The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 | Page 4

profits might have accrued therefrom to the royal treasury. Fajardo is therefore ordered to investigate this matter and punish those who may be guilty; and to take charge, for the present, of the conduct of the clove-trade at Ternate. The force of men there should be reduced, if practicable; and certain forts in Maluco should be abandoned. In these and other ways expenses must be reduced. The governor and the archbishop must warn the religious orders to cease their exactions upon the Indians. A separate letter warns the governor that expenses must be reduced to the utmost; and that he must maintain the colony on its own revenues, without aid from the government. He is advised to endeavor to open and work the mines in the islands; but in doing so he must not molest or injure the Indians. He should endeavor to enlist their aid in this undertaking, and the missionaries should use their influence with the natives.
The Jesuit Joan de Ribera writes to some high official in Spain (December 20, 1618), urging the importance of Manila and the Philippines, and the necessity of opposing the progress that the Dutch are making in India, Japan, and the archipelago, so as to preserve for Spain the rich trade of the East. Another most important consideration is the need of maintaining these islands as a center for religious labors among the heathen tribes.
A naval officer, Sebastian de Pineda, sends from Nueva Espa?a (1619) to the king a paper on ships and shipbuilding in the Philippines. He begins by describing various kinds of timber used for this purpose; then enumerates, the shipyards in the islands, and the wages paid to the workmen. Fourteen hundred carpenters were formerly employed at one time in the Cavite shipyard alone; but half of them were killed or captured by the Moros in 1617, many have died from overwork, and many others have fled to parts unknown because they had been unpaid for five years. Iron is brought to Manila from China and Japan, and wrought by the Chinese and Indian artisans; the Chinese smith "works from midnight until sunset," and earns less than one real a day. Iron should be imported from Biscay, however, for some special purposes. Much useful information is given as to the material, quality, and prices of rigging and canvas. Pineda makes recommendations as to the shipment to Manila of various articles, showing how present expenses may be lessened, and waste avoided, in many ways. He states that the naval defense of the islands is quite inadequate, and they are consequently in danger of being seized by the Dutch. But it is at present impossible to build in the islands the ships needed there; for the natives are exhausted by the labors and exactions imposed upon them in previous years, and by the deaths of so many at the hands of the enemy or through the hardships of enforced naval service. Pineda recommends that the ships needed for the islands be built in India or Cochin, and that slaves be brought thence to serve on the Philippine galleys. Many Filipino natives are migrating to Nueva Espa?a, which should be checked. One reason for this is the fact that these Filipinos distil palm-wine, which will soon ruin the wine-trade of Spain in Nueva Espa?a. The incursions of the Mindanao pirates have also been a serious obstacle to shipbuilding in the Philippines; and they have rendered the use of La Caldera, as a station for the Spanish vessels, impossible, while they welcome the Dutch to their shores. Pineda recommends that the king proclaim that any one who wishes may wage war upon and enslave these Mindanao infidels, as thus only can they be subdued. He ends with a report on the measurements of the galleons in the islands in 1617.
A royal decree dated February 19, 1619, confirms the ordinance enacted by the dean and cabildo of Manila cathedral, refusing benefices and ecclesiastical dignities to religious who have been expelled from their orders.
The Dominican missionary Diego Aduarte proposes to the Council of the Indias (probably in May, 1619) a means to check the outflow of silver from Nueva Espa?a to the Philippines. Aduarte recommends that the trade of the islands with Nueva Espa?a be suppressed, and that their inhabitants be allowed to trade with Japan, selling in that country the silks that they buy from the Chinese. But the bulk of this trade is already in the hands of the Portuguese of Macao; in order that it may be monopolized by Manila, Aduarte advises that Macao be abandoned, and its inhabitants transported to other cities of India. This can be accomplished easily by a royal decree forbidding them to engage in the Japanese trade, which would compel them to go elsewhere. He enumerates the beneficial