[Philippines a burden to Spain.] This Asiatic colony, although

considered as conferring great lustre on the crown and name of our

monarch, by exhibiting the vast extent of the limits of his dominions,

has in reality been, during a long series of years, a true burden

to the government, or at least, a possession whose chief advantages

have redounded in favor of other powers, rivals of our maritime

importance. Notwithstanding all that has been said on the score of

real utility, certain it is, that the Philippine establishment has

cost the treasury large sums of money; although, within the last

twenty-five or thirty years, it must be confessed that the public

revenues has experienced a considerable increase, and, of itself,

has become an object of some consequence to the state.

[Profit from tobacco monopoly and foreign trade.] Among the various

causes which have contributed to produce so favorable an alteration,

the chief one have been the establishment of the tobacco monopoly,

on behalf of the crown, and the opening of the port of Manila to the

flag of other nations, at peace with Spain. The first has considerably

increased the entries into the public treasury, and the second

has tended to multiply the general mass of mercantile operations,

independent of the other beneficial effects this last measure must

have produced in a country, whose resources, trade and consumption

had, from the time of the conquest, experienced the fatal shackles

imposed by jealousy and ignorance.

[Improvement in public finances.] The improved aspect the colony

soon assumed, by the introduction of this new system, as was natural,

awakened the attention of ministers, and induced them more easily to

consent to the measures subsequently proposed to them, principally

intended to place those distant dominions on a footing of permanent

security, so as to enable them to repel any fresh attempts on the part

of an enemy. As, however, the productions of the country increased,

the public expenses also became greater, although always in a much

smaller proportion, with the exception of the interval between the

years 1797 and 1802, when the government, fearful of a second invasion,

was compelled, at its own expense, to provide against the danger with

which these Islands were then threatened. If, therefore, as appears

from the official reports of the treasurer-general, Larzabal, in my

possession, the receipts at the treasury, in 1780, amounted only to

$700,000 including the situado, or annual allowance for the expenses

of government sent from New Spain, and after the ordinary charges of

administration had been paid, a surplus of $170,000 remained in the

hands of the treasurer; at present we have the satisfaction to find

that the revenue is equal to $2,625,176.50 and the expenses do not

exceed $2,179,731.87 by which means an annual surplus of $445,444.62

is left, applicable to the payment of the debt contracted during the

extraordinary period above mentioned, now reduced to about $900,000 and

afterwards transferable to the general funds belonging to the crown.

[Economy over Spanish-American colonial administration.] With regard

to the administrative system, it is in every respect similar to the

one observed in our governments of America, with this difference only,

that, in the Philippine Islands, greater economy prevails in salaries,

as well as in the number of persons employed. In former times, the

establishment of intendencies, or boards of administration, was deemed

expedient in Manila, Ilocos, Camarines, Iloilo, and Cebu; but they

were soon afterwards reformed, or rather laid aside, on account of

their being deemed superfluous. I would venture to state the grounds

on which this opinion was then formed; but, as the sphere in which

the king's revenue acts in these Islands increases and extends, which

naturally will be the case if the plans and improvements dictated

by the present favorable circumstances are carried into effect, I do

not hesitate to say that it will be necessary again to appeal to the

establishment of a greater number of boards for the management and

collection of the various branches of the revenue, whether they are

called intendencies, or by any other name; as it will be extremely

difficult for the administration to do its duty, on the confined and

inadequate plan under which it is at present organized.

[Fiscal system.] Under its existing form, it is constituted in the

following manner: The governor of the Islands, in his quality of

superintendent or administrator general, and as uniting in himself

the powers of intendent of the army, presides at the board of

administration of the king's revenue, which is placed in the immediate

charge of a treasurer and two clerks. The principal branches have their

respective general directors, on whom the provincial administrators

depend, and the civil magistrates, in the quality of sub-delegates,

collect within their respective districts, the tributes paid by the

natives in money and produce, and manage everything else relating

to the king's revenue. In ordinary cases, the general laws of the

Indies govern, and especially are the ordinances or regulations of

the Intendents of New Spain (Mexico) ordered to be observed in the

Philippines. It ought further to be observed, that, in these Islands,

the same as in all the vice-royalties and governments of America, there

is a distinct body of royal decrees in force, which, in themselves,

constitute a code of considerable size.

[Opposition to tobacco monopoly.] The process of converting the

consumption of tobacco into a monopoly met with a most obstinate

resistance on the part of the inhabitants, and the greatest

circumspection and constancy were necessary for the governor, Don

José Basco, to carry this arduous enterprise into effect. Accustomed

to the cultivation of this plant without any restriction whatever,

and habituated to its use from their infancy, it appeared to the people

the extreme of rashness to seek simultaneously to extirpate it from the

face of the greatest part of the Island of Luzon, in order to confine

its culture within the narrow limits of a particular district. They

were equally revolted at the idea of giving to a common article a

high and arbitrary value, when, besides, it had become one of the

first necessity. Every circumstance, however, being dispassionately

considered, and the principle once admitted that it was expedient for

the colony to maintain itself by means the least burdensome to the

inhabitants, it certainly must be acknowledged that, although odious

on account of its novelty and defective in the mode of its execution,

a resource more productive and at the same time less injurious, could

not have been devised. Hence was it that the partisans of the opposite

system were strangely misled, by founding their calculation on false

data, when they alleged that a substitute, equivalent to the increased

revenue supposed to arise out of the monopoly of tobacco, might have

been resorted to by ordering a proportionate rise in the branch of

tributes. In fact, no one who had the least experience in matters of

this kind, can be ignorant of the open repugnance the natives have

always evinced to the payment of the ordinary head-tax (cedula),

and the broils to which its collection has given rise. Besides,

if well examined, no theory is more defective and more oppressive

on account of the disparity with which it operates, than this same

wrongly-boasted impost; for, however desirous it may be to simplify

the method of collecting the general revenue of a state, if the best

plan is to be adopted, that is, if public burdens are to be rendered

the least obnoxious, it is necessary preferably to embrace the system

of indirect contribution, in which class, to a certain degree, the

monopoly of all those articles may be considered as included which are

not rigorously of the first necessity, and only compel the individual

to contribute when his own will induce him to become a consumer.

[Doubling of insular revenue thru tobacco.] Let this be as it may,

certain it is, that to Governor Basco we are indebted for having

doubled the annual amount of the revenue of these Islands, by merely

rendering the consumption of tobacco subservient to the wants of the

crown. It was he who placed these Islands in the comfortable situation

of being able to subsist without being dependent on external supplies

of money to meet the exigencies of government. It ought, however, to

be remarked that, although they have been in the habit of receiving

the annual allowance of $250,000 for which a standing credit was

opened by the government at home on the general treasury of New

Spain, considerable sums have, nevertheless, on various occasions,

been remitted from the Philippines to Spain, through the channel of

the Captain-General. * * * If these remittances have been suspended

for some years past, it has evidently been owing to the imperious

necessity of applying the ordinary proceeds of the revenue, as well

as other extraordinary means, to unforeseen contingencies arising

out of peculiar circumstances.

[Tobacco belt.] The planting and cultivation of tobacco are now

confined to the district of Gapan, in Pampanga Province, to that of

Cagayan, and to the small Island of Marinduque. The amount of the

crops raised in the above three points and sold to the king, may,

on an average, be estimated at fifty thousand bales, grown in the

following proportion: Gapan, forty-seven thousand bales; Cagayan,

two thousand, and Marinduque, one thousand. This stock, resold at the

monopoly prices, yields a sum equal to about one million of dollars,

and deducting therefrom the prime cost and all other expenses,

legally chargeable on this branch, the net proceeds in favor of the

revenue amount to $550,000 or upwards of one hundred twenty-two per

cent. This profit is so much more secure, as it rests on the positive

fact that, however great the quantity of the article sold furtively and

by evading the vigilance of the guards, as the demand and consumption

are excessive and always exceed the stock on hand, a ready sale cannot

fail to be had for all the stock placed in the hands of the agents

of the monopoly. From this it may also be inferred how much the net

proceeds of this branch would be increased, if without venturing too

far in extending the plantations and consequent purchases, care was

taken to render the supplies more proportionate to the consumption;

for, by a clear profit of one hundred twenty-two per cent, falling

on a larger capital, it follows that a corresponding result would

be obtained. In a word, the sales, far from declining or being in

any way deemed precarious, are susceptible of a great increase,

consequently this branch of revenue merits the serious attention of

government beyond all others.

[Defective sales system.] It is, however, to be lamented that,

instead of every facility being given to the sale of tobacco and the

consumption thus encouraged, the public meet with great difficulties

and experience such frequent obstacles and deficiencies in the

supplies, that with truth it may also be said, the sales are affected

in spite of the administrators themselves. In the capital alone it

is a generally received opinion that a third part more would there

be consumed, if, instead of compelling the purchaser to receive the

tobacco already manufactured or folded, he was allowed to take it from

the stores in its primitive state; and if the minor establishments

in the provinces were constantly supplied with good qualities, an

infinitely larger quantity might be sold, and by this means a great

deal of smuggling also prevented. Such, however, is the neglect and

irregularity in this department, that it frequently happens in towns

somewhat distant from Manila, no other tobacco is to be met with

than what the smugglers sell, and if, perchance, any is to be found

in the monopoly stores, it is usually of the worst quality that can

be imagined.

[Loss from preventable causes.] I pass over, in silence, the other

defects gradually introduced, as evils, in a greater or lesser degree,

inseparable from this part of public administration in every country

in which it has been deemed necessary to establish monopolies; but I

cannot refrain from again insisting on the urgency with which those

in power ought to devote themselves, firmly and diligently, to the

destruction of abuses which have hitherto paralyzed the progress of

the branch in question, because I am well persuaded, that, whenever

corresponding means are adopted, it will be possible in a short

time to double the proceeds. What these means are, it is not easy,

nor indeed essential, to particularize in a rapid sketch, like this,

of the leading features and present state of the Philippine Islands. I

shall, therefore, merely remark, that it will be in vain to wish the

persons engaged in the management of this department to exert their

real zeal and sincerely co-operate in the views of government, as

long as they are not placed beyond the necessity of following other

pursuits and gaining a livelihood in another way; in a word, unless

they have a salary assigned them, corresponding to the confidence and

value of the important object entrusted to their charge, no plan of

reform can be rendered efficient.

[Abuses by revenue officers.] At the same time steps are taken to

augment the revenue arising out of tobacco, it would be desirable,

as much as possible, to improve the methods used with regard to those

who gather in the crops, by endeavoring to relieve them from the heavy

conditions imposed upon them; conditions which, besides exposing them

to the odious effects of revenue-laws, by their very nature bring upon

them many unpleasant consequences, and often total ruin. In order that

a correct opinion may be formed of these defects, it will suffice to

observe that, under pretext of preventing smuggling, the guards and

their agents watch, visit, and, if I may use the expression, live

among the plantations from the moment the tobacco-seedlings appear

above ground, till the crops are gathered in. After compelling the

Filipino planter to cut off the head of the stem, in order that the

plant may not become too luxurious, the surveyors then proceed to

set down, not only the number of plants cultivated on each estate,

but even the very leaves of each, distinguishing their six qualities,

in order to call the farmers to account, respectively, when they

make a defective delivery into the general stores. In the latter

case, they are compelled to prove the death of the plants and even

to account for the leaves missing when counted over again, under the

penalty of being exposed to the rigor of the revenue laws.

