Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842

Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842Source: This is from Sinibaldo de Mas’sInforme de las Islas Filipinas, ii, no. 12.Translation: This is by James Alexander Robertson.Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842[In addition to the following account by Mas, the student desirous of pursuing the subject will find much data in the variousGuias de Filipinas. Some statistics are also presented by Montero y Vidal (Archipielago Filipino, pp. 194–203) for the years 1883–1884. Much of value and interest will also be found in the various reports of the Philippine Commission, and in the numerous pamphlets issued by the United States Government.]Justice is administered by means of an Audiencia, which has the title of royal, and resides in Manila, being composed of one regent, and five judges; by means of alcaldes-mayor who govern the provinces; and by the gobernadorcillo whom each village has and who is equivalent to our alcalde de monterilla.1The latter proceeds in criminal cases to the formation of a verbal process, and tries civil causes up to the value of two tailes of gold or 44 pesos fuertes.The royal Audiencia is a court without appeal in Filipinas. The alcaldes-mayor cannot terminate by their own action civil questions that have to do with a sum of greater value than 100 pesos fuertes, orimpose any corporal punishment without the approval of the Audiencia, and then only imprisonment for one week. But they are judges of the first instance for every kind of litigious or criminal cases.In order that one may obtain the post of alcalde-mayor, it is not necessary that he should have studied law. Hence, the greater part of the heads of the provinces are laymen in that respect. Generally those posts are given to military men. Consequently, this is the origin that for every process which is prosecuted in a lawsuit or cause, the alcalde has to have recourse to an assessor, in order to obtain the opinion of that one on which to base his action. But since the advocates reside in Manila, the records have to make at times many trips from the province to the capital. From this results the inconvenience of delay, the liability of theft, or the destruction of the mail. For, in the many rivers that must be crossed, the papers become so wet that they are useless (as happened with several letters of a post which was received in the chief city of a province when I was there, the envelopes of which it was impossible for us to read), and the malicious extraction in order to obscure the course of justice. The defect of this system can only be understood if one reflect that the various provinces of the colony are not situated on a continent, but in various islands, and that by reason of the periodic winds and the hurricanes which prevail in this region, the capital very often finds itself without news of some provinces for two or three months, and of that of Marianas for whole years.It appears that what we have said ought to be sufficient to show the necessity of radical reforms in this department, but, unfortunately, there are othermore grave reasons for such reform. The alcaldes-mayor are permitted to engage in business.2The author ofLes Estrits des Lois3said many years ago that the worst of governments is the commercial government; and surely, for those who have studied the science of government, all comment on this point is superfluous. The alcalde who is permitted to engage in business naturally tries, if possible, to monopolize it by all means in his power. This vice of the system leads some greedy men to the greatest excesses, which later are attributed to all alcaldes in general. Upon my arrival at Manila, I asked a very respectable Spaniard who had been in the country for many years about what happens in the provinces. He replied to me: “You know that the alcaldeships are reported to be worth 40,000 or 50,000 duros, and he who seeks one of those posts very earnestly has no other object or hope than to acquire a capital in the six years for which the government confers them. Before going to his province, he borrows 8,000 or 10,000 duros from one of the charitable funds at such and such a per cent. Besides, he has to pay an interest to those who act as bondsmen for him, both to the government for the royal treasury, and to the charitable funds which supply him with money. When he arrives at his province he acts according to conditions ruling in that province, for not all provincesare alike in their productions and circumstances. He generally establishes a supply store, and, consequently, from that moment, any other storekeeper is his rival and enemy. If such storekeeper has a creditor whom he tries to hurry up and goes to the alcalde, he gets no protection. If any theft happens to him the same thing more or less occurs; for, although the alcalde orders efforts made to ascertain the thief, far from taking those measures earnestly, he is secretly glad of the losses of his rivals, and it has even been asserted that there are cases in which the alcalde himself has been the instigator of the crime. Who is your enemy? That of your trade. But does the alcalde himself sell the goods? Sometimes he sells and measures them, at other times he keeps an agent in the store; the most usual thing is, if he is married, for his wife to take charge of the expense, especially of those goods of any value. But his greatest gain consists in making advances of money at the time of the sowing, the period when the Indians need it and try to get it at any cost, for their negligence and their vices do not allow them to foresee such a case and be prepared for it. For example: a farmer signs a paper for the alcalde which obliges him to deliver at harvest time ten measures of sugar, which are worth at least two and one-half duros, and he himself receives only one and one-half, consequently, by that operation alone of advancing money, the alcalde-mayor sometimes gains 40 per cent. But what generally happens is that the Indian is so short sighted and is so indifferent to the future that he signs any burdensome obligation provided he gets some money, and he only takes account of what they give him withoutthinking of what they are going to get from him. For example, the alcalde gives him 60 duros as an advance for forty measures of sugar at the harvest time. The harvest is bad and he can only give 20. In such case the reckoning is after the following fashion: ‘The sugar has been sold for 4 duros, and hence 20 measures will amount to 80 duros. You cannot pay them to me, consequently they can just as well remain as an advance for the coming year at one and one-half.’ In consequence of that the farmer signs a paper by which he enters under obligation to deliver 53 measures at the next harvest. Harvest time comes, and if it is bad, he only presents, say, 13. Therefore, 40 measures at 4 duros amount to 160 duros of debt, and at one and one-half make 108 measures for the following year. In this way the man keeps on adding more and more until all his goods are at the disposal of the alcalde. Besides, there are innumerable other vexations to which he must subject himself. For instance: he has to deliver to the alcalde 100 cabans of rice; when he presents them the alcalde measures them out with a larger measure than that used in the market. Hence, in reality, the alcalde exacts from him more than he is bound to pay. The same thing happens with indigo. For, a discussion arises as to whether the indigo is, or is not, very damp, and some libras must be taken off for waste; or, whether it is of poorer quality than the Indian promised, and so on.” “But surely it must needs be that it is fitting to take money advanced, since there is one who seeks it, and it is worth more for a farmer to cultivate his land in this way than that he leave it without cultivation for lack of the necessary capital. In regard to the tyrannieswhich the alcalde tries to commit, it seems to me that they might be avoided by the countryman borrowing the money from a private person who is not in position to annoy him.” “That is all very well thought out, but I will tell you what happens. The Indian borrows money very easily, but it is very difficult to get him to pay it, and he generally avoids doing so, if possible. If a private person lends him money and does not collect it when due, he has to go to the alcalde in order that the latter may force payment. The latter either does so coldly, or pays no attention to the whole matter, since his intention is that such private persons take warning and never again lend to anyone; for, it is evident, that if many come to speculate in this kind of business, the alcalde will soon be shut out, or at least will have to submit himself to the general rules. Consequently, the result is that capitalists draw back from him, saying, and very rightly, that it is only fitting for the alcaldes who possess the means to cause themselves to be paid when a debt is due. The alcalde, then, remains master of the field, and monopolizes this department at his pleasure, for he who needs funds has to go to him, for there are very few who enjoy enough credit to get them elsewhere. Many other advantages also favor the alcalde. The parish priests aid him, and many times take charge of the division of the money of the alcalde in their villages, for they know that that is the sure means of keeping on good terms with him, and obtaining the measures which depend on his will in the matters of their villages. The gobernadorcillos and officials of justice are other instruments of which the alcalde makes use to apportion and collect his funds.” “Why is it that these do notoccupy themselves rather in their affairs than in those of the alcalde?” “The alcalde can always, whenever he wishes, make trouble for the gobernadorcillo by making him go to the chief village with innumerable pretexts, and by various other methods which it would take a long time to enumerate, and which it is very easy to conceive. Besides, it is important for the alcalde to keep the gobernadorcillo satisfied. Suppose now, that a road has to be built, or a bamboo bridge, or any other work for which the people of the village who have to do it, according to their obligation called polos and services, are summoned. As some of them are busy in their fields or other business, they wish to be free from such a burden, and they give the gobernadorcillo two or three reals and he excuses them on the ground of sickness. A party of troops or a Spaniard passes by and asks for some beast of burden, or an aid in food. That is also an occasion for the gobernadorcillo to get even with those whom he dislikes and obtain part of his demands; for some give him presents in order that he may not give the beasts of burden, while others do not receive the pay for that food. During the days of tiangui or village fairs, such and such a sum is exacted for each post in the market place. In general there are some men of service calledbantayaneswho are a kind of sentinel placed at the entrances of villages. Many of them also pay to be excused from that burden when their turn comes or when they are told that it comes. In general he has ten or twelve men calledhonos,manbaras, etc., given to him, who are exempt from polos and services, and they serve the ayuntamiento to send papers, conduct prisoners, etc., and the gobernadorcillogives them permission so that they may cultivate their lands, by collecting from them a contribution.” “But it seems to me that the gobernadorcillo will have to give account, if not for all, at least for many of the taxes that you have mentioned.” “It ought to be so, and in fact, some enter into the communal treasury, but they are the fewest and those connected with the legal matters, for of the others there is nothing to be said. For example: I have seen an order enclosing a fine as a punishment on the gobernadorcillo for some fault or misdeed that he had committed. He assembles the cabezas de barangai; the whole sum is apportioned among the people of the village. The amount of the fine is collected and the gobernadorcillo has still something left for his maintenance and revelling.” “Why do they not complain to the alcalde?” “Because, sir, of just what I told you. The alcalde needs the gobernadorcillo so that he may use him in his business, and for all such things he is a very far-sighted man. Besides, the alcalde who tries to investigate those snares of the tribunals (ayuntamientos) will lose his senses without deriving any benefit from it. He does not know the language. As interpreter he has the clerk, who is an Indian, and the entangler-in-chief, and almost always in accord with the Indian magnates.” “If the clerk is a bad man, will he not be hated?” “I do not say that he is beloved, but some fear him, and others are his accomplices. Since the alcalde is, in reality, a business man, he naturally takes more interest in his business than in that of other people, and leaves all court matters in charge of the clerk, who comes to be the arbiter in that matter, and here is where the latter reapshis harvest. One of the members of the tribunal (ayuntamiento) steals, or causes to be stolen from some man his buffalo. The man finds out where it is; he complains to the gobernadorcillo; they begin to take measures; at last the animal is returned to him, but if it is worth five duros, they make him pay ten duros in expenses so that the man either considers his beast as lost and the thieves keep it, or the latter get from him twice as much as it is worth. Hence, if I were to tell all that passes in this wise, my story would be very long. One of the things which they are accustomed to do is to let the prisoners go out of the prison for several days without the government knowing it. I have seen that done this very year of 1841 in the province of—-, in regard to some prisoners whom the alcalde-mayor believed to be in prison; but they were working on the estate of the clerk, and one of those prisoners had committed very serious crimes.” “But why do not the curas remedy all that? I have heard it said that they are really the ones who govern the villages.” “In reality, when the curas take that matter upon themselves, those abuses are remedied, at least in great measure, for they know the language well, and every one in their village knows the truth, if the cura wishes to ascertain it. That is what happened in former times. And also at that time the communal funds were deposited in the convent, and [thus] many tricks and tyrannies were avoided. But for some years the governors who have come from España have desired that the parish priests should keep to their houses and say mass and preach and not meddle with the temporal government; without taking heed that in a whole province there is no other Spaniardwho governs than the alcalde-mayor himself, who generally comes from Europa and goes without reflection to take his charge without any knowledge whatever of the country or knowing even a single word of its language. Consequently, many religious, in order to avoid trouble, see and keep still, and allow everything to take what course God wills. This is one of the chief causes of the disorders of the villages, and of the increase of crime.” “Now tell me, do the alcaldes make all the wealth that they are accustomed to acquire with the kind of trade which you have explained to me?” “They have many means of hunting [buscar] for that is the technical expression used in this country, but those means vary according to circumstances. In some provinces great efforts are made to obtain posts as gobernadorcillos and officials of justice, and that department generally is worth a good sum annually. Those are things which the clerk or secretary manages. In the province of—- while Don—- was alcalde-mayor, that gentleman was in collusion with the manager of the wine monopoly and they practiced the following. The harvesters came with their wine, but they were told that it was impossible to receive it. There was a conflict within themselves, for they had to return to their village. Then they were told that if they wished to deposit the wine they would put it in certain jars which had been provided in the storehouse, by paying such and such a rent until the administration could introduce it. The harvesters, who needed the money, thereupon sold the wine to the agents of the alcalde, at any price at all in order to return to their homes. Finally, as he who had come to be an alcalde, has had no other object thanto acquire wealth, every matter which does not contribute to that object, such as the making of a bridge, or a road, the prosecution of evil doers, or any occupation purely of government or justice, distracts and troubles him. On the contrary every means of attaining his end appears to him fitting and good. This method of thought is a little more or less in the minds of all; and thus you observe that no one says here, not even excluding the religious, who are those who know the country best, ‘I have such or such reasons for gaining this suit,’ but, ‘I have so many thousand pesos to gain the suit.’ But to tell the truth, it is not to be wondered at that the alcaldes-mayor work without much scruple. In the space of six years they have to pay their passage from and to España; to satisfy the high interest on the money which they have borrowed; to acquit themselves of the amount which their alcaldeship has often cost them; and besides they make their fortunes. Not more or less is done in Turquia.”In the same way as this good man talked, the majority talk. The faults and vices of some are attributed and laid to all. It is certain that this system is fatal, for governors of such sort must be essentially interested in turning down the attempt of private speculators, and to frighten away instead the attraction of capital. That has, as a natural consequence, the increased interest on money which so endangers production, and, consequently, exportation and the encouragement of the islands. But not less fatal is the opinion that the authorities of Manila themselves are fed on such abuses. Complaints are continually presented against the alcalde, at times very captious and filled with falsehood and absurdity. The Audienciaand office of the captain-general receive those complaints kindly and very easily dictate measures humiliating for the alcalde, and impose fines on him, of which a copy is given to the complaining parties. Rarely is it that one leaves his alcaldeship without having paid many fines. The Filipinos make the greatest ado, as is natural, over those triumphs against authority, but authority loses decorum and moral force. All this comes from the bad system established, for, since the governor from the moment that he becomes a merchant, must be a bad governor and a usurer and tyrant, the government of Manila is predisposed against his acts, and declares itself the protector of the Filipinos. In this way one evil is remedied by a worse. The supreme authority instead of supporting and sustaining the subordinate government punishes and degrades it. Illusion, respect, and fear vanish. It is believed that that severity against those who rule is advantageous in making our yoke loved, and that the natives will say, “The government is kind for it punishes the alcaldes,” while it would be better for them to say, “The government is kind because it gives us good alcaldes.”Shortly after my arrival in the islands, being at the feast of Cavite, distant four hours from the capital, I wished to go thither on horseback, but all who heard of it dissuaded me from the idea, asserting that I was about to commit a rash act. Another time when I was coming from Laguna, on passing through Montinlupa, the manager of the estate of that name was so greatly alarmed that he wished to accompany me with his servants until we came near the city, and in fact I learned soon that I was runninga great danger on that road, and that shortly before a Spanish sergeant had been murdered on it. Then I was very much surprised to find that it was dangerous to go near the capital without an escort, but later I have been much more surprised to see that in provinces distant from the capital a complete security is enjoyed. In order to show the condition of the criminality of the island we shall present the following data drawn from the clerk’s office of the Audiencia.Criminal causes sentenced in the Audiencia of Filipinas between the years 1831–1837[not inclusive]YearsCauses18327518338318344318351021836108411Report of the criminal causes sentenced between the years 1836–1842[not inclusive]CrimesYearsRebellion or ConspiracyMurderRobbery Theft and ImpositionIncendiarismMobs and LampoonsFalsehood and PerjuryImmorality and ScandalWounds and rough usageTotal no. of Causes1837435422851141838108145647526038218397414915245413171840283106513415429518411312161265666749924396702616192122271609Penalties[Years]ImprisonmentDeprivation of Office and other correctivesTotal no. of Sentences[1837]699171221838]61401693131839]6192462441840]713119157[1841]317377253287353281089Total number of causes sentenced in the first five years411Idem1607Increasing the latter1196[Here follows a report in tabular form showing the number of causes in each province for the years 1840 and 1841. This table is compiled at least in part from the guide of Manila for the year 1840; the population of each province being taken therefrom. Thirty-three provinces are enumerated. The total number of causes for 1840 was 295, and for 1841, 499.]The first thing which arrests the attention in these reports is the increase of crime. The fiscal, whom I questioned in regard to this matter, told me that now many causes are elevated to process which were before finished in the interior courts, and that during these latter years many old causes had been sentenced. This may be true, but in regard to the accumulation of back cases that have been sentenced, I believe that that can only be understood from the year 1838, or even from that of 1839, because of the lack of judges in which the court found itself in 1837. No matter how it is considered, the increase is palpable, for the causes alone for murder of last year amount to more than all those of any of theyears of the first five years, and it is incredible that at that time they neglected to try people for homicide, although they did dissimulate in regard to lesser crimes. The second thing which arrests the attention is the tendency to theft, since the greater part of the homicides have been committed by robbers, and further one sees a great multitude of causes for theft. For among those two kinds of crime are found two-thirds of all kinds of criminality. This is a matter well worthy of reflection in a country where the means of existence can be procured so readily. The third [thing that arrests the attention] is the mildness of the sentences. In the last five years, when there were 439 homicides, only 28 have ascended the scaffold, one-third of those tried have been set at liberty, and 328 condemned to light punishment. One would not believe that those treated with so great mercy are (at least always) criminals for insignificant faults. A man of the village of Narbakan was tried in the year 1840 for having begotten children twice by his daughter, the second time that having been done by means of assaulting her with a dagger. The attorney asked for ten years of imprisonment, but the Audiencia did not impose any penalty and did not even condemn him to the costs, nor did it take the measure in honor of public morality of causing them to separate, but allowed them to live together as they are still doing. At the beginning of the same year, 1840, Mariano San Gerónimo, a servant from youth to a Spanish tailor called Garcia, stole one hundred pesos fuertes from his master, and another hundred from Captain Castejon, adjutant of the captain-general of the islands, who was living in his house; by extracting them from the trunks ofeach one. That of the captain-general he opened with the key which the latter’s own assistant gave him. The greater part of the money was delivered to that assistant, his accomplice; the rest was lost at play. This deed served the defender of San Geronimo, Don Agustin Ruiz de Santayana, to petition his acquittal, alleging in his favor the incapacity and irreflection which that individual had shown with the said thief. Both the criminal and his accomplice confessed, and no obstacle was presented to substantiate this verbal process. However, it lasted for more than one year. They troubled the master Garcia so much with notifications and accounts of the maintenance of the prisoner that at last he refused to have anything more to do with the matter, and abandoned the charge. The alcalde-in-ordinary sentenced San Gerónimo to six months’ imprisonment. When the Audiencia examined that clause, March 31, 1841, it ordered the prisoner to be liberated. In Inglaterra, that violator of his own daughter, and the domestic thief would have been given the death sentence on the gallows.This impunity for crimes is, to my understanding, very fatal, not only because of the encouragement which it gives on that account to criminality, but also because of the fear which gobernadorcillos and alcaldes have in arresting the guilty, for they know that they will be soon liberated and will soon take vengeance on them by robbing them, cutting down their trees, and burning their places of business. An employe of estimable qualities in the department of taxes told me that once grown tired in a certain province of seeing that no one dared to arrest a thief who had terrified the entire village, he himself took thetrouble to waylay and seize him in the very operation of committing a theft. He had him bound, and sent him to the alcalde with the general complaint. In a few weeks he saw him again in the village and had to reckon with him. I have been in the estate of Buena-Vista in the outskirts of which live very many robbers. However, they do not steal there, but they go to do that in other places, bringing there afterward horses, buffaloes, and whatever they can lay their hands on. The manager does not dare to wage war against them or to denounce their thefts, although he knows them. One night when I was there at twelve o’clock, appeared a cavalry troop sent from the neighboring province of Pampanga by Alcalde Urbina and commanded by Lieutenant Lao. With them they brought several persons who had been robbed, and took them before the official. He had a list of many whom he was to arrest. It had already been given to the justice of the village. We amounted to four or five Spaniards in that place. One of those who live there came within a few minutes to tell us secretly that those who were to do the arresting had already advised those who were to be arrested so that they might get out of the way, and so that no one could be caught. That person and the manager were silent in order not to compromise themselves, and I did the same, because the evil was already done, and in order not to abuse the confidence which they had in me. In fact, the officer and his men, and the guides, went away without having arrested a single one. A fortnight after another official, named Dayot, who knows the language of the country well, returned. Warned by what had happened the first time, he went directly to the houses wherehis guides took him; and, consequently, he seized some of them. Later he came to the estate and asked us for a very notorious fellow who was said to be absent. We assured him that we had seen that man less than an hour before. I advised Dayot to have the soldiers put aside their arms and uniforms, and send them dressed like the natives together with the guides, and if they surprised anyone to take him to the barracks; since, to imagine that the justice would aid him to arrest the criminals was to imagine something that could not be. In fact, he did that, and within three days he marched away taking five or six prisoners with him. A great state of consternation reigned throughout that district, which was good evidence of the moral condition of the inhabitants. In a few months I asked and learned that they were back already and in quiet possession of their homes. One day I was talking in Manila to the regent of the Audiencia, Don Matías de Mier, about that system of impunity which I had observed in the islands. That gentleman remarked to me: “It is not possible to take severe measures here, Señor Mas, for it is necessary to govern here with mildness.” I praise and esteem most sincerely the benevolent ideas and the good heart of Señor Mier, but it seems to me that his words might be answered somewhat by those of Jeremias Bentham:4“How many praises are wasted on mercy! It has been repeated, time and time again, that that is the first virtue of a sovereign. Surely if crime consists only in an offense to one’s self-love, if it is no more than a satire which is directed against him or his favorites, the moderation ofthe prince is meritorious. The pardon which he grants is a triumph obtained over himself! But when one treats of a crime against society, the pardon is not an act of clemency, it is a downright prevarication.... Every criminal who escapes justice threatens the public safety and innocence is not protected by being exposed to become the victim of a new crime. When a criminal is absolved all the crimes that he can perpetuate are committed by his hands.” In no army are there so many executions as in that in which slight faults are disregarded. How many charges can be laid to the door of the one who carried away by a poorly understood charity, contributes to the increase, in any society, of assault, theft, assassination, tears, and executions. “Every pardon granted to a criminal,” says Filangieri,5“is a crime committed against humanity.” I cannot conceive how there is anyone who can imagine that the exercise of kindness to evil doers is useful or agreeable to the good. I believe, on the contrary, that those are lamented by the people who are unsafe in their houses while they are paying contributions to the government which is obliged to protect them. [Other reflections of a similar nature follow.]The tribunal might declare that it works in accordance with the spirit of theLeyes de Indias, but be that as it may, it is, in my opinion, certain that with this system of tolerating everything from the natives, and of punishing and degrading the subordinate authorities, the Audiencia of Manila is losing the islands.So far am I removed from being a bloodthirsty individual that I would like to see the death sentence removed from our criminal code. It would be useless to repeat in support of my opinion the ideas expressed by many celebrated socialists in regard to the abolition of capital punishment, but I will make one observation only, which I have read in no author. The criminal ought always to inspire public scorn and horror, but from the instant in which he is seen on the scaffold, the aversion of people becomes calm, and he is converted into an unfortunate fellow and an object of compassion. This impression does not seem proper to me. Further, restricting myself to Filipinas I shall say that since the penalties are imposed so that fear of them may keep others from committing the crimes, the death penalty does not cause in that country the same effect as in others, for its natives have a distinct physical organization from us, and their instinct of life is much less strong than that of the Europeans. Consequently, outside of cases in which one treats of questions vital for the colony, I believe that the death penalty is a useless cruelty. To mark those criminals well, and to use them in public works, or in agriculture, would be much more advantageous, and would better conserve the real object to which laws should tend, namely, thecommon good.One of the things which contributes to the increase of crime is the prohibition in which the chiefs of the provinces find themselves from applying corporal punishment, without the approval of the Audiencia. For if a cause were to be made for the theft of buffaloes, horses, etc., it would be an interminable matter. To put the Filipino in jail is to move him to a betterdwelling than his own. Then he is given his food there, which, however little and poor it be, will never be less than that to which he is accustomed daily. He does not work; on the contrary he lies stretched out all day, and that is his happiness. Besides, he finds in the same dwelling other fellow-countrymen with whom to converse and to chew buyo. Consequently, in the country, the idea of going to prison is very far from the impression that it gives in España where men are always animated by the spirit of activity and love to society. It has happened many times and I have seen it, that prisoners escape to attend a feast or go on a pilgrimage, and as soon as that is over they return to present themselves. I am of the opinion that the prison ought alone to be used