of these products. The
collection of royal duties on goods is regulated by "cubic palmos
in accordance with the measurement of the bales [frangotes] and
piezas which are shipped." As for the memorial by Calderòn, Manila
asserts that it does not bear on the present question; that auditor,
in the time of Governor Curuzalaegui (in which occurred an uprising
of the Sangleys), sent a letter to the king remonstrating against the
liberty given to the Chinese, and advising that they be not allowed
to have intercourse with the Indian natives, or even to live in the
Parián. This tolerance had been extended to them for the sake of
attracting them to the Christian faith, but Calderòn regarded it as
no longer necessary, since they had, even then, a number of Christian
missionaries in their own country. In his letter, he cited Father Ricci
in support of some of his statements. While the Spanish silks sent to
Nueva España amount to only one hundred and twenty-five toneladas,
those of foreign make sent thither from Spanish ports are more than
a thousand toneladas. The French, English, and Dutch trade at Canton,
where the main part of their commerce is in raw silk.]
95-96. [The above memorial was referred by the Council to the fiscal,
on October 6, 1723; and on December 22 following, a printed answer
to both of those by Manila was placed before the Council by the
consulate and merchants of Cadiz. They remind the king that when
Filipinas was first discovered the ships brought back to España
abundance of gold, pearl, amber, civet, wax, and fabrics of Ilocos;
and for some time afterward these and many other valuable products
were exported from Manila, which became the emporium of both Eastern
and Western India. In those early times, when so much zeal and
energy for the conversion of the heathen was displayed, it was not
necessary to the missions to depend upon the trade in Chinese silks;
but, for the sake of benefiting the natives of the islands, and to
check the drain of silver to foreign nations, the Spanish government
(by decrees of 1589 and 1596) authorized the barter and exchange of
the products of Filipinas for those of China, under the system called
pancada. But Manila has distorted this into the assumption that
the Chinese trade was intended for the maintenance of the Spanish
colony in Filipinas, and that it was to be without restriction,
save in its amount--although, as a fact, the trade in silk fabrics
of China was not introduced until many years later. The system of
distributing the commerce among the citizens of Manila replaced the
earlier pancada, and led to such abuses that Felipe III attempted to
check them by a severe decree (1620); and later enactments placed
the Acapulco commerce on such footing that it flourished greatly,
to the mutual advantage of Filipinas and Nueva España, and to the
enrichment of Manila and its citizens. That commerce benefited the
poor citizen as well as the rich; but the trade in silks is only for
the benefit of the wealthy merchant and the rich consumer, as they
are articles of luxury. The earlier commerce of Manila also supported
and stimulated the consumption of Spanish silks in Nueva España and
Peru, and the silk industry flourished in the mother-country; but
the later introduction of Chinese silks into the American colonies,
and the frauds and excess connected with this trade, have ruined
the silk industry on both sides of the Atlantic, and even impaired
the prosperity of Manila. Cadiz claims that the merchants of Mexico
have committed many frauds, and transgressed the ordinances, and
prevented the execution of these, in regard to the Manila trade, and
do so with the collusion and aid of the officials: for instance, the
galleon "Nuestra Señora del Rosario" arrived at Acapulco on January
11, 1699, and the Manila citizens attempted to compound the duties
on the cargo for 100,000 pesos; but the royal fiscal opposed this,
showing that the ship had brought 6,754 piezas of lading, without
counting a considerable quantity of pepper and other goods outside of
the registration. It was also found that although the law restricted
the entire cargo to the value of 250,000 pesos, and its ownership to
the citizens of Manila, this vessel contained goods to the amount
of 233,966 pesos which belonged to the citizens of Puebla alone,
and it was estimated that it must contain at least a million pesos'
worth of goods belonging to merchants in the City of Mexico. The
Mexican government compelled the payment on these goods of duties
amounting to 50,000 pesos more, and would have investigated the whole
matter, to ascertain the exact amount of the illegal shipments; but