[Burdensome and unprofitable inspection.] It cannot indeed be denied

that by this means two important objects are attained, at one and the

same time; the one, the gradual improvement of the tobacco, and the

other, the greater difficulty of secreting the article; but, on the

other hand, how great are the inconveniences incurred? Independent of

the singularity and consequent oppression of a regulation of this kind,

as well as its too great minuteness and complication, it is attended

with very considerable expenses, and renders it necessary to keep on

foot a whole army of guards and clerks, who tyrannize over and harass

the people without any real motive for such great scrupulosity and

profusion. I make this observation because I cannot help thinking

that the same results might nearly be obtained, by adopting a more

simple and better regulated system. I am not exactly aware of the one

followed in the Island of Cuba, but as far as I understand the matter,

it is simply reduced to this: the growers there merely present their

bales to the inspectors, and if pronounced to be sound and good, the

stipulated amount is paid over to them; but if the quality is bad,

the whole is invariably burnt. Thus all sales detrimental to the

public revenue are prevented, and I do not see why the same steps

could not be taken in the Philippine Islands. It must not, however,

be understood, that I presume to speak in a decisive tone on a subject

so extremely delicate, and that requires great practical information,

which, I readily acknowledge, I do not possess. I merely wish by means

of these slight hints, to contribute to the commencement of a reform

in abuses, and to promote the adoption of a plan that may have for

basis the relief of the growers, and at the same time advance the

prosperity of this part of the royal revenue.

[Coco and nipa wine monopoly.] The monopoly of coco and nipa, or

palm-wine, is a branch of public revenue of sufficient magnitude to

merit the second place among the resources rendered available to

the expenditure of these Islands, converted into a monopoly some

years ago. In like manner as the consumption of tobacco, it has

experienced several changes in its plan of administration, this

being at one time carried on, for account of the king, at others,

by the privilege being let out at auction; till at length the Board

of Control, convinced of the great profit gained by the contractors,

resolved at once to take the direction of this departure under their

own charge, and make arrangement for its better administration. Having

with this view established general deposits and licensed houses for

the sale of native wine, with proper superintending clerks they soon

began to reap the fruits of so judicious a determination. In 1780,

the privilege of selling the coco and nipa wine was farmed out, to the

highest bidder, for no more than $45,200 and subsequently the increase

has been so great, owing to the improvements adopted, that at present

net proceeds equal to $200,000 on an average may be relied upon. In

proof of this, the proceeds of this branch, in the year 1809, may be

quoted, when the total balances received at the Treasury, after all

expenses had been paid, amounted to $221,426, in the following manner:

Administration of Manila and district $201,250

Administration of La Pampanga and district 12,294

Administration of Pangasinan and district 7,882

----

$221,426

The prime cost and other expenses that year amounted to no more than

$168,557 by which means, on the whole operation, a net profit of

thirteen and one-half per cent. resulted in favor of the treasury.

[Wine monopoly district.] The monopoly of native wine comprehends

the whole of the Island of Luzon, excepting the Provinces of Cagayan,

Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Camarines and Albay, and is under the direction

of three administrators, who act independently of each other in their

respective districts, and have at their disposal a competent number

of guards. These administrators receive in the licensed establishments

the coco and nipa wines, at prices stipulated by the growers. That of

the coco is paid for at the rate of two dollars per jar, containing

twenty gantas, equal to twelve arrobas, seven azumbres and half a

cuartillo, Castilian measure, and at fourteen reals in the places

nearest the depots. The nipa wine is laid at six and one-half reals

the jar, indistinctly; prices which, although extremely low, are still

considered advantageous by the Filipinos themselves, more particularly

when it is besides understood, that, from the circumstance of their

being growers of this article, they are exempted from military service,

as well as several other taxes and public charges.

[Coco-wine.] The coco-wine is a weak spirit, obtained in the following

manner: The tree that produces this fruit is crowned by an assemblage

of large flowers or corollas, from the center or calix of which issues

a fleshy stem, filled with juice. The Indian cuts the extremity of

this stem, and inclining the remainder in a lateral manner, introduces

it into a large hollow tube which remains suspended, and is found

full of sweet and sticky liquor, which the tree in this manner yields

twice in every twenty-four hours. ["Tuba".] This liquid, called tuba,

in the language of the country, is allowed to ferment for eight days

in a large vessel, and afterwards distilled by the Indians in their

uncouth stills, which are no other than large boilers, with a head

made of lead or tin, rendered tight by means of clay, and with a

pipe frequently made out of a simple cane, which conveys the spirit

to the receiving vessels, without passing, like the serpentine tube

used in ordinary stills, through the cooling vats, which so greatly

tends to correct the vices of a too quick evaporation. The tuba,

obtained in level and hot situations, is much more spirituous than

that produced in cold and shady places. In the first, six jars of

juice are sufficient to yield one of spirit, and in the latter,

as many as eight are requisite; a much greater number, however,

would be wanted to rectify this spirit so as to render it equal to

what is usually known by Hollands proof. I am not positively certain

what degree of strength the coco-brandy, or as it is usually called

coco-wine, possesses, but it is evidently inferior to the weakest made

in Spain from the juice of the grape. The only circumstance required

for it to be approved of, and received into the monopoly-stores,

is its being easily ignited by the application of a lighted candle.

[Nipa brandy.] The nipa is a small tree of the class of palms, which

grows in a very bushy form, and multiplies and prospers greatly on

the margins of rivers and watery tracts of land. The tuba, or juice,

is extracted from the tree whilst in its flowering state, in the same

way as that of the coco, and afterwards distilled by a similar process;

but it is more spirituous, from six to six and a half jars being

sufficient to yield one of wine. The great difference remarked in the

prices of these two species of liquor, arises out of the great number

of uses to which the fruit of the cocal or coco tree is applicable,

and the increase of expense and labor requisite to obtain the juice,

owing to the great height of the plant, and the frequent dangers to

which the caritones, or gatherers, are exposed in passing from one

tree to another, which they do by sliding along a simple cane (bamboo).

[Little drunkenness.] The impost on, or rather monopoly of, native

wine, is in itself little burdensome to the community, as it only

falls on the lower and most dissipated orders in society, and for this

reason it is not susceptible of the same increase as that of tobacco,

of which the use is more general, and now become an object of the

first necessity. The native of the Philippine Islands is, by nature,

so sober, that the spectacle of a drunken man is seldom noticed in

the streets; in the capital, where the most corrupt classes of them

reside, it is admirable to see the general abstinence from a vice

that degrades the human species. The consumption of the coco and

nipa wine is, nevertheless, considerable, for it is used in all their

festivities, cock-fights, games, marriages, etc. Accordingly if it is

desired to augment the annual sale of these liquors, no way could be

more efficient than to increase the number of their festive meetings,

and seek pretexts to encourage public diversions, so long as these do

not go contrary to the well-regulated order of society, and conflict

with the duties of those who are intrusted with its superintendence.

[Extension of monopoly urged.] I am still of opinion, however, that,

without resting the prosperity of this branch of the public revenue on

principles possessed of so immoral a tendency, it might be rendered

more productive to the treasury, if the monopoly could be introduced

into the other districts adapted to its establishment. By this I

mean to say that, as hitherto the monopoly has been partial, and

enforced more in the way of a trial than in a general and permanent

manner, much remains to be done, and consequently great scope is

left for improvement in this department of the public revenue. This

most assuredly may be attained, if all the local circumstances and

impediments, more or less superable, which the matter itself presents,

are only taken into due account, and proper exertions made to study

and discover the various indirect means of increasing the total mass

of contributions, by applying a system more productive and analogous

to the nature of the Philippine Islands. With regard to the revenue of

the two particular articles above treated on, I merely wish to make

it understood that, far from introducing by means of the monopoly,

a new vice into the provinces in which I recommend its establishment,

it would rather act, in a certain degree at least, as a corrective

to pre-existing evils, and the government would derive advantages

from an article of luxury, by subjecting its consumption to the

same shackles under which it stands in the northern provinces, where

its administration is established and carried on for account of the

royal treasury.

[Former customs usage.] In former times, when only vessels belonging to

the Asiatic nations visited the port of Manila, with effects from the

coast of Coromandel, or the China junks, and now and then a Spanish

vessel coming from or going to the Island of Java, with spices for

account of Philippine merchants, the receipt of duties was left in

charge of a single royal officer, and the valuations of merchandise

made by him, in concert with two merchants named by the government; but

with the knowledge and assistance of the king's attorney-general. The

modifications and changes which have subsequently taken place in this

department have, however, been frequent, as is evidently shown by the

historical extract from the proceedings instituted before the Council

of the Indies, by the merchants of Seville and Cadiz, in opposition to

those of the Philippine Islands, printed in Madrid, 1736, in folio,

by order of the said council; but as it does not enter into my views

to speak of times so remote, I shall confine my remarks to this branch

considered under its present form.

[Custom house.] In conformity to royal orders of March 15 and May 5,

1786, the Royal Custom House of Manila was definitively organized on

its new plan; and from 1788, was placed under the immediate charge

of an administrator-general, a controller, a treasurer, aided by a

competent number of guards, inspectors, etc., and in every respect

regulated on the plan established in the other custom houses. The

freedom of the port being granted to foreign nations, a privilege

before enjoyed only by those purely Asiatic, and a new line of trade

commenced by the company, the competition in merchandise soon began

to increase, as well as the revenue arising therefrom, in such manner

that, although the exportation of goods was limited to the cargo of

the Acapulco ship, of which the duties are not payable till her arrival

there; notwithstanding also the property imported by the company from

China and India, and destined for their own shipments, was exempt

from duties, and above all, the continual interruptions experienced

by the maritime commerce of the Islands within the last fifteen or

twenty years, the net proceeds of the custom house, from the period

above mentioned of its establishment, till the close of 1809, have not

been less than from $138,000 to $140,000, on an average, independent

of the amount of the king's fifth on the gold of the country, which

is collected by the same administrator, in consequence of its being

trivial; as well as the two per cent. belonging to the Board of Trade,

and by them collected under that title, and afterwards separately

applied to the average-fund and which usually may be estimated from

$20,000 to $25,000.

The general duties now levied in the custom house, are the following:

[Port charges and duties.] Six per cent. almojarisfago is on all

kinds of merchandise imported in foreign bottoms, under a valuation

made by the surveyors, in conformity to the respective prices of

the market at the time on importation; it usually is regulated by

an increase of 50% on the prime cost of India goods, and of 33 1/3%

on those from China. This duty may be considered as, in fact, equal

to nine per cent on the former, and eight on the latter.

Six per cent, or the same duty, on all foreign goods, although imported

in national bottoms.

Three per cent on Spanish goods, imported under the national flag,

equal, according to the above estimate to 4 and 4 1/2%.

Two per cent Board of Trade duty, indistinctly on all foreign property,

equivalent to 2 1/2 or 3%.

Twenty-five per cent anchorage dues, levied on the total amount of

the almojarisfago duty.

An additional of two and one-half per cent, a new and temporary duty,

called subvencion, appropiated to the payment of the loan made to

the king by the Cadiz Board of Trade, and leviable on all kinds of

imported goods, and, of course, equal, according to the usual mode

of valuation, to about three per cent.

Three per cent on the exportation of coined silver and gold of the

country, in dust and, ingots.

An additional or duty of subvencion, or temporary duty on the above,

equal to one-half per cent.

One and a half per cent under the same rate, on all kinds of goods,

and equal to two or two and one half per cent.

One and one-half per cent on the amount of the cargo of the Acapulco

ship, on leaving the port of Manila, equal to 3/4% on the real

prime cost.

[Slight concession to the Company.] The company are considered in

the same light as the rest of the merchants, in the graduation and

payment of duties, on such goods as they sell out of their own stores

for local consumption, to the Company, with the exemption only of

the Board of Trade rate of 2% and 3%, on the exportation of silver,

according to a special privilege, and in conformity to the 61st

Article of the new royal decree of 1803.

