Another wrong is done to the Indians—not to all in general, but to many; it is, to hold them as slaves. This clause also concerns the failure of the governors to obey your Majesty’s decrees and writs; for so many of these are issued, commanding that Indians must not be held as slaves of the Spaniards anywhere in the Yndias—either in the islands or on the mainland, in lands discovered or to be discovered. This applies, in whatever way the Spaniards may have obtained them: whether it be in just war; or if the Indians themselves have sold them to the Spaniards, saying that they are slaves; or even if among them these are actually slaves; or by any other means, and in any manner whatsoever. By the ship in which I came the Augustinian fathers brought a new decree from your Majesty, ordering with much rigor, and in strong terms, that the Spaniards shall at once liberate the slaves whom they may hold, under whatever circumstances they may have obtained them. This was presented to the governor, for I talked with him about it. But, to show that what I say above is true—that no decree in favor of the Indians is ever enforced—since this decree was presented the Indians are still in the same servitude as formerly, and some of them are even worse treated than in the past. The governor did not so long delay to enforce the decree (if there be one) relative to taking a fifth of the gold; for the first thing that he did on entering his office was to demand the fifth, while the decree regarding liberty is yet to be executed. I have passed over many things in this connection which, if written here, would be annoying to your Majesty. A document in behalf of the city is being prepared which proves the great necessity in this country for servitude. It states that the Spaniards undergo much toil, and most of them many hardships, and that there is much need that your Majesty should aid and favor them; but asks that this be done by allowing them to hold slaves. Your Majesty will order this to be carefully examined, for it is a certain and well-established fact (and admitted by the very persons who hold and attempt to gain possession of slaves) that although among the Indians there are some who are really slaves, these are few; and that, rather than sell these now, the Indians will sell one of their children. All others are wrongfully obtained and unjustly enslaved—as would be done by a people so barbarous as this, who at this very time sell a relative for gain, and among whom the more powerful will sell the weaker. Most of those who today are in Manila as slaves are of this class. As soon as this decree was presented to him, the governor asked me to advise him what he should do. Accordingly, I convened the superiors of the orders, and the religious therein who had long resided here, with some very learned men who came with me. All of them, without one exception, were of one opinion, a copy of which goes with this letter; your Majesty will please order it to be examined—although it profits little, because proclamation of the decree and orders that it be obeyed were not issued until March of this year. Would to God that it had not been proclaimed! because before that the masters were afraid, and had already determined to give their slaves liberty, seeing that they were urged thereto in the confessional. But when the decree was proclaimed, and the petition which the city referred to your Majesty was granted, all returned to their obstinacy. Upon seeing this, I again convened the fathers and priests, and we agreed to admit the owner of slaves to confession, but on condition that they make no objection to what your Majesty may order; or that within two years from the departure of this ship (the term assigned to them by your Majesty) they should free the slaves. But I am sure that if your Majesty does not renew your order the masters would not release them, if two years or even twenty should pass. It is a great hardship, and a scandal, to have to deny them confession; and many say that they will not release their slaves until your Majesty so orders, even though they remain without confession. The decrees made by the city and by the protector of the Indians are being sent to you. Your Majesty will order examination of them, and whatever else may be proper, and command accordingly; because, although I have been of the opinion that for the present the masters may be absolved, many of the religious refuse to do so unless the slaves are first given their liberty.
It is next in order to inform your Majesty of what is done here with the prelates;[9] it is as follows: When a Spaniard comes to this country he is at once ordered to serve under the flag, although he may be a merchant who comes here to buy and sell. The authorities say that for the present it seems proper to allow the merchants to depend upon their merchandise, and the encomenderos to live upon their encomiendas. All the rest live a very poor and wretched life; for they are not supplied with any provisions, nor do they possess means to procure food and clothing. Notwithstanding all this, they are ordered with great severity to assist the sentinels and aid in other duties of war, just as if they were well paid. Hence ensue oppression and ill-treatment of the Indians; for sometimes when an Indian has some food that he has cooked for his own meal, a soldier enters and takes it away from him. Not only that; they also maltreat and beat the Indians, and when I, being near at hand, go to them and reprimand them for it, they say to me: “What is to be done? must we be left to die?” I assure your Majesty that in this matter I suffer an intolerable torment; because all come to me with their troubles, and I have not the means to remedy them. I only pity them, and do what I can, with my limited means, to aid them. Moreover, the encomenderos refuse to pay tithes, although they have been ordered to do so; nor can the royal officials pay me what your Majesty orders to be given me from your royal treasury, because they assert that no adequate instructions are sent them. Thus I am without means for myself or for the poor. The former governors were accustomed to divide among the poor soldiers some of the rice paid to your Majesty as tribute, in order that they might endure their misery; but now not even this is given to them. It is a still greater oppression that the authorities neither consent to furnish them a living, nor give them permission to go in search of it or even to leave this island. I gave to the governor the decree regarding this matter which your Majesty ordered to be sent; but nothing has been done, because in it your Majesty did no more than to order him to attend to it, and to do what he might think best.