the commercial interests of Mexico exerted such influence against
this that the Audiencia desisted from the undertaking. Again Cadiz
accuses the importation of Chinese silks into Nueva España of having
ruined the silk industry in España; although those goods are so thin
and poor that they are worn out even before the Manila galleon leaves
Acapulco, they are so cheap and showy that they undersell the better
goods from España even competing with the latter in Vera Cruz, where
the Chinese goods are purchased by the traders of Habana, Puerto Rico,
Cartagena, and other Spanish colonies; and all this is overlooked
by the Spanish officials in high places, because they profit by
this illegal traffic. If the king will prohibit the importation of
silk woven with silver and gold, and "check the hand which Mexico
moves at the command of Manila," the silk industry will be revived
in España, its people will be kept from idleness and poverty, and
foreign countries will no longer drain its resources. Cadiz desires
Manila to content itself with the spice-trade, which is a staple
and profitable line of commerce, and which Manila can carry on more
cheaply and promptly than Spanish merchants can; the spices sent from
España on Chacón's fleet were needed to supply the scarcity of them
at that time, as the Manila trade had been interrupted temporarily;
but if the latter be regular, such shipment from España could not occur
again. From the year 1690, the indult ran from 50,000 to 74,000 pesos,
on the basis of the 250,000 pesos allowed to the Manila trade; but it
is evident that the duties ought now to amount to above 500,000 pesos,
on the enormous quantities of Chinese silks that the galleon of 1,000
toneladas carries.]
97-105. [This memorial, with like protests from the cities of Toledo,
Ezija, and Murcia, was sent to the fiscal, who on March 16, 1724,
handed in his opinion on the question at issue--that is, whether
the decree of 1720 should be changed or enforced. He lays down three
propositions: First, that the trade in Chinese stuffs should not be
prohibited to the citizens of Filipinas, since it is necessary to their
maintenance, those islands having no profitable mines or commercial
products; moreover, the introduction and propagation of the Catholic
faith therein is an obligation of justice as well as of religious
zeal, and was so recognized by Felipe II, when he refused to abandon
Filipinas; and to fulfil this obligation the Spanish colony there
should be sustained. For this purpose the trade with Nueva España
had been granted to Manila, to such extent as should be necessary
for its preservation, that is, to the amount of 250,000 pesos, and
500,000 in returns; and in the permission given to Manila to trade
with China there had been, and should be, no restriction as to the
woven silks of that country. Second, this trade ought, nevertheless,
to be strictly confined to the amount of their permission, and all
frauds to be prevented; for the complaints of Spanish producers and
merchants had been caused by the frauds and abuses in the Manila
trade, rather than by the mere fact of its including Chinese goods;
the fiscal even suggests that they have an official representative at
Acapulco to aid in the unlading and inspection of the Manila galleon,
and report thereon to the viceroy, which would aid in preventing
frauds and enable the Spanish merchants to discuss the question more
intelligently. Third, that in case the trade in Chinese silks be
prohibited to Manila, that in spices should be absolutely prohibited
to the Spanish merchants and given exclusively to those of Filipinas;
while the American trade in silks should be free to the Spaniards.]
106-111. [The Council considered this question on April 6, and decided
that the decree of 1720 should be changed; they recommended that
the Filipinas trade be continued as before the decree, and employing
but one large galleon; that the decree of 1702 should be enforced,
save that the goods should be valued not by actual inspection of the
bales but by invoices presented by the shippers, with their sworn
statements that the goods were their own; nor should any indult,
payment of double duties, or other form of composition be tolerated;
and that the royal officials at Manila, Cavite, Acapulco, and Mexico
should be held responsible for the fulfilment of these regulations,
under severe penalties. This proceeding was approved by the king,
who issued despatches in accordance therewith (June 17, 1724) to
the viceroy of Nueva España and other officials concerned therein;
and on August 8 the merchants of Cadiz were invited to nominate a
deputy to watch the Acapulco commerce.]