Besides the duties above enumerated, there is another trifling one

established for local purposes of peso merchante, being a rate for the

use of the king's scales, levied according to an extremely equitable

tariff, on certain articles only of solid weight, such as iron, copper,

etc. The raw materials as well as all kinds of manufactured articles,

belonging to the Islands, are exempt from duties on their entry in

the port and river of Manila; but some of the first are subject to

the most unjust of all exactions, that is, to an arbitrary tax and

to the obligation of being retailed out on board the vessels in which

they have been brought down, and deliverable only to persons bearing

a written order, signed by the sitting members of the municipal

corporation. Among this class of articles may be mentioned the coco

of Cebu and the wax and oil of the Bisayas, which are rated as objects

of the first necessity.

[Undervaluation of galleon goods.] With regard to the respective

duties on the cargo annually dispatched by the merchants of Manila

to New Spain, the practice of galleon is tolerably well regulated. An

extreme latitude is given to the moderate rates at which it is ordered

to value the goods contained in the manifest, by which means these are

frequently put down at only one-half of their original prime cost;

the commission to frame the scale of valuations which is to be in

force for five years, after which time it is renewed, being left

to three merchants, and made subject to the revision of the king's

attorney-general (fiscal) and the approbation of the governor;

consequently, such being the nature of the tariff on which these

operations are founded, the 33 1/3% to which the royal duties amount

on the $500,000 stipulated in the permit, does not, in fact, affect

the shipper beyond the rate of 15 per cent, in consequence of the

great difference between the prime cost and valuation of the articles

corresponding to the permit; or, what is the same thing, between

the $500,000 nominal value, and $1,100,000 or $1,200,000, the real

amount of the cargo in question. The most remarkable circumstance,

however, is, that the officers of the revenue in Acapulco collect

the above-mentioned 33 1/3% in absolute conformity to the Manila

valuation, and not according to the value of the goods in America,

and without any other formality than a comparison of the cargo with

the ship's papers. In honor of truth, it ought to be further observed

that, although the Manila merchant by this means seeks to exempt

himself from the part of the enormous duties with which it has been

attempted to paralyze the only commercial intercourse he carries on

with New Spain, in every other respect connected with this operation,

he acts in a sufficiently legal manner, and if at their return those

vessels have been in the habit of bringing back near a million of

dollars in a smuggled way, it must be acknowledged that it is the

harshness of the law which compels the merchant to become a smuggler;

for according to the strange regulation by which he is thwarted in the

returns representing the proceeds of his outward operation, he must

either bring the money to the Philippine Islands without having it

declared on the ship's papers, or be obliged to leave the greatest

part of it in the hands of others, subject to such contingencies

as happen in trade. As long, therefore, as the present limitations

subsist, which only authorize returns equal to double the value of

the outward-bound cargo, this species of contraband will inevitably

continue. The governors also, actuated by the principles of reason

and natural justice, will, as they have hitherto done, wink at the

infraction of the fiscal laws; a forbearance, in fact, indirectly

beneficial to them, inasmuch as it eventually contributes to the

general improvement of the colony. Indeed, without this species of

judicious condescension, trade would soon stand still for the want

of the necessary funds to carry it on.

[Unbusinesslike custom ways.] .... It will readily be acknowledged

that, in like manner as the good organization of custom houses is

favorable to the progress of general commerce, so nothing is more

injurious to its growth and the enterprise of merchants, than any

uncertainty or arbitrary conduct in the levying of duties to be

paid by them. This arises out of the circumstance of every merchant,

entering on a new speculation, being anxious to have, as the principal

ground work of his combinations, a perfect knowledge of the exact

amount of his disbursements, in order to be enabled to calculate the

final result with some degree of certainty. Considered in this point

of view, the system adopted in the Islands is certainly deplorable,

since it must be acknowledged that the principles and common rules of

all other commercial countries, are there unknown. For example; this

year a cargo arrives from China or Bengal, and the captain turns in

his manifest. The custom-house surveyors then commence the valuation

of the goods of which his cargo is composed: I say they commence,

because it is a common thing for them not to have finished the estimate

of the scale and amount of corresponding duties, till the expiration

of two, four, and not unfrequently six months. The rule they affect to

follow, in this valuation, is that of the prices current in the market,

and in order to ascertain what these are, they are seen going round

inquiring in the shops of the Sangleys (Chinese), till at length,

finding it useless to go in search of correct and concurrent data,

in a place where there are neither brokers nor public auctions, they

are forced to determine in an arbitrary manner, and as the adage goes,

always take good care to see their employers on the right side of the

hedge. The grand work being ended, with all this form and prolixity,

the sentence of the surveyors is irrevocable. The bondsman of the

captain, who, in the meanwhile, has usually sold his cargo and departed

with a fresh one for another destination, pays in the amount of the

duties, thus regulated by law.

[Variations in valuations.] The practical defects and injurious

consequences of such a system as this, it would be unnecessary

to particularize. It would, however, be less intolerable, if,

once put in force, it could serve the merchant as a guide in the

valuations of his property for a determined number of successive

years. What, however, renders this assessment more prejudicial,

is its instability and uncertainty, and the repetition of the same

operation I have just described every year, and with every cargo that

arrives; but under distinct valuations, according to the reports

or humor of the day. Besides these great defects and irregularity,

the Philippine custom house observes the singular practice of not

allowing the temporary landing of goods entered in transitu and for

re-exportation, as is done on the bonding system in all countries

where exertions are made by those in authority for the extension and

improvement of commerce in every possible way. Of course, much less

will they consent to the drawback or return of any part of the duties

on goods entered outwards, even though they are still on board the

very vessels in which they originally came shipped. Beyond all doubt,

the wrongly understood severity of such a system, has, and will,

continue to prevent many vessels from frequenting the port of Manila,

and trying the market, unable to rely on the same liberal treatment

they can meet with in other places.

[The areca-nut.] The bonga, or areca-nut, is the fruit of a very

high palm-tree, not unlike the one that bears the date, and the

nuts, similar to the latter, hang in great clusters from below the

protuberance of the leaves or branches. Its figure and size resemble

a common nut, but solid, like the nutmeg. Divided into small pieces,

it is placed in the center of a small ball made of the tender leaves

of the buyo or betel pepper, lightly covered with slacked lime,

and this composition constitutes the celebrated betel of Asia, or,

as it is here called, the buyo, the latter differing from that used

in India, inasmuch only as it contains cardamomom.

[Buyo monopoly unsatisfactory.] The government, anxious to derive

advantage in aid and support of the colony, from the great use the

inhabitants make of the buyo, many years ago determined to establish

the sale of the bonga, its principal ingredient, into a monopoly,

either by hiring the privilege out, or placing it under a plan of

administration, in the form in which it now stands. Both schemes have

been tried, but neither way has this branch been made to yield more

than $30,000; indeed the annual proceeds usually have not exceeded

$25,000. In 1809, the total amount of sales was $48,610, and deducting

from this sum the prime cost and expenses of administration, the net

profit in favor of the treasury was equal to no more than $27,078 or

upwards of 125 1/2%. In 1780, the privilege of selling the bonga was

let out at public auction for the sum of $15,765 and this, compared

with the present proceeds, clearly shows that, although the increase

has not advanced equally with the other branches of the revenue, it is

far from having declined. It must nevertheless be confessed, that on

the present footing on which it stands, the smallness of the proceeds

is not worth the trouble required in the collection, and even if the

amount were still greater, it could never serve as an excuse for the

oppression and violence to which this monopoly frequently gives rise.

[Hardships on areca-nut planters.] As the trees producing the bonga

are not confined to any particular grounds, and indiscriminately grow

in all, the plan has been adopted of compelling the Filipinos to gather

and bring in the fruit, raised on their lands, to the depot nearest the

district in which they reside. There they are paid from two, two and

one-half, three and three and one-half reals per thousand, according

to the distance from which they come: and, in order to prevent frauds,

the surveyors belonging to the revenue go out, at certain times of the

year, to examine the bonga plantations, and the trees being counted,

they estimate the fruit, that is, oblige the proprietor to undertake

to deliver in two hundred nuts for each bearing tree, whether or not,

hurricanes deteriorate or destroy the produce, or thieves plunder

the plantations, as very frequently happens. In case deficiencies are

proved against him, he is compelled to pay for them in money, at the

rate of twenty-five reals per thousand, the price at which the king

sells them in the monopoly-stores. Besides, the precise condition of

delivering in two hundred bonga nuts, according to the stipulations

imposed upon him, presupposes the previous exclusion of all the injured

or green ones; and although the ordinary trees usually yield as many as

three hundred nuts each, great numbers are nevertheless spoiled. If, to

the adverse accidents arising out of the storms and robberies, we add

the effects of the whims or ill-humor of the receivers, it is not easy

to imagine to what a length the injuries extend which befall the man

who has the folly or misfortune to become a planter of this article.

[Folly of monopoly plan.] On the other hand, as in the conveyances

from the minor to the larger depots, frauds are frequently committed,

and the heaping together of many millions of nuts inevitably produces

the fermentation and rapid putrefaction of a great number of them,

it consequently follows that the waste must be immense; or if it is

determined to sell all the stock laid in, without any distinction in

quality and price, the public must be very badly served and displeased,

as in fact too often happens. Since, therefore, the habit of using

the buyo is still more prevailing than that of tobacco, when suitable

supplies cannot be had in the monopoly stores, the consumer naturally

resorts to the contraband channels, although he encounters some risk,

and expends more money. It is also very natural that the desire of

gain should thus lead on and daily expose a number of needy persons,

anxious by this means to support and relieve the wants of their

families. Returning, however, to what more immediately concerns the

grower, I do not know that the oppressive genius of fiscal laws has,

in any country of the globe, invented one more refinedly tyrannic,

than to condemn a man, to a certain degree at least, as has hitherto

been the case, to the punishment of Tantalus; for the law forbids the

Filipino to touch the fruit of the tree planted with his own hands,

and which hangs in tempting and luxuriant abundance round his humble

dwelling.

