city did not know, have considered and noted these letters, since the remonstrances which the citizens have made were caused only by having received some information in general of the cruel acts of Don Pedro de Quiroga [y Moya], and that he had prohibited 600,000 pesos to the commerce. And when they knew that, besides the previous acts of oppression, others had been so recently committed against them, and such as had never before been known, and another sum of 300,000 pesos taken from them, it can be judged what they suffered, and the affliction that they experienced. And [I desire] that always, and in whatever event, it may be seen and known that the said Don Juan Grau gave information of and proposed to me all that he considered expedient for preventing the loss of the said islands, which with so plain indications is menacing them, and ought to be feared – as it is feared, not only by their citizens, but by all who recognize the difficulty of preserving them without commerce, or money, or soldiers, or seamen – continuing in his obligation, which is to communicate what shall be written to him, to present such requests as the said city shall order him to make, and to urge forward the decision of the most important matters. And he regards as settled that the commerce of the said islands with Nueva España is permanent, which is the only way in which they can be maintained, as he has proved in the said memorial; and that, if it ceases, they will be ruined and the Dutch enemy will take possession of them, since for so many years they have with this desire harassed the islands. [He makes the following statements: ] If they should succeed therein (which may God not permit) all Eastern India would perish – since, if the enemy should be master of the Straits of Sincapura, and of the archipelagos of Moluco and Luzòn (which have for their defense only that which Manila and its armed fleets give them), all the commerce of China would necessarily be hindered, not only for the Castilians but for the Portuguese; and the factories which (without other power than that of the commerce and advantage of many nations which resort to them), I possess in those coasts and kingdoms, with which I have preserved and sustained them, would come to an end. And the commerce of the said islands is at present suspended, if not cut off, as appears from the letters of the city of Manila and the governor. It must be noted that three-fourths of the merchandise which the citizens are accustomed to trade is pledged to the Sangleys, since the commerce has hitherto been sustained on credit alone; and as in the past year of 1636–37 no money went from Nueva España from the goods which the citizens sent, which the Sangleys had sold on credit, they have not been able to satisfy these claims. For this reason the Sangleys have gone away, and say that they are not willing to lose more than what they have lost; and the Portuguese of Macàn have done the same – who, like the Chinese, have returned to their own country, ruined. And the citizens having refused, in the past year of 1636, to lade their goods in the two ships which were ready to sail, fearing (and with good cause) the severity of Don Pedro de Quiroga, the governor urged them to lade their goods, and those which they had procured on credit – assuring them in my name that these would be expedited at Acapulco in the same manner as formerly, for which purpose he ordered that all the goods should be registered with the utmost possible exactness and equity. The effect of this was, that Don Pedro de Quiroga paid no attention to what the governor had promised in my name; instead, his harsh nature being thereby irritated, he displayed greater severity, and, not content with detaining whatever the ships carried, he weighed and opened registered bales and chests – contrary to the usage at all the ports, against the regulations provided by royal decrees; and the appraisement that he made of the merchandise was so increased and exorbitant that what was at its just price in Mexico worth 800,000 pesos he rated at four millions. For the commodities which in Manila cost at the rate of nine pesos, the said Don Pedro appraised at twenty-two; and much of the cloth was sold in Acapulco, in his very sight, at six pesos, while he had collected the full amount of the royal dues, on the basis of twenty-two, at which he had valued the goods. By this one may judge how considerable a loss the citizens experienced, not only in paying the dues on so increased a valuation, but in the loss of the money they had invested. It may easily be judged that, by making this valuation so contrary to justice and reason, the registers transgressed the permitted amount; and with this appraisement he began to inflict new and hitherto unknown injuries on the commerce, with the sole intent of obtaining another composition, and demanded for it 500,000 ducados. God permitted that he should die; but, on account of his death, what he had begun was continued by the marqués de Cadereyta, and continued with no less severity. For he forcibly extorted from the commerce 300,000 pesos, which the citizens did not owe according to the document that they signed at the time of their first agreement; and he made them draw up a document regarding the commerce, with declarations at the start that they had not entered protest against signing the document for the 300,000 pesos, by which act they left themselves no recourse. In order to relieve themselves from these annoyances they signed the said obligation, although they knew that it was the utter ruin of the commerce; but with this, and the damages and losses that their property suffered – for, besides opening the packages, they remained several days on the beach, with guards, and other expenses – not only their profit but their principal was consumed. Another factor in this loss was the necessity of securing what belonged to the islands out of the 600,000 pesos of the first composition; and for this, and the composition of 300,000 pesos, with the half-annat (which is charged to them), they were obliged to take moneys at a loss, and to sell very cheaply the goods that had remained. The result was, that of all the investment for the said year of 1636, when the entire capital of the citizens of the islands was sent, there remained no considerable amount that could be returned to them – as they were informed by the commissary through whose hand the returns were sent. On account of this – even before the second condemnation of the 300,000 pesos, or all the unfortunate outcome of their investments, was known in Manila – the citizens who had some estates in the country, seeing their extreme necessity, asked the governor’s permission to go out [of the city] to live on their lands, with the little money that remained to them, by cultivating the soil to support themselves. The rest, who are poor, have asked permission to enlist in the army as soldiers, and to join expeditions, or go to Terrenate, as they can find no other means of support; and the majority of the citizens were discussing whether to entreat me that I will be pleased to grant them permission so that they can return to these kingdoms, to die in their own countries, as they can no longer support themselves in the Philipinas – but the governor, having notice of this, persuaded them to ask me for relief in this their afflicted condition, which they have done. Accordingly, they assembled in an open session of cabildo, and agreed that, until I should be pleased to form and establish a definite plan for the said commerce, no one of them should lade or send to Nueva España any merchandise, whether in great or small quantity – with which the said commerce has entirely ceased and been suspended, and will remain in that condition until a decision shall be sent them in regard to its plan. [They say] that, if this be delayed, it may arrive at a time when already no remedy will avail; that, although the citizens of Manila know that this course may ruin themselves and their islands, they consider it less injurious to them to spend their funds in maintaining what they may hereafter acquire, than in sending them to Nueva España in order to complete the loss of these in one year. They have acted accordingly, since in a patache which the governor despatched in the year 1637, with information of these necessities and of others contained in their letters, there came no merchandise, nor was there any person who was willing to ship goods; and the same occurred with the two ships which were despatched in the past year of 1638. And although the governor made all possible efforts to constrain the citizens to lade the two ships, he could not succeed in this, which now causes them to feel their loss still more keenly. It is evident that the foregoing alone will cause a greater loss of duties to my royal exchequer in Nueva España, besides the licenses of the Sangleys, and other things in Manila and Nueva España, than what has been gained for it by the 900,000 pesos of the said two compositions – not to mention the evident risk in which the islands remain; for, if they are lost, four millions will not be enough to recover them if the Dutch take possession of them, which is the principal object at which they aim. It is represented to me that, if that commerce flourishes, my duties in Nueva España on the merchandise will amount to about 300,000 pesos, with which was provided the amount which I ordered to be sent back as returns to Manila, for the purposes and preservation of those islands; and that now all that source of income has fallen at a blow, and the loss has recoiled upon my royal exchequer, since it is necessary that the amount of money which is conveyed every year for the succor of those islands be supplied from my royal treasury of Mexico to that of Manila, out of the silver and the fifths
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