The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55. Aduarte Diego
the Portuguese it suffices to say that they possess in China the city of Macan, and the privilege of entering that of Canton; and the commerce of these two cities they maintain through the Strait of Sincapura, though always in danger from the Dutch. But as the profits are so great, they sail by that route; it adds much to their safety that they cross through the seas of Philipinas, and that Macan can find succor in Manila. But if this should be lacking, Macan could not remain many years without ruin, nor could India enjoy the commerce with China, which is one of those which most benefit her; and if the Chinese trade is cut off from India and Manila, the Dutch alone will be strong enough to carry it on. Although they are at present shut out from it by the robberies that they have committed on the Sangleys, they would not find it difficult to bring the latter to friendship with them; for it is already known that when money is lacking in Philipinas the Sangleys carry their merchandise to the Dutch. Therefore, on the preservation of those islands depends that of the Chinese trade.
These eight fundamental reasons are sufficient to prove the importance and necessity that exist for maintaining, preserving, and favoring those islands; for if they were lost the resulting damage would be great and excessive beyond any possible comparison or proportion to what the islands now cost us. And because there is seen in this an error of misapprehension, I will make a statement regarding it that is worthy of much attention and notice. This is, that it costs the royal exchequer more to support the island of San Martin5– which is of no use, and has no more effect than to remove an obstacle to the navigation of the Indias, and take away a landing-place from the pirates (who already have numberless others) – than to maintain the Philipinas Islands, which have the utility and effectiveness which I have stated.
For the proof of this, I avail myself of a summary of the detailed statements in the larger memorial, regarding the cost of the Philipinas. For the officials of justice, who govern them, 37,077 pesos; for the entire ecclesiastical estate, 37,277 pesos. In maintaining friendly relations with neighboring kings, 1,500 pesos. In the administration of the royal exchequer, 11,550 pesos. For the land forces at Manila, and in the military posts of all the islands, 229,696 pesos. For wars on land, and the forts in Moluco, 97,128 pesos. For naval war, shipbuilding, and navy-yards, 283,184 pesos. For supplies and provisions for all the soldiers and seamen, 153,302 pesos. These sums amount to 850,734 pesos, which is the expenditure made each year for the islands – not omitting to reckon wages and salaries, scanty though they be. This, therefore, is all the charge for their cost which can be made.
On the credit side of the account, the tributes from the crown encomiendas are worth each year 53,715 pesos; and the two reals which are paid to the king by each Indian in the private encomiendas amount to 21,107 pesos. The licenses which are given to the Sangleys come to 112,000 pesos; and the tributes from these Sangleys, to 8,250. The fifth and the tenth of gold, 750 pesos. The ecclesiastical tithes, which are collected by the royal exchequer for the support of the prelates and clergy, 2,750 pesos. The freight charges in his Majesty’s ships, 350 pesos. The court fines, 1,000 pesos. The customs duties, 38,000 pesos. The mesada and half-annats, 6,000. From these ten sources the income amounts to 243,922 pesos; to this must be added the imposts, freight dues, and customs duties which are collected in Nueva España on the merchandise that comes from the islands – all which amount to 300,000 pesos, and this is income that results and proceeds from the islands; accordingly, by a decree of February 19, 1606, it is commanded that these charges, adding to their amount each year, be remitted to Manila, and that so much less be sent from the royal exchequer of Mexico. And if all these goods are sold and traded in Nueva España once, or two or more times, and pay the customary charges of alcabala,6 if the rate of two [per cent] which they usually pay was moderated to 30,000 pesos in the larger memorial, the rate on the said [sales] will certainly amount to 60,000 pesos. With this, the islands now have 593,922 pesos to their credit; so that their [actual] expense cannot be estimated at more than 256,812 pesos – [and that] without counting the proceeds of the Crusade, those from intestate property, or the monopoly of playing-cards.