[Its modification desirable.] It would be easy for me to enumerate

many other inconveniences attending this branch of public revenue,

on the footing on which it now stands, if what has already been said

did not suffice to point out the necessity of changing the system,

as those in authority are anxious that the treasury should gain more,

and the king's subjects suffer less. The strong prejudice entertained

against this source of revenue, the inconsiderable sum it produces,

and the complicated form of its organization, have in reality been

sufficient motives to induce many to become strenous advocates for

the total abolition of the monopoly. I do not, however, on this

account see any reasons for altogether depriving the government of

a productive resource, as this might soon be rendered, if it was

placed under regulations less odious and more simple in themselves. I

nevertheless agree, that the perfect monopoly of the areca fruit, or

bonga, is impracticable, till the trees, indiscriminately planted,

are cut down, and, in the same way as the tobacco plantations,

fresh and definite grounds are laid out for its cultivation, on

account of the revenue. I am further aware that this measure is

less practicable than the first; for, independent of all the other

obstacles, it would be necessary to wait till the new plantation

yielded fruit, and also that the public should consent to refrain

from masticating buyo in the meanwhile, a pretension as mad as it

would be to require that the eating of salt should be dispensed with

for a given number of years. But what difficulty would there be,

for example, in the proprietors paying so much a year for each bonga

tree to the district magistrate, the governor of the nearest town,

or the cabeza de Barangay, or chiefs of the clans into which the

natives are divided, in the same manner as the Filipino pays his

tribute? [Tree-tax preferable.] The only one I anticipate is that of

fixing the amount in such way that, at the same time this resource is

made to produce an increased income of some moment, it may act as a

moderate tax on an indefinite property, the amount of which, augmented

in the same price, may be reimbursed to the proprietor by the great

body of consumers. It is not in fact easy to foresee or estimate,

by any means of approximation, the alteration in the current price

of the bonga, that would result from the indefinite freedom of its

cultivation and sale, especially during the first years. Although,

for this reason, it would be impossible to ascertain what proportion

the impost on the tree would then bear with regard to the value of

the fruit, the error that might accrue would be of little moment, as

long as precautions were taken to adopt a very low rate of comparison,

and a proportionably equitable one as the basis of taxation. Supposing

then that the price of the bonga should decline from twenty-five reals,

at which it is now sold in the monopoly stores, to fifteen reals per

thousand, in the general market, and a tax of one-fourth real should

be laid on each tree valued at two hundred bonga nuts, it is clear

that this would be equal to no more than 8 1/2%; or, what is the same,

the tax would be in the proportion one to twelve with the proceeds of

each tree, and the more the value of the fruit was raised, the more

would the rate of contribution diminish. It ought at the same time

to be observed that, under the above estimate, that is, supposing the

price of the article to remain at fifteen reals, the 8 1/2% at which

rate the tax is regulated, would not perhaps exceed five or six per

cent on a more minute calculation; in the first place, because at the

time of making out the returns of the trees, [Exception of immature

and aged trees.] those only ought to be set down which are in their

full vigor, excluding such as through the want or excess of age only

yield a small proportion of fruit; and in the second, because in

the numbers registered, the trees would only be rated at two hundred

although it is well known they usually yield three hundred, in order

by this means the better to avoid all motives of complaint. In this

point of view, and by adopting similar rules of probability, it seems

to me that the government would not risk much by an attempt to change

the present system into a tax levied on the tree itself, on a plane

similar to the one above proposed; more particularly by doing it in

a temporary manner, and rendering it completely subservient to the

corrections subsequent experience might suggest in this particular.

[Difficulty of estimating probable revenue.] The difficulty being,

in this manner, overcome, with regard to the prudent determination

of the rate at which the proprietor of the bonga plantations ought

to contribute, let us now proceed to estimate, by approximation, the

annual sum that would thus be obtained. As, however, this operation

is unfortunately complicated, and in great measure depends on the

previous knowledge of the total number of trees liable to the tax

proposed, details with which we are at not present prepared, it is

impossible to come at any very accurate results. All that can be done

is to endeavor to demonstrate, in general terms, the great increase

the revenue would experience by the adoption of the new plan, and

the real advantage resulting from it to the contributors themselves,

all which may be easily deduced from the following calculation.

Let us, in the first instance, suppose that the consumers of buyo,

in the whole of the Islands, do not exceed one million of persons,

and that each one makes use of three bongas per day, this consumption,

at the end of the year, would then amount to 1,095,000,000 nuts. We

will next divide this sum by two hundred, at which the product of each

tree, one with another, is rated, and the result will be 5,475,000

trees. [Greater, however, than at present.] This number being taxed

at the rate of one-fourth real, would leave the sum of $171,093.75

and deducting therefrom the $25,000 yielded by this branch under its

present establishment, together with $5,132 equal to three per cent

paid to the district magistrates for the charges of collection, we

should still have an annual increase in favor of the, treasury equal

to $140,961.75.

It might perhaps be objected that, in this case, the proprietor,

instead of receiving, as before two and one-half reals for every

thousand bongas, would have to disburse one and one-fourth reals in

the mere act of paying one-fourth real for each tree; a circumstance

which, at first sight, seems to produce a difference not of one and

one-fourth, but of three and one-fourth reals per thousand against

him; though in reality far from this being the case, if we take into

consideration the deficiencies the sworn receiver usually lays to

his charge, the fruit he rejects, owing to its being green or rotten,

and the many and expensive grievances he is exposed to in his capacity

of grower; it will be seen that his disbursements under these heads

frequently exceed the amount he in fact has to receive. [Tax only a

surcharge ultimately paid by consumer.] If, in addition to this, we

bear in mind that, on condition of seeing himself free from guards

and a variety of insupportable restrictions, constituting the very

essence of a monopoly, he would in all probability gladly pay much

more than the tax in question, all the doubts arising on this point

will entirely disappear. Finally, considered in its true light, we

shall not find in the measure above described anything more than a

very trifling discount required of the proprietor from the price at

which he sells his bonga, and which, as already noticed, ultimately

falls on the consumer alone.

[Estimate conservative.] The moderate estimate I have just formed ought

to inspire the more confidence from its being well known that the use

of the buyo is general among the inhabitants of these Islands. The

calculation, as it now stands, rests only on one million consumers,

for each of whom I have only put down three bongas per day, whereas

it is customary to use much more; nor have I taken into account the

infinite number of nuts wasted after being converted into the buyo,

a fact equally well known. Indeed, as the object proposed was no

other than to prove the main part of my assertions, and I trust this

is satisfactorily done, I have not deemed it necessary to include

in the above calculation a greater number of minute circumstances,

nor attempt to deduce more favorable results, which, with the scope

before me, I was most assuredly warranted in doing.

[Advantages.] In a word, from the concurrence of the facts and

reasons above adduced, the following propositions may, without any

difficulty, be laid down. First, that the increase of revenue produced

by the reform in question, would in all probability exceed $150,000

per annum; secondly, that the Filipinos would soon comprehend, and

gladly consent to a change of this kind in the mode of contributing

of which the advantages would be apparent; thirdly, that the persons

employed in the old establishment, might, with greater public utility,

be applied to other purposes; and lastly, that the civil magistrates

would not be harassed with so many strifes and lawsuits, and so many

melancholy victims of the monopoly, and its officers would cease to

drag a wretched existence in the prisons and places of hard labor in

these Islands.

[Cockpit licenses.] The cock-pit branch of the revenue is hired out

by the government, and the license is separately set up at auction

for the respective provinces. Its nature and regulations are so

well known that they do not require a particular description, the

general obligations of the contractors being the same as those in New

Spain. Perhaps the only difference observed in this public exhibition

in the Philippine Islands consists in its greater simplicity, owing to

its being frequented only by the natives, the whites who are present

at this kind of diversion being very few, or indeed none.

[Inconsiderable income.] The cock-pits are open two days in the week,

and the lessees of them receive half a real from every person who

enters, besides the extra price they charge those who occupy the best

seats, the owners of the fighting cocks, for the spurs, stalls for the

sale of buyo, refreshments, etc. Notwithstanding all this, and although

cock-fighting is so general and favorite an amusement among these people

(the rooster may justly be considered as the distinctive emblem of

the Filipino) the annual proceeds of this branch are inconsiderable;

although it must be acknowledged that it has greatly increased since

the year 1780, when it appears the license was let at auction for

only about $14,000 owing, no doubt, to the exclusive privilege of

the contractors not having been extended to the provinces, as was

afterwards gradually done.

[Provincial cockpit revenue.] The total sum paid to the government by

the renters of this branch, according to the auction returns in 1810,

amounted to $40,141 in the following order for the provinces:

Tondo $18,501

Cavite 2,225

La Laguna 2,005

Pampanga 3,000

Bulacan 6,900

Batangas 2,000

Pangasinan 1,200

Bataan 1,050

Iloilo 1,600

Ilocos 600

Tayabas 400

Cebu 360

Albay 300

Total $40,141

[Possibilities of increase.] The causes, to which the increase

that has taken place within the last twenty-five or thirty years is

chiefly to be attributed, have already been pointed out, and for this

reason it would appear that, by adopting the same plan with regard to

the fourteen remaining provinces, of which this captaincy-general

is composed, hitherto free from the imposition of this tax, an

augmentation might be expected, proportionate to the population,

their circumstances, and the greater or lesser taste for cock-fights

prevailing among their respective inhabitants. At the commencement, no

doubt, the rentals would be low, and, of course, the prices at which

the licenses were let out, would be equally so; but the experience

and profits derivable from this kind of enterprises would not fail

soon to excite the competition of contractors, and in this way add

to the revenue of the government. This is so obvious that I cannot

help suspecting attempts have, at some period or other, been made

to introduce the establishment of this privilege, in some of the

provinces alluded to; at the same time I am persuaded that, owing

to the affair not having been viewed in its proper light, seeking

on the contrary to obtain an immediate and disproportionate result,

the authorities have been too soon disheartened and given up the

project without a fair trial. All towns and districts murmur, and,

at first object, to taxes, however light they may be; but, at length,

if they be not excessive, the people become reconciled to them. The

one here proposed is neither of this character, nor can it be deemed

odious on account of its novelty. The natives are well aware that

their brethren in the other provinces are subject to it, and that

in this nothing more is done than rendering the system uniform. I,

therefore, see no reason why the establishment of this branch of

revenue should not be extended to all the points of the Islands. At

the commencement, let it produce what it may, since constancy and

time will bring things to the same general level.

[Indian tributes.] The too great condescension and mistaken humanity

of the government on the one hand, and the fraud and selfishness

of the provincial sub-delegates or collectors, on the other, have

concurred to change a contribution, the most simple, into one of the

most complicated branches of public administration. The first cause

has been owing to a too general acquiescence to receive the amount

of tributes in the produce peculiar to each province, instead of

money; and the second, because as the above officers are the persons

intrusted with the collection, whenever the sale has held out to

them any advantage, they have been in the habit of appropriating the

several articles to themselves, without allowing any benefit to the

treasury. If the prospective sales of the produce appear unfavorable,

it is then forwarded on to the king's store in Manila, surcharged with

freights, exposed to many risks, and the value greatly diminished

by waste and many other causes. No order or regularity being thus

observed in this respect, and the sale of the produce transmitted to

the king's stores being regulated by the greater or lesser abundance in

the general market, and a considerable stock besides left remaining,

from one year to another, and eventually spoiled, it is impossible

to form any exact estimate of this branch. If to these complicated

matters we add the radical vices arising out of the infidelity of the

heads of clans (cabezas de barangay), the difficulty of ascertaining

the defects of the returns made out by them, the variations annually

occurring in the number of those exempted either through age or other

legal motives, and above all, the frequently inevitable tardiness with

which the district magistrates send in their respective accounts,

it will be readily acknowledged, that no department requires more

zeal in its administration, and no one is more susceptible of all

kinds of frauds, or attended with more difficulties.

[A conservative estimate.] In this state of uncertainty, with regard

to this particular branch, I have guided myself by the last general

return of tributes, made out in the accountant-general's office,

on the best and most recent data, and calculating indistinctly the

whole value in money, I have deemed it proper afterwards to make a

moderate deduction, on account of the differences above stated, and

arising out of the collection of the tributes in kind, the expenses of

conveyance, shipwrecks, averages, and other causes already enumerated.

