Part 20

85. [The provincial of the Jesuits, Father Joseph Fernandez, seconds the appeal of the merchants. [85] He states that since 1709 the fortunes of the wealthy citizens are nearly all ruined--by calamities, unsuccessful sales at Acapulco, the failure of the galleons to make the voyage, poor crops in Filipinas, or the quarrels of the governors and auditors--and those who formerly made contributions to the religious orders now need and ask for help from them. "This city of Manila (and in it all the islands) is reduced to eight or ten private persons who are able with their own wealth alone to make up the 300,000 pesos which your Majesty allows for their commerce; and the number of its citizens who, as Spaniards, can call themselves such is very nearly 882--although it is true that there are millions of converted natives, and those who are not converted are innumerable. All these citizens depend for their preservation on the three or four piezas which are yearly allotted to [each of] them, according to their merits, in your Majesty's galleon; and as most of them have not the means of their own to fill this space they have to give it up, or sell it to those who are richer; or they must ask for money from the charitable funds of the Misericordia, the tertiary Order [of St. Francis], or the religious, in order to fill their space on the ship. As they cannot ship therein anything except the coarse cloths and other goods which your Majesty names in your new regulations, the product of which is hardly enough to pay the expenses on them--duties, freight-charges, and carriers' fees--the poorer citizens will see themselves forced to seek some other way [to make a living]. That means the desertion of these islands for India, and consequently a great diminution in the number of your Majesty's vassals; and the islands will be exposed to the invasions of the Dutch and other enemies of your royal crown and of the natives. No few of these invasions have been experienced in recent years, and at this time we are being raided by the Mindanaos, the Joloans, and the Burneyans. And I can assure your Majesty that in the space of less than twelve years I have seen this stage [86] of the citizens of Manila changed five times. For, as it is composed of some who come from Europe (and they count for many), and of others who come from Nueva España, on account of the difference of the climate from that in which they were born they do not remain long; both classes, seeing the little comfort that they can find here, and how small incentive there is from riches (which is that which most influences those who do not possess enormous estates), either die in a short time, worn out with the misery of this country; or they leave the islands, to look for a more comfortable residence. Thus it comes to pass that only we religious and other ecclesiastics remain, with some persons who belong to the richer class (who are few), and these are Europeans, whom affection for their native land is always drawing away. If this [which I have mentioned above] happens (which may God not permit), all these millions of Christian natives will be left abandoned, and exposed to [the danger of] returning to their heathen condition; and of being possessed by the Dutch, or the Chinese, or any other nation that may find a profit in them." The argument that the prohibition of the trade in Chinese silks will check the drain of silver from Nueva España is refuted by the provincial; he says, "For we who are near China, Batabia, the Coromandel Coast, and other ports of India, know with certainty that the ships and pataches that come to them from Europa to trade in them carry hardly any money for their traffic except the silver, with the stamp and seal of your Majesty, from Perù or from Mexico; and as those vessels have directed their route from Europa by way of Cape Verde, Buena Esperanza [i.e., Good Hope], Cape Comorin, and Sincapura, it must be supposed that they do not obtain the said silver anywhere else than from the commerce in Europa. Your Majesty could, in the course of several years, prevent the silver that comes from Mexico to these islands from passing over to China, to the Coast, or to Batabia, by commanding your governors and other officials at Manila to make strenuous efforts that in the islands the natives, mestizos, creoles, and various other castes who live in them and are naturalized as subjects, be compelled to weave the cloth goods which are manufactured in other regions; and these people are no less skilful for the mechanical and even the liberal arts than are those of other nations. As for the fabrics of cotton, these people are able to weave them, for their own consumption, more durable and of better quality than the cloths which come from China and the Coast; and as for the silk goods, the hose which these natives weave are those which bring the highest price at Acapulco. The colors for dyeing the goods are furnished by the country itself; for there will be shipped from here to the empire of China during this year more than thirty champan-loads of sibucao, or campeche, a wood from which the Chinese obtain carmine for their dyes; and the other colors they obtain from trees and roots which also are found in these mountains in abundance. As for the cinnamon, it grows very abundantly in the island of Mindanao, where your Majesty has the fort and garrison of Samboangan, with some missions that are administered by priests of my order, and by other religious from the discalced of St. Augustine. It would be of no little advantage to be able to cultivate the cinnamon, as the Dutch do; for the silver which that nation would be obliged to carry for that product would remain among the vassals of your Majesty, and thus there would be an end to that difficulty (which the merchants of Sevilla certainly exaggerate) of your Majesty forbidding the shipment of the goods which your royal decree specifies, which are those that have some value, in order to be able to pay the cost on the more bulky goods. Who will have courage to weave them, or hunt for them, when he knows that he must lose on them? In these islands abundance of gold is collected in various placers, in which work the slow and patient disposition of the natives is occupied; but as their minds are so careless and ignorant they content themselves with washing out only the exact amount of their tribute, which is five reals for each person. But if your Majesty would give your royal directions to your governors and ministers, in the course of time it would be possible to secure the production of this gold in abundance; and if it were sent to Nueva España, and exchanged for the silver necessary for the maintenance of these your wretched vassals, the result would be that the latter product would always remain in the dominions of your Majesty. In these islands, also, some pearls are secured by diving, and in these seas some amber is gathered. In the mountains there is no lack of numerous civet-cats; and the civet, if measures were taken for its production, might be no small source of wealth to your vassals, and consequently furnish huge amounts to your loyal treasury." Father Fernandez mentions that Felipe IV "spent in twenty years 170,000 ducados solely in sending religious to preach the gospel in Philipinas;" and that the monopoly on the buyo industry had produced in one year 11,000 pesos to the royal treasury, and that on wine 18,000 pesos; (but these amounts apparently refer to the price paid for a three years' contract, rather than to the annual income of the crown from these sources). [87]]

