It was also charged that he had allowed cock-fights whenever requested, instead of restricting these to holidays and Sundays as the law prescribed. On these occasions he collected two reales from each entrant, and in addition he took the slain birds, alleging that they were for the consumption of the inmates of the provincial prison. Testimony was produced to show that the prisoners had never eaten fowl.
[82] In taking the residencias of corregidores and alcaldes mayores the audiencia frequently took great responsibility upon itself. On July 10, 1800, on taking the residencia of Luís Rodríguez Varela, alcalde mayor of Pangasinán, the audiencia suspended the decoration of the pequeña cruz, which had been conferred upon this official by the royal authority. The deprivation, in this case, was tentative, pending the investigation of the charges which had been made of shortages in the finances of his province.—Audiencia to the King, July 10, 1800, A. I., 106–4–18.
[83] The original sentence probably denied to Zéndera the privilege of holding the office of alcalde mayor only, since he occupied the post of regidor of the city of Manila, pending the appeal of his case to the Council of the Indies. It is evident, therefore, that the sentence which was pronounced upon Zéndera did not apply to all positions of honor and trust.
[84] Cédula of August 24, 1799, Recopilación, 5–15, notes 4 and 5; see also Rodríguez San Pedro, Legislación ultramarina, I, 282.
[85] Escriche, Diccionario. I, 578; see also royal order of November 20, 1841, and of January 18, 1848, in Rodríguez San Pedro, Legislación ultramarina, I, 282; 290. When the Intendancy was established in 1784–7, an effort was made by the newly created officials to escape the residencia. The entire term of the first intendant, Carvajal (or Carbajal), had been devoted to an assertion of his independence of the governor and audiencia. Carvajal interpreted the law requiring all officials of the government to give residencia every five years to the Department of Justice as not applying to him or his subordinates. He pointed to the stipulation in the ordinance which created his department, and established its independence of the executive and judiciary. The king disapproved of his attitude and ordered that henceforth the officials of real hacienda should give residencia in the same manner as other officials, in accordance with the laws of the Indies. (King to Carvajal. July 29, 1788, A. I., 107–5–19, citing Recopilación, 2–15–69; 5–15–15 and Ordenanza de Intendentes de Buenos Ayres, Art. 305.) This decree ordered that the residencias of the intendants and their assistants should be submitted to the audiencia. The cédula of August 24, 1799, so frequently cited in this chapter, gave final jurisdiction to the audiencia over the residencias of intendentes-corregidores, but it decreed that superintendents should give residencia directly to the Council of the Indies.
[86] Martínez Alcubilla (Diccionario, XI, 477) and Escriche (Diccionario, II, 819) state that the cédula of August 24, 1799, abolished the residencia. The latter states that the residencia was eliminated because of the corruption of judges, and as the judges of residencia had proved to be a grave infliction on the towns, mistreating witnesses and defendants on many occasions, it was thought advisable to discontinue the practice of holding these investigations. Escriche also quotes extracts from the laws of August 24, 1799, September 26, 1835, and November 20, 1841, wherein were provided regulations for the future continuance of the residencia. Cases involving viceroys, captains-general, and presidents of audiencias were to be tried in the Supreme Tribunal of Justice in first instance. Alcaldes mayores, corregidores, military and political governors who were not presidents were to be tried in the audiencias which exercised jurisdiction over their districts.
[87] See Cédula of July 7, 1860, in Rodríguez San Pedro, Legislación ultramarina, III, 287; royal order of July 25, 1865, ibid., X, 99; royal order of October 25, 1870, Colección legislativa, CV, 442–465.
The eminent authority, Manuel Bernáldez Pizarro, writing from Manila on April 26, 1827, deplored the laxity which was characteristic of the method of conducting trials of residencia, and recommended that they be made more effective and just. He criticized especially the prevailing system of holding the alcaldes mayores to a strict accountability; who, he wrote, “as they have permission to trade, are more tempted to evade or infringe the laws; and many persons are appointed to that office ‘who lack all the qualifications necessary for any public office whatever,’ ... not only have they used their authority to possess themselves of the property of the Indians ... and defrauded the Indians with unjust exactions; but they have humiliated the religious, stolen moneys from the king ... [and] have thrown the provinces into a condition of effervescence and of conspiracy against the government.” (Blair and Robertson, LI, 212, 212–213.) Pizarro recommended a more stringent residencia as a means of remedying these defects.
[88] Recopilación, 5–15–17 and 18; 9–45–42.
[89] Governor to Council of the Indies, January 4, 1710, A. I., 68–4–15.