31. It will be necessary to assume that the increase of tributes in these islands will be resented in the greater part of them, and that, in order to obtain it, the precaution of stationing fifty or sixty soldiers in each province will be necessary; in view of this, the Indians will not cause the least trouble, while if they see us without military forces the aforesaid increase will be entirely impracticable.
32. Equally it must be assumed that so long as the Moros invade the provinces the Indians will resist paying tribute; for they will represent that for the defense of their villages they are employed during most of the year in making bulwarks, stockades, and little strongholds, and with weapons in their hands, on account of having no aid from the king which will secure them from the said invasions; and in truth they ought to be heeded in this point. To this end I repeat that in these islands some respectable forces are necessary, and with them must be punished the haughtiness and insolence of the Moros; for at the sight of this example the Indians will be encouraged, they will attend to their labors, they will regard with respect the affairs of his Majesty, and they will assuredly pay the tribute which may be imposed upon them, without danger of their revolting. To this end, a circular edict or decree should be drawn up, in which, suiting the mode of expression to the disposition of the Indians, should be fully explained to them the motives which constrain us to the said increase, and the obligation under which they lie to pay their share of the expenses for their spiritual and temporal maintenance under the mild sway of our Catholic king and sovereign, and for freeing them from the tyranny and servitude to which they would see themselves reduced if these islands should, for lack of military forces, pass over to another sovereign.
33. This edict or order, carefully prepared, and translated into the idiom of each province, can produce many good results if we proceed with an understanding of the character of the Indians, and [in accordance] with the ideas that are necessary, which ought to be communicated, by instructions, to all the alcaldes-mayor and corregidors of the provinces, according to the circumstances of each one—imposing the most severe penalties on those who do not exactly fulfil the orders which the government may entrust to their management and conduct, and offering corresponding rewards to those who shall distinguish themselves in the execution and success of the new order of things, which ought to be established in each province.[18]
34. In order to [secure] the observance of the said ordinance, it will be expedient that when the tribute is increased the salaries likewise should be made larger. An alcalde-mayor has twenty-five pesos of salary a month, which makes three hundred pesos a year; but before he leaves Manila for the province to which he is assigned he spends a larger sum [than that] in the fees for his documents and in the notary’s office, and for the securities [that he must give]. In three years his term as alcalde comes to an end, and the expenses of his residencia cost him four hundred to five hundred pesos; and it needs but little less for the settlement, presentation, and despatch of the accounts of the royal revenue. Thus all the salary which he receives on account of being alcalde, which amounts to nine hundred pesos in the three years, is not sufficient for the aforesaid expenses; for the rest of their maintenance have been invented the thefts from the royal revenue which they handle, and from the Indians within their jurisdiction. For this reason, and likewise because these offices have usually been sold, as a rule they are filled by men who are not very trustworthy. But if suitable pay were assigned to them, there would be many persons of known probity who would seek them, transgressions could be more severely punished, plundering would be decreased, the appointees would furnish better bondsmen for the security of the royal exchequer, and the Indians would not experience oppression.
35. The poverty of the alcaldes-mayor, their being loaded with debts when they go from Manila, and the ambition to become rich in a short time, draw them into trading with the product of the tributes in each province; they buy vessels, lade them with goods, and convey these to Manila, or send them to other provinces. If the vessel sink, if the Moros seize it, or if it run aground on some shoal and the goods are damaged, or if any other disaster occur, the alcalde loses nothing, for he possesses nothing; and the damage is suffered by the king alone.
36. All this would be remedied by paying them more; for there would be more reliable alcaldes, and they could be compelled to deposit in the royal treasury every year, by means of their agents, the royal revenue of their respective provinces, in order to avoid the aforesaid contingencies, which here are common.
37. With better alcaldes, all the provinces would be well governed. For what is more melancholy than to surrender authority over them to persons who are incompetent, nobodies, in distressed circumstances, vicious, and thieves? How is a man of this sort to govern fifteen, twenty, or forty thousand Indians? If he cares for nothing except for conducting his own business, how is he to attend to the affairs which concern the king and the Indians? If the alcalde is inefficient, or coarse, or ill-bred, or of little capacity, how is he to govern well? how is he to administer justice, and how civilize his subjects? How is he to furnish reports on subjects which his limited intellect does not comprehend or fathom? How is he to look after the cultivation of the soil, the collection of its products, making plantations, and other things for which the ordinances provide?
38. This disappointment, this disorder, this misgovernment, and the thefts from the royal revenue can only be avoided or remedied, for the most part, by increasing the tribute and giving larger salaries to the alcaldes-mayor, the corregidors, and the other officers of justice in the provinces. There is occasion for the same increase of pay in the posts of public and royal officials, and the subordinates in the accountancy of the royal exchequer, in order to stimulate them to better work and greater zeal and application in the affairs of the royal finances.
39. In the royal storehouses there would be an end to the incredible infractions of law and the thefts by the storekeepers, by giving this position to honorable Spaniards, with suitable pay; and abolishing the mischievous abuses in the waste and consumption of supplies—with unchangeable regulations for the incomes and expenditures; for the respective account-books of the storehouses and the appointment of an auditor for verifying them; for the credits and debits of the accounts, with vouchers for them; for the obligation and responsibility of the storekeeper; for the weekly inspection which ought to be made by the royal officials, in order to acquaint themselves with the condition of all these matters, and ascertain whether or not they are properly attended to; and for many other things, which contribute to greater economy in the royal revenues.[19]
40. In order that there shall not be such confusion, it would be expedient to separate the storehouses, or divide what belongs to the artillery and military supplies from all the rest; and to abolish the dependence of the storehouses at Cavite on those of Manila, making the regulation that in the said port be entered and unladen whatever is necessary for the equipment of ships, galleys, and other vessels of the king, without its being necessary that the vessels from the provinces which come with property belonging to the royal account should unlade their cargoes in these storehouses [at Manila], from which various goods are sent back to the said port. This causes greater expense, on account of the detention of the seamen, and because of the vessels and men that afterward are employed in conveying to the said port what [supplies] it needs, in which also they are exposed to the uncertainties of the sea. This is avoided and spared by the direct discharge of cargo in the said port, where, in fact, the main storehouse ought to stand, because there three-fourths of the goods belonging to the royal account are consumed.