as a means of detention, and that for light punishments, the lash should be applied. The idea of beating a man is repugnant to many philanthropic persons, for they say that such punishment is for beasts. However, for certain people who do not know what self esteem and honor mean, material punishments are necessary. How can one infuse fear and aversion to crime in one who despises that powerful stimulus for well doing? Who will tell us? This question is still disputed in cultured Europa and the civilized English have not dared to banish the rod from their military code. The first thing which is seen in the hut of any Filipino is the rattan for bringing up their children, and whoever has been in the country for some years thinks that all the provinces would be most tranquil and free from highwaymen if less papers were written and more beatings given.There are over 80 advocates in Filipinas. The majority have studied in Manila in the same manneras they did a century ago in España. It might be said that they belong to the casuist school. The preparation for any lawsuit is consequential and the superfluous writs innumerable, as our system has always been to open all the doors to the innocence of the natives; and many of the advocates are of that same class or are Chinese mestizos. The language which they use is often indecorous, bold, lacking in purity and idiom, and even in grammatical construction. The Audiencia endures it as it is the old style custom, for in times past there were few advocates capable of explaining themselves better. The Filipinos believe that composed and moderate writs can have no effect at court, and they are only contented with those which are full of invective, reticence, interrogation, and exclamation.Since the alcaldes of the first instance are laymen, they have to appoint an assessor and very often when one party sees that his suit is badly prepared, he challenges the assessor even three times. It is an abusive matter, and to the prejudice of justice, for in case of challenge of the assessor, that ought to be done at the moment that he is notified of his appointment, and not after seeing that which is not favorable to him, and that judgment is near.TheLeyes de Indias, compiled in 1754, and all the previous decrees and royal orders before that time still rule in Filipinas, in addition to the decrees and edicts of the governor-general. Of all this there is nothing, or very little, printed. The advocates generally know the laws in force by tradition and hear-say, but when they need any of the laws they have to look for it in the house of some friend, or, if not that, in the secretary’s office of the government, whencevery frequently it has disappeared, or in the office of the fiscal, or that of the intendant; because some orders are communicated by grace and justice, and others by the treasury or by other ministries. He who has no relatives or is new in the country is ignorant of the rules in force, or has not the means of acquiring them. Besides so far as they are not overthrown by theLeyes de Indiasthe laws of theSiete Partidashave as much force as do the latestRecopilación,6Roman law, royal and old law, and, in fact, all the confused mass of the Spanish codes. Consequently, it is a vast sea in which are found abundantly the resources necessary to mix up matters and stultify the course of justice. In English India, a book is printed annually of all the orders which have been communicated to the tribunals and governors. This forms a collection which is entitledThe Regulations, which is now being translated into the language of the natives by order of the government.There are orders and even articles of the ordinances of good government to specify the price of food. These schedules are very often, as is evident, the cause of the disappearance of things, and, as they are not found in the market it is necessary to petition the gobernadorcillo to provide food which he is obliged to furnish at the price named in this schedule; and at times where there are many Spaniards and soldiers, that amounts to hundreds of fowls, eggs, etc., which the village must supply monthly and even daily. This is not only an odious task, but also the reason for infamous vexations on the part of the cabezas de barangai, for the unhappycailianesare those who have to furnish it all without even collectinga thing. It must be well known that cheapness in articles proceeds only from collecting those articles and this proceeds only from abundance, and abundance only from freedom in the market; and the assigning of a low price to any article by schedule is the most direct method of restricting its production and heightening its price.After all that we have set forth, one can well say that the department of the administration of justice is what needs the most prompt and speedy reform. From that, then, it is obvious that all the alcaldes-mayor ought to be jurisconsults. The custom of allowing governors to trade is not suitable for the age in which we live, surely, although there are some who do not abuse their position, and today there are some who can be presented as models of honor and nobility, especially Don Juan Castilla who governs in Samar, and Don Francisco Gutierrez de los Rios in Laguna. Not only is the latter free from the avarice and other faults which are so common to other alcaldes, and does not make use of the permission to trade, but also recognizes the defects of the present administration, and declaims in the bosom of his friends against them, since he is imbued with the sane principles of justice and political economy. But in such matters one must not reckon on virtue but always with human nature. One day happening to question one of the most judicious and kind persons whom I have known in the islands, how Alcalde Peñaranda had happened to lose his money, he answered me: “He gave it to an agent to use, he to share in the profits, and then paid no attention to it for three years after. He gave up his time very greatly to the building of bridges and roads, andwhile he was busy in suchbits of foolishness, the other made the most of his time and consumed it all.” Another person, of whose philanthropy and gentlemanliness I have positive proofs, told me that if he obtained the government of a province, he would assemble all the influential men and make them an offer to renounce all trade provided that they gave him a certain annual sum. I replied to him that that was an impracticable project and stated my reasons. “Then,” replied he, “I would harass everyone who engaged in trade until he ceased it, or left the province, and it would be all the worse for him.” Such are the evils of a bad system. One becomes accustomed to the idea that a government post offers the opportunity of making money and nothing else. The moment that one has obtained office, he believes that he has a right to make money, without considering the means to any extent; while he who is careless of his own interests and busies himself in the progress of the province, like Señor Peñaranda, is ridiculed and called a fool.Many believe that to prohibit the alcaldes from trading would be useless, because they would do it by all means through a second person. There might be some fraud, but there is no doubt but that the evil would be remedied, if not wholly, in great measure, especially if any contract in regard to business interests signed by the alcaldes in Filipinas be declared null and void; for it is very difficult to find in the country persons to whom to hand over a capital and be sure of their good faith, and it is not easy to take them with him from España. And even leaving aside these disadvantages, it will always result from the prohibition that the agent of the alcalde will haveto manage his money with great secrecy and as if it were his own, in which case there would be no trouble. The government of India was a few years ago entirely commercial, but since the commerce was prohibited, none of its dependents engage in it. Those who have savings deposit them in one of the banks or in one of the good commercial houses there at four or five per cent, or indeed they buy public stock or speculate with them. Alcaldeships in my opinion ought to be divided into three classes and given to individuals, all of them advocates, who would form a body of civil employes. When an alcaldeship of the first class fell vacant, it would be given to the senior advocate in charge of those of the second class, and so on. The regulation that alcaldes were to remain in the country only six years was founded certainly on the fear that they might acquire a dangerous influence over the country. To the degree that the precaution is not unfounded, the term is very short for so long a distance, for among other obstacles it contains the one that when a chief is beginning to know the country he has to leave it. Fifteen or twenty years would be a more fitting time.In English India all the civil and military employes know the language of the country. That extreme, however advantageous it be, and is, in fact could be brought about here only with difficulty. It would have been easy if one of the dialects of the islands had been established from the beginning as the language of the government and of the courts; for a Visayan learns Tagálog very quickly, and any other idiom of the country, and the same thing is true of the other natives.[If that had been done] all would at this momentshow well or poorly the dominant language, just as in Cataluña, Valencia, the Baleares Islands, and the Basque provinces, Castilian is known. But this is not a matter which can be remedied in a brief time. Consequently, if an alcalde who is beginning to administer justice in Cagayan has to go immediately to Cebú, he will surely arrive there without knowing the language, although he had given himself to the study of it from the very beginning. But if this is an evil, this evil is now being endured, for the alcaldes arrive from España, and since they know that they have to return in six years, they do not take the least trouble to learn the language, and they leave the government in this regard just as when they entered it.In the capital and its suburbs, justice is administered by means of two lay alcaldes, who are appointed annually by the ayuntamiento from the citizens of the city. When the appointees are men of wealth, they resign, for this charge alone occasions them ill-humor and serious occupations which distract them from their business. Those who accept or desire it, can have no other stimulus than that of vile interest, tolerating prohibited games, etc. It is, then, necessary to appoint two lawyers with suitable pay to be judges of first instance.Everyone knows what theLeyes de Indiasare, the epoch in which they were made, and the distinct regions for which they were dictated. It is, then, indispensable and peremptory to make the civil codes of legal processes, of criminal instruction, and of commerce especially for the country.In India there is a commission of the government composed of four votes and a president, chargedwith making and revising the laws of India. For the same purpose, in my opinion, three persons who had studied or should study the country would be sufficient here. In such case I would be of the opinion that they be not allowed to do their work together, but that each one work alone and present his results. Another commission ought to be appointed immediately (there would be no harm in those same men forming it) to examine the codes and present a résumé of the points in which they differed essentially. These would be few and in regard to them the government could take the best resolution.1Alcalde de monterilla: An ironical and descriptive qualification of petty judges (Dominguez’sDiccionario).2As appears from a note by Mas, the alcaldes paid a certain sum for the privilege of trading. Their salaries in 1840 were variously for the sums of 300, 600, and 1,000 (one instance) pesos. The trading privilege cost from 40 to 300 pesos.3This is the famous philosophical treatise on political science, which was published by Charles de Secondat, baron de la Brède de Montesquieu, in 1748, and was the product of twenty years’ work.4Jeremy Bentham, the English jurist and philosopher who lived in the years 1748–1832.5Probably referring toLa scienza della legislazioneof Gaetano Filangieri, the Italian jurist, who lived 1752–88. He was influenced somewhat by Montesquieu.6i.e., Of the Leyes de Indias.Bibliographical DataThe following document is obtained from a MS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla:1.Letter from the archbishop of Manila.—“Simancas—Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes de arzobispo de Manila; años 1579 á 1697; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 32.”The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid:2.Jesuit protest.—“Papeles de los Jesuitas, to. 4o., no. 259.”The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Archivo general, Simancas:3. Paz’sDescription of Philipinas.—“Consejo de Inquisicion, libro 786.” (We present such part of this document as relates to the Philippines.)The following are taken from the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library):4.Condition of Philippines, 1652.—Tomo ii, pp. 385–390.5.Jesuit missions, 1655.—Tomo ii, pp. 391–399.6.Events in Manila, 1662–63.—Tomo ii, pp. 421–480.7.Letter from Salcedo.—Tomo ii, pp. 481–483.8.Friars and episcopal visitation.—Tomo ii, pp. 401–419.The following is obtained from Retana’sArchivo:9.Royal funeral rites.—Tomo ii, pp. 105–158.The following are taken from Pastells’s edition of Colin’sLabor evangélica:10.Aid asked for Jesuits.—Tomo iii, pp. 786, 787.11.Two Jesuit memorials.—Tomo iii, pp. 804, 805.The following is taken fromHistoria general de los religiosos descalzos ... de San Agustin:12.Recollect missions, 1646–60.—Part ii, by Luis de Jesús (Madrid, 1681), pp. 371–373, from a copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago; and part iii, by Diego de Santa Theresa (Barcelona, 1743) pp. 134–558, from a copy in the Library of Congress—using only such matter as relates to the Philippines.The following is obtained from an old pamphlet not usually included in Philippine bibliographies:13.Description of Filipinas, 1662.—From a pamphlet published at Puebla, Mexico, in 1662; it is bound in with Letona’sPerfecta religiosa(Puebla, 1662, a rare work), in the copy possessed by Antonio Graiño y Martinez, Madrid.The following is obtained from Sinibaldo de Mas’sInforme de las Islas Filipinas:14.Administracion de Justicia(1842).—Vol. ii, no. 12.Table of ContentsContents of Volume XXXVIIllustrationsPrefaceDocuments of 1649–1658Royal Funeral Rites at ManilaRoyal Aid for Jesuits Asked by Manila CabildoCondition of the Philippines in 1652Jesuit Missions in 1655Bishopric of Cebu, or of Santisimo Nombre de JesusIsland of LeyteIsland of Samar and YbabaoOtonIsland of NegrosMindanaoTerrenate and SiaoThe Mindanao MissionsThe jurisdiction of Iligan, with its residence of DapitanLetter from the Archbishop of Manila to Felipe IVTwo Jesuit Memorials, Regarding Religious in the Moluccas, and the InquisitionJesuit Protest against the Dominican UniversityDescription of the Philipinas IslandsArchbishopric of ManilaHamlets falling in the circumference of the city of ManilaPort of CabitteBishopric of Cagayan or Nueva SegoviaBishopric of Camarines or Nueva CazeresBishopric of Sebu or Nombre de JesusTerrenateDocuments of 1660–1666Recollect Missions, 1646–60Chapter SixthChapter SeventhDecade Seventh—Book FirstChapter I§ II§ III§ VI§ VIIChapter II§ VIBook Second of the Seventh DecadeChapter II§ I§ II§ IIIDescription of Filipinas IslandsDistribution of these islandsClimate, population, and productsThe city of ManilaThe ecclesiastical estateReligious orders in FilipinasEvents in Manila, 1662–63Letter from Governor Salcedo to Francisco YzquierdoWhy the Friars are not Subjected to Episcopal VisitationAppendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842Bibliographical DataColophonAvailabilityThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.org.Page scans of this work are available in theThe United States and its Territoriescollectiona the University of Michigan.EncodingRevision History2009-10-24 Started.External ReferencesThis Project Gutenberg eBook contains external references. These links may not work for you.CorrectionsThe following corrections have been applied to the text:PageSourceCorrection18abcorbsabsorbs176thanthat211knowlegeknowledge

Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842Source: This is from Sinibaldo de Mas’sInforme de las Islas Filipinas, ii, no. 12.Translation: This is by James Alexander Robertson.

Source: This is from Sinibaldo de Mas’sInforme de las Islas Filipinas, ii, no. 12.

Translation: This is by James Alexander Robertson.

Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842[In addition to the following account by Mas, the student desirous of pursuing the subject will find much data in the variousGuias de Filipinas. Some statistics are also presented by Montero y Vidal (Archipielago Filipino, pp. 194–203) for the years 1883–1884. Much of value and interest will also be found in the various reports of the Philippine Commission, and in the numerous pamphlets issued by the United States Government.]Justice is administered by means of an Audiencia, which has the title of royal, and resides in Manila, being composed of one regent, and five judges; by means of alcaldes-mayor who govern the provinces; and by the gobernadorcillo whom each village has and who is equivalent to our alcalde de monterilla.1The latter proceeds in criminal cases to the formation of a verbal process, and tries civil causes up to the value of two tailes of gold or 44 pesos fuertes.The royal Audiencia is a court without appeal in Filipinas. The alcaldes-mayor cannot terminate by their own action civil questions that have to do with a sum of greater value than 100 pesos fuertes, orimpose any corporal punishment without the approval of the Audiencia, and then only imprisonment for one week. But they are judges of the first instance for every kind of litigious or criminal cases.In order that one may obtain the post of alcalde-mayor, it is not necessary that he should have studied law. Hence, the greater part of the heads of the provinces are laymen in that respect. Generally those posts are given to military men. Consequently, this is the origin that for every process which is prosecuted in a lawsuit or cause, the alcalde has to have recourse to an assessor, in order to obtain the opinion of that one on which to base his action. But since the advocates reside in Manila, the records have to make at times many trips from the province to the capital. From this results the inconvenience of delay, the liability of theft, or the destruction of the mail. For, in the many rivers that must be crossed, the papers become so wet that they are useless (as happened with several letters of a post which was received in the chief city of a province when I was there, the envelopes of which it was impossible for us to read), and the malicious extraction in order to obscure the course of justice. The defect of this system can only be understood if one reflect that the various provinces of the colony are not situated on a continent, but in various islands, and that by reason of the periodic winds and the hurricanes which prevail in this region, the capital very often finds itself without news of some provinces for two or three months, and of that of Marianas for whole years.It appears that what we have said ought to be sufficient to show the necessity of radical reforms in this department, but, unfortunately, there are othermore grave reasons for such reform. The alcaldes-mayor are permitted to engage in business.2The author ofLes Estrits des Lois3said many years ago that the worst of governments is the commercial government; and surely, for those who have studied the science of government, all comment on this point is superfluous. The alcalde who is permitted to engage in business naturally tries, if possible, to monopolize it by all means in his power. This vice of the system leads some greedy men to the greatest excesses, which later are attributed to all alcaldes in general. Upon my arrival at Manila, I asked a very respectable Spaniard who had been in the country for many years about what happens in the provinces. He replied to me: “You know that the alcaldeships are reported to be worth 40,000 or 50,000 duros, and he who seeks one of those posts very earnestly has no other object or hope than to acquire a capital in the six years for which the government confers them. Before going to his province, he borrows 8,000 or 10,000 duros from one of the charitable funds at such and such a per cent. Besides, he has to pay an interest to those who act as bondsmen for him, both to the government for the royal treasury, and to the charitable funds which supply him with money. When he arrives at his province he acts according to conditions ruling in that province, for not all provincesare alike in their productions and circumstances. He generally establishes a supply store, and, consequently, from that moment, any other storekeeper is his rival and enemy. If such storekeeper has a creditor whom he tries to hurry up and goes to the alcalde, he gets no protection. If any theft happens to him the same thing more or less occurs; for, although the alcalde orders efforts made to ascertain the thief, far from taking those measures earnestly, he is secretly glad of the losses of his rivals, and it has even been asserted that there are cases in which the alcalde himself has been the instigator of the crime. Who is your enemy? That of your trade. But does the alcalde himself sell the goods? Sometimes he sells and measures them, at other times he keeps an agent in the store; the most usual thing is, if he is married, for his wife to take charge of the expense, especially of those goods of any value. But his greatest gain consists in making advances of money at the time of the sowing, the period when the Indians need it and try to get it at any cost, for their negligence and their vices do not allow them to foresee such a case and be prepared for it. For example: a farmer signs a paper for the alcalde which obliges him to deliver at harvest time ten measures of sugar, which are worth at least two and one-half duros, and he himself receives only one and one-half, consequently, by that operation alone of advancing money, the alcalde-mayor sometimes gains 40 per cent. But what generally happens is that the Indian is so short sighted and is so indifferent to the future that he signs any burdensome obligation provided he gets some money, and he only takes account of what they give him withoutthinking of what they are going to get from him. For example, the alcalde gives him 60 duros as an advance for forty measures of sugar at the harvest time. The harvest is bad and he can only give 20. In such case the reckoning is after the following fashion: ‘The sugar has been sold for 4 duros, and hence 20 measures will amount to 80 duros. You cannot pay them to me, consequently they can just as well remain as an advance for the coming year at one and one-half.’ In consequence of that the farmer signs a paper by which he enters under obligation to deliver 53 measures at the next harvest. Harvest time comes, and if it is bad, he only presents, say, 13. Therefore, 40 measures at 4 duros amount to 160 duros of debt, and at one and one-half make 108 measures for the following year. In this way the man keeps on adding more and more until all his goods are at the disposal of the alcalde. Besides, there are innumerable other vexations to which he must subject himself. For instance: he has to deliver to the alcalde 100 cabans of rice; when he presents them the alcalde measures them out with a larger measure than that used in the market. Hence, in reality, the alcalde exacts from him more than he is bound to pay. The same thing happens with indigo. For, a discussion arises as to whether the indigo is, or is not, very damp, and some libras must be taken off for waste; or, whether it is of poorer quality than the Indian promised, and so on.” “But surely it must needs be that it is fitting to take money advanced, since there is one who seeks it, and it is worth more for a farmer to cultivate his land in this way than that he leave it without cultivation for lack of the necessary capital. In regard to the tyrannieswhich the alcalde tries to commit, it seems to me that they might be avoided by the countryman borrowing the money from a private person who is not in position to annoy him.” “That is all very well thought out, but I will tell you what happens. The Indian borrows money very easily, but it is very difficult to get him to pay it, and he generally avoids doing so, if possible. If a private person lends him money and does not collect it when due, he has to go to the alcalde in order that the latter may force payment. The latter either does so coldly, or pays no attention to the whole matter, since his intention is that such private persons take warning and never again lend to anyone; for, it is evident, that if many come to speculate in this kind of business, the alcalde will soon be shut out, or at least will have to submit himself to the general rules. Consequently, the result is that capitalists draw back from him, saying, and very rightly, that it is only fitting for the alcaldes who possess the means to cause themselves to be paid when a debt is due. The alcalde, then, remains master of the field, and monopolizes this department at his pleasure, for he who needs funds has to go to him, for there are very few who enjoy enough credit to get them elsewhere. Many other advantages also favor the alcalde. The parish priests aid him, and many times take charge of the division of the money of the alcalde in their villages, for they know that that is the sure means of keeping on good terms with him, and obtaining the measures which depend on his will in the matters of their villages. The gobernadorcillos and officials of justice are other instruments of which the alcalde makes use to apportion and collect his funds.” “Why is it that these do notoccupy themselves rather in their affairs than in those of the alcalde?” “The alcalde can always, whenever he wishes, make trouble for the gobernadorcillo by making him go to the chief village with innumerable pretexts, and by various other methods which it would take a long time to enumerate, and which it is very easy to conceive. Besides, it is important for the alcalde to keep the gobernadorcillo satisfied. Suppose now, that a road has to be built, or a bamboo bridge, or any other work for which the people of the village who have to do it, according to their obligation called polos and services, are summoned. As some of them are busy in their fields or other business, they wish to be free from such a burden, and they give the gobernadorcillo two or three reals and he excuses them on the ground of sickness. A party of troops or a Spaniard passes by and asks for some beast of burden, or an aid in food. That is also an occasion for the gobernadorcillo to get even with those whom he dislikes and obtain part of his demands; for some give him presents in order that he may not give the beasts of burden, while others do not receive the pay for that food. During the days of tiangui or village fairs, such and such a sum is exacted for each post in the market place. In general there are some men of service calledbantayaneswho are a kind of sentinel placed at the entrances of villages. Many of them also pay to be excused from that burden when their turn comes or when they are told that it comes. In general he has ten or twelve men calledhonos,manbaras, etc., given to him, who are exempt from polos and services, and they serve the ayuntamiento to send papers, conduct prisoners, etc., and the gobernadorcillogives them permission so that they may cultivate their lands, by collecting from them a contribution.” “But it seems to me that the gobernadorcillo will have to give account, if not for all, at least for many of the taxes that you have mentioned.” “It ought to be so, and in fact, some enter into the communal treasury, but they are the fewest and those connected with the legal matters, for of the others there is nothing to be said. For example: I have seen an order enclosing a fine as a punishment on the gobernadorcillo for some fault or misdeed that he had committed. He assembles the cabezas de barangai; the whole sum is apportioned among the people of the village. The amount of the fine is collected and the gobernadorcillo has still something left for his maintenance and revelling.” “Why do they not complain to the alcalde?” “Because, sir, of just what I told you. The alcalde needs the gobernadorcillo so that he may use him in his business, and for all such things he is a very far-sighted man. Besides, the alcalde who tries to investigate those snares of the tribunals (ayuntamientos) will lose his senses without deriving any benefit from it. He does not know the language. As interpreter he has the clerk, who is an Indian, and the entangler-in-chief, and almost always in accord with the Indian magnates.” “If the clerk is a bad man, will he not be hated?” “I do not say that he is beloved, but some fear him, and others are his accomplices. Since the alcalde is, in reality, a business man, he naturally takes more interest in his business than in that of other people, and leaves all court matters in charge of the clerk, who comes to be the arbiter in that matter, and here is where the latter reapshis harvest. One of the members of the tribunal (ayuntamiento) steals, or causes to be stolen from some man his buffalo. The man finds out where it is; he complains to the gobernadorcillo; they begin to take measures; at last the animal is returned to him, but if it is worth five duros, they make him pay ten duros in expenses so that the man either considers his beast as lost and the thieves keep it, or the latter get from him twice as much as it is worth. Hence, if I were to tell all that passes in this wise, my story would be very long. One of the things which they are accustomed to do is to let the prisoners go out of the prison for several days without the government knowing it. I have seen that done this very year of 1841 in the province of—-, in regard to some prisoners whom the alcalde-mayor believed to be in prison; but they were working on the estate of the clerk, and one of those prisoners had committed very serious crimes.” “But why do not the curas remedy all that? I have heard it said that they are really the ones who govern the villages.” “In reality, when the curas take that matter upon themselves, those abuses are remedied, at least in great measure, for they know the language well, and every one in their village knows the truth, if the cura wishes to ascertain it. That is what happened in former times. And also at that time the communal funds were deposited in the convent, and [thus] many tricks and tyrannies were avoided. But for some years the governors who have come from España have desired that the parish priests should keep to their houses and say mass and preach and not meddle with the temporal government; without taking heed that in a whole province there is no other Spaniardwho governs than the alcalde-mayor himself, who generally comes from Europa and goes without reflection to take his charge without any knowledge whatever of the country or knowing even a single word of its language. Consequently, many religious, in order to avoid trouble, see and keep still, and allow everything to take what course God wills. This is one of the chief causes of the disorders of the villages, and of the increase of crime.” “Now tell me, do the alcaldes make all the wealth that they are accustomed to acquire with the kind of trade which you have explained to me?” “They have many means of hunting [buscar] for that is the technical expression used in this country, but those means vary according to circumstances. In some provinces great efforts are made to obtain posts as gobernadorcillos and officials of justice, and that department generally is worth a good sum annually. Those are things which the clerk or secretary manages. In the province of—- while Don—- was alcalde-mayor, that gentleman was in collusion with the manager of the wine monopoly and they practiced the following. The harvesters came with their wine, but they were told that it was impossible to receive it. There was a conflict within themselves, for they had to return to their village. Then they were told that if they wished to deposit the wine they would put it in certain jars which had been provided in the storehouse, by paying such and such a rent until the administration could introduce it. The harvesters, who needed the money, thereupon sold the wine to the agents of the alcalde, at any price at all in order to return to their homes. Finally, as he who had come to be an alcalde, has had no other object thanto acquire wealth, every matter which does not contribute to that object, such as the making of a bridge, or a road, the prosecution of evil doers, or any occupation purely of government or justice, distracts and troubles him. On the contrary every means of attaining his end appears to him fitting and good. This method of thought is a little more or less in the minds of all; and thus you observe that no one says here, not even excluding the religious, who are those who know the country best, ‘I have such or such reasons for gaining this suit,’ but, ‘I have so many thousand pesos to gain the suit.’ But to tell the truth, it is not to be wondered at that the alcaldes-mayor work without much scruple. In the space of six years they have to pay their passage from and to España; to satisfy the high interest on the money which they have borrowed; to acquit themselves of the amount which their alcaldeship has often cost them; and besides they make their fortunes. Not more or less is done in Turquia.”In the same way as this good man talked, the majority talk. The faults and vices of some are attributed and laid to all. It is certain that this system is fatal, for governors of such sort must be essentially interested in turning down the attempt of private speculators, and to frighten away instead the attraction of capital. That has, as a natural consequence, the increased interest on money which so endangers production, and, consequently, exportation and the encouragement of the islands. But not less fatal is the opinion that the authorities of Manila themselves are fed on such abuses. Complaints are continually presented against the alcalde, at times very captious and filled with falsehood and absurdity. The Audienciaand office of the captain-general receive those complaints kindly and very easily dictate measures humiliating for the alcalde, and impose fines on him, of which a copy is given to the complaining parties. Rarely is it that one leaves his alcaldeship without having paid many fines. The Filipinos make the greatest ado, as is natural, over those triumphs against authority, but authority loses decorum and moral force. All this comes from the bad system established, for, since the governor from the moment that he becomes a merchant, must be a bad governor and a usurer and tyrant, the government of Manila is predisposed against his acts, and declares itself the protector of the Filipinos. In this way one evil is remedied by a worse. The supreme authority instead of supporting and sustaining the subordinate government punishes and degrades it. Illusion, respect, and fear vanish. It is believed that that severity against those who rule is advantageous in making our yoke loved, and that the natives will say, “The government is kind for it punishes the alcaldes,” while it would be better for them to say, “The government is kind because it gives us good alcaldes.”Shortly after my arrival in the islands, being at the feast of Cavite, distant four hours from the capital, I wished to go thither on horseback, but all who heard of it dissuaded me from the idea, asserting that I was about to commit a rash act. Another time when I was coming from Laguna, on passing through Montinlupa, the manager of the estate of that name was so greatly alarmed that he wished to accompany me with his servants until we came near the city, and in fact I learned soon that I was runninga great danger on that road, and that shortly before a Spanish sergeant had been murdered on it. Then I was very much surprised to find that it was dangerous to go near the capital without an escort, but later I have been much more surprised to see that in provinces distant from the capital a complete security is enjoyed. In order to show the condition of the criminality of the island we shall present the following data drawn from the clerk’s office of the Audiencia.Criminal causes sentenced in the Audiencia of Filipinas between the years 1831–1837[not inclusive]YearsCauses18327518338318344318351021836108411Report of the criminal causes sentenced between the years 1836–1842[not inclusive]CrimesYearsRebellion or ConspiracyMurderRobbery Theft and ImpositionIncendiarismMobs and LampoonsFalsehood and PerjuryImmorality and ScandalWounds and rough usageTotal no. of Causes1837435422851141838108145647526038218397414915245413171840283106513415429518411312161265666749924396702616192122271609Penalties[Years]ImprisonmentDeprivation of Office and other correctivesTotal no. of Sentences[1837]699171221838]61401693131839]6192462441840]713119157[1841]317377253287353281089Total number of causes sentenced in the first five years411Idem1607Increasing the latter1196[Here follows a report in tabular form showing the number of causes in each province for the years 1840 and 1841. This table is compiled at least in part from the guide of Manila for the year 1840; the population of each province being taken therefrom. Thirty-three provinces are enumerated. The total number of causes for 1840 was 295, and for 1841, 499.]The first thing which arrests the attention in these reports is the increase of crime. The fiscal, whom I questioned in regard to this matter, told me that now many causes are elevated to process which were before finished in the interior courts, and that during these latter years many old causes had been sentenced. This may be true, but in regard to the accumulation of back cases that have been sentenced, I believe that that can only be understood from the year 1838, or even from that of 1839, because of the lack of judges in which the court found itself in 1837. No matter how it is considered, the increase is palpable, for the causes alone for murder of last year amount to more than all those of any of theyears of the first five years, and it is incredible that at that time they neglected to try people for homicide, although they did dissimulate in regard to lesser crimes. The second thing which arrests the attention is the tendency to theft, since the greater part of the homicides have been committed by robbers, and further one sees a great multitude of causes for theft. For among those two kinds of crime are found two-thirds of all kinds of criminality. This