The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 44, 1700-1736 / Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.

by Unknown

PERIOD III

Occurrences from the year 1640 until that of 1702, and from this year until 1712.[1]

17. Although there is no evidence in the Expediente[2] of what resulted from the commissions given to Señor Palatox by the decrees which may be seen at the end of the preceding “Period,” one consequence was that the Philipinas trade with Nueva España was continued, in the form which we shall soon describe. For the viceroy of that kingdom, Conde de Paredes, when he was in office made remonstrances at various times from the year 1684 until 1686, in regard to the great confusion which always had been experienced in the valuations of the cargoes on the ships from Philipinas which arrived at the port of Acapulco; and he declared that none of the measures which had been employed had been sufficient, so that they could regulate the duties which the merchants of those islands ought to contribute, nor for preventing the illegal acts and frauds which were committed, to the injury of the royal treasury. He had therefore found it expedient to make the regulation (as he had done) that every ship of those which came to the above port of Acapulco should compound its customs duties [indultasse] in the amount of 74,000 pesos; and this had been the practice until Conde de Galve had gone to fill that viceroyalty, and he gave an account of this matter.

18. On receiving this information, despatches were sent on June 5, 1697, to the viceroy and Audiencia of Mexico and to the governor and Audiencia of Philipinas, informing them that the said arrangement had been revoked and annulled, since it was contrary to what had been commanded by laws, decrees, and royal orders, and for many other serious and just reasons. Both of these governments were commanded to cause the publication of the revocation and annulment of the above arrangement, and were ordered to take especial care in the administration and careful collection of the duties which the merchandise in that traffic ought to contribute—most strictly observing the regulation that no more goods should go from those islands than amounted to 250,000 pesos, nor should more than 500,000 be allowed to go back as proceeds. Moreover, this commerce must be strictly confined to citizens born in Philipinas, and prohibited to those of Nueva España; for any goods which should be found belonging to the latter must be considered as confiscated, and those which should come outside registration, if they belonged to those islanders, must pay double duties. The declarations [manifestaciones] of these goods must be made within the limit of six hours, or at most of twelve, which was fixed as the utmost allowance of time. It was most strictly commanded that for the future they should no longer allow the declarations of [registered] merchandise which until then had been permitted, that the ships in that commerce should not exceed a burden of four hundred toneladas each, and that they must be the two which sailed each year to the port of Acapulco.

19. These orders having been received and published in Philipinas, the city and the merchants of Manila set forth the difficulties which were arising from the mode in which their trade was carried on. They entreated: first, that there should be only one ship in that trade, having a capacity of 1,200 toneladas, and not two, as had been decided; second, that the amount of 250,000 pesos, stated in the permission which had been granted them, should be increased; third, that in return should be brought back the entire amount which the merchandise should produce in Acapulco and the kingdom of Nueva España, and that it should not remain limited to the 500,000 pesos to which it had been restricted. They offered, for the regular voyage of each year, to make a contribution to the treasury [servir con] of 100,000 pesos, on account of the duties; and they asked that, when it should appear that these dues had been paid, neither the royal officials of Acapulco nor any other officials should meddle with the registration of the goods that were landed at the arrival of the ship, nor with the embarkation of the silver on its return voyage, but that both these should go free.

20. In order that the distribution of the lading-space which was made in these islands should be equitable, the decision was confirmed which in 1699 had been made by the governor of the islands at that time, commanding, in regard to the statement that this distribution was not made among the citizens, whose qualifications [for this] belonged exclusively to that city, that the municipality alone, without the intervention of any other official, must send the list of the citizens to the committee which met for this purpose; and that the said distribution should be made among the persons included in the above list of citizens, without that government or the Audiencia being allowed to have any discretionary power in this matter.

21. In view of this remonstrance, and of the demands made by the kingdom of Peru (in regard to opening to it the commerce by way of Acapulco), by the provinces of Nueva España, and by the consulate[3] of Andalucia—which set forth the weakened and diminished condition of commerce in these and in those kingdoms, through the excessive amounts of cloth and other commodities which were coming from Philipinas, in the ships allowed to them, to the port of Acapulco—the Council proposed to his Majesty in a report dated July 7, 1703, the measures which it regarded as expedient for the regulation which must be made in the commerce of Philipinas; these his Majesty was pleased to approve, and their contents may be reduced to the following points:

22. That in the Philipinas Islands two ships should be built, each of 500 toneladas burden, which should transport the goods permitted to that trade; that the citizens should be authorized to convey in these to Nueva España the amount of 300,000 pesos in their products and other commodities, and on the return to Philipinas to carry 600,000 pesos in silver, allowing 100 per cent gain minus the duties and expenses. Among other things which they were commanded to watch over for the regulation and observance of the said commerce are the following:

23. That the city of Manila should itself make the distribution for the lading of the two ships, without the intervention of any official.