Another item ought to be placed with these, which is the expense for the islands of Moluco. These were possessions of the crown of Portugal, which consumed in supporting and defending them great sums of ducados and many soldiers; but finally it lost them, and the Dutch gained them. By agreement of the two crowns, Governor Don Pedro de Acuña regained possession of them (as I have related); and as it was evident that the crown of Portugal could not defend them on account of the great expense required therefor, those islands were committed, in the year 1607, to the governor of Philipinas. In this must be considered several things. First, that these islands of Moluco do not belong to those which are called Philipinas, nor are they included in that group. Second, that at present they are the property of the Portuguese crown, but are in possession of the Castilian crown for the purpose of protecting, maintaining, and defending them; on this account, the commerce in cloves is left to India, as it was before. Third, that the Philipinas and the citizens of Manila do not obtain or possess any advantage or benefit from Moluco, or anything else besides the continual trouble of succoring and provisioning its forts; for the clove-trade belongs to the Portuguese, and there is no other commerce in those islands. Fourth, that since the day when the governor of Philipinas and the crown of Castile took charge of Moluco, the crown of Portugal has saved more than 400,000 pesos, the cost which it would have incurred in maintaining Moluco, estimated on the basis of what it now costs Castilla for that – although Manila, which is the place where provision is made for those islands, is so near them. Fifth, that for these reasons it is evident and plain that what is spent for the islands of Moluco should not be charged to the Philipinas; nor even should the crown of Castilla pay it, but rather that of Portugal, which is the proprietary owner of Moluco, and has the benefit of the clove-trade. Consequently, whatever is received from that trade must be placed to the credit and acquittance of the Philipinas, against the amount charged to them. Sixth, and last, notice the [items of] the annual expenses of the Moluco Islands: for salaries, 97,128 pesos; provisions, considering the total number of people, will average 30,000 pesos a year; for the ecclesiastical ministrations and the management of the royal treasury, the expense will reach 4,000 pesos; and for naval affairs and shipyards, 100,000 pesos – since in order to send every year the usual supplies, and to furnish extraordinary aid when occasion demands, the armed ships are necessary which are always kept at Manila. Thus the cost of the islands of Moluco comes to more than 230,000 pesos each year; deducting this from the 256,000 which remain charged to the Philipinas, only 26,000 pesos. This is an amount unworthy of consideration, even if the islands were of no more use than to augment the grandeur of this crown; but granting that they possess the advantages that I have mentioned, the loss, cost, and expense is nothing; and it remains abundantly proved how necessary, just, expedient, and requisite it is to maintain them.
If the Philipinas are to be maintained, it now remains to ascertain how and in what manner this shall be done, in order to secure their preservation, and [at the same time] to avoid any considerable injury to the royal exchequer and to the other kingdoms of this crown. For this there are but two methods, and these alone; no other can be found which is adequate and efficacious. The first one is, the method which is adopted for the island of San Martin, and for all the military posts which his Majesty maintains in the Indias and in other regions, and for his fleets and armies; this is, to furnish from the royal treasury all that shall be necessary for this purpose. Granting that the islands cost annually 850,000 pesos and furnish revenues of 244,000 pesos, his Majesty will have to supply 606,000 pesos. Although this is a great sum of money, the preservation of those islands is so desirable, and so much more will have to be lost and spent if the islands are lost, that, in case there shall be no other way, it will be necessary and compulsory to accept and carry out the above method – although even that would not be enough, for the islands now cost 850,000 pesos [only] because the citizens of Manila give much aid, and render service with their persons and property. In one year they have thus given more than 200,000 pesos, as is made evident in the larger memorial, nos. 59 and 60. Accordingly, this method is exceedingly costly, and even more so than it would seem, for the reason that I have stated.
There remains, then, the second method, the only one [available]; this consists in granting commerce to those islands, which would suffice to secure three results. The first of these is, to preserve the present revenue of 244,000 pesos that they yield; for that sum, or the greater part
St. Martin, one of the Antilles, was a resort for French pirates and Dutch smugglers until 1638, when it was captured by the Spaniards. It was afterward recovered from them, and in 1648 was formally divided between the French and Dutch – a status that still prevails.
The alcabala, an excise duty collected on all sales of commodities, was derived from the Moors, and was more or less imposed in Spain from the year 1342 on. It was introduced in the American colonies in 1574, and for more than two centuries was a rich source of income for the Spanish crown and a heavy tax on the colonists. The rate was at first two per cent, but afterward this was doubled and trebled; and it was levied on every transfer of goods, taxing property over and over again. See Bancroft’s Mexico, iii, pp. 658, 659; and Recopilación leyes de Indias, lib. viii, tit. xiii, and lib. ix, tit. xlv, ley lxvi.