is a matter well worthy of reflection in a country where the means of existence can be procured so readily. The third [thing that arrests the attention] is the mildness of the sentences. In the last five years, when there were 439 homicides, only 28 have ascended the scaffold, one-third of those tried have been set at liberty, and 328 condemned to light punishment. One would not believe that those treated with so great mercy are (at least always) criminals for insignificant faults. A man of the village of Narbakan was tried in the year 1840 for having begotten children twice by his daughter, the second time that having been done by means of assaulting her with a dagger. The attorney asked for ten years of imprisonment, but the Audiencia did not impose any penalty and did not even condemn him to the costs, nor did it take the measure in honor of public morality of causing them to separate, but allowed them to live together as they are still doing. At the beginning of the same year, 1840, Mariano San Gerónimo, a servant from youth to a Spanish tailor called Garcia, stole one hundred pesos fuertes from his master, and another hundred from Captain Castejon, adjutant of the captain-general of the islands, who was living in his house; by extracting them from the trunks ofeach one. That of the captain-general he opened with the key which the latter’s own assistant gave him. The greater part of the money was delivered to that assistant, his accomplice; the rest was lost at play. This deed served the defender of San Geronimo, Don Agustin Ruiz de Santayana, to petition his acquittal, alleging in his favor the incapacity and irreflection which that individual had shown with the said thief. Both the criminal and his accomplice confessed, and no obstacle was presented to substantiate this verbal process. However, it lasted for more than one year. They troubled the master Garcia so much with notifications and accounts of the maintenance of the prisoner that at last he refused to have anything more to do with the matter, and abandoned the charge. The alcalde-in-ordinary sentenced San Gerónimo to six months’ imprisonment. When the Audiencia examined that clause, March 31, 1841, it ordered the prisoner to be liberated. In Inglaterra, that violator of his own daughter, and the domestic thief would have been given the death sentence on the gallows.This impunity for crimes is, to my understanding, very fatal, not only because of the encouragement which it gives on that account to criminality, but also because of the fear which gobernadorcillos and alcaldes have in arresting the guilty, for they know that they will be soon liberated and will soon take vengeance on them by robbing them, cutting down their trees, and burning their places of business. An employe of estimable qualities in the department of taxes told me that once grown tired in a certain province of seeing that no one dared to arrest a thief who had terrified the entire village, he himself took thetrouble to waylay and seize him in the very operation of committing a theft. He had him bound, and sent him to the alcalde with the general complaint. In a few weeks he saw him again in the village and had to reckon with him. I have been in the estate of Buena-Vista in the outskirts of which live very many robbers. However, they do not steal there, but they go to do that in other places, bringing there afterward horses, buffaloes, and whatever they can lay their hands on. The manager does not dare to wage war against them or to denounce their thefts, although he knows them. One night when I was there at twelve o’clock, appeared a cavalry troop sent from the neighboring province of Pampanga by Alcalde Urbina and commanded by Lieutenant Lao. With them they brought several persons who had been robbed, and took them before the official. He had a list of many whom he was to arrest. It had already been given to the justice of the village. We amounted to four or five Spaniards in that place. One of those who live there came within a few minutes to tell us secretly that those who were to do the arresting had already advised those who were to be arrested so that they might get out of the way, and so that no one could be caught. That person and the manager were silent in order not to compromise themselves, and I did the same, because the evil was already done, and in order not to abuse the confidence which they had in me. In fact, the officer and his men, and the guides, went away without having arrested a single one. A fortnight after another official, named Dayot, who knows the language of the country well, returned. Warned by what had happened the first time, he went directly to the houses wherehis guides took him; and, consequently, he seized some of them. Later he came to the estate and asked us for a very notorious fellow who was said to be absent. We assured him that we had seen that man less than an hour before. I advised Dayot to have the soldiers put aside their arms and uniforms, and send them dressed like the natives together with the guides, and if they surprised anyone to take him to the barracks; since, to imagine that the justice would aid him to arrest the criminals was to imagine something that could not be. In fact, he did that, and within three days he marched away taking five or six prisoners with him. A great state of consternation reigned throughout that district, which was good evidence of the moral condition of the inhabitants. In a few months I asked and learned that they were back already and in quiet possession of their homes. One day I was talking in Manila to the regent of the Audiencia, Don Matías de Mier, about that system of impunity which I had observed in the islands. That gentleman remarked to me: “It is not possible to take severe measures here, Señor Mas, for it is necessary to govern here with mildness.” I praise and esteem most sincerely the benevolent ideas and the good heart of Señor Mier, but it seems to me that his words might be answered somewhat by those of Jeremias Bentham:4“How many praises are wasted on mercy! It has been repeated, time and time again, that that is the first virtue of a sovereign. Surely if crime consists only in an offense to one’s self-love, if it is no more than a satire which is directed against him or his favorites, the moderation ofthe prince is meritorious. The pardon which he grants is a triumph obtained over himself! But when one treats of a crime against society, the pardon is not an act of clemency, it is a downright prevarication.... Every criminal who escapes justice threatens the public safety and innocence is not protected by being exposed to become the victim of a new crime. When a criminal is absolved all the crimes that he can perpetuate are committed by his hands.” In no army are there so many executions as in that in which slight faults are disregarded. How many charges can be laid to the door of the one who carried away by a poorly understood charity, contributes to the increase, in any society, of assault, theft, assassination, tears, and executions. “Every pardon granted to a criminal,” says Filangieri,5“is a crime committed against humanity.” I cannot conceive how there is anyone who can imagine that the exercise of kindness to evil doers is useful or agreeable to the good. I believe, on the contrary, that those are lamented by the people who are unsafe in their houses while they are paying contributions to the government which is obliged to protect them. [Other reflections of a similar nature follow.]The tribunal might declare that it works in accordance with the spirit of theLeyes de Indias, but be that as it may, it is, in my opinion, certain that with this system of tolerating everything from the natives, and of punishing and degrading the subordinate authorities, the Audiencia of Manila is losing the islands.So far am I removed from being a bloodthirsty individual that I would like to see the death sentence removed from our criminal code. It would be useless to repeat in support of my opinion the ideas expressed by many celebrated socialists in regard to the abolition of capital punishment, but I will make one observation only, which I have read in no author. The criminal ought always to inspire public scorn and horror, but from the instant in which he is seen on the scaffold, the aversion of people becomes calm, and he is converted into an unfortunate fellow and an object of compassion. This impression does not seem proper to me. Further, restricting myself to Filipinas I shall say that since the penalties are imposed so that fear of them may keep others from committing the crimes, the death penalty does not cause in that country the same effect as in others, for its natives have a distinct physical organization from us, and their instinct of life is much less strong than that of the Europeans. Consequently, outside of cases in which one treats of questions vital for the colony, I believe that the death penalty is a useless cruelty. To mark those criminals well, and to use them in public works, or in agriculture, would be much more advantageous, and would better conserve the real object to which laws should tend, namely, thecommon good.One of the things which contributes to the increase of crime is the prohibition in which the chiefs of the provinces find themselves from applying corporal punishment, without the approval of the Audiencia. For if a cause were to be made for the theft of buffaloes, horses, etc., it would be an interminable matter. To put the Filipino in jail is to move him to a betterdwelling than his own. Then he is given his food there, which, however little and poor it be, will never be less than that to which he is accustomed daily. He does not work; on the contrary he lies stretched out all day, and that is his happiness. Besides, he finds in the same dwelling other fellow-countrymen with whom to converse and to chew buyo. Consequently, in the country, the idea of going to prison is very far from the impression that it gives in España where men are always animated by the spirit of activity and love to society. It has happened many times and I have seen it, that prisoners escape to attend a feast or go on a pilgrimage, and as soon as that is over they return to present themselves. I am of the opinion that the prison ought alone to be used as a means of detention, and that for light punishments, the lash should be applied. The idea of beating a man is repugnant to many philanthropic persons, for they say that such punishment is for beasts. However, for certain people who do not know what self esteem and honor mean, material punishments are necessary. How can one infuse fear and aversion to crime in one who despises that powerful stimulus for well doing? Who will tell us? This question is still disputed in cultured Europa and the civilized English have not dared to banish the rod from their military code. The first thing which is seen in the hut of any Filipino is the rattan for bringing up their children, and whoever has been in the country for some years thinks that all the provinces would be most tranquil and free from highwaymen if less papers were written and more beatings given.There are over 80 advocates in Filipinas. The majority have studied in Manila in the same manneras they did a century ago in España. It might be said that they belong to the casuist school. The preparation for any lawsuit is consequential and the superfluous writs innumerable, as our system has always been to open all the doors to the innocence of the natives; and many of the advocates are of that same class or are Chinese mestizos. The language which they use is often indecorous, bold, lacking in purity and idiom, and even in grammatical construction. The Audiencia endures it as it is the old style custom, for in times past there were few advocates capable of explaining themselves better. The Filipinos believe that composed and moderate writs can have no effect at court, and they are only contented with those which are full of invective, reticence, interrogation, and exclamation.Since the alcaldes of the first instance are laymen, they have to appoint an assessor and very often when one party sees that his suit is badly prepared, he challenges the assessor even three times. It is an abusive matter, and to the prejudice of justice, for in case of challenge of the assessor, that ought to be done at the moment that he is notified of his appointment, and not after seeing that which is not favorable to him, and that judgment is near.TheLeyes de Indias, compiled in 1754, and all the previous decrees and royal orders before that time still rule in Filipinas, in addition to the decrees and edicts of the governor-general. Of all this there is nothing, or very little, printed. The advocates generally know the laws in force by tradition and hear-say, but when they need any of the laws they have to look for it in the house of some friend, or, if not that, in the secretary’s office of the government, whencevery frequently it has disappeared, or in the office of the fiscal, or that of the intendant; because some orders are communicated by grace and justice, and others by the treasury or by other ministries. He who has no relatives or is new in the country is ignorant of the rules in force, or has not the means of acquiring them. Besides so far as they are not overthrown by theLeyes de Indiasthe laws of theSiete Partidashave as much force as do the latestRecopilación,6Roman law, royal and old law, and, in fact, all the confused mass of the Spanish codes. Consequently, it is a vast sea in which are found abundantly the resources necessary to mix up matters and stultify the course of justice. In English India, a book is printed annually of all the orders which have been communicated to the tribunals and governors. This forms a collection which is entitledThe Regulations, which is now being translated into the language of the natives by order of the government.There are orders and even articles of the ordinances of good government to specify the price of food. These schedules are very often, as is evident, the cause of the disappearance of things, and, as they are not found in the market it is necessary to petition the gobernadorcillo to provide food which he is obliged to furnish at the price named in this schedule; and at times where there are many Spaniards and soldiers, that amounts to hundreds of fowls, eggs, etc., which the village must supply monthly and even daily. This is not only an odious task, but also the reason for infamous vexations on the part of the cabezas de barangai, for the unhappycailianesare those who have to furnish it all without even collectinga thing. It must be well known that cheapness in articles proceeds only from collecting those articles and this proceeds only from abundance, and abundance only from freedom in the market; and the assigning of a low price to any article by schedule is the most direct method of restricting its production and heightening its price.After all that we have set forth, one can well say that the department of the administration of justice is what needs the most prompt and speedy reform. From that, then, it is obvious that all the alcaldes-mayor ought to be jurisconsults. The custom of allowing governors to trade is not suitable for the age in which we live, surely, although there are some who do not abuse their position, and today there are some who can be presented as models of honor and nobility, especially Don Juan Castilla who governs in Samar, and Don Francisco Gutierrez de los Rios in Laguna. Not only is the latter free from the avarice and other faults which are so common to other alcaldes, and does not make use of the permission to trade, but also recognizes the defects of the present administration, and declaims in the bosom of his friends against them, since he is imbued with the sane principles of justice and political economy. But in such matters one must not reckon on virtue but always with human nature. One day happening to question one of the most judicious and kind persons whom I have known in the islands, how Alcalde Peñaranda had happened to lose his money, he answered me: “He gave it to an agent to use, he to share in the profits, and then paid no attention to it for three years after. He gave up his time very greatly to the building of bridges and roads, andwhile he was busy in suchbits of foolishness, the other made the most of his time and consumed it all.” Another person, of whose philanthropy and gentlemanliness I have positive proofs, told me that if he obtained the government of a province, he would assemble all the influential men and make them an offer to renounce all trade provided that they gave him a certain annual sum. I replied to him that that was an impracticable project and stated my reasons. “Then,” replied he, “I would harass everyone who engaged in trade until he ceased it, or left the province, and it would be all the worse for him.” Such are the evils of a bad system. One becomes accustomed to the idea that a government post offers the opportunity of making money and nothing else. The moment that one has obtained office, he believes that he has a right to make money, without considering the means to any extent; while he who is careless of his own interests and busies himself in the progress of the province, like Señor Peñaranda, is ridiculed and called a fool.Many believe that to prohibit the alcaldes from trading would be useless, because they would do it by all means through a second person. There might be some fraud, but there is no doubt but that the evil would be remedied, if not wholly, in great measure, especially if any contract in regard to business interests signed by the alcaldes in Filipinas be declared null and void; for it is very difficult to find in the country persons to whom to hand over a capital and be sure of their good faith, and it is not easy to take them with him from España. And even leaving aside these disadvantages, it will always result from the prohibition that the agent of the alcalde will haveto manage his money with great secrecy and as if it were his own, in which case there would be no trouble. The government of India was a few years ago entirely commercial, but since the commerce was prohibited, none of its dependents engage in it. Those who have savings deposit them in one of the banks or in one of the good commercial houses there at four or five per cent, or indeed they buy public stock or speculate with them. Alcaldeships in my opinion ought to be divided into three classes and given to individuals, all of them advocates, who would form a body of civil employes. When an alcaldeship of the first class fell vacant, it would be given to the senior advocate in charge of those of the second class, and so on. The regulation that alcaldes were to remain in the country only six years was founded certainly on the fear that they might acquire a dangerous influence over the country. To the degree that the precaution is not unfounded, the term is very short for so long a distance, for among other obstacles it contains the one that when a chief is beginning to know the country he has to leave it. Fifteen or twenty years would be a more fitting time.In English India all the civil and military employes know the language of the country. That extreme, however advantageous it be, and is, in fact could be brought about here only with difficulty. It would have been easy if one of the dialects of the islands had been established from the beginning as the language of the government and of the courts; for a Visayan learns Tagálog very quickly, and any other idiom of the country, and the same thing is true of the other natives.[If that had been done] all would at this momentshow well or poorly the dominant language, just as in Cataluña, Valencia, the Baleares Islands, and the Basque provinces, Castilian is known. But this is not a matter which can be remedied in a brief time. Consequently, if an alcalde who is beginning to administer justice in Cagayan has to go immediately to Cebú, he will surely arrive there without knowing the language, although he had given himself to the study of it from the very beginning. But if this is an evil, this evil is now being endured, for the alcaldes arrive from España, and since they know that they have to return in six years, they do not take the least trouble to learn the language, and they leave the government in this regard just as when they entered it.In the capital and its suburbs, justice is administered by means of two lay alcaldes, who are appointed annually by the ayuntamiento from the citizens of the city. When the appointees are men of wealth, they resign, for this charge alone occasions them ill-humor and serious occupations which distract them from their business. Those who accept or desire it, can have no other stimulus than that of vile interest, tolerating prohibited games, etc. It is, then, necessary to appoint two lawyers with suitable pay to be judges of first instance.Everyone knows what theLeyes de Indiasare, the epoch in which they were made, and the distinct regions for which they were dictated. It is, then, indispensable and peremptory to make the civil codes of legal processes, of criminal instruction, and of commerce especially for the country.In India there is a commission of the government composed of four votes and a president, chargedwith making and revising the laws of India. For the same purpose, in my opinion, three persons who had studied or should study the country would be sufficient here. In such case I would be of the opinion that they be not allowed to do their work together, but that each one work alone and present his results. Another commission ought to be appointed immediately (there would be no harm in those same men forming it) to examine the codes and present a résumé of the points in which they differed essentially. These would be few and in regard to them the government could take the best resolution.1Alcalde de monterilla: An ironical and descriptive qualification of petty judges (Dominguez’sDiccionario).2As appears from a note by Mas, the alcaldes paid a certain sum for the privilege of trading. Their salaries in 1840 were variously for the sums of 300, 600, and 1,000 (one instance) pesos. The trading privilege cost from 40 to 300 pesos.3This is the famous philosophical treatise on political science, which was published by Charles de Secondat, baron de la Brède de Montesquieu, in 1748, and was the product of twenty years’ work.4Jeremy Bentham, the English jurist and philosopher who lived in the years 1748–1832.5Probably referring toLa scienza della legislazioneof Gaetano Filangieri, the Italian jurist, who lived 1752–88. He was influenced somewhat by Montesquieu.6i.e., Of the Leyes de Indias.

