Compared with the original:
_Felipe Ramirez_, notary.
Whereas, the city of Manila, on the thirtieth day of March of this
year, issued an ordinance forbidding the natives from wearing silks and
stuffs from China, for many reasons mentioned in the said ordinance,
which are of importance to the general welfare and the good government
of these islands; we, the cabildo and government of the city of Manila,
command that the said ordinance be submitted to the royal Council of
the Indias for confirmation, in order that the said causes, and any
others that may exist, may be certified to his Majesty. We entreat
your Lordship to send us information, in accordance with the questions
sent you herewith, and that an authorized copy of said information
be sent us for transmission to his Majesty, with the said ordinance;
for which purpose, etc.
The witnesses are to be asked if they know whether, when first the
Spaniards discovered these islands, all the natives wore any other
garments than those made in the islands, planting cotton and weaving
cloth for their own use, and continuing to do so even for many years
after the Spaniards had settled in the islands; and whether the one
or two ships that came from China each year, brought any cloth or
silks to the islands. For these were not sold among the natives;
and all that was carried in these ships was earthenware, horns,
herbs, _desaumerios_, and other trifles of little importance. Also
whether, after the Spaniards settled here, and the Chinese began
to increase their trade with them and to bring many ships to these
islands laden with cloth, the natives began to wear garments of said
cloth from China, discarding their own, which they formerly used;
and whether this use has reached such a pass that there is no year
when the said natives do not buy and use for their clothing over two
hundred thousand robes of cotton and silk, which at the present time
are worth as many pesos--and in a few years will, unless this injury
[to our trade] is opposed and checked, be worth twice as much. For
as the natives are not a people who strive to acquire much property
for the purpose of leaving it to their heirs, but spend all they get
in food and drink and clothing, and as no one needs more than one or
two pieces of cloth a year, they care not whether these garments be
cheap or dear, but pay for them whatever is asked; and in this way the
price has risen so high, that a piece which at first could be bought
for two reals, now sells for ten, and very soon will cost twenty.
Also whether, for the reasons given in the preceding question, there
results what would be a serious loss to these islands, and injury to
his Majesty--that is, whether it be true that, whereas the Chinese
formerly, in payment for the clothing they brought, carried away from
these islands thirty thousand pesos in money, they now, on account
of the recklessness and extravagance of the natives, take away two
hundred thousand pesos. This money leaves the realms of his Majesty,
and is carried to a foreign country, in violation of royal edicts;
this would be prevented if the said natives were not to clothe
themselves with the said stuffs.
Also whether the said natives have, since the Spaniards have been
trading in these islands with the Chinese, abandoned the tillage
of their lands, as regards not only the cultivation of cotton, but
that of rice, wine, and other products of the country; and have given
themselves over to vice and idleness, refusing to work. For, as there
is money in the country, brought hither by the Spaniards, some of it
gets into the hands of the natives, in payment for services and in
many other ways. And thus the natives, finding the stuffs brought
by the Chinese ready at hand, and having money to pay for them,
have abandoned work and the cultivation of their lands, and become
vagabonds, both men and women--courting the favor of the Spaniards,
and committing and causing numberless offenses against God. For the
natives are addicted to theft and licentiousness, and the women are
ready to sell their persons; and for these reasons there is, here,
more than an intimacy of men and women.
Also whether the evils and disorders above mentioned would disappear
with the observance of the said ordinance. For the natives would then
be at work, and there would be an abundance of fruits and provisions
in the country, and at very low prices, as there has been hitherto,
and thus the country would be supported; and there would not be
taken out of the kingdom the large sums of money which the Chinese
now carry away for the provisions which they bring to sell--such as
flour, sugar, lard, and other things. Moreover, the natives would
dress in their own stuffs, which are better woven and more economical
than those from China; and besides making cloth for their own use,
they would have some which the Spaniards could buy for their trade;
and another large quantity of money would remain in the country,
which now is taken from it because the said natives do not make the
said cloth. Another serious evil would cease; the natives would no
longer sell raw cotton to the Chinese, who take it to their own country
and make it into cloth, and then return to sell it to the natives,
and with these goods deprive them of their money. Most of all, there
would be an end to the evils and sins against God above mentioned.
Also whether the observance of the said ordinance will induce the
natives and the Chinese to carry on trade as they formerly did, without
using money; for if the natives should wish to trade or barter in the
islands (which is not forbidden to them), they can and will obtain
goods, as they formerly did, in exchange for such articles as _siguey_
(a small white snail), dye-wood, and carabao horns; to this mode of
trading the Chinese will adapt themselves, and the outflow of money
will cease.
