Before me:
Evidence
In the village of Çubao of the said province, on the fourteenth day of May of the year aforesaid, the said alcalde-mayor, for the purpose of the said investigation, caused to appear before him Don Nicolas Ramos, a chief of the village of Cubao and governor of the same—who, being duly sworn according to legal form, with the aid of the interpreter Domingo Birral, and having promised on the sign of the cross to speak the truth, was questioned in accordance with the purpose of the interrogatory, and deposed as follows:
In reply to the first question this witness stated that he knew that before the Spaniards came to these islands for their discovery, pacification, and settlement, and that of all the peoples who then were, or have since been, discovered here, all the natives of the islands, so far as this witness is informed—chiefs, timaguas, and slaves, without distinction of rank—wove cotton fabrics, with which they clothed themselves, all from cotton of their own planting. It is true that, as far back as this witness can remember, he thinks that he has never known cotton to have been planted or gathered in this province, or along the river and coast of Manila, from the village of Cabite to this province; but in all the other tribes except these cotton was planted, large quantities being gathered and sold to the inhabitants of this Pampanga, and to those of the river and coast of Manila, who gave in exchange the rice which they cultivated, and sometimes gold; and they procured the cotton for the purpose of spinning it and weaving cloth for their own garments. This continued to be the custom for many years after the coming of the Spaniards; for, although one or two ships came from China each Page 78year at that time, these brought no cloths or silks, but only iron, and earthenware, and camanguian. The principal reason why the Tagalos of Manila and the inhabitants of all this Panpanga have never cultivated cotton, is because they do not know how; and because they have never been accustomed to grow anything but rice, on which they chiefly subsist. This was his answer.
In reply to the second question this witness stated that since the Spaniards have become established in these islands, he has noticed how the Chinese have come hither, in larger numbers every year, eight ships at least coming annually from China; and in some years this witness has seen as many as twenty and thirty, all laden with cloths and bolts of silk. And when the natives of these islands and of this province saw all these cloths brought by the Chinese, they made less exertion to weave their own; but to avoid even that little work, all the natives began to clothe themselves with the said stuffs from China, discarding entirely their own, which they formerly wore. And so far has this gone at the present day, that all alike—without distinction of chief from timagua, or of timagua from slave—dress in these stuffs, making it impossible to judge of their rank from their dress. In this way a very large quantity of cloth is used—far more, as it seems to this witness, than the number stated in the question; and he is very certain that, if this tendency is not checked and corrected, the price of every one of these stuffs will in a few years be doubled; for now even the cheapest costs not less than a peso. For the natives of these islands do not accumulate wealth, but spend it all in food and clothing; and as none of the natives, however high his rank Page 79may be, needs more than two or three pieces of cloth in a year, in order to avoid the labor of weaving them, and so that they can spend their time in idleness, they prefer to buy them from the Sangleys, whether they are cheap or dear, paying without hesitation or heed whatever price is asked. The result is that everything is growing much dearer; for a piece of cloth which at first usually cost, on the average, three or four reals, as already stated, now costs ten reals, and, unless this rise is checked, will very soon cost twenty—and this for the reasons mentioned in the question. These matters should be considered, and some corrective be found, to avoid further difficulties. Thus did he reply to this question.
To the third question he replied that, for the reasons mentioned in the preceding question, considerable damage has been and is suffered, and, unless some check and remedy is applied, will continue to be suffered in these islands, by the Spaniards and by the inhabitants of the country, both Spaniards and natives, and especially to the injury of his Majesty's service; this damage consisting in the fact that while the Chinese formerly took away from these islands, in exchange for their merchandise which they bring from their own country, at the most from twenty thousand to thirty thousand pesos in money, at the present day—as all the natives are extravagant enough to buy their clothing, since they can dispense with making it—these merchants take from the country all the money stated in the question, and even more. This money they take out of his Majesty's dominions to their own country, whence it never returns. And this might be prevented if the natives were forbidden to buy the said clothing, and would dress in the stuffs Page 80which they formerly were accustomed to wear. This was his answer to this question.
In reply to the fourth question he stated that, before the coming of the Spaniards, all the natives lived in their villages, applying themselves to the sowing of their crops and the care of their vineyards,[1] and to the pressing of wine; others planting cotton, or raising poultry and swine, so that all were at work; moreover, the chiefs were obeyed and respected, and the entire country well provided for. But all this has disappeared since the coming of the Spaniards. For since their coming all the Indians have given themselves over to vice and vagabondage, wandering from village to village to avoid work, and to indulge their vices—and this because, seeing that the Spaniards have plenty of money, they are eager to serve them. Finding that they have money, and food and clothing being given to them, or procured by a day's labor, there is nothing to induce them to return to their villages to cultivate the soil, and raise animals, and work, as they formerly did. This state of affairs is already so general in these islands that, when the attempt is made to compel a native to work, he immediately takes to flight, and wanders about, halting only at a place where he is allowed to remain idle. From this have resulted the offenses mentioned in the question, a condition which requires a remedy. Such was his reply to this question.
To the fifth question he said that all the evils and difficulties and offenses against God, our Lord, mentioned in these questions will disappear if the said Page 81ordinance is properly executed; for all the natives would work, and the country be well supplied with crops and provisions, and a surplus sufficient for the maintenance of all the natives and Spaniards, as before the coming of the Sangleys, and the money which the Chinese now carry from this country to their own would remain here. Indeed, if these traders stopped coming altogether, the islands would not lack supplies; as for clothing, the natives could dress in their own stuffs, which are three times better than those brought from China; and, besides what they make for their own garments, they could make a large quantity for trade with the Spaniards; thus would be kept in this country a very large sum of money, and thus all this country would be wealthy and prosperous. This has not been accomplished hitherto because the natives, for the reasons before mentioned, will not weave their stuffs as they used to. And, besides all this, there would be an end of the very great injury caused by the Sangley's buying the raw cotton and taking it to his own country, to be there worked into cloth, which again is brought to these islands for sale. Best of all, there would be an end of all the evils and offenses which the question mentions, and for which a remedy is most important. Thus he replied to this question.
To the sixth question he replied that everything said in the questions in regard to the Chinese and the trading with them, before the Spaniards had come, is true; that so matters were wont to be in these islands. Where the natives had not the kinds of goods mentioned in the question, they paid for them in rice and gold, which is very advantageous to the Chinese. If they continue to come and seek to trade Page 82with the natives, the arrangement described in the question would be very advantageous to both parties; and the Chinese would no longer draw from the country the large quantities of money which they have taken away yearly. Thus he replied to this question.