The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 | Page 7

encomiendas according to the amount of religious instruction given therein, and lays down the conditions which ought to govern the collection of tributes. He declares that the encomendero has not fulfilled his obligations to the Indians under him by merely reserving a fourth of the tributes for building churches; and advises that the small encomiendas be combined to form larger ones. This letter is followed by twenty-five "conclusions" (dated January 18) relating to this subject, which express the opinions of bishop and clergy on the collection of tributes from the Indians. These define the purposes for which this tax should be collected, the restrictions under which collections shall be permitted, and the respective duties in this matter of the encomenderos, ministers of religion, and governors, They declare that restitution should be made for all tribute unjustly collected from the natives--which includes all that is taken from pagans who have not been instructed, or from any Indian by force. Another letter by the bishop (dated January 25) accompanies this document. He states that he does not desire to forbid the encomenderos from personally collecting the tributes. He advises that the amount of such collections should be reduced, and that the Spaniards should not be too heavily mulcted for the restitutions which should be made to the Indians. The governor replies to these communications, expressing much interest in the Indians and desire to lighten their burdens. The collections should be uniform in rate everywhere, and of moderate amount. Certain requirements should be made from the encomenderos, especially in regard to the administration of justice; but they must be enabled to retain their holdings. The governor wishes to adopt some temporary regulations which shall be in force until the king can provide suitable measures. On February 15 the city officials and the encomenderos present a petition to the governor. They complain of the pressure exerted upon them by the clergy and the friars to prevent the collection of the tributes; and entreat the governor to interpose his authority, and to secure a royal mandate, in order that they may collect the tributes without ecclesiastical interference, or else to permit them to return to Spain. Salazar answers (February 8) the previous letter of Dasmari?as; this reply, and the opinions furnished by the religious orders, we synopsize in our text, as being somewhat too verbose for the edification of our readers. Salazar answers the objections made to his earlier statements, and assures the governor that the encomenderos can live on one-third of the tributes, that there is no danger of their abandoning their holdings, and that the chief obstacle to the conversion of the pagans is the cruelty of the Spaniards. He urges the governor to reform the abuses practiced by them, and to do justice to the poor Indians; and says that the clergy will cooperate with him in this. The heads of the religious orders (except the Dominicans) send written opinions on this subject to the governor; and the Jesuits discuss certain measures proposed by the bishop, with some of which they disagree. The remainder of the document on tributes will be presented in Vol. VIII.
The Editors September, 1903.

Documents of 1588

Relation of the Philipinas Islands. Domingo de Salazar, and others; 1586-88. Letter to Felipe II. Santiago de Vera; June 26. Letter to Felipe II. Domingo de Salazar; June 27.

_Sources_: The first of these documents is obtained from Cartas de Indias, pp. 637-652; the others, from the original MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla.
_Translations_: The first document is translated by James A. Robertson; the others, by Jos�� M. and Clara M. Asensio.

Relation of the Philipinas Islands
Most potent Sir:
I, the bishop of the Philipinas, declare that to your Highness [1] it is evident and well-known that the greater number of the natives in these islands are yet to be converted, and that many of those who are converted are without instruction, because they have no one to give it; and because, even in the districts where there are ministers, they are so few, and the natives so numerous, that they cannot give the latter sufficient instruction. I have, moreover, been informed that in a letter which the cabildo of this city of Manilla wrote to your Highness last year there was a section in which they gave your Highness information of the districts and localities in these islands where instruction is provided, and of those where it is not, and of the number of ministers who are necessary to furnish instruction to the natives therein. This letter, with all the others which went in the said year on the ship "Sancta Ana," was lost. For the relief of your royal conscience and my own, and for the welfare of the said natives, it is best that an order be given that those natives