Also whether all these islands, or most of them, are well adapted
to the cultivation of cotton, so that, if the natives are set to
the task, enough will be produced to supply all the islands with,
provisions and clothing; and whether cloth will be made, as good as,
or better than, that which comes from China, and a surplus be left
for shipment to Nueva España in exchange for necessaries, and a
larger surplus of cotton to be used in exchange for Chinese wares;
and whether as much money will be taken out of the country as is now
taken away. Let the witnesses tell what they know on these subjects;
and whether the facts above stated are notorious or well-known,
and matters of public discussion and report.
In the village of Bacolor, province of Panpanga, of the Philipinas
Islands, on the thirteenth day of the month of May, in the year
one thousand five hundred and ninety-one, Captain Juan de Alcega,
alcalde-mayor of the said province for our lord the king, declared
that, inasmuch as the cabildo, magistracy, and government of the city
of Manila, among other ordinances which they enacted for the welfare
and government of that city, and for the benefit of the state, issued
one forbidding the natives of these islands to dress in silks or
stuffs from China, for the reasons and difficulties mentioned in the
said ordinance; and because the enforcement and observance thereof is
very just and expedient for these islands, Gomez Perez Dasmarinas,
knight of the habit of Santiago, governor and captain-general of
the islands for our lord the king, in his royal name approved and
confirmed the same. But as Don Frai Domingo de Salazar, bishop of
these said islands, in the name of the natives as their protector,
has protested against the said ordinance on the ground of its being
injurious to the natives, the captain-general, in behalf of the said
natives, and in order to ascertain the truth, makes the statements
contained in this mandate. And in order to ascertain whether the
observance of the said ordinance would put an end to the troubles
therein mentioned, or whether a fulfilment of the same would result
in the injuries to the said natives which the said bishop, as their
protector, mentions, I hereby command that the following investigation
be made, and that the witnesses be examined in accordance with the
interrogatory submitted by the said cabildo.
Signed:
_Juan de Alcega_
Before me:
_Felipe Roman_, notary.
_Evidence_
In the village of Çubao of the said province, on the fourteenth
day of May of the year aforesaid, the said alcalde-mayor, for the
purpose of the said investigation, caused to appear before him Don
Nicolas Ramos, a chief of the village of Cubao and governor of the
same--who, being duly sworn according to legal form, with the aid of
the interpreter Domingo Birral, and having promised on the sign of
the cross to speak the truth, was questioned in accordance with the
purpose of the interrogatory, and deposed as follows:
In reply to the first question this witness stated that he knew
that before the Spaniards came to these islands for their discovery,
pacification, and settlement, and that of all the peoples who then
were, or have since been, discovered here, all the natives of the
islands, so far as this witness is informed--chiefs, timaguas, and
slaves, without distinction of rank--wove cotton fabrics, with which
they clothed themselves, all from cotton of their own planting. It is
true that, as far back as this witness can remember, he thinks that
he has never known cotton to have been planted or gathered in this
province, or along the river and coast of Manila, from the village
of Cabite to this province; but in all the other tribes except these
cotton was planted, large quantities being gathered and sold to the
inhabitants of this Pampanga, and to those of the river and coast
of Manila, who gave in exchange the rice which they cultivated,
and sometimes gold; and they procured the cotton for the purpose of
spinning it and weaving cloth for their own garments. This continued to
be the custom for many years after the coming of the Spaniards; for,
although one or two ships came from China each year at that time,
these brought no cloths or silks, but only iron, and earthenware,
and _camanguian_. The principal reason why the Tagalos of Manila
and the inhabitants of all this Panpanga have never cultivated
cotton, is because they do not know how; and because they have never
been accustomed to grow anything but rice, on which they chiefly
subsist. This was his answer.
In reply to the second question this witness stated that since the
Spaniards have become established in these islands, he has noticed
how the Chinese have come hither, in larger numbers every year,
eight ships at least coming annually from China; and in some years
this witness has seen as many as twenty and thirty, all laden with
cloths and bolts of silk. And when the natives of these islands
and of this province saw all these cloths brought by the Chinese,
they made less exertion to weave their own; but to avoid even that
little work, all the natives began to clothe themselves with the
said stuffs from China, discarding entirely their own, which they
formerly wore. And so far has this gone at the present day, that all
alike--without distinction of chief from timagua, or of timagua from
slave--dress in these stuffs, making it impossible to judge of their
rank from their dress. In this way a very large quantity of cloth is
used--far more, as it seems to this witness, than the number stated
in the question; and he is very certain that, if this tendency is not
checked and corrected, the price of every one of these stuffs will in
a few years be doubled; for now even the cheapest costs not less than
a peso. For the natives of these islands do not accumulate wealth,
but spend it all in food and clothing; and as none of the natives,
however high his rank may be, needs more than two or three pieces
of cloth in a year, in order to avoid the labor of weaving them,
and so that they can spend their time in idleness, they prefer to
buy them from the Sangleys, whether they are cheap or dear, paying
without hesitation or heed whatever price is asked. The result is that
everything is growing much dearer; for a piece of cloth which at first
usually cost, on the average, three or four reals, as already stated,
now costs ten reals, and, unless this rise is checked, will very soon
cost twenty--and this for the reasons mentioned in the question. These
matters should be considered, and some corrective be found, to avoid
further difficulties. Thus did he reply to this question.