[Fixed charges.] In conformity to this calculation, the total

proceeds of this branch of revenue amount to $505,215 from which

sum are deducted, in the primitive stages of the accounts, the

amount of ecclesiastical stipends, the pay of the troops under

the immediate orders of the chief district magistrates in their

quality of war-captains, together with all other extraordinary

expenses incurred in the provinces by orders of the government, the

remainder being afterwards forwarded to the king's treasury. It ought,

however, to be observed, that the above aggregated sum is more or less

liable to deficiencies, according to the greater or lesser degree of

punctuality on the part of the sub-collectors in making up accounts,

and the solidity of their respective sureties; the failure of this

kind experienced by the revenue being so frequent, that, according to

the returns of the accountant-general, those which occurred between

the years 1762 and 1809, were no less than $215,765 notwithstanding

the great precautions at all times taken to prevent such considerable

injuries, by every means compatible with the precarious tenure of

property possessed by both principals and sureties in this country. All

the above circumstances being therefore taken into due consideration,

and the ordinary and extraordinary discounts made from the total amount

of tributes, the real sum remaining, or the net annual proceeds of

the above branch, have usually not been rated at more than $190,000

and $200,000; a sum respectively extremely small, and which possibly

might be doubled, without the necessity of recurring to any other

measure than a standing order for the collecting of the tributes in

money, as by this means the variety of expenses and complications above

enumerated, would be avoided, and the king's revenue no longer exposed

to any other deficiencies than those arising out of the insolvency

of the sub-collectors and their sureties, or casual risks, and the

trifling charges paid for the conveyance of the money. If in opposition

to this it should be alleged that it would be advisable to except some

of the provinces from this general rule, owing to the advantages the

government might derive from certain tributes being paid in kind,

I do not hesitate to answer that I see no reason whatever why this

should be done, because, if, for example, any quality of rigging

or sail cloth is annually required, it would be easy to obtain it

either by early contracts, or by laying in the articles at the current

market price. Indeed, all supplies which do not rest on this footing,

would be to defraud the natives of the fruits of his industry, and in

the final result this would be the same as requiring of him double or

triple tribute, contrary to the spirit of the law, which unfortunately

is too frequently the case under the existing system.

[Preferability of tribute in money.] Considering this affair in

another point of view, it would be easy for me to demonstrate, if it

were necessary, the mistaken idea that the native is benefited by

receiving in kind the amount of the tribute he has to pay, at the

low prices marked in the tariff used as a standard, by showing the

extortions and brokerage, if I may so term it, to which the practice

gives rise on the part of the district collectors. It will, however,

suffice to call the attention of my readers to the smallness of

the sum constituting the ordinary tribute, when reduced to money,

in order for them to be convinced that it would be superfluous,

as well as hazardous, to attempt to point out how this branch might

be rendered more productive to the state and at the same time less

burdensome to the contributors, more particularly when the rate

assessed does not exceed ten reals per year, a sum so small, that

generally speaking, no family can be found unable to hoard it up, if

they have any inclination so to do. The prevailing error, however, in

this respect, I am confident arises out of a principle very different

from the one to which it is usually attributed. The tributary native

is, in fact, disposed to pay the quota assigned to him into the hands

of the chief of his clan, in money, in preference to kind; because,

independent of the small value at which the articles in kind are

rated in the tariff, he is then exposed to no expenses, as he now is

for the conveyance of his produce and effects; nor is he liable to so

many accidents. But as the chief of each clan has to deliver in his

forty or fifty tributes to the head magistrate, who is answerable for

those of the whole province, it is natural for him to endeavor to make

his corresponding payments in some equivalent affording him a profit;

at the same time the provincial magistrate, speculating on a larger

scale, on the produce arising out of his jurisdiction, seeks to obtain

from the government a profitable commutation in kind for that which

the original contributor would have preferred paying in money. In

order the better to attain his purpose, he asserts, as a pretext,

the impossibility of collecting in the tribute under another form,

alleging, moreover, the relief the native derives from this mode,

whereas, if only duly examined, such a pretence is founded on the

avarice, rather than the humanity of the magistrate.

Leaving to one side the defects attributable to the present mode

of collection, and considering the tribute as it is in itself, the

attentive observer must confess, that in no part of our Indies is

this more moderate; and, indeed, it is evident that the laws generally

relating to the natives of these Islands seem to distinguish them with

a decided predilection above those of the various sections of America.

[Items in tribute.] The tribute in its origin was only eight reals

per family; but the necessity of providing for the increased expenses

of the government gave rise to this rate being afterwards raised

to ten. The Sangley mestizos pay double tribute, and the Sangleys

contribute at the rate of $6 per head. Besides this, all pay a yearly

sum, applicable to the funds belonging to the community, and the above

two casts pay three reals more, as a church rate, and under the name

of the Sanctuary, the whole being in the following form:

Entire Native Tribute Tribute of Mestizos Sangleys

8 Reals, original tribute 16 Reals. $6 each.

1 1/2 Reals for expenses

of troops 3

1/2 Reals to tithes 1

10 Reals, amount of tribute 20 Reals. $6.75

1 Real, community funds 1

3 Reals, sanctuary rate 3

14 Reals, total annual

disbursement. 24 Reals. $6.75

The males commence paying tribute at twenty years of age and

the females at twenty-five, if before they have not entered the

matrimonial state, and in both the obligation ceases at the age of

sixty. The chiefs of clans, or cabezas de barangay and their eldest

sons, or in default of children, the person adopted in their stead,

that is, an entire tribute and a half, are exempt from this tax, as

a remuneration for the trouble and responsibility they may have in

collecting in the forty or fifty tributes, of which their respective

clans are composed. Besides these there are various other classes of

exempted persons, such as the soldiers who have served a certain number

of years, those who have distinguished themselves in any particular

manner in the improvement of industry or agriculture, and others who

have received special certificates, on just and equitable grounds. In

summing up the total number of exempted persons, on an average in

the whole of the provinces, they will be found in the proportion of

fifty to every thousand entire tributes.

[Chinese tax.] The head-tax of the Sangleys has usually been

attended with so many difficulties in its collection, owing to the

facilities with which they absent or secrete themselves, and the

many stratagems this cunning and artful race employ to elude the

vigilance of the commissioners, that the government has at length

found itself compelled to let out this branch, as was done in 1809,

when it was disposed of in the name of one of them for the moderate

sum of $30,000; notwithstanding it is a generally received opinion,

that the number of this description of Chinese, constantly residing

in the Islands, is above 7,000, which, at the rate of $6 per head,

would raise this proportion of the tax as high as $42,000.

[Community funds.] The Community funds belonging to each town, have,

in conformity to the regulations under which they are administered,

a special, or I might say, local application; but collected together

into one stock, as is now the case, and directly administered by the

government, they produce a more general utility. The head town of

the province A, for example, requires to rebuild the public prison

or town-hall, and its own private funds are not sufficient to defray

the expenses of the work in question. In this case, therefore, the

government gives orders for the other dependent towns to make up the

deficiency by taking their proportions from their respective coffers,

as all have an equal interest in the proposed object being carried

into effect. The king's officers, in consequence thereof, draw the

corresponding sums from these funds, the whole of which is under their

immediate superintendence. And in order that the surplus of this stock

may not stand still, but obtain every possible increase in a country

where the premium for money is excessive, when let out at a maritime

risk, it is ordered that some part shall be appropriated in this way,

and on the same terms as those observed by the administrators of the

charity funds belonging to the Misericordia (Charity) establishment,

and the third order of St. Francis, which is another of the great

advantages of assembling this class of property.

In consequence of this judicious regulation, and the success with

which this measure has hitherto been attended, the Community fund

has gone on increasing in such a way that, notwithstanding the sums

drawn from it for the purpose of constructing causeways, bridges,

and other municipal objects, at the commencement of 1810, the stock

in hand amounted to no less than $200,000; and it is natural to

suppose when the outstanding premiums due shall have been paid in,

a considerable augmentation will take place. This branch, although

not exactly comprehended in those which constitute the revenue of the

government, has so obvious an analogy with that of tributes, that I

have not deemed it any essential deviation from the order and method

I have hitherto observed in this work, to introduce it in this place,

as in itself it did not deserve to be classed under a distinct head.

[Tribute burdensome.] Notwithstanding the truth of what has been

said with regard to the moderate rate of the tribute imposed on the

native of the Philippine Islands, it would be extremely desirable if

he could be altogether exonerated from a charge which he bears with

great repugnance, by some other substitute being adopted, indirectly

producing an equivalent compensation. In the first place, because the

just motives of complaint would cease, caused not only by the tribute,

but also the manner of its collection; and an end would then be put

to those intrigues and extortions the district magistrates commit,

under the title of zealous collectors of the king's revenue, and the

power of a multitude of subaltern tyrants, comprehended under the

denomination of chiefs of native clans (cabezas de barangay) would

then also fall to the ground; a power which, if now employed for the

purpose of oppressing and trampling on the liberties of inferiors,

might some day or other be converted into an instrument dangerous

and subversive of our preponderance in the country. In the second

place, if, among all the civilized nations a head-tax (poll-tax)

is in itself odious, it must incontestably be much more so among

those whose unlettered state, far from allowing them to know that

the social order requires a certain class of sacrifices for its

better preservation, makes them attribute exactions of this kind

to an abuse of superiority. Hence are they led to consider these

restraints as the symbols of their own slavery and degradation, as

in fact the natives in these Islands have ample reasons for doing,

when the legal exemption of the whites is considered, without any

other apparent reason than the difference in color. Independent of

this, the substitute above alluded to would be extremely expedient,

inasmuch as it would greatly simplify the plan of administration,

the accountant's department would be freed from the most painful

part of its labors, and the district magistrates and sub-collectors

would not so frequently be entangled in their accounts, and exposed

to expensive and interminable lawsuits, as now so often happens.

[Possible Revenue substitutes.] The difficulty, however, of

finding out this compensation or substitute is a matter of some

consideration. On the one hand, if it was attempted to distribute

the proceeds arising out of the tributes on other branches, such as

tobacco, native wine, bonga, and custom house, it would, at first

sight, appear possible, through the medium of an almost invisible

augmentation in the respective sale prices and in the king's duties,

that this important object might easily be attained; but, on the

other, it might be apprehended that the additional value put on

the articles above-mentioned, would produce in their consumption

a diminution equal to the difference in prices, in which cases no

advantage would be gained. The practicability of the operation, in my

opinion, depends on the proportion in which the means of obtaining the

articles in question respectively stand with the probability of their

being consumed. I will explain myself. If, for example, the annual

stock of tobacco laid in should be insufficient to meet the wants of

the consumers, as constantly occurs, it is clear that this article,

when monopolized, will bear a small augmentation of price, not only

without any inconvenience or risk, but with the moral certainty of

obtaining a positive increase of revenue, the necessary effect of

the total consumption of the tobacco laid in and sold. But as this

does not happen with the branch of native wines, of which the stock

usually exceeds the demand, and as the bonga also is not susceptible

of this improvement, owing to the small place it occupies among the

other resources of the revenue, no other means are left than to add to

the duties of export on silver, and of import on foreign merchandise,

a percentage equivalent to the deficiency not laid on tobacco, unless

it should be deemed more advisable to levy a sumptuary contribution on

coaches, horses and servants, and especially on all kinds of edifices

and houses built of stone and mortar, situated both within and without

the capital.

[Objection to tribute-paying.] However this may be, whatever the king

loses in revenue by the abolition of the native tributes, no doubt,

could be made up by an appeal to other ways and means. It is well-known

that many of the Indian tribes refuse to become subjects of the crown

and object to enter into general society on account of the odious

idea they have formed of paying tribute; or, as they understand it,

the obligation of giving something for nothing, notwithstanding those

who voluntarily submit themselves to our laws, are exempt from tribute,

and this charge falls only on their descendants. But of this they must

either be ignorant, or they regret depriving their posterity of that

independence in which they themselves have been brought up, and thus

transmit to them slavery as an inheritance. As soon, therefore, as a

general exemption of this kind, without distinction of casts, should

be made public, the natives would quit their fastnesses and secluded

places, and satisfied with the security offered to them, would be

seen coming down to the plains in search of conveniences of civilized

life, and all gradually would be reduced to Christianity. Hence

the increase of productions and their consumption, as well as

the extension of agriculture, industry and internal commerce. The

diminution of smuggling tobacco would soon follow, progress would be

made in the knowledge of the mines and natural riches of the country,

and financially, greater facilities would present themselves in

gradually carrying into effect its entire conquest and civilization.