[In addition to the following account by Mas, the student desirous of pursuing the subject will find much data in the variousGuias de Filipinas. Some statistics are also presented by Montero y Vidal (Archipielago Filipino, pp. 194–203) for the years 1883–1884. Much of value and interest will also be found in the various reports of the Philippine Commission, and in the numerous pamphlets issued by the United States Government.]

Justice is administered by means of an Audiencia, which has the title of royal, and resides in Manila, being composed of one regent, and five judges; by means of alcaldes-mayor who govern the provinces; and by the gobernadorcillo whom each village has and who is equivalent to our alcalde de monterilla.1The latter proceeds in criminal cases to the formation of a verbal process, and tries civil causes up to the value of two tailes of gold or 44 pesos fuertes.

The royal Audiencia is a court without appeal in Filipinas. The alcaldes-mayor cannot terminate by their own action civil questions that have to do with a sum of greater value than 100 pesos fuertes, orimpose any corporal punishment without the approval of the Audiencia, and then only imprisonment for one week. But they are judges of the first instance for every kind of litigious or criminal cases.

In order that one may obtain the post of alcalde-mayor, it is not necessary that he should have studied law. Hence, the greater part of the heads of the provinces are laymen in that respect. Generally those posts are given to military men. Consequently, this is the origin that for every process which is prosecuted in a lawsuit or cause, the alcalde has to have recourse to an assessor, in order to obtain the opinion of that one on which to base his action. But since the advocates reside in Manila, the records have to make at times many trips from the province to the capital. From this results the inconvenience of delay, the liability of theft, or the destruction of the mail. For, in the many rivers that must be crossed, the papers become so wet that they are useless (as happened with several letters of a post which was received in the chief city of a province when I was there, the envelopes of which it was impossible for us to read), and the malicious extraction in order to obscure the course of justice. The defect of this system can only be understood if one reflect that the various provinces of the colony are not situated on a continent, but in various islands, and that by reason of the periodic winds and the hurricanes which prevail in this region, the capital very often finds itself without news of some provinces for two or three months, and of that of Marianas for whole years.