To the third question he replied that, for the reasons mentioned in
the preceding question, considerable damage has been and is suffered,
and, unless some check and remedy is applied, will continue to be
suffered in these islands, by the Spaniards and by the inhabitants
of the country, both Spaniards and natives, and especially to the
injury of his Majesty's service; this damage consisting in the
fact that while the Chinese formerly took away from these islands,
in exchange for their merchandise which they bring from their own
country, at the most from twenty thousand to thirty thousand pesos in
money, at the present day--as all the natives are extravagant enough
to buy their clothing, since they can dispense with making it--these
merchants take from the country all the money stated in the question,
and even more. This money they take out of his Majesty's dominions
to their own country, whence it never returns. And this might be
prevented if the natives were forbidden to buy the said clothing,
and would dress in the stuffs which they formerly were accustomed to
wear. This was his answer to this question.
In reply to the fourth question he stated that, before the coming of
the Spaniards, all the natives lived in their villages, applying
themselves to the sowing of their crops and the care of their
vineyards, [4] and to the pressing of wine; others planting cotton,
or raising poultry and swine, so that all were at work; moreover,
the chiefs were obeyed and respected, and the entire country well
provided for. But all this has disappeared since the coming of
the Spaniards. For since their coming all the Indians have given
themselves over to vice and vagabondage, wandering from village to
village to avoid work, and to indulge their vices--and this because,
seeing that the Spaniards have plenty of money, they are eager to serve
them. Finding that they have money, and food and clothing being given
to them, or procured by a day's labor, there is nothing to induce them
to return to their villages to cultivate the soil, and raise animals,
and work, as they formerly did. This state of affairs is already so
general in these islands that, when the attempt is made to compel a
native to work, he immediately takes to flight, and wanders about,
halting only at a place where he is allowed to remain idle. From this
have resulted the offenses mentioned in the question, a condition
which requires a remedy. Such was his reply to this question.
To the fifth question he said that all the evils and difficulties and
offenses against God, our Lord, mentioned in these questions will
disappear if the said ordinance is properly executed; for all the
natives would work, and the country be well supplied with crops and
provisions, and a surplus sufficient for the maintenance of all the
natives and Spaniards, as before the coming of the Sangleys, and the
money which the Chinese now carry from this country to their own would
remain here. Indeed, if these traders stopped coming altogether, the
islands would not lack supplies; as for clothing, the natives could
dress in their own stuffs, which are three times better than those
brought from China; and, besides what they make for their own garments,
they could make a large quantity for trade with the Spaniards; thus
would be kept in this country a very large sum of money, and thus
all this country would be wealthy and prosperous. This has not been
accomplished hitherto because the natives, for the reasons before
mentioned, will not weave their stuffs as they used to. And, besides
all this, there would be an end of the very great injury caused by the
Sangley's buying the raw cotton and taking it to his own country, to
be there worked into cloth, which again is brought to these islands
for sale. Best of all, there would be an end of all the evils and
offenses which the question mentions, and for which a remedy is most
important. Thus he replied to this question.
To the sixth question he replied that everything said in the
questions in regard to the Chinese and the trading with them, before
the Spaniards had come, is true; that so matters were wont to be in
these islands. Where the natives had not the kinds of goods mentioned
in the question, they paid for them in rice and gold, which is very
advantageous to the Chinese. If they continue to come and seek to
trade with the natives, the arrangement described in the question
would be very advantageous to both parties; and the Chinese would no
longer draw from the country the large quantities of money which they
have taken away yearly. Thus he replied to this question.
In reply to the seventh question he declared that he knew that all the
tribes who have been discovered in these islands could plant cotton,
and that the soil is adapted to that use; but that the natives of
these provinces, and of those in which rice is grown, have been and are
unwilling to plant cotton, fearing lest they may ruin the cultivation
of rice, which is their chief article of food. But this witness is
certain that, if they would consent to do so, they could plant cotton,
as it is a crop that requires less labor than rice; and if cotton
were cultivated at least by the Tagalos Indians, who are the laziest
of all, large quantities of cotton might be gathered. With this they
could make cloth of very good quality for their own garments, and even
some besides for the use of the Spaniards, who wore these garments when
they first came to the islands; much also would remain for shipment to
Nueva España; and there would still be a large surplus of cotton for
exchange against any articles they might desire. All these are facts
well and publicly known, and matters of public report. The witness
reiterates his statements and abides by them. He does not sign his
name, as he cannot write, and appears to be about forty years old.