7. With the reestablishment of the said royal Audiencia, the expenses of the royal treasury have been increased by more than sixteen thousand five hundred pesos in the salaries of four auditors and one fiscal. Wherefore it would be well, were your Majesty so pleased, to command that the encomiendas or repartimientos of Indians which may in the future be vacated, up to the amount of ten thousand pesos, be placed under the royal crown, as an aid to the payment of the said salaries; and that, until these are so placed, the governors shall not be able to assign any person an encomienda or repartimiento of Indians.
[In the margin: "Have the governor and Audiencia send an information in this matter, and the archbishop a separate one.">[
8. I have understood that the governors have been accustomed to assign encomiendas in this country in a manner to suit their own purposes. Thus, if any person possesses an encomienda which ends with his life, they add a reserve in such wise that they make the encomiendas hereditary and perpetual for their relatives, so that they may resign them, and allow the governor to assign them to whomsoever they will. On the other hand, they have an agreement with the governor that he shall assign it to the person designated by the one who resigns it. That this matter may be the better understood, I shall relate a case in which it happened. A certain captain, Juan Maldonado Borrocal, one of the conquerors of these islands, holding a repartimiento as an encomienda, went from here to the court in Spain; and there married a widow, and returned with her to these islands. He died, and conformably to the law of succession, the wife succeeded to the encomienda. The latter had a son by her former husband, and as, on her death, the said encomiendas would remain vacant, she resigned them, and the governor assigned them anew to the son, who was a boy. Neither he nor his father had served in these islands. It is easy to imagine how this pleased the old soldiers who had shed their blood on the said encomiendas to conquer them, and some were eager for that repartimiento. Accordingly it is easy to see how much remedy there was left, when the governor granted the said encomiendas contrary to what your Majesty has ordered. To correct this, it would be fitting that your Majesty order that such resignation should not be made in any manner; and that in such cases the governor cannot assign any repartimiento of Indians.
[In the margin: "Have the decrees which are despatched for the settlement of these matters duplicated, also those that direct that appointments cannot be made by resignation and renunciation of the said encomiendas; order that these be exactly observed and complied with; and let it be again ordered that encomiendas which have been resigned shall not be filled by the governor, but that he shall advise his Majesty, who may order according to his pleasure in the matter. If he appoints to them, they shall be null and declared void; and the fiscal shall advise concerning them.">[
9. In the building of churches on the encomiendas of these islands your royal treasury is subjected to excessive expenses by their being made, as they are, of wood. Your Majesty pays, for those which stand on the encomiendas belonging to your royal crown, two-thirds of the cost—one-third as encomendero, and another as king and lord. In those possessed by private citizens you pay one-third as king. As woods in this country decay very easily, they rot within five or six years, and it is necessary to build the said churches over again. Besides, it often happens that when they are finished they are soon burned down. It would be well for the said churches henceforth to be built of stone or brick; for, with little more than what it costs to build them of wood, they can be built of stone or brick and will last for many years.
[In the margin: "Let the Audiencia investigate this.">[
10. The custom has been introduced of supplying wine for the celebration of the mass to the priests of all the orders—not only to those which are in the encomiendas of the royal crown, but to those in private ones. As I understand it, your Majesty is under no obligation to furnish it, except to those who minister in the four convents of Manila, and to the curates of Spaniards and Indians there, and to those who are in your Majesty's missions; and the encomenderos are obliged to furnish them with the said wine on their own encomiendas. Your Majesty will order the action in this matter which is most fitting to your royal service.
[In the margin: "Write to the governor to order that the secular clergy, and those who give instruction in private encomiendas, are not to be given wine on his Majesty's account for the celebration of mass.">[
11. During the time of the last royal Audiencia, several offices of regidor were sold; but of those who bought them at that time two only have come here. Governor Gomez Perez, by virtue of a clause of his instructions, appointed, above those which had been bought, enough to amount in all to twelve regidors, from the worthiest men of this city. Some of them left in his time, and others in the time of his son, and finally in that of Governor Don Francisco Tello; others the latter removed. Thereupon he appointed to several of the said offices unsatisfactory persons, for his own interests. Some of these despise the said offices. As it is understood that these appointments were not by honorable means, it would be well if these offices were sold—not by auction, but putting upon them a moderate price, and having them given, with the supervision and approval of the Audiencia, to the men of most merit and best character. There should not be more than eight regidors; for, with the other persons who, by reason of their offices, have votes in the cabildo—namely, the three royal officials, the two wardens of the fortresses, and the alguacil-mayor of the city—there are fourteen votes, which, in a place of three hundred citizens, is a sufficient number. As those appointed understand that they must pay money for the appointments and gifts, in this way they will be given to suitable persons; and this should always be done, so long as they are appointed here, and are not free to attend to their duties as they should—because the governors have had the power to take their offices away without cause, whenever it might appear best to them. The most just way would be to sell them, and use the proceeds to aid the royal treasury in its needs.
[In the margin: "Have this sent to the new governor, so that the regidors who were appointed wrongly, or are not proper persons, may be removed; and let others be appointed (such as possess the qualifications and capacity), up to the number of eight in all. Let him advise us of his action.">[