The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Volume 25 of 55. Unknown
and if they do not do that, and the Indian dies, they shall be considered as confessed criminals, guilty of the crime. [Felipe III—Madrid, May 29, 1620.]
Law LV
Inasmuch as many slaves are usually carried in the ships from Filipinas, who consume the provisions, we order and command that no passenger or sailor shall take more than one slave, except persons of rank, and that for good cause, and with careful restriction. And inasmuch as the duties are paid in Acapulco on those who are sold there, because of the inconvenience of paying them in Manila, we order that the president and auditors of our royal Audiencia of Filipinas provide that it be so observed and executed. [Felipe III—Madrid, May 29, 1620.]
Law LVII
We order that our royal Audiencia of Manila rate the amount of what the mates on the ships shall exact in the port of Acapulco for the guard of boxes, barrels, and other articles of merchandise. If this be exceeded, claims may be made against them in their residencias at the end of their voyages. [Felipe III—Madrid, May 29, 1620.]
Law LXXVII
Some ships sail from the ports of Callao and Guayaquil to Nicaragua and Guatemala, under pretext of going for pitch and other things, and then often go from there to the port of Acapulco to lade Chinese cloth, in return for a great sum of silver which they carry, practicing many efforts and frauds. We order that under no consideration may any ships or other vessels from the said ports or provinces of Perú go to that of Acapulco; and that the viceroys shall order and take what measures may be necessary so that this be obeyed and observed. They shall impose what penalties they choose; and they shall execute those penalties on the transgressors in a severe and exemplary manner. [Felipe IV—San Lorenzo, October 20, 1621.]
Law XXXVIII
We order and command the governors of Filipinas not to permit private persons of those islands to despatch ships to Macan, Malaca, Siam, Camboja, and other parts of that archipelago, or to take seamen or soldiers in them; for it is advisable to have ships and a fleet ready for the defense of Manila, which can be defended or garrisoned in no other way; and they shall attend to the correction of this as a thing so important, and shall give such orders as are most expedient. [Felipe IV—Madrid, December 31, 1622.]
Law LXIII
By reason of haste in the despatch [of the ships], the clerks of the register are usually left, through forgetfulness, with some registers which have been made of the merchandise; and, as the registers do not appear, the judges condemn the goods as confiscated. We order the viceroy and auditors of our royal Audiencia of Méjico that, when this happens, they shall enact justice1 so that the parties’ right to collect it shall remain free. [Felipe IV—Madrid, October 9, 1623.]
Law XXII
The governors and captains-general of the Filipinas Islands and Maluco, and our other judges and justices, shall observe and shall cause to be observed all the privileges, immunities, and exemptions of the artillerymen on that route and commerce, and of those who live at the ports, forts, and fortifications, which for that reason belong to them, in respect to the trade of the Indias from these kingdoms to those islands, in accordance with título 22 of this book.2 [Felipe IV—Madrid, December 6, 1624.]
Law LXXIX
We permit the viceroys, auditors, governors, royal officials, and government agents who shall have been appointed, and who have to go by way of the South Sea from Nueva España to Petú, and from there to Nueva España, to take their property registered, if they swear that it is their own and not another’s under penalty of incurring confiscation [of the same]. [Felipe IV—Madrid (?), October 5, 1626.]
Law LXII
We declare and order that the valuation of merchandise taken to Nueva España from Filipinas shall be made in Méjico by an accountant of the bureau of accounts, an officer of our royal treasury of the said city, and one of the members of the consulate of the said city. The viceroy shall appoint them every year, one fortnight before the said valuations are to be made, and he shall have special care in the making such appointment. In case that there shall be any discord between the three said persons, the viceroy shall appoint another accountant and royal official other than the first, so that these may meet with them. That measure which has two votes shall be adopted, even though they be but two who are in complete harmony. And if they should not be in harmony, and should be two to two of different opinions, they shall have recourse to the viceroy; and the decision of that side with which he shall agree shall be put into execution, without reply or contradiction.3 [Felipe IV—Madrid, June 4, 1627.]
Law LXVII
We order all the judges and justices before whom Chinese cloth shall be denounced as being contraband, not to condemn it as confiscated; but to send it to these kingdoms in a separate account directed to the president and official judges of the House of Trade of Sevilla, so that it may be sent from there to the treasurer of our Council of the Indias. Thus shall it be done on all the occasions that arise.4 [Felipe III—Madrid, April 18, 1617; Felipe IV—Madrid, March 3, 1629.]
Law L
The commander and officers whom the governor of Filipinas appoints for the ships sailing to Nueva España, shall not be aided with pay for more than four months, both in Méjico and Filipinas. At the termination of the trip, their accounts shall be balanced, and the remainder for the time while they shall have served, and no more, shall be paid them. [Felipe IV—Madrid, December 14, 1630.]
Law XIII
Our fiscal of the Audiencia of Filipinas shall, according to the settled custom, be present at the inspection of ships which is made in the port of Manila, on those ships which come from Nueva España and other parts; and he shall denounce those which carry more than what is permitted. The judges who shall try the cause shall apply the merchandise denounced to our royal exchequer, and shall punish the guilty rigorously. [Felipe III—Madrid, May 4, 1619; Felipe IV—Madrid, March 25, 1633.]
Law LXXIII
In the court trials regarding the seizures of smuggled goods from China which shall be seized in Perú, what shall pertain to the denouncers—namely, their third part—shall be paid to them immediately in money, provided it does not pass or exceed that ordered by laws of título 17, libro 8, which treat of seizures of smuggled goods, irregularities, and confiscations; and provided that the money be not taken from our royal treasury under any consideration, but from expenses of justice or fines forfeited to the treasury, or from the proceeds from merchandise or other articles which generally come with those that are contraband and outside the register, which are not from China, or of those prohibited to be sold or traded in Perú. We charge the viceroys to advise us on all occasions, with specification, of these denunciations, and of the part given to the denouncer, and in what quantity and kind, making us a clear and distinct relation. [Felipe IV—Madrid, March 31, 1633.]
Law XXXI
It was ordered that the ships that go from Nueva España to Filipinas must sail from the port of Acapulco by the end of March, without extending even a day into April. And inasmuch as we are informed that that is inconvenient, we order that the ships be prepared with all that is necessary by December, so that at the end of that month, they may leave the said port of Acapulco, so that they may be able to arrive at the said islands, at the latest, some time in March. It is our will that this be executed inviolably, and it will be made a charge of omission in the residencia of the viceroys of Nueva España; and, if they do not so do, we shall consider ourselves disserved. [Felipe IV—Madrid, August 26, 1633.]
Law XXV
We order the viceroys of Nueva España to give the necessary orders, and to take suitable precautions, that the provision which is made annually for the departure of the ships which sail from the port of Acapulco
A note to this law in the
Título xxii is entitled: “Of the captain-general of artillery, the artillerymen-in-chief, and others of the war and trading fleets; the artillery, arms, and ammunition.” It consists of forty-eight laws.
The above law refers to lib. viii, tit. xvi, ley xvii, which reads as follows: “We order that the valuation of Chinese merchandise be made in Nueva España, in the same way as the merchandise which is sent from these kingdoms, observing in it the ordinances that have been established. After it has been made, it shall be remitted to the bureau of accounts of Méjico, so that it may make the account, and give certifications of what must be collected, and from what persons.” The law is dated Madrid, December 6, 1624.
See VOL. xvii. p. 34, law lxxi.