24. That the merchants and those interested in the trade should present within a specified time-limit the commodities, invoices, and articles which they were to send to Nueva España; that these should be placed in the royal storehouses, and the estimate of their value be made. This must be done by the agreement of two persons of experience, deputed by the city and the trade, with royal officials and the fiscal of the Audiencia of Manila, and the fiscal must superintend the entire valuation. If any merchant should feel aggrieved in the enumeration he should go before the committee [of distribution], in order that his just rights might be guarded; and if the committee did not take care of this, he should have right of appeal to the Audiencia.

25. That he who had no goods to lade should not be allowed to give up his right in favor of a third person, but it should accrue to the rest, a new distribution of that part being made.

26. That the registration be made by the royal officials, with the assistance of the fiscal; that the goods shipped and their valuation should be carefully ascertained; and that the decisions of the officials, or a copy of them, be sent to Acapulco for the use of officials there.

27. That in Acapulco must be ascertained the quantity of silver which should be shipped on the return voyage, and, if the goods sold should perchance exceed the 600,000 pesos, they [i.e., the Manila owners] should not be allowed to take away the excess in silver, but [must take it] in goods.

28. That if the sale of the goods shall not fill this amount of 600,000 pesos of the permission, the merchants of Nueva España cannot under any pretext, no matter how just, make up the deficiency, or place in the ship the remaining amount of silver, for this was perpetually prohibited by his Majesty from the time when these orders were issued; and whatever might be done in contravention of these should be punished with special severity. For it had been learned that under this pretext those born in Nueva España or resident there were steadily introducing their trade into Philipinas, thus causing most serious losses to the royal treasury, and bringing that commerce to the state which was acknowledged, with great detriment to the trade of España. In regard to this matter the viceroy was charged to devote himself with the utmost activity to the strictest fulfilment of this order, without overlooking the slightest thing.

29. That if it were found that any portion of silver belonged to a native or resident of Nueva España it should be regarded as confiscated, and applied in thirds;[4] and, besides, the delinquent should pay to the royal treasury three times the amount thus confiscated. If he repeated the offense, the penalty should be imposed upon him of loss of goods, and exile from these provinces for ten years.

30. That thenceforth should likewise be prohibited the acceptance of declarations of goods [manifestaciones], nor should they for any reason be accepted, even if his Majesty should lose the double duties that belong to them, since on no account would he allow them to be tolerated.

31. That in order to avoid confusion in the decree of the year 1697 already cited (and leaving these points settled and in use, in such form that they should be permanent), if the governor and merchants of Philipinas in giving the 100,000 pesos, should come to offer it by way of adjustment [regulacion][5] of the duties in each voyage, and not under the name of indult [indulto], as had been proposed, they should be entirely released from payment of all the duties which they must make good in Acapulco, not only on the outward but on the return voyage. It was also declared that goods sold at that port or shipped from it should not pay alcavala on the first sale; for it was certain that the contribution of the 100,000 pesos from the permission would cost seventeen per cent, leaving eighty-three per cent gain to those who were interested in the trade. Moreover, as his Majesty paid the expense of the building, cleaning, and equipment of the ships, and supplying them with soldiers, provisions, supplies, and ammunition, without receiving more than forty-four ducados for each tonelada, it would not only be advantageous, but even necessary to the royal treasury to furnish a considerable amount for preserving their commerce and traffic to the natives of the island, which was all the favor which his royal munificence could exercise. If, however, an agreement should not be reached by the trade in the adjustment of the 100,000 pesos, the royal duties must be exacted and collected in full, without excepting anything.

32. That in the enumeration of the traders should be included the Spaniards born in the country, and the military men stationed in the port of Cavite; and these might engage in that traffic—excluding, however, ecclesiastical ministers, whether secular or regular, and those who were foreigners to those Philipinas Islands.