The governor consulted me about his intention to add to the tribute of the Indians two more reals apiece, with which to support the poor soldiers; and I convened the fathers and the clergy to confer about this matter. Seeing that this country cannot be sustained unless there are Spaniards in it, unless the encomenderos are supported, unless the tributes are collected with the aid and assistance of the soldiers here, and unless the Indians pay the tribute which the encomenderos levy for love of the faith, they concluded that the encomenderos are obliged to support the soldiers, who are necessary to render the country secure. But, on the other hand, they considered that as the encomenderos of these islands are very poor, and some of them are married, and very few have encomiendas of reasonable extent, and they can maintain themselves only with much difficulty—much less will they be able to support the soldiers. They concluded that your Majesty is not obliged to use your royal patrimony for this and the other expenses, but that those for whose benefit they are incurred (for which purpose the Spaniards are here) must bear the cost. Accordingly, if the tribute they give does not suffice for all the expenses necessary in order that they may have suitable instruction and may be protected, they, and not your Majesty, must bear these—as St. Paul says, and as the divine law commands. For this reason the governor wished to add the two reals before mentioned, and there was no lack of agreement in this opinion among the fathers and clergy. To me also it seems that, considering the divine law, these people are obliged to pay all the expenses. But considering the poverty of the common people, that perhaps the tribute they give might suffice, for all that is necessary—if it were well apportioned—and for other reasons that make the project doubtful, I have ventured to give the opinion that nothing should be added to the tribute which the Indians now give, until your Majesty can be informed and can order what action should be taken.
In these islands there are many soldiers who were married in Mexico, España, and other countries. Many of them left their wives twenty-five, others ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago; and others, more or less. I have done my best to induce them to go to live with their wives, or to bring them here, but it has been of no avail. Will your Majesty please order that your decree in this matter be observed, for this is not done—nor do the governors try to observe it, saying that the soldiers are needed here; and thus they spend so many years, breaking the law of God and that of holy matrimony. I beg your Majesty, if it please you, to provide a remedy for this; for, if your Majesty does not order it, there will be no one here who can send them hence.
The thing most necessary for the protection of these Indians until they shall better understand our ways is, that there should be a protector who should look after them and defend them from the innumerable injuries that are inflicted upon them. The governor has named one who, it appears to me, does this well, and with care and diligence. But as his appointment is temporary, he dare not exercise his office with as much freedom as if he were appointed by your Majesty. I beseech your Majesty to order this matter disposed of in such manner that it may be to the advantage and not to the injury of the Indians—which would result if this office were given through favor or sale, instead of being conferred on a person who is unencumbered, and very zealous in the service of your Majesty and for the welfare of the Indians; of such there will be very few. He who is now protector is very persevering, and is qualified for this appointment. His name is Benito de Mendiola.[10] But this man might prove deficient; and for the future, if it shall please your Majesty—since this should be well done (for it surely is a very important matter), and the bishops are, by right, fathers of the unhappy—it might be entrusted to him whom the bishop appoints, your Majesty naming the salary or requiring that it be raised here. If it please your Majesty, I will see that the Indians pay it, which they will do very willingly. And if your Majesty does not commit this to the bishop, he and the governor might be entrusted to name the appointee, it being provided that together and in no other way may they remove him—because many times the protector has to ask things which the governor does not like. The governor becomes angry at him, and if it is in his power, removes him—as I have seen done more than once since I came. The inhabitants of this city are among the most loyal subjects that your Majesty has in all his islands; and the soldiers, although suffering so many hardships, as above stated, and many more which cannot be told, are so obedient to orders in the service of your Majesty that it is certainly a cause for thanksgiving to God that, in so great an expanse of country, there should be a prince so obeyed and feared, loved and reverenced as is your Majesty in these regions. And since this condition of affairs is conserved by subjects perceiving gratitude in their kings and princes, and knowing that their rulers reward them for loyalty, I humbly petition your Majesty to give attention to what I have said (which is unquestionably true); and that you show them favor, in order that they may know that your Majesty is pleased with their loyalty.
