Disasters to Spanish Commerce.
Now and then, however, a change came over the spirit of their dreams. The seas are notoriously uncertain, and ship-captains appointed by favor are not overmuch to be trusted. Disasters came. Galleons went to sea and never came to port; shattered bones lay on some inhospitable coast or found a grave on the bottom of the ocean. And as time went on, hostile ships visited the Pacific and made prizes of the rich galleons of Spain. Now the remittance from the Philippines failed to reach Mexico. Now the scores of broad dollars sent back, vanished on the seas.
Water-carriers and Fruit-vender.
The loss of the invincible Armada in 1588 put an end to Spain’s naval supremacy, and the richly-freighted American galleons often became the prey of British buccaneers. The colony of the Philippines had then just been formed, and was not disturbed until the series of Anglo-Spanish wars before 1760, when its treasure-laden galleons were frequently swept away. This was notably the case after 1743, when Admiral Anson’s fleet infested the coast and became the terror of the Spanish islanders. His exploits filled Manila with consternation, and councils were held to devise some method of getting rid of him; but he set all their efforts at naught. The captured galleon Pinar put a million and a half of dollars into his treasure-chest: the Covadouga yielded him immense wealth. Spies upon high promontories watched the seas for the dreaded British ships; the people of Manila were held ready to defend the city from assault; every one was on the alert.
For each lost galleon another was sent, and in some instances several galleons had to be despatched in a single year. Yet there were three or four occasions in which no galleon reached the Philippines for two or three years; while, after the capture of the Covadouga six years passed without a ship reaching the islands. The effect was disastrous: coin grew scarce, misery prevailed, the Chinese traders broke into open rebellion. There were other sources of revenue besides the Mexican subsidy, but the officials felt their incomes seriously straitened in these periods of want.
Other Nations Enter Into Competition.
Spain lost not only through war, but through peace. Her inelastic commerce invited competition, and British, Dutch, and other merchants began to cut down the great profits of the Philippine trade. These nations sent their ships to Canton, established factories, and bought goods for themselves, cutting off the Spanish monopoly of the traffic with the East. In 1731 foreign ships expended over $3,000,000 of Mexican coin in China for goods. These were smuggled into New Spain, not without help from Spaniards on shore. This proved a serious competition. The old hundred-per-cent. profit was no longer to be had. Acapulco was so beset with smugglers, whose merchandise found its way clandestinely to the city of Mexico, that, at times, buyers could not be found for the galleon-goods except at much reduced rates.