The said imposition was thus the reason for the many important lands and ports of which the foreigners have gained possession and which they hold, which we have lost for the said reason. Both these instances are very certain, well-known, public, and notorious.
The eighth reason, a very urgent and cogent one, is that since the year six hundred and seven, when the said commerce was in a much better condition, and the said Dutch had not begun to make their raids, or all the great damages that they have inflicted on the said islands and those near by, and on the said Sangleys and Chinese—nevertheless, the said governors, Don Rodrigo de Vivero, Don Juan de Silva, and Don Juan Niño de Tabora (who succeeded him), seeing the difficulties involved in the said imposition, did not consider it advisable, nor did they dare, to put it into force. Much less could it be done today, after the lapse of almost thirty years, at a time when the inhabitants are suffering from so great distress and necessity, caused by the many losses, as above stated, of many ships—some of which have sunk, while others have of necessity sought port on the coasts of Japon and other districts where so great riches were lost without its being possible to secure them, or for anything to be saved; and by the fires which they have suffered, on one occasion the greater part of the city, as well as the possessions of the inhabitants being burned. A few years ago our flagship “Nuestra Señora de la Vida” [i.e., “Our Lady of Life”] was wrecked on the island of Verde9 while en route to Nueva España, with the possessions and capital of the aforesaid citizens. In the former year of thirty-one, the ship “Sancta Maria Magdalena” went to the bottom in the port of Cabite with all the goods and cloth aboard it. Although the cargo was taken out, it was after it had been in the water more than one and one-half months. Consequently the damage to the owners was great and notable; and on that account all the capital was ruined, the trade limited, and the goods destroyed—so much so that if the said two per cent be put in force, it will have the above defects, and the said trade will be ruined.
The ninth reason is of great importance, and consists in the many great services that have been performed for your Majesty by the said city of Manila, and those which its inhabitants are performing every day; for when occasion demands—as it does often, when there is a lack of regular infantry, because it has gone away or been employed in something else—the inhabitants enter the guard, as that city is surrounded by so many heathen; and they have always hastened with all the loyalty and love possible to serve on any expedition that has offered against the Dutch and other nations, with their persons and possessions, and are the first to take arms.
Another thing is of great consideration, namely, that in the great necessities that arise in the royal treasury, which has not the wherewithal to take care of them, the said inhabitants have aided it; and they aid it very often with very considerable sums, depositing therein from eighty to one hundred thousand pesos, without receiving any interest. That money is retained in the said royal treasury, and the owners are not repaid for more than two years. The loss of interest on so great a sum for so long a period constitutes a great service, for merchants and men of business. They only think of the great desire that they have always had, and have, for the service of your Majesty; and that is so great that many poor inhabitants, not having any capital to allow them to make loans to the royal treasury as the other inhabitants do, beg for a loan in order to be enabled to attend to your Majesty’s royal service. In the assessments continually levied upon them by the governor, consisting of jars [of oil or wine], rice, and other things necessary for the relief of Terrenate and the island of Hermosa, the said inhabitants contribute very eagerly and willingly; and on the voyages made by the galleys, if slaves are needed (as often happens), they give their own. With the same willingness did they make the gift of the said four thousand pesos in the year 632.
Since all above stated is so, and since the inhabitants are perpetually and continually serving your Majesty with their persons, lives, and possessions, and by the intolerable burden of always bearing arms; and since all that is related in this memorial is evident from the investigations made at the citation of the fiscal, and by what the governors and the orders write: therefore it is just for your Majesty to honor and reward the inhabitants, since their services are so worthy of reward and remuneration; and since the said imposition of the said two per cent would be only an affliction and punishment, to have its enforcement discontinued, so that there may be no further question of it—which, as can be understood by the reasons above stated, has been and is the royal intention and purpose of your Majesty. For during the so many years that its execution has been suspended, your Majesty having been informed by the letters of the governors and royal officials of the difficulty of its observance, it has been abandoned and repealed in order to avoid so many and so great dangers as above stated, and injuries to the said inhabitants and residents of those islands—an intent quite in accord with the first decree of the said year six hundred and four, in which, although it was ordered to impose the said two per cent, it commanded that this was to be done with the greatest mildness possible. Consequently, as this mildness was not and could not be exercised, the imposition occasioning only great troubles and difficulties, the decree itself intimates, as if by express statements, that the said collection was impracticable.
Thus the request of the said city and its inhabitants, and of the said islands, is that your Majesty be pleased to have it so declared and ordered, not only for the future, but also for the past; since the said royal decree has not been put in force, nor has it been advisable at any time, for either the future or the past. The impossibility [of enforcing the decree] is even greater [at this time], because of the many years that have passed, and the many persons against whom it might be attempted, who have died; so that to undertake it would mean nothing else than a beginning of lawsuits, and the disquiet and revolution of all the inhabitants of the said city, or of most of them—for those who have trafficked here from the said year of six hundred and seven are many, and most of them have died, without leaving any property from which to collect the arrears of duty—in case that that effort is made. By that [concession] the inhabitants will receive an especial favor, as is hoped from the greatness of your Majesty. Madrid, September 6, 1635.
Reply of the fiscal
The fiscal declares that he has examined the documents sent with this memorial, and the other papers and letters from the Audiencia, the visitor, and the superiors of the orders; that the decision [of this question] demands close attention, and all that the council is wont to exercise for its sure action, for the great necessity of its inhabitants which the city represents, confronts us. We must consider not only the impracticability of enforcing the impost, but no less his Majesty’s lack of means (caused by the wars and necessary occasions for expense that have limited the royal incomes), which constrains him so that he can do no more—a course which, as so Christian and pious a king, he would avoid, if it were possible. Having considered everything, what the visitor writes has much force with the fiscal, and persuades him that it is expedient and necessary to consult with his Majesty regarding this letter—so that, having examined its contents, and that, besides, which the council shall advise, he may be pleased to order what may be most to the welfare of his vassals, in whose conservation consists his best service; and approving the mild method pointed out by the visitor (of which he availed himself, in order that the trade might not cease, with the obvious danger of greater loss), he concurs in everything, and thus petitions. Madrid, September six, one thousand six hundred and thirty-five.
Don Juan Grao y Monfalcon, procurator-general of the distinguished and loyal city of Manila, metropolis and capital of the Filipinas Islands, in answer to what was said and alleged by his Majesty’s fiscal to the memorial and arguments which he has presented, in order that the effort for the collection of the two per cent may cease and be abandoned, declares that your Majesty, in heeding the arguments that he has presented in another memorial, does not give up nor is he excluded from what is alleged on the other side. On the contrary he expressly recognizes (a fact that cannot be denied) the justification and urgent reasons that are necessary and unavoidable, which strenuously oblige to what the said city has entreated. In the name of the city, he accepts what is said and alleged in its favor by the said fiscal. But inasmuch as the fiscal mentions his approbation of the method which the visitor approves—and of which he availed himself, so that the said trade might
An island off the south coast of Batangas, Luzón, midway in the channel between that island and Mindoro.