It appears that what we have said ought to be sufficient to show the necessity of radical reforms in this department, but, unfortunately, there are othermore grave reasons for such reform. The alcaldes-mayor are permitted to engage in business.2The author ofLes Estrits des Lois3said many years ago that the worst of governments is the commercial government; and surely, for those who have studied the science of government, all comment on this point is superfluous. The alcalde who is permitted to engage in business naturally tries, if possible, to monopolize it by all means in his power. This vice of the system leads some greedy men to the greatest excesses, which later are attributed to all alcaldes in general. Upon my arrival at Manila, I asked a very respectable Spaniard who had been in the country for many years about what happens in the provinces. He replied to me: “You know that the alcaldeships are reported to be worth 40,000 or 50,000 duros, and he who seeks one of those posts very earnestly has no other object or hope than to acquire a capital in the six years for which the government confers them. Before going to his province, he borrows 8,000 or 10,000 duros from one of the charitable funds at such and such a per cent. Besides, he has to pay an interest to those who act as bondsmen for him, both to the government for the royal treasury, and to the charitable funds which supply him with money. When he arrives at his province he acts according to conditions ruling in that province, for not all provincesare alike in their productions and circumstances. He generally establishes a supply store, and, consequently, from that moment, any other storekeeper is his rival and enemy. If such storekeeper has a creditor whom he tries to hurry up and goes to the alcalde, he gets no protection. If any theft happens to him the same thing more or less occurs; for, although the alcalde orders efforts made to ascertain the thief, far from taking those measures earnestly, he is secretly glad of the losses of his rivals, and it has even been asserted that there are cases in which the alcalde himself has been the instigator of the crime. Who is your enemy? That of your trade. But does the alcalde himself sell the goods? Sometimes he sells and measures them, at other times he keeps an agent in the store; the most usual thing is, if he is married, for his wife to take charge of the expense, especially of those goods of any value. But his greatest gain consists in making advances of money at the time of the sowing, the period when the Indians need it and try to get it at any cost, for their negligence and their vices do not allow them to foresee such a case and be prepared for it. For example: a farmer signs a paper for the alcalde which obliges him to deliver at harvest time ten measures of sugar, which are worth at least two and one-half duros, and he himself receives only one and one-half, consequently, by that operation alone of advancing money, the alcalde-mayor sometimes gains 40 per cent. But what generally happens is that the Indian is so short sighted and is so indifferent to the future that he signs any burdensome obligation provided he gets some money, and he only takes account of what they give him withoutthinking of what they are going to get from him. For example, the alcalde gives him 60 duros as an advance for forty measures of sugar at the harvest time. The harvest is bad and he can only give 20. In such case the reckoning is after the following fashion: ‘The sugar has been sold for 4 duros, and hence 20 measures will amount to 80 duros. You cannot pay them to me, consequently they can just as well remain as an advance for the coming year at one and one-half.’ In consequence of that the farmer signs a paper by which he enters under obligation to deliver 53 measures at the next harvest. Harvest time comes, and if it is bad, he only presents, say, 13. Therefore, 40 measures at 4 duros amount to 160 duros of debt, and at one and one-half make 108 measures for the following year. In this way the man keeps on adding more and more until all his goods are at the disposal of the alcalde. Besides, there are innumerable other vexations to which he must subject himself. For instance: he has to deliver to the alcalde 100 cabans of rice; when he presents them the alcalde measures them out with a larger measure than that used in the market. Hence, in reality, the alcalde exacts from him more than he is bound to pay. The same thing happens with indigo. For, a discussion arises as to whether the indigo is, or is not, very damp, and some libras must be taken off for waste; or, whether it is of poorer quality than the Indian promised, and so on.” “But surely it must needs be that it is fitting to take money advanced, since there is one who seeks it, and it is worth more for a farmer to cultivate his land in this way than that he leave it without cultivation for lack of the necessary capital. In regard to the tyrannieswhich the alcalde tries to commit, it seems to me that they might be avoided by the countryman borrowing the money from a private person who is not in position to annoy him.” “That is all very well thought out, but I will tell you what happens. The Indian borrows money very easily, but it is very difficult to get him to pay it, and he generally avoids doing so, if possible. If a private person lends him money and does not collect it when due, he has to go to the alcalde in order that the latter may force payment. The latter either does so coldly, or pays no attention to the whole matter, since his intention is that such private persons take warning and never again lend to anyone; for, it is evident, that if many come to speculate in this kind of business, the alcalde will soon be shut out, or at least will have to submit himself to the general rules. Consequently, the result is that capitalists draw back from him, saying, and very rightly, that it is only fitting for the alcaldes who possess the means to cause themselves to be paid when a debt is due. The alcalde, then, remains master of the field, and monopolizes this department at his pleasure, for he who needs funds has to go to him, for there are very few who enjoy enough credit to get them elsewhere. Many other advantages also favor the alcalde. The parish priests aid him, and many times take charge of the division of the money of the alcalde in their villages, for they know that that is the sure means of keeping on good terms with him, and obtaining the measures which depend on his will in the matters of their villages. The gobernadorcillos and officials of justice are other instruments of which the alcalde makes use to apportion and collect his funds.” “Why is it that these do notoccupy themselves rather in their affairs than in those of the alcalde?” “The alcalde can always, whenever he wishes, make trouble for the gobernadorcillo by making him go to the chief village with innumerable pretexts, and by various other methods which it would take a long time to enumerate, and which it is very easy to conceive. Besides, it is important for the alcalde to keep the gobernadorcillo satisfied. Suppose now, that a road has to be built, or a bamboo bridge, or any other work for which the people of the village who have to do it, according to their obligation called polos and services, are summoned. As some of them are busy in their fields or other business, they wish to be free from such a burden, and they give the gobernadorcillo two or three reals and he excuses them on the ground of sickness. A party of troops or a Spaniard passes by and asks for some beast of burden, or an aid in food. That is also an occasion for the gobernadorcillo to get even with those whom he dislikes and obtain part of his demands; for some give him presents in order that he may not give the beasts of burden, while others do not receive the pay for that food. During the days of tiangui or village fairs, such and such a sum is exacted for each post in the market place. In general there are some men of service calledbantayaneswho are a kind of sentinel placed at the entrances of villages. Many of them also pay to be excused from that burden when their turn comes or when they are told that it comes. In general he has ten or twelve men calledhonos,manbaras, etc., given to him, who are exempt from polos and services, and they serve the ayuntamiento to send papers, conduct prisoners, etc., and the gobernadorcillogives them permission so that they may cultivate their lands, by collecting from them a contribution.” “But it seems to me that the gobernadorcillo will have to give account, if not for all, at least for many of the taxes that you have mentioned.” “It ought to be so, and in fact, some enter into the communal treasury, but they are the fewest and those connected with the legal matters, for of the others there is nothing to be said. For example: I have seen an order enclosing a fine as a punishment on the gobernadorcillo for some fault or misdeed that he had committed. He assembles the cabezas de barangai; the whole sum is apportioned among the people of the village. The amount of the fine is collected and the gobernadorcillo has still something left for his maintenance and revelling.” “Why do they not complain to the alcalde?” “Because, sir, of just what I told you. The alcalde needs the gobernadorcillo so that he may use him in his business, and for all such things he is a very far-sighted man. Besides, the alcalde who tries to investigate those snares of the tribunals (ayuntamientos) will lose his senses without deriving any benefit from it. He does not know the language. As interpreter he has the clerk, who is an Indian, and the entangler-in-chief, and almost always in accord with the Indian magnates.” “If the clerk is a bad man, will he not be hated?” “I do not say that he is beloved, but some fear him, and others are his accomplices. Since the alcalde is, in reality, a business man, he naturally takes more interest in his business than in that of other people, and leaves all court matters in charge of the clerk, who comes to be the arbiter in that matter, and here is where the latter reapshis harvest. One of the members of the tribunal (ayuntamiento) steals, or causes to be stolen from some man his buffalo. The man finds out where it is; he complains to the gobernadorcillo; they begin to take measures; at last the animal is returned to him, but if it is worth five duros, they make him pay ten duros in expenses so that the man either considers his beast as lost and the thieves keep it, or the latter get from him twice as much as it is worth. Hence, if I were to tell all that passes in this wise, my story would be very long. One of the things which they are accustomed to do is to let the prisoners go out of the prison for several days without the government knowing it. I have seen that done this very year of 1841 in the province of—-, in regard to some prisoners whom the alcalde-mayor believed to be in prison; but they were working on the estate of the clerk, and one of those prisoners had committed very serious crimes.” “But why do not the curas remedy all that? I have heard it said that they are really the ones who govern the villages.” “In reality, when the curas take that matter upon themselves, those abuses are remedied, at least in great measure, for they know the language well, and every one in their village knows the truth, if the cura wishes to ascertain it. That is what happened in former times. And also at that time the communal funds were deposited in the convent, and [thus] many tricks and tyrannies were avoided. But for some years the governors who have come from España have desired that the parish priests should keep to their houses and say mass and preach and not meddle with the temporal government; without taking heed that in a whole province there is no other Spaniardwho governs than the alcalde-mayor himself, who generally comes from Europa and goes without reflection to take his charge without any knowledge whatever of the country or knowing even a single word of its language. Consequently, many religious, in order to avoid trouble, see and keep still, and allow everything to take what course God wills. This is one of the chief causes of the disorders of the villages, and of the increase of crime.” “Now tell me, do the alcaldes make all the wealth that they are accustomed to acquire with the kind of trade which you have explained to me?” “They have many means of hunting [buscar] for that is the technical expression used in this country, but those means vary according to circumstances. In some provinces great efforts are made to obtain posts as gobernadorcillos and officials of justice, and that department generally is worth a good sum annually. Those are things which the clerk or secretary manages. In the province of—- while Don—- was alcalde-mayor, that gentleman was in collusion with the manager of the wine monopoly and they practiced the following. The harvesters came with their wine, but they were told that it was impossible to receive it. There was a conflict within themselves, for they had to return to their village. Then they were told that if they wished to deposit the wine they would put it in certain jars which had been provided in the storehouse, by paying such and such a rent until the administration could introduce it. The harvesters, who needed the money, thereupon sold the wine to the agents of the alcalde, at any price at all in order to return to their homes. Finally, as he who had come to be an alcalde, has had no other object thanto acquire wealth, every matter which does not contribute to that object, such as the making of a bridge, or a road, the prosecution of evil doers, or any occupation purely of government or justice, distracts and troubles him. On the contrary every means of attaining his end appears to him fitting and good. This method of thought is a little more or less in the minds of all; and thus you observe that no one says here, not even excluding the religious, who are those who know the country best, ‘I have such or such reasons for gaining this suit,’ but, ‘I have so many thousand pesos to gain the suit.’ But to tell the truth, it is not to be wondered at that the alcaldes-mayor work without much scruple. In the space of six years they have to pay their passage from and to España; to satisfy the high interest on the money which they have borrowed; to acquit themselves of the amount which their alcaldeship has often cost them; and besides they make their fortunes. Not more or less is done in Turquia.”

In the same way as this good man talked, the majority talk. The faults and vices of some are attributed and laid to all. It is certain that this system is fatal, for governors of such sort must be essentially interested in turning down the attempt of private speculators, and to frighten away instead the attraction of capital. That has, as a natural consequence, the increased interest on money which so endangers production, and, consequently, exportation and the encouragement of the islands. But not less fatal is the opinion that the authorities of Manila themselves are fed on such abuses. Complaints are continually presented against the alcalde, at times very captious and filled with falsehood and absurdity. The Audienciaand office of the captain-general receive those complaints kindly and very easily dictate measures humiliating for the alcalde, and impose fines on him, of which a copy is given to the complaining parties. Rarely is it that one leaves his alcaldeship without having paid many fines. The Filipinos make the greatest ado, as is natural, over those triumphs against authority, but authority loses decorum and moral force. All this comes from the bad system established, for, since the governor from the moment that he becomes a merchant, must be a bad governor and a usurer and tyrant, the government of Manila is predisposed against his acts, and declares itself the protector of the Filipinos. In this way one evil is remedied by a worse. The supreme authority instead of supporting and sustaining the subordinate government punishes and degrades it. Illusion, respect, and fear vanish. It is believed that that severity against those who rule is advantageous in making our yoke loved, and that the natives will say, “The government is kind for it punishes the alcaldes,” while it would be better for them to say, “The government is kind because it gives us good alcaldes.”

Shortly after my arrival in the islands, being at the feast of Cavite, distant four hours from the capital, I wished to go thither on horseback, but all who heard of it dissuaded me from the idea, asserting that I was about to commit a rash act. Another time when I was coming from Laguna, on passing through Montinlupa, the manager of the estate of that name was so greatly alarmed that he wished to accompany me with his servants until we came near the city, and in fact I learned soon that I was runninga great danger on that road, and that shortly before a Spanish sergeant had been murdered on it. Then I was very much surprised to find that it was dangerous to go near the capital without an escort, but later I have been much more surprised to see that in provinces distant from the capital a complete security is enjoyed. In order to show the condition of the criminality of the island we shall present the following data drawn from the clerk’s office of the Audiencia.

Criminal causes sentenced in the Audiencia of Filipinas between the years 1831–1837

[not inclusive]

YearsCauses18327518338318344318351021836108411

Report of the criminal causes sentenced between the years 1836–1842[not inclusive]

CrimesYearsRebellion or ConspiracyMurderRobbery Theft and ImpositionIncendiarismMobs and LampoonsFalsehood and PerjuryImmorality and ScandalWounds and rough usageTotal no. of Causes1837435422851141838108145647526038218397414915245413171840283106513415429518411312161265666749924396702616192122271609

Penalties[Years]ImprisonmentDeprivation of Office and other correctivesTotal no. of Sentences[1837]699171221838]61401693131839]6192462441840]713119157[1841]317377253287353281089

Total number of causes sentenced in the first five years411Idem1607Increasing the latter1196

[Here follows a report in tabular form showing the number of causes in each province for the years 1840 and 1841. This table is compiled at least in part from the guide of Manila for the year 1840; the population of each province being taken therefrom. Thirty-three provinces are enumerated. The total number of causes for 1840 was 295, and for 1841, 499.]