86. All the papers and reports which have been mentioned in this "Period vii" having been received in the Council, and the deputies from Philipinas, Don Francisco Diaz Romero and Don Antonio de Echandía--who deposited their credentials and letters in the office of the secretary--having presented themselves in it, they set forth their claims and stated, in a printed memorial (which they handed in on June 14, 1723) the injuries which the islands were receiving from the practice of the decree of October 27, 1720. They entreated that its execution be suspended, and orders given that the commerce be continued with the yearly galleon in the same manner, so far as the lading was concerned, as was in use at the time when the aforesaid despatch was received there [at Manila]. The memorial, in eight leaves, is as follows:

87. [This memorial by the city and merchants of Manila presents in detail the amount of their annual commerce in the various kinds of merchandise that are permitted in the decree. The gold exported from Filipinas to Nueva España amounts to less than 12,000 pesos, and is sent not as bullion or coin, but in the form of the slender chains [bejuquillos] wrought by the Malay natives for personal adornment; for in no other form could it compete with the abundance of gold mined in Mexico. The Chinese porcelain is shipped in small quantity, being mainly an article of luxury, like the gold ornaments; moreover, it is bulky and fragile. As for spices, Manila complains that the market for these in Nueva España is already appropriated by the merchants of España who send spices in the trading-fleets to Vera Cruz; in the fleet (of seventeen vessels) commanded by Don Fernando Chacón was carried the enormous amount of 170,737 libras of cinnamon, and more than 70,986 of pepper and cloves, besides various bags and chests of all these kinds of spice the weight of which was not noted. The only products of the islands which have commercial value in Nueva España are wax, lampotes, Ilocos blankets, and cordage; and the value of all that is exported of these, even counting with them the previously mentioned gold chains, does not go beyond 30,000 pesos. The linen goods have hitherto been shipped from Manila to Acapulco only to fill in empty spaces in the allotments of lading, and have amounted to hardly 60,000 pesos, on which very little profit was obtained. If the main part of the galleon's cargo has to be composed of these linens, the Acapulco market will be overstocked with them, and the prices there will be so low that Manila cannot afford to send another cargo of this sort. Moreover, as these goods are procured from the foreign factories at Batavia, Madrasta, Patàn, Punticheri, and Vengala, as soon as the traders at those posts understand that the Manila galleons must carry most of their lading in goods to be procured at those factories they will advance their prices enormously, and the galleon will be compelled to sail in ballast, and then only to procure the situado. The floss and raw silk which is the only form of that product permitted to Manila is so bulky a commodity, and the consumption of it in Nueva España is so small, that it too has been shipped only to fill up space; moreover, "for several years it has been increasing in cost, on account of the great amount of it which the Dutch, English, and French obtain from China for the fabrics which are manufactured in Europe." The deputies, to substantiate their statements, refer to the official reports of the viceroys of Nueva España, and offer to bring forward evidence in their favor from various persons at Madrid who have resided in Filipinas. They claim that the Manila trade in silken fabrics has not harmed the merchants of España, since the silk which is produced in that country is hardly sufficient to supply the home demand, and it is necessary to bring to it foreign silks--exporting to Nueva España some goods which have little demand in España; but even these do not occupy one hundred and twenty-five toneladas of space. The greater part of the silk goods woven in España are silks and velvets, and if the value of these has fallen, it is not the importation of Chinese goods which has caused this, but the change in the style of magistrates' robes, [88] in which those goods are used, and the small amount of them that is used in the military service. "Just as in these kingdoms [of España] most of the persons of rank are clothed in no other fabrics than those which come from foreign countries on account of either their better quality or their luster--so the same thing occurs in Nueva España, where they follow in everything the customs of Europa; and for this reason most of the silken fabrics which are carried thither in the trading-fleets are from the kingdoms of Inglaterra and Francia, and the provinces of Holanda--as silver and gold tissues, brocades and laces of the same sort; hose, and other stuffs, the sale of which does not injure that of the Chinese silks, on account of the greater value placed upon the former. Therefore, as the silken fabrics which the aforesaid shippers carry [to Nueva España] are not all from the mills of España, but these Spanish silks are in very small quantity and of the sort which are rejected here, it is evident that the injury is not to the commerce of Andalucia, but to the foreign nations. For, since all the gold and silver which comes [to España] is carried in trading-fleets and galleons--except what is obtained for wines, brandies, oil, and other products--the slender profits which the traders of Philipinas gain from the sale of the Chinese fabrics will also be given up for their benefit by the foreigners on account of the abundance of the products from their own mills which they will ship to Cadiz, in order that these may be carried to the Indias." The argument is repeated, that most of the profits in the Acapulco trade must go to European foreigners, if it is restricted to the few and unimportant products of the islands, and thus the enemies of España are strengthened; while if the Chinese trade is allowed those profits fall into the hands of people who cannot and will not injure the Spanish power. The enforcement of the decree will injure not only the citizens of Manila, but the revenues of the crown, which amount annually to an average of 228,557 pesos, besides the duties produced by the Acapulco trade, which amount to 250,000 pesos more. The treasury will have no means to buy the rice of the Indians, their only valuable product; the Sangleys will have no occasion to trade at Manila, which will lose the amount of their licenses (more than 23,000 pesos), besides the import duties and alcabalas which they pay there, which amount to more than 37,000 pesos; and the situado sent to both the Philippines and Marianas must be taken from the Mexican treasury directly, which will be too heavy a burden for it. The king is reminded of the poverty of the Philippines in all natural resources save rice, and their dependence on the Acapulco traffic for money, clothing, and all other needs save that of food. The recent building of two small galleons has caused the treasury a great amount of expense, quite disproportionate to that of the one large vessel which hitherto had been used for the Acapulco trade--to say nothing of the extra expense caused by the duplication of crews, officers, and soldiers which is thus rendered necessary. The smaller ships are less able to resist either storms or pirates, and the few experienced seamen in the islands must be divided between them, when they should be massed in one vessel. Again is mentioned the dependence of the missions, and the conversion of the heathen, upon the Acapulco trade; the Indian villages that are more or less christianized now number 457, with 111,683 families, who are in danger of relapsing into heathenism, or being converted to Mahometanism, if the missions cannot be kept up.]

88. The Council, on June 14, 1723, agreed that this memorial should go to the fiscal with all those that came before, with the letters of the Audiencia, officials, and prelates which had been laid before the Council on the twelfth of the same month.

89. The consulate of Cadiz, by a memorial presented in the Council on the twenty-first of the same month and year-being informed of the petition from Manila requesting that changes be made in the decree issued on October 27, 1720--asked the Council to order that the argument recently brought forward by Manila in regard to this be communicated to them; this having been referred to the fiscal, he was of opinion that the aforesaid document should be communicated to the consulate, as had been done in the year 1720 by order of his Majesty; and the Council agreed to this by a decree of July 12, 1723.