Advantages of such great and extraordinary importance deserve to

be seriously weighed, and to this valuable department of public

administration the early attention of those in authority ought to

be called. Let due inquiries be made, and soon shall we discover

the substantial benefits which would be derived to the treasury

from the adoption of this measure, as popular as it is just, and

also conformable to the liberal spirit of the times. In support of

the preceding arguments, it ought further to be observed, that when

all the branches constituting the king's revenue are well organized,

brought to their most productive state, and the public debt contracted

under unforeseen exigencies paid off, as long as present circumstances

do not vary, an annual surplus of revenue, equal to more than $500,000,

will be left; and as the proceeds of the particular branch of tributes

do not amount to this sum, it is evident their abolition may take

place, not only without any derangement or onerous consequences to the

administration, but even without any deficiency being experienced, or

any necessity to recur to the treasury of New Spain for extraordinary

aid. These reasons acquire still greater force when it is remembered

that, as things now are, all the branches of public revenue are

in a progressively improving condition, and as the whole are still

susceptible of a much more productive organization, the annual surplus

of receipts will rapidly become greater, and consequently also the

necessity will diminish of continuing to burden this portion of His

Majesty's dominions with contributions in order to meet the expenses

of their defence and preservation.

Finally, well convinced of the advantageous results which, in

every sense, would emanate from the revision and reforms proposed,

I abstain from offering, in support of my arguments, a variety of

other reflections which occur to me, not to be too diffuse on this

subject; trusting that the hints I have already thrown out will be

more than sufficient to excite an interest and promote a thorough and

impartial investigation of concerns, highly important to the future

welfare and security of this colony.

[Subaltern branches.] Besides the six preceding branches which

constitute the chief mass of the public revenue in these islands, there

are several smaller ones of less consideration and amount; some having

a direct application to the general expenses of the local government,

and the others, intended as remittances to Spain; a distinction of

little import and scarcely deserving of notice, since the object of the

present sketch is to convey information on a large scale respecting

the King's revenue in these Islands. As some of them, however, yield

proceeds more regular than the others, I have classed together the

receipts of the Pope's Bulls, or "Bulas de Cruzada," playing-cards,

tithes, stamps and gunpowder, under the head of Subaltern Branches,

with regard to the rest, to the general statement already quoted.

In conformity to the returns with which I have been favored from

the public offices, these five branches produced, in the year 1809,

$45,090.75 in the following proportions:

Sales. Expenses. Net Proceeds.

Pope's bulls $15,360.75 $4,422.25 $10,938.50

Playing cards 11,539.125 932.625 10,606.50

Tithes 12,493.00 ---- 12,493.00

Stamps 4,467.50 321.50 4,146.00

Gunpowder 7,307.625 401.125 6,905.375

---- ---- ----

$51,168.125 $6,077.75 $45,090.375

[Tithes.] The scanty proceeds of the tithes will naturally appear

remarkable; but it ought to be remembered that, besides the ordinary

tribute, the natives pay half a real under this denomination,

without any distinction of person, or any reference whatever to their

respective means, the total amount of which is already added to the

tributes, and for this reason not repeated in this place. In addition

also no tithes are levied, except on lands belonging to Spaniards,

churches, regular clergy, ecclesiastical corporations, etc., and even

then the articles of rice, wheat, pulse indigo and sugar, are alone

liable. The above branches are all in charge of administrators,

and from this plan it certainly would be advisable to separate

the tithes and farm them out at public auction, as was proposed

by the king's officers of the treasury, in their report on this,

as well as other points, concerning the revenue, and dated October

24, 1792. From the net proceeds of the gunpowder the expenses of its

manufacture, confided to the commandant of artillery, ought seemingly

to be deducted; but, as they cannot be ascertained with any degree of

certainty, and as besides they are comprehended in the general expenses

of that department, a separate deduction may be dispensed with.

[Disbursements and general expenses.] In order to form a correct idea

of the annual amount of the expenditure incurred by the administration

and defence of the Philippine Islands, it is not necessary in this

place to distinguish each item, separately; or to enumerate them

with their respective sums or particular denominations. Some general

observations on this subject ought, nevertheless, to be made, with a

view to point out the reforms of which this important department of

the public revenue is susceptible.

In the part relating to the interior administration or government,

ample room is certainly left for that kind of economy arising out of

the adoption of a general system, little complicated; but it is besides

indispensably necessary that, at the same time the work is simplifed

and useless hands dismissed, the salaries of those who remain should

be proportionally increased, in order to stimulate them in the due

performance of their duties. It might also be found advisable to

create a small number of officers of a superior order, who would

be enabled to co-operate in the collection of the king's revenue,

and the encouragement of agriculture, commerce and navigation,

in their respective departments. The additional charges in this

respect cannot be of any great consequence; although, in reality,

by the receipts increasing through the impulse of an administrative

order more perfect, and the expenses being always the same, the main

object, so anxiously sought for in another way, would be thus attained.

[Defence expenses.] The reverse, however, happens with regard

to the expenses of defence, as I have called them, the better to

distinguish them from those purely relating to the interior police

or administration. Every sacrifice, most assuredly, ought to appear

small, when the object is to preserve a country from falling into the

hands of an enemy, and it ought not to excite surprise, if, during the

course of the last fifteen years, several millions of dollars have been

expended in the Philippines, in order to shield them from so dreadful

a misfortune. But the late memorable revolution in the Peninsula has

given rise to so great a change in our political relations, and it

is extremely improbable that these Islands will be again exposed to

the same danger and alarm, that the government may now, without any

apparent risk, dispense with a considerable part of the preparations

of defence, at one time deemed indispensably necessary. A colony that

has no other strong place to garrison than its capital, and on the

loyalty of whose inhabitants there are sufficient motives to rely,

ought, in my opinion, to be considered as adequately provided against

all ordinary occurrences in time of peace, with the 4,000 regulars,

more or less, of all arms, the usual military establishment. In case

any suspicions should arise of an early rupture with the only power

whose forces can inspire the governors of these Islands with any kind

of apprehensions, means will not be wanting to an active and provident

minister, of giving proper advice, so as to allow sufficient time for

the assembling of the battalions of provincial militia and all the

other necessary preparations of defence, before the enemy is in an

attitude to effect an invasion of a country so far distant from his

own possessions on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. Consequently,

by disbanding the corps of provincial infantry, cavalry and artillery,

which continue uselessly to be kept on foot, an annual saving of

from $220,000 to $250,000 would take place, an amount too great to

be expended unless imperiously called for by the evident dread of a

premeditated attack from an hostile quarter.

[Shipping reform.] The navy is another of the departments in which

reforms may be introduced, of no small moment to the treasury. Of

course by the government merely dispensing with the policy of keeping

in readiness two large ships to convey to Acapulco the cargos, for

which the Manila merchants enjoy an annual licence, and leaving to

the latter the full liberty of following up their speculations on

their own account and risk, in vessels of their own, individually or

with joint stock, a saving would result in favor of the crown equal to

$140,000 to $150,000 per annum, and without preventing the receipt in

Acapulco of the customary duties of $160,000 or $166,000 corresponding

to the said licenses. This will evidently be the case, because as

long as the large disposal of funds of the charitable institutions

are employed in maritime risks, and the private property of others

is besides added to them, the amount of the operations undertaken by

the merchants of the Philippines to New Spain, when divested of all

restraint, will always exceed $500,000 per annum. Nor is there now

any further occasion for the government to continue granting this

species of gratuitous tutelage to a body of men possessed of ample

means to manage their own affairs, and who demand the same degree of

freedom, and only seek a protection similar to that enjoyed by their

fellow-countrymen in other parts of the king's dominions.

[Galleon graft.] In case the above reform should be adopted, it might

be deemed requisite for the government to undertake the payment of some

of the charges under the existing order of things, defrayed out of the

freights to which the merchandise shipped in the Acapulco traders is

liable; because, calculating the freight at the usual rate of $200 for

each three bales, or the amount of one ticket, out of the one thousand

constituting the entire cargo, and of which one-half, or $100,000 more

or less, is appropriated to the ecclesiastical chapter, municipality,

officers of the regular army (excluding captains and the other higher

ranks) and the widows of Spaniards, who in this case would be losers,

independent of the remaining $100,000 or 500 tickets distributed

among the 200 persons having a right to ship to Acapulco, it would, at

first sight, appear reasonable for the treasury to indemnify the above

description of persons by a compensation equivalent to the privation

they experience through the new arrangement of the government. But

as the practice of abuses constitutes no law, and what is given

through favor is different to that which is required by justice,

there are no reasons whatever why the treasury should be bound to

support the widows of private persons, from the mere circumstance of

their deceased husbands having been Spaniards; more particularly if

it is considered that, far from having acquired any special merit

during their lifetime, most of them voluntarily left their native

country for the purpose of increasing their fortunes, and others were

banished from it, owing to their bad conduct. Neither can it be said

that the municipality have a legal right, in the case before stated,

to receive any equivalent for the value of their respective annual

tickets, which, when disposed of, usually amount to about $20,000 in

the first place, because it is well-known that the eleven aldermen's

seats, of which that body is composed, seats which can either be

sold or resigned, originally did not cost as much as $50,000 and

clearly the principal invested is out of all kind of proportion with

the enormous premium or income claimed. In the second place, although

the above municipal situations were originally purchased with a view

to obtain some advantages, these formerly were very different to what

they are at present, when the great increase of shippers to Acapulco,

or in more plain terms, of purchase of tickets competing to obtain

them, has given to these permits a value more than triple to that

they possessed thirty years ago.

[Indemnifying the aldermen.] In order, therefore, to do away with

all motives of doubt and dispute, as well as for many other reasons

of public utility, the best plan, in my opinion, would be, to return

to each alderman his money, and the present municipal constitution

being dissolved, the number of members might be reduced to four, with

their corresponding registrar, and like the two ordinary "alcaldes,"

elected every year without any other reward than the honor of presiding

over and representing their fellow-citizens. Under this supposition,

the only classes entitled to compensation, strictly speaking,

would be the ecclesiastical chapter and the subaltern officers,

whose respective pay and appointment are not in fact sufficient

for the decency and expenses of their rank in society. Of course it

would then be necessary to grant them more adequate allowances, but,

according to reasonable calculations, the sum total annually required

would not exceed $30,000; consequently, the reform projected with

regard to the Acapulco ships would still eventually produce to the

treasury a saving of from $60,000 to $70,000 in the first year of

its adoption, and of $110,000 to $120,000 in every succeeding one.

