Third point of the letter
Your Majesty’s royal treasury owes to that of the goods of deceased persons more than forty thousand pesos, as appears from the memorandum and certification which I enclose herewith. For since the relief which is sent from Nueva España is so meager, and the expenses here are so great, the governors my predecessors were obliged to take, by way of loan, all that sum on different occasions. For the same reason I have not been able during my term, to repay it, nor do I hope to be able to do so, unless your Majesty order that sum to be sent from or paid in Nueva España on a separate account, in consideration of the fact that it is property of parties who are suffering, and, most of all, the goods of deceased persons. I give this information to your Majesty, as to the master and sovereign of it, and for the relief of my conscience.
Fourth point of the letter
The office of the notary of government and war which became vacant by the death of Captain Pedro Alvarez, was put at auction and adjudged to the heaviest bidder, who was Pedro de Heredia, governor of Terrenate. He bought it and placed it under charge of one of his sons. It was knocked down for the value of fifty-four thousand pesos—ten thousand to be paid on the spot, in reals, another ten thousand from his pay, and the thirty-four thousand remaining in the pay-warrants of various persons. It seems to have been a sale of importance for the services of your Majesty. And in order to avoid the suits which the secretaries of government have had with the governors my predecessors, as to whether that office should include the secretaryship of the permits to the Sangleys and the inspection of the Chinese ships (which are special commissions of the governor), and in order to avoid suits with my successors, I ordered that in the sale of that office it be made a condition that no more than the office of government secretary be sold; and that this was understood to be only what the governor should sign in writing; for in the commissions that the latter should give for those permits the secretary of the government was not to act as secretary. [In the margin: “As the fiscal says.”]
The above is what occurs to me in regard to the increase and efficient administration of your royal treasury. I shall now declare my opinion regarding two differences of justice or jurisdiction that have arisen with the royal officials.
Fifth point of this letter
They formerly proposed the clerks whom they employed in their offices, so that the governor should appoint them at the pay that was assigned. In consequence of that power that they possessed, the accountant tried to take it upon himself to dismiss a clerk without any agreement with his associates, or the consent of the government. In fact, he abolished the position. I was informed that it was not for incompetency, or for any failure of which the clerk had been guilty in his office, but only for the accountant’s own private reasons. He was ordered to return the man to his place, and to have him serve as before. The accountant alleged with too unmeasured language that he and his associates had the authority to dismiss the clerks, since they were the ones who proposed them. I was advised that it would be better government, in order to avoid the consequences, for the royal officials not to propose the clerks whom they had to employ in their offices, except in the memorial of the person who enters it, petitioning that they give information of his competency. Accordingly, I so provided; and therefore, so long as the clerks give satisfaction, it must not be understood that the royal officials can dismiss them without having information of demerits understood by the government—which is the agency to dismiss such men, as it was the one to hire them. [In the margin: “Ascertain what the royal officials write; and, if they have not written, let them report.” “Search was made, and all the papers on the matter collected, together with those sections and letters which the royal officials have written.”]
[Sixth point of this letter]
The accountant has also claimed the right to collect certain fees which this royal Audiencia assigned some years ago, by a sentence of examination and review, as a tariff to the clerks of the accountancy, the factor’s office, and the treasury. The accountant lately renewed the suit, and declared in this Audiencia the one which I have resolved to send to your royal Council with the evidence. The matter is one of moment, for the clerks who serve carry the weight of the work of the accountancy; and as they cannot be maintained with the fees of the tariff, they charge additional fees, which parties give them in order to facilitate their business. Nor is it possible for the governors to avoid that; for it is a matter of importance to the parties themselves to conceal it, for the sake of their business. If the accountant tries to take those fees from them, the clerks will have a much greater reason to accept bribes; else they will not expedite the business, or reduce the great volume of accounts and business that are pending in this accountancy. Even the commencement of this suit has caused great trouble, and the clerks have been much disturbed by it. Will your Majesty be pleased to order the suit to be concluded, and the decision that is most expedient to be made. [In the margin: “Look up the papers regarding this matter; let it be as the fiscal says.” “These sections were collected with the papers which treat of this matter.”]
What is to be said is that the accountant and treasurer are very poor; and that the offices in the Yndias are not worth anything unless one steals, and they do not do that. The expenses of their households and families have been excessive in this city for some little time past, and consequently, those ministers cannot live decently on their pay. If there is any means to increase it, will your Majesty order that inquiry be made in what way this can be done without the royal officials taking away the perquisites from their clerks. May God preserve the Catholic royal person of your Majesty, as is necessary to Christendom. Cavite, August first, 1629. Sire, your Majesty’s humble vassal,