I understand that what they ask is, that your Majesty order that the limits of this city’s jurisdiction (which is five leagues) be maintained; and that you make them a gift of some lands, of which they have none, but without which no commonwealth can be sustained or conserved. The cabildo of México has, besides other sources of income, an encomienda—that of Jalapa, a prosperous village near México. Here there is at present nothing with which to undertake any enterprise, unless your Majesty is pleased that some village be given them as an encomienda, in order that from the tributes may be obtained means to defray the necessary expenses, and conduct the public business in such manner as your Majesty shall order. With that they will be well content. The governor despatched a soldier to Maluco to ascertain what conclusion the Portuguese of those islands had reached. He returned almost at the same time as the ship from Nueba España, with the news which the governor will write to your Majesty. This news gave great satisfaction to all the people of these islands, because your Majesty’s interests are thereby promoted, since our Lord has placed in your Majesty’s hands the spice-trade of Maluco, which your ancestors so greatly desired. I am sending the letter which the captain at Maluco wrote me, in order that it may please your Majesty to reward generously so worthy a Portuguese as this man is—who certainly has displayed great zeal in your Majesty’s service—not forgetting him who obtained and bore the news. This is Ensign Francisco de Dueñas, a very intelligent man, and very reliable in his own duties, who by his energy and diligence succeeded with this undertaking, in which others had failed. He is an old soldier in these islands, and has served your Majesty well in times of war. He is loved by all in this city, and has a good reputation on account of his excellent qualities. He is a person to whom anything whatever may be entrusted; he is very faithful, and a very good Christian. Will your Majesty please order that some reward be given to him? because he merits it, and because others may thereby be encouraged. I also beg that the Portuguese soldiers of Maluco may be in some way rewarded for the affection with which they ask your Majesty to be their king and lord.
In the letter written to me by the captain, he complains that I have not written to him; and he has reason for this—although the blame was not mine; for the governor wrote to the captain without saying anything to me, as he has done in other undertakings. I do not say this to speak ill of the governor, but only that your Majesty may know how affairs go here, and what respect is paid to the bishops.
In regard to Maluco, your Majesty will send some one there who understands it well. To those here who understand the trade, it has appeared that the cloves and other spices will go at less cost by way of Nueba España, and with less risk and more quickly than by way of India; and that to preserve the supply of cloves, so that it may not be destroyed, it is necessary that your Majesty should not permit the Indians of those islands to be allotted, but should retain them under your Majesty’s direct control, and they should be dealt with as the king of Portugal dealt with them. For if the Spaniards try to subjugate them, and order them to pay tribute, all will be lost—especially in view of the ill-treatment which the Castilians will inflict upon the natives if the conquered land be given to them as an encomienda (even though it be with name of pacification), as we have seen them do in all lands where they have been. The Indians would receive such harm at the first entrance of the Spaniards that it would not be repaired in many years. Your Majesty will pardon my boldness and accept my desire, which is very strong, to serve your Majesty, in stating what I and many conscientious persons here feel. Your Majesty will adjust the matter as shall serve your interests.
It is now three years since certain Franciscan religious left this island to go to China (as your Majesty will already know), without notifying the governor. Now they have determined to do the same thing; the custodian, whose name is Fray Pablo de Jesús, has gone thither with his companions, without saying anything to the governor, for which I am very sorry. For lack of their labors here, many Indians who were already Christians have remained without instruction, which I consider a great disadvantage. But, knowing that God moves the hearts of men (a matter that we cannot understand), I will overlook that. The governor took this with more asperity than I wished, for he sent after them, and the person who went thither treated them very rudely; but finally God ordained that they should arrive at this island. The governor ordered a proclamation to be made (its contents will be seen by the copy of the ordinance which I send to your Majesty), which even to me seems very harsh toward an order of so high character and strict obedience as is that of the discalced Franciscans. I advised the governor not to act with so much severity, but he did not see fit to grant my petition. I have since learned that the same person who went after them treated them very harshly in Pangasinán and Yllocos—perpetrating upon them many acts of oppression, taking away their ship, and refusing to let any one accompany them—which occasioned no little scandal to the Indians. Among other reasons which the religious have given me to justify their departure from here is the sight of the ill-usage which the natives of these islands receive from the Spaniards, especially those who have the charge of justice; and they say that all these are for hindrance, and no one for help. Hence no harvest can be gathered; and therefore they went to seek a place where they could gather it. Certainly they are not far wrong, for the things that occur here and the obstacles opposed by those who ought to aid us, are so numerous that many times I have longed to leave it all and flee to the mountains; but the charge that I hold keeps me within bounds. There is very little respect for the ministers of the gospel; and they cannot exercise their office without being dependent upon those who have more concern for their own profit than for the instruction of the Indians.