[The navy.] It is, on the other hand, undeniable that, if the royal

navy and cruising vessels, or those belonging to the Islands and

under the immediate orders of the captain-general, were united into

one department, and placed under one head, considerable economy

would ensue, and all motives of discord and emulation be moreover

removed. Such would be the case if the change was attended with no

other cirumstances than the consequent diminution of commanders,

subaltern officers, and clerks; but it would be also proper to unite

the arsenals, and adopt a more general uniformity in the operations and

dependences of this part of the public services. It is equally certain

that, during peaceful times, the two schooners and sixty gunboats,

constituting the number of the above-mentioned cruising vessels, would

be in great measure useless; whilst in case of a rupture, they are not

sufficient to protect the trade of these Islands from the attacks of an

enemy, notwithstanding they now cost the government considerable sums

in repairs, etc., in order to keep them fit for service. The government

ought therefore to guard against this waste of public money, without,

however, neglecting the defence of the Islands, objects which, in my

opinion, might easily be reconciled. Intelligent persons have judged

that by reducing the naval forces to two frigates, two schooners,

and about a dozen gunboats, the essential wants of the colony would be

duly answered, in ordinary times; and some of the vessels might then

be destined to pursue hydrographical labors in the Archipelago, which,

unfortunately, are in a most backward state, whilst others could be

sent on their periodical cruises against the Moros. By this means, at

least, the navy department would be greatly simplified, and cease to be

eternally burdensome to the government. With regard to the superfluous

gunboats, it would be expedient to distribute them gratuitously among

the marine provinces and Bisayan Islands, on the only condition of

their being always kept fit for service; as, in one sense, the great

expenses of maintaining them would be thus saved by the treasury, and,

another, the inhabitants of those portions of the coast would be in

possession of means sufficiently powerful to repel the aggressions of

the Moros, who commit great ravages on their settlements. Finally,

if besides the reforms of which the army and navy are susceptible,

it is considered that the public works, such as prisons, schools,

bridges, and causeways, so expensive in other countries, in the

Philippines are constructed by the natives on the most reasonable

terms, out of the community funds; that there is no necessity to build

fortifications, and maintain numerous garrisons; that the clergy, to

whose zeal and powerful influence the preservation of these Islands

is chiefly due, do not cost the treasury annually above $200,000 and

that the geographical situation of the colony in great measure shields

it from the attacks of external enemies, it will readily be confessed,

that a wise and firm government might undertake, without the dread of

having to encounter any great obstacles, an administrative system,

in a general point of view, infinitely more economical than the one

hitherto followed; might be able to extirpate numerous abuses, and

by calling forth the resources of the country gradually raise it to

a flourishing condition, and cause it hereafter to contribute largely

to the other wants of the crown. Hence was it that the distinguished

voyager, La Pérouse (Chap. 15), contemplating these Islands with a

political eye, did not hesitate to affirm "that a powerful nation,

possessed of no other colonies than the Philippines, that should

succeed in establishing there a form of government best adapted to

their advantageous circumstances, would justly disregard all the

other European establishments in Africa and America."

[Objectionable office-holders.] In our colonies, appointments and

command far from being sought as a means to obtain a good reputation,

or as affording opportunities of contributing to public prosperity,

are, it is too well known, only solicited with a view to amass

wealth, and then retire for the purpose of enjoying it. Commercial

pursuits being besides attended with so many advantages that those

only decline following them who are divested of money and friends;

whilst the situation in the revenue are so few in number, compared

with the many candidates who solicit them, that they are consequently

well appointed, it follows that the excess left without occupation,

besides being considerable, is generally composed of needy persons, and

not the most suitable to exercise the delicate functions of collectors

and magistrates in the provinces. From this class nevertheless the

host of officers are usually taken who, under the name of collectors,

surveyors and assessors of tributes, intervene in, or influence

the public administration. Owing to the variety and great number of

persons emigrating to America, ample field, no doubt, is there left

for selection, by which means the viceroys may frequently meet with

persons suitable and adequate to the above trusts, if prudent steps

are only taken; but in this respect the case is very different in the

Philippines, where chance alone occasionally brings over a European

Spaniard, unemployed or friendless. In these remote Islands, also,

more than in any other quarter, people seek to live in idleness, and,

as much as possible, without working, or much trouble. As long as

hopes are entertained of doing something in the Acapulco speculations,

every other pursuit is viewed with indifference, and the office of

district or provincial magistrate is only solicited when all other

resources have failed, or as a remedy against want. As the applicants

for these situations are therefore not among the most select classes,

it very frequently happens that they fall into extremely improper

and unworthy hands.

It is in fact common enough to see a hairdresser or a lackey converted

into a governor; a sailor or a deserter transformed into a district

magistrate, collector, or military commander of a populous province,

without any other counsellor than his own crude understanding,

or any other guide than his passion. Such a metamorphosis would

excite laughter in a comedy or farce; but, realized in the theatre

of human life, it must give rise to sensations of a very different

nature. Who is there that does not feel horror-struck, and tremble

for the innocent, when he sees a being of this kind transferred from

the yard-arm to the seat of justice, deciding, in the first instance,

on the honor, lives, and property of a hundred thousand persons, and

haughtily exacting the homage and incense of the spiritual ministers

of the towns under his jurisdiction, as well as of the parish curates,

respectable for their acquirements and benevolence, and who, in their

own native places, would possibly have rejected as a servant the very

man whom in the Philippines they are compelled to court and obey as

a sovereign.

In vain do the laws ordain that such offices shall not be given away to

attendants on governors and members of the high court of justice, for

under pretext of the scarcity of Europeans experienced in the colony,

means are found to elude the statute, by converting this plea into an

exception in favor of this description of persons. By such important

offices being filled in this manner, it is easy to conceive the various

hardships to which many of the provinces and districts are exposed;

nor can any amelioration be expected as long as this plan is persisted

in and the excesses of the parties go without punishment.

[Evils from officials in trade.] Independent, however, of the serious

injuries and great errors persons of the class above described cannot

fail to commit in the exercise of their functions, purely judicial, the

consequences of their inordinate avarice are still more lamentable,

and the tacit permission to satisfy it, granted to them by the

government under the specious title of a licence to trade. Hence may

it be affirmed, that the first of the evils, and the one the native

immediately feels, is occasioned by the very person the law has

destined for his relief and protection. In a word, he experiences

injuries from the civil magistrates presiding over the provinces,

who, at the same time, are the natural enemies of the inhabitants,

and the real oppressors of their industry.

It is a known and melancholy fact that, far from promoting the

felicity of the provinces intrusted to their care, the magistrates

attend to nothing else but their own fortunes and personal interests;

nor do they hesitate as to the means by which their object is to

be attained. Scarcely are they seated in the place of authority,

when they become the chief consumers, purchasers, and exporters of

every thing produced and manufactured within the districts under

their command, thus converting their licence to trade into a positive

monopoly. In all lucrative speculations the magistrate seeks to have

the largest share; in all his enterprises he calls in the forced aid

of his subjects, and if he deigns to remunerate their labor, at most

it is only on the same terms as if they had been working on account

of the king. These unhappy people bring in their produce and crude

manufactures to the very person who, directly or indirectly, is to fix

upon them an arbitrary value. To offer such and such a price for the

articles is the same as to say, another bidding shall not be made. To

insinuate is to command--the native is not allowed to hesitate, he must

either please the magistrate, or submit to his persecutions. Being

besides free from all competition in the prosecution of his traffic,

since he is frequently the only Spaniard resident in the province,

the magistrate therein acts with unbounded sway, without dread,

and almost without risk of his tyranny ever being denounced to the

superior tribunals.

[Speculating in tributes.] In order, however, that a more correct

idea may be formed of the iniquitous conduct of many of these public

functionaries, it is necessary to lay open some part of their irregular

dealings in the collection of the Indian tributes. It is well known

that the government, anxious to conciliate the interests of the

tributary classes with those of the revenue, frequently commutes

the pecuniary capitation tax into an obligation to pay the amount in

produce or manufactures. A season comes when, owing to the failure

of the crops, the productions have risen to an excessive price,

and consequently infinitely above the ordinary rates affixed by law,

which are generally the lowest, and the natives, unable to keep their

bargains without considerable injury or endangering the subsistence

of their numerous families, implore the favor of the magistrate,

petitioning him to lay their calamitous situation before the superior

government, in order to have the payment of their tribute in kind

remitted, and offering to pay it in money. This is the precise moment

when, as his own profits depend on the misery of the province under

his command, he endeavors to misuse the accidental power with which he

is invested. Hence it happens that, instead of acting as a beneficent

mediator, and supporting the just solicitations of the natives, he at

first disregards their petition, and then all at once transforming

himself into a zealous collector, issues his notifications, sends

his satellites into the very fields to seize on the produce, and in a

most inexorable manner insists on collecting till necessity compels

him to suspend the measure. The principal object being attained,

that is, having now become master of the gleanings and scanty crops

of his bereft subjects, on a sudden his disposition changes, he is

moved to pity, and in the most pathetic language describes to the

government the ravages done to the plantations by the hurricanes,

and the utter impossibility of collecting in the tributes that year in

kind. On such a remonstrance he easily obtains permission to change the

standing order, and proceeding on to collect in some of the remaining

tributes in money, merely to save appearance, with perfect impunity

he puts the finishing stroke to the wicked act he had commenced, by

applying to himself all the produce his collectors had gathered in,

and places to the credit of the treasury the total amount of the

tributes, corresponding to his jurisdiction, in money.

Supposing, for example, that this has happened in the province of

Antique, where the payment of the capitation-tax generally takes place

in the unhusked rice, rated at two reals per cavan, and, through the

effects of a bad season, this article should rise as high as ten or

twelve reals. It is clear that the magistrate, by accounting for the

tributes with the revenue office in money, and collecting them in kind

at the rate fixed by law, would by the sales gain a profit of 400 or

500 per cent; at the same time the native, by the mere circumstance

of then paying in kind, would have paid the tribute corresponding to

five or six years in a single one, without, on that account, having

freed himself from the same charge in the following seasons.

[No check on extortion.] When the extortionate acts as these are

practised, to what lengths may it not be expected the other excesses

and abuses of authority are carried? To the above it ought moreover

to be added, that the provincial magistrates have no lieutenants,

and are unprovided with any other auxiliaries in the administration

of justice, except an accompanying witness and a native director;

that the scrutinies of their accounts, to which they formerly were

subject, are now abolished, and, in short, that they have no check

upon them, or indeed any other persons to bear testimony to their

irregularities, except the friendless and miserable victims of their

despotism and avarice.

Notwithstanding, however, what is above stated, it sometimes happens

that a magistrate is to be met with, distinguished from the rest by

his prudence and good conduct; but this is a miracle, for by the very

circumstance of his being allowed to trade, he is placed in a situation

to abuse the wide powers confided to him, and preferably to attend

to his personal interests; in fact, if the principle is in itself

defective, it must naturally be expected the consequences will be

equally baneful. The lamentable abuses here noticed are but too true,

as well as many others passed over in silence; and the worst of all

is, that there is no hope of remedying them thoroughly, unless the

present system of interior administration is altogether changed. In

vain would it be to allege the possibility of removing the evil by the

timely and energetic interposition of the protector of the natives;

for although this office is in itself highly respectable, it cannot

in any way reach the multitude of excesses committed, and much less

prevent them; not only because the minister who exercises it resides

in the city, where complaints are seldom brought in, unless they come

through the channel of the parish curates; but also on account of the

difficulty of fully establishing the charges against the magistrates,

in the way the natives are at present depressed by fear and threats, as

well as restrained by the sub-governors and other inferior officers of

justice, who, being dependent upon, and holding their situations from

the magistrates, are interested in their monopolies and extortionate

acts being kept from public view.

[Less complaisant laws needed.] If, therefore, it is not possible

entirely to eradicate the vices under which the interior administration

of these Islands labors, owing to the difficulty of finding persons

possessed of the necessary virtues and talents to govern, in an upright

and judicious manner, let us at least prevent the evils out of the

too great condescension of our own laws. In the infancy of colonies,

it has been the maxim of all governments to encourage the emigration

and settlement of inhabitants from the mother-country, without paying

much attention to the means by which this was to be done. It was not to

be wondered at that, for reasons of state, defects were overlooked,--at

such periods were even deemed necessary. Hence the relaxation in the

laws in favor of those who, quitting their native land, carried over

with them to strange countries their property and acquirements. Hence,

no doubt, also are derived the full powers granted to those who took

in charge the subjection and administration of the new provinces,

in order that they might govern, and at the same time carry on their

traffic with the natives, notwithstanding the manifest incompatibility

of the two occupations; or rather, the certainty that ought to have

been foreseen that public duties would generally be postponed, when

placed in competition with private interests and the anxious desire

of acquiring wealth.