33. That the master of each ship must make a book containing the freight list, and present it with the aforesaid documents at Acapulco to the castellan who governs that port and the royal officials, for the discharge of cargo. At the same time he must carry a duplicate of all these documents, to be sent to the viceroy as soon as they arrived, in order that he might examine them and communicate with the tribunal of accounts, in which a copy of it must be made to send to the Council.

34. As soon as the ships should anchor in Acapulco the castellan and royal officials of that port should station the guards necessary to avoid the concealment of goods or their clandestine introduction, causing the ship to be lightened and its cargo landed with the utmost promptness, and collecting the established duties or securing them by the goods themselves, according to the usage up to that time.

35. That when the goods had been landed and the amounts registered had been ascertained, the ships should be inspected; and whatever else was found therein should be regarded as confiscated, without allowing therein any claim or remonstrance. Half of the goods confiscated should be applied to the royal treasury, and the rest in two parts to the judge and the informer—excepting in the case when the value of confiscated goods should reach 50,000 pesos; for then the viceroy and the royal court of Mexico must allot to the judge and the informer such quantity as should be proper, leaving to the decision of the judges other penalties in accordance with the guilt of the offenders.

36. His Majesty having agreed to the proposals made by the Council, they issued on August 12, 1702, despatches in accordance therewith, to the governments of Nueva España and Philipinas, informing them of the regulation herein explained, and commanding them both to observe it strictly and inviolably. In consequence of this, the governor of Philipinas, in letters of June 21, 1705, and May 24, 1708 (in which he acknowledged the receipt of the despatch sent to him), reported that he had carried the decree into execution, and had made it known to the merchants in the city of Manila, who had offered to make good the burdens of expense which would ensue if the two ships of 500 toneladas each were immediately built according to this command—in view of the fact that there were two galleons and one patache in the ports there; of these one might serve eight years, and the other a little less, and the patache four. For this reason the governor had commanded that the building of the two ships should be suspended until those which were then in use should be worn out.

37. That also it had been regarded as impracticable that the valuation of the cloth and wares which were to be traded should be made through the actual examination of the bales and their other goods, and that this should be carried out in the royal storehouses—considering that the crowded condition of those buildings, and the risk of thefts, fires, and other accidents, did not permit this method to be practiced, as was commanded by the decree that has been cited.

38. That to this was added that, as the Chinese do not gather at the fair [at Manila] until the end of May in each year, and the ships sail from those islands toward the end of the following June, the royal officials were unable in so short a time as one month to attend to the aforesaid examination, and to undertake the despatch and registration of the ships, on account of the great amount of work that they had to do in this. For these reasons it had been decided that, in the invoices that were brought forward, an itemized account should be given of the stuffs, their quantity, quality, numbers and marks, and the names of the consignees; and that the consignors should furnish samples of each article; and some bales here and there could be opened to ascertain if there were any fraud and punish it. And that, the aforesaid city and merchants having agreed to and accepted all the rest that was contained in the above despatch, the galleons had accordingly sailed for Nueva España in the years 1705 and 1706.

39. The Council, being informed of this memorial, agreed that the strictest orders should be repeated (as was done by decrees of December 12, 1712) for the exact observance and punctual fulfilment of those given on August 12, 1702, excepting that which concerned the opening of the bundles in the royal storehouses for the valuations. It was permitted that these should be made by means of invoices, which each one must present, swearing that the goods were his and that the bales contained no more than was set down on the invoices. The Council also decided that the traffic and commerce of those islands should be continued by the two ships already in existence, until they should become unseaworthy; in that case they must be laid aside, and the building of the two ships of 500 toneladas burden each should be undertaken, according to their former decision.

40. Inasmuch as in the year 1706 the galleon named “Rosario” had been despatched from Philipinas under the regulations made by the cited decree of 1702, and modifications in this had been proposed by the city and merchants of Manila, the viceroy Alburquerque[6] had commanded (with the opinion of a junta which he formed for the reception and unlading of the galleon) that this cargo should not be admitted to the adjustment of the 100,000 pesos, which the above regulation provided; and that consequently the declaration of goods should be accepted, by the rules of valuation and of the payment of duties which had been observed on other occasions. The Council, after the statement of the fiscal and consultation with his Majesty, severely censured the viceroy, and the officials of the junta who had agreed with his opinion; and they returned thanks to those who were of the opposite opinion, who thought that the adjustment of the 100,000 pesos should be paid, as that was the most exact and accurate meaning of the royal orders issued in the year 1702.