Subsequently that happened which was, in fact, to be dreaded, viz.,

what at first was tolerated as a necessary evil, sanctioned by the

lapse of time has at length become a legitimate right, or rather a

compensation for the supposed trouble attached to the fulfillment of

the duties of civil magistrates; whilst they, as already observed,

think of nothing but themselves, and undergo no other trouble or

inconvenience than usually fall on the lot of any other private

merchant. In the Philippines, at least, many years having elapsed

since the natives peaceably submitted to the dominion of the king,

every motive has ceased that could formerly, and in a certain degree,

justify the indulgence so much abused, at the same time that no

plausible pretext whatever exists for its further continuation.

Although hitherto the number of whites, compared to that of the

people of color, has not been great, as the whole of the provincial

magistracies, collectorships, and subaltern governments, do not exceed

twenty-seven, the scarcity of Spaniards ought not to be alleged as a

sufficient reason; nor can it be doubted these situations might at any

time be properly filled, if the person on whom the choice should fall

were only certain of living with decency and in a suitable manner,

without being carried away with the flattering hopes of withdrawing

from office, with ten, twenty, and even as high as fifty thousand

dollars of property, as has heretofore been the case, but satisfied

with a due and equivalent salary they might receive as a reward for

the public services they perform.

I do not therefore see why the government should hesitate in resolving

to put a stop to evils which the people of the Philippines have not

ceased to deplore from the time of the conquest, by proscribing, under

the most severe penalties, the power of trading, as now exercised

by the provincial magistrates. The time is come when this struggle

between duty and sordid interest ought to end, and reason, as well

as enlightened policy, demand that in this respect our legislation

should be reformed, in order that the mace of justice, instead of

being prostituted in search of lucre, may henceforwards be wholly

employed in the support of equity and the protection of society.

[Urgence of reform.] The only objection which, at first sight, might

be started against the suggestions here thrown out is the increased

expense which would fall on the treasury, owing to the necessity of

appropriating competent salaries for the interior magistrates under

the new order of things. Independent, however, of the fact that the

rapid improvements the provinces must assume, in every point of view,

would superabundantly make up this trifling difference; yet supposing

the sacrifice were gratuitous, and even of some moment, it ought

not, on that account, to be omitted, since there is no public object

more important to the sovereign himself, than to make the necessary

provision for the decorum of the magistracy, the due administration

of justice, and the maintenance of good order among his subjects.

The position being established, that a number of whites more

than sufficient might be obtained, eligible and fit to perform

the duties of civil magistrates, which they would be induced to

undertake, if adequate terms were only proposed, it would seem that

no ill consequences might be expected from at once assimilating

the regulations of these provincial judicatures to those of the

corregimientos, or mayoralties of towns in Spain, or in making out an

express statute, on a triple scale, for three classes of magistrates,

granting to them emoluments equivalent to the greater or lesser

extent of the respective jurisdictions. As far as regards the pay, it

ought to be so arranged as to act as a sufficient stimulus to induce

European colonists to embrace this career, in a fixed and permanent

way, which hitherto they have only resorted to as a five years'

speculation. Conformably to this suggestion, and owing to the lesser

value attached to money in India, compared with Europe, on account of

the greater abundance of the necessaries of life, I am of opinion that

it would be expedient to affix an annual allowance of $2,000 to each

of the appointments of the six principal and most populous provinces,

$1,500 for the next in importance, and for the twelve or thirteen

remaining, at the rate of $1,000 each; leaving to the candidates

the option of rising according to their length of services and good

conduct, from the lowest to the highest, as is the case in Spain.

[Objects to be gained.] The first part of the plan above pointed

out embraces two objects. The one is to prevent the provincial

magistrates from carrying on traffic, thus depriving them of every

pretext to defraud the natives of what is their own; and the other,

to form, in the course of a few years a class of men hitherto unknown

in the Philippine Islands, who, taught by practice, may be enabled to

govern the provinces in a more correct and regular manner, and acquire

more extended knowledge, especially in the judicial proceedings of

the first instance, which, owing to this defect, frequently compel

the litigants to incur useless expenses, and greatly embarrass the

ordinary course of justice. Although the second part at first seems

to involve an increased expense of $36,000 or $37,000 annually,

when well considered, this sum will be found not to exceed $20,000,

because it will be necessary to deduct from the above estimate the

amount of three per cent. under the existing regulations allowed to

the magistrates for the collection of the native tributes, in their

character of subdelegates, generally amounting to $16,000 or $17,000;

besides only taking into account such real and effective disbursements

or extraordinary expenses as in fact they may legally have incurred

in the performance of their duties.

Should it, however, be deemed expedient, from causes just in their

nature, hereafter to exonerate the natives from the obligations of

paying tributes, by which means the amount deducted for the three

per cent. commission could not then be brought into account, let

me be allowed to ask what enlightened government would hesitate

submitting to an additional expense of so trifling an import, in

exchange for beholding more than two millions of men forever freed

from the extortionate acts of their old magistrates; and, through

the effects of the new regulations, the latter converted into real

fathers of the people over whom they are placed? How different would

then be the aspect these fine provinces would present to the eyes

of the philosophical observer who would, in that case, be able to

calculate to what an extent the progress of agriculture and industry

in these islands might be carried.

[Demoralization of over-seas service.] Nevertheless, I do not wish

to insinuate that by the better organization of the provincial

governments, the present irregularities and abuses of authority

would entirely cease; because I am aware, more especially in the

Indies, that the persons who hold public situations usually have too

exaggerated ideas of their own personal importance, and easily mistake

the gratification of their own whims for firmness of character,

in the necessity of causing themselves to be respected. Still it

is an incontestable fact that, by removing the chief temptation,

and rescinding altogether the license to trade, the just complaints

preferred by the native against the Spaniard would cease; the motives

of those continual disputes which arise between the magistrates

and the ministers of the gospel exercising their functions in the

same provinces, and the zealous defenders of the rights of their

parishioners, would be removed, and the inhabitants of Manila,

extending their mercantile operations to the interior, without the

dread of seeing them obstructed through the powerful competition

of the magistrates in authority there, would be induced to settle

in or connect themselves with the provinces, and thus diffuse their

knowledge, activity and money among the inhabitants, the true means

of encouraging the whole.

What has already been said will suffice to convince the lover of

truth and the friend of general prosperity, how urgent it is to

introduce as early as possible, the reform proposed into the interior

administration of this important, although neglected colony; and it

is to be hoped that the government, guided by these same sentiments,

will not be led away by those narrow-minded people, who predict danger

from every thing that is new; but, after due and mature deliberation,

resolve to adopt a measure dictated by reason, and at the same time

conformable to the best interests of the state.

Of little avail would have been the valor and constancy with which

Legaspi and his worthy companions overcame the natives of these

islands, if the apostolic zeal of the missionaries had not seconded

their exertions, and aided to consolidate the enterprise. The latter

were the real conquerors; they who, without any other arms than their

virtues, won over the good will of the islanders, caused the Spanish

name to be beloved, and gave to the king, as it were by a miracle,

two millions more of submissive and Christian subjects. These were

the legislators of the barbarous hordes who inhabited the islands

of this immense Archipelago, realizing, by their mild persuasion,

the allegorical prodigies of Amphion and Orpheus.

[Pioneer Philippine government a theocracy.] As the means the

missionaries called in to their aid, in order to reduce and civilize

the Indians, were preaching and other spiritual labors, and, although

scattered about and acting separately, they were still subject to

the authority of their prelates, who, like so many chiefs, directed

the grand work of conversion, the government primitively established

in these colonies must necessarily have partaken greatly of the

theocratical order, and beyond doubt it continued to be so, till,

by the lapse of time, the number of colonists increased, as well as

the effective strength of the royal authority, so as to render the

governing system uniform with that established in the other ultramarine

dominions of Spain.

This is also deduced from the fragments still remaining of the first

constitution, or mode of government introduced in the Batanes Islands

and missions of Cagayan, administered by the Dominican friars in a

spiritual and temporal manner; as well as from what may frequently be

observed in the other provinces, by any one who bestows the smallest

attention. Although the civil magistracies have since been regulated,

and their respective attributes determined with due precision, it has

not hitherto been possible, notwithstanding the pains taken to make the

contrary appear, to do without the personal authority and influence

the parish curates possess over their flocks. The government has, in

fact, constantly been obliged to avail themselves of this aid, as the

most powerful instrument to insure respect and a due subordination,

in such manner that, although the parish curates are not at present

equally authorized to interfere in the civil administration, in point

of fact, they are themselves the real administrators.

[Standing of parish priests.] It happens that, as the parish curate

is the consoler of the afflicted, the peacemaker of families, the

promoter of useful ideas, the preacher and example of every thing good;

as in him liberality is seen to shine, and the Indians behold him alone

in the midst of them, without relatives, without traffic, and always

busied in their care and improvement, they become accustomed to live

satisfied and contented under his paternal direction, and deliver up to

him the whole of their confidence. In this way rendered the master of

their wishes, nothing is done without the advice, or rather consent,

of the curate. The subaltern governor, on receiving an order from the

superior magistrate, before he takes any step, goes to the minister

to obtain his sanction, and it is he in fact who tacitly gives the

mandate for execution, or prevents its being carried into effect. As

the father of his flock, he arranges, or directs, the lawsuits of

his parishioners; it is he who draws out their writings; goes to the

capital to plead for the Indians; opposes his prayers, and sometimes

his threats, to the violent acts of the provincial magistrates, and

arranges every thing in the most fit and quiet manner. In a word, it

is not possible for any human institution to be more simple, and at

the same time more firmly established, or from which so many advantages

might be derived in favor of the state, as the one so justly admired in

the spiritual ministry of these islands. It may therefore be considered

a strange fatality, when the secret and true art of governing a colony,

so different from any other as is that of the Philippines, consists in

the wise use of so powerful an instrument as the one just described,

that the superior government, within the last few years, should have

been so much deluded as to seek the destruction of a work which,

on the contrary, it is, above all others, advisable to sustain.

In this, as well as many other cases, we see how difficult, or rather

how absurd it is, to expect to organize a system of government,

indistinctly adapted to the genius and disposition of all nations,

however great the discordance prevailing in their physical and moral

constitutions. Hence it follows that, by wishing to assimilate

the administrative plan of these provinces to the one adopted in

the sections of America, inconveniences are unceasingly met with,

evidently arising out of this erroneous principle. Whatever may

be asserted to the contrary, there is no medium. It is necessary to

insure obedience either through dread and force, or respect must be

excited by means of love and confidence. In order to be convinced that

the first is not practicable, it will only be necessary to weigh well

the following circumstances and reflections.

The number of the whites compared to that of the natives is so

small, that it can scarcely be estimated in the proportion of 15

to 25,000. These provinces, infinitely more populous than those of

America, are entirely delivered up to the charge of provincial [Friars

only check on officials.] magistrates, who carry with them to the seats

of their respective governments, no other troops than the title of

military commandants, and their royal commission on parchment. Besides

the friars, it sometimes happens that no other white person is to be

found in an entire province, but the presiding magistrate. It is the

duty of the latter to collect in the king's revenue; to pursue robbers;

appease tumults; raise men for the regiments in garrison at Manila and

Cavite; regulate and head his people in case of an external invasion,

and, in short, it is he who is to do everything in the character of

magistrate and in the name of the king. Considering, therefore, the

effective power required for the due performance of so great a variety

of duties, and the want of that species of support experienced by him

who is charged with them, can it be denied that it would be risking the

security of these dominions too much, to attempt forcibly to control

them with means so insufficient? If the inhabitants become tumultuous

and rise up, on whom will the magistrate call for aid to repress and

punish them? In such a predicament, is any other alternative left him

than to fly or die in the struggle? If among civilized nations, it is

deemed indispensable that authority should always appear accompanied

with force, how can it be expected, among Indians, that the laws will

otherwise be respected, when left naked and unsupported?