The first thing which arrests the attention in these reports is the increase of crime. The fiscal, whom I questioned in regard to this matter, told me that now many causes are elevated to process which were before finished in the interior courts, and that during these latter years many old causes had been sentenced. This may be true, but in regard to the accumulation of back cases that have been sentenced, I believe that that can only be understood from the year 1838, or even from that of 1839, because of the lack of judges in which the court found itself in 1837. No matter how it is considered, the increase is palpable, for the causes alone for murder of last year amount to more than all those of any of theyears of the first five years, and it is incredible that at that time they neglected to try people for homicide, although they did dissimulate in regard to lesser crimes. The second thing which arrests the attention is the tendency to theft, since the greater part of the homicides have been committed by robbers, and further one sees a great multitude of causes for theft. For among those two kinds of crime are found two-thirds of all kinds of criminality. This is a matter well worthy of reflection in a country where the means of existence can be procured so readily. The third [thing that arrests the attention] is the mildness of the sentences. In the last five years, when there were 439 homicides, only 28 have ascended the scaffold, one-third of those tried have been set at liberty, and 328 condemned to light punishment. One would not believe that those treated with so great mercy are (at least always) criminals for insignificant faults. A man of the village of Narbakan was tried in the year 1840 for having begotten children twice by his daughter, the second time that having been done by means of assaulting her with a dagger. The attorney asked for ten years of imprisonment, but the Audiencia did not impose any penalty and did not even condemn him to the costs, nor did it take the measure in honor of public morality of causing them to separate, but allowed them to live together as they are still doing. At the beginning of the same year, 1840, Mariano San Gerónimo, a servant from youth to a Spanish tailor called Garcia, stole one hundred pesos fuertes from his master, and another hundred from Captain Castejon, adjutant of the captain-general of the islands, who was living in his house; by extracting them from the trunks ofeach one. That of the captain-general he opened with the key which the latter’s own assistant gave him. The greater part of the money was delivered to that assistant, his accomplice; the rest was lost at play. This deed served the defender of San Geronimo, Don Agustin Ruiz de Santayana, to petition his acquittal, alleging in his favor the incapacity and irreflection which that individual had shown with the said thief. Both the criminal and his accomplice confessed, and no obstacle was presented to substantiate this verbal process. However, it lasted for more than one year. They troubled the master Garcia so much with notifications and accounts of the maintenance of the prisoner that at last he refused to have anything more to do with the matter, and abandoned the charge. The alcalde-in-ordinary sentenced San Gerónimo to six months’ imprisonment. When the Audiencia examined that clause, March 31, 1841, it ordered the prisoner to be liberated. In Inglaterra, that violator of his own daughter, and the domestic thief would have been given the death sentence on the gallows.

This impunity for crimes is, to my understanding, very fatal, not only because of the encouragement which it gives on that account to criminality, but also because of the fear which gobernadorcillos and alcaldes have in arresting the guilty, for they know that they will be soon liberated and will soon take vengeance on them by robbing them, cutting down their trees, and burning their places of business. An employe of estimable qualities in the department of taxes told me that once grown tired in a certain province of seeing that no one dared to arrest a thief who had terrified the entire village, he himself took thetrouble to waylay and seize him in the very operation of committing a theft. He had him bound, and sent him to the alcalde with the general complaint. In a few weeks he saw him again in the village and had to reckon with him. I have been in the estate of Buena-Vista in the outskirts of which live very many robbers. However, they do not steal there, but they go to do that in other places, bringing there afterward horses, buffaloes, and whatever they can lay their hands on. The manager does not dare to wage war against them or to denounce their thefts, although he knows them. One night when I was there at twelve o’clock, appeared a cavalry troop sent from the neighboring province of Pampanga by Alcalde Urbina and commanded by Lieutenant Lao. With them they brought several persons who had been robbed, and took them before the official. He had a list of many whom he was to arrest. It had already been given to the justice of the village. We amounted to four or five Spaniards in that place. One of those who live there came within a few minutes to tell us secretly that those who were to do the arresting had already advised those who were to be arrested so that they might get out of the way, and so that no one could be caught. That person and the manager were silent in order not to compromise themselves, and I did the same, because the evil was already done, and in order not to abuse the confidence which they had in me. In fact, the officer and his men, and the guides, went away without having arrested a single one. A fortnight after another official, named Dayot, who knows the language of the country well, returned. Warned by what had happened the first time, he went directly to the houses wherehis guides took him; and, consequently, he seized some of them. Later he came to the estate and asked us for a very notorious fellow who was said to be absent. We assured him that we had seen that man less than an hour before. I advised Dayot to have the soldiers put aside their arms and uniforms, and send them dressed like the natives together with the guides, and if they surprised anyone to take him to the barracks; since, to imagine that the justice would aid him to arrest the criminals was to imagine something that could not be. In fact, he did that, and within three days he marched away taking five or six prisoners with him. A great state of consternation reigned throughout that district, which was good evidence of the moral condition of the inhabitants. In a few months I asked and learned that they were back already and in quiet possession of their homes. One day I was talking in Manila to the regent of the Audiencia, Don Matías de Mier, about that system of impunity which I had observed in the islands. That gentleman remarked to me: “It is not possible to take severe measures here, Señor Mas, for it is necessary to govern here with mildness.” I praise and esteem most sincerely the benevolent ideas and the good heart of Señor Mier, but it seems to me that his words might be answered somewhat by those of Jeremias Bentham:4“How many praises are wasted on mercy! It has been repeated, time and time again, that that is the first virtue of a sovereign. Surely if crime consists only in an offense to one’s self-love, if it is no more than a satire which is directed against him or his favorites, the moderation ofthe prince is meritorious. The pardon which he grants is a triumph obtained over himself! But when one treats of a crime against society, the pardon is not an act of clemency, it is a downright prevarication.... Every criminal who escapes justice threatens the public safety and innocence is not protected by being exposed to become the victim of a new crime. When a criminal is absolved all the crimes that he can perpetuate are committed by his hands.” In no army are there so many executions as in that in which slight faults are disregarded. How many charges can be laid to the door of the one who carried away by a poorly understood charity, contributes to the increase, in any society, of assault, theft, assassination, tears, and executions. “Every pardon granted to a criminal,” says Filangieri,5“is a crime committed against humanity.” I cannot conceive how there is anyone who can imagine that the exercise of kindness to evil doers is useful or agreeable to the good. I believe, on the contrary, that those are lamented by the people who are unsafe in their houses while they are paying contributions to the government which is obliged to protect them. [Other reflections of a similar nature follow.]

The tribunal might declare that it works in accordance with the spirit of theLeyes de Indias, but be that as it may, it is, in my opinion, certain that with this system of tolerating everything from the natives, and of punishing and degrading the subordinate authorities, the Audiencia of Manila is losing the islands.

So far am I removed from being a bloodthirsty individual that I would like to see the death sentence removed from our criminal code. It would be useless to repeat in support of my opinion the ideas expressed by many celebrated socialists in regard to the abolition of capital punishment, but I will make one observation only, which I have read in no author. The criminal ought always to inspire public scorn and horror, but from the instant in which he is seen on the scaffold, the aversion of people becomes calm, and he is converted into an unfortunate fellow and an object of compassion. This impression does not seem proper to me. Further, restricting myself to Filipinas I shall say that since the penalties are imposed so that fear of them may keep others from committing the crimes, the death penalty does not cause in that country the same effect as in others, for its natives have a distinct physical organization from us, and their instinct of life is much less strong than that of the Europeans. Consequently, outside of cases in which one treats of questions vital for the colony, I believe that the death penalty is a useless cruelty. To mark those criminals well, and to use them in public works, or in agriculture, would be much more advantageous, and would better conserve the real object to which laws should tend, namely, thecommon good.

One of the things which contributes to the increase of crime is the prohibition in which the chiefs of the provinces find themselves from applying corporal punishment, without the approval of the Audiencia. For if a cause were to be made for the theft of buffaloes, horses, etc., it would be an interminable matter. To put the Filipino in jail is to move him to a betterdwelling than his own. Then he is given his food there, which, however little and poor it be, will never be less than that to which he is accustomed daily. He does not work; on the contrary he lies stretched out all day, and that is his happiness. Besides, he finds in the same dwelling other fellow-countrymen with whom to converse and to chew buyo. Consequently, in the country, the idea of going to prison is very far from the impression that it gives in España where men are always animated by the spirit of activity and love to society. It has happened many times and I have seen it, that prisoners escape to attend a feast or go on a pilgrimage, and as soon as that is over they return to present themselves. I am of the opinion that the prison ought alone to be used as a means of detention, and that for light punishments, the lash should be applied. The idea of beating a man is repugnant to many philanthropic persons, for they say that such punishment is for beasts. However, for certain people who do not know what self esteem and honor mean, material punishments are necessary. How can one infuse fear and aversion to crime in one who despises that powerful stimulus for well doing? Who will tell us? This question is still disputed in cultured Europa and the civilized English have not dared to banish the rod from their military code. The first thing which is seen in the hut of any Filipino is the rattan for bringing up their children, and whoever has been in the country for some years thinks that all the provinces would be most tranquil and free from highwaymen if less papers were written and more beatings given.

There are over 80 advocates in Filipinas. The majority have studied in Manila in the same manneras they did a century ago in España. It might be said that they belong to the casuist school. The preparation for any lawsuit is consequential and the superfluous writs innumerable, as our system has always been to open all the doors to the innocence of the natives; and many of the advocates are of that same class or are Chinese mestizos. The language which they use is often indecorous, bold, lacking in purity and idiom, and even in grammatical construction. The Audiencia endures it as it is the old style custom, for in times past there were few advocates capable of explaining themselves better. The Filipinos believe that composed and moderate writs can have no effect at court, and they are only contented with those which are full of invective, reticence, interrogation, and exclamation.

Since the alcaldes of the first instance are laymen, they have to appoint an assessor and very often when one party sees that his suit is badly prepared, he challenges the assessor even three times. It is an abusive matter, and to the prejudice of justice, for in case of challenge of the assessor, that ought to be done at the moment that he is notified of his appointment, and not after seeing that which is not favorable to him, and that judgment is near.

TheLeyes de Indias, compiled in 1754, and all the previous decrees and royal orders before that time still rule in Filipinas, in addition to the decrees and edicts of the governor-general. Of all this there is nothing, or very little, printed. The advocates generally know the laws in force by tradition and hear-say, but when they need any of the laws they have to look for it in the house of some friend, or, if not that, in the secretary’s office of the government, whencevery frequently it has disappeared, or in the office of the fiscal, or that of the intendant; because some orders are communicated by grace and justice, and others by the treasury or by other ministries. He who has no relatives or is new in the country is ignorant of the rules in force, or has not the means of acquiring them. Besides so far as they are not overthrown by theLeyes de Indiasthe laws of theSiete Partidashave as much force as do the latestRecopilación,6Roman law, royal and old law, and, in fact, all the confused mass of the Spanish codes. Consequently, it is a vast sea in which are found abundantly the resources necessary to mix up matters and stultify the course of justice. In English India, a book is printed annually of all the orders which have been communicated to the tribunals and governors. This forms a collection which is entitledThe Regulations, which is now being translated into the language of the natives by order of the government.

There are orders and even articles of the ordinances of good government to specify the price of food. These schedules are very often, as is evident, the cause of the disappearance of things, and, as they are not found in the market it is necessary to petition the gobernadorcillo to provide food which he is obliged to furnish at the price named in this schedule; and at times where there are many Spaniards and soldiers, that amounts to hundreds of fowls, eggs, etc., which the village must supply monthly and even daily. This is not only an odious task, but also the reason for infamous vexations on the part of the cabezas de barangai, for the unhappycailianesare those who have to furnish it all without even collectinga thing. It must be well known that cheapness in articles proceeds only from collecting those articles and this proceeds only from abundance, and abundance only from freedom in the market; and the assigning of a low price to any article by schedule is the most direct method of restricting its production and heightening its price.

After all that we have set forth, one can well say that the department of the administration of justice is what needs the most prompt and speedy reform. From that, then, it is obvious that all the alcaldes-mayor ought to be jurisconsults. The custom of allowing governors to trade is not suitable for the age in which we live, surely, although there are some who do not abuse their position, and today there are some who can be presented as models of honor and nobility, especially Don Juan Castilla who governs in Samar, and Don Francisco Gutierrez de los Rios in Laguna. Not only is the latter free from the avarice and other faults which are so common to other alcaldes, and does not make use of the permission to trade, but also recognizes the defects of the present administration, and declaims in the bosom of his friends against them, since he is imbued with the sane principles of justice and political economy. But in such matters one must not reckon on virtue but always with human nature. One day happening to question one of the most judicious and kind persons whom I have known in the islands, how Alcalde Peñaranda had happened to lose his money, he answered me: “He gave it to an agent to use, he to share in the profits, and then paid no attention to it for three years after. He gave up his time very greatly to the building of bridges and roads, andwhile he was busy in suchbits of foolishness, the other made the most of his time and consumed it all.” Another person, of whose philanthropy and gentlemanliness I have positive proofs, told me that if he obtained the government of a province, he would assemble all the influential men and make them an offer to renounce all trade provided that they gave him a certain annual sum. I replied to him that that was an impracticable project and stated my reasons. “Then,” replied he, “I would harass everyone who engaged in trade until he ceased it, or left the province, and it would be all the worse for him.” Such are the evils of a bad system. One becomes accustomed to the idea that a government post offers the opportunity of making money and nothing else. The moment that one has obtained office, he believes that he has a right to make money, without considering the means to any extent; while he who is careless of his own interests and busies himself in the progress of the province, like Señor Peñaranda, is ridiculed and called a fool.

Many believe that to prohibit the alcaldes from trading would be useless, because they would do it by all means through a second person. There might be some fraud, but there is no doubt but that the evil would be remedied, if not wholly, in great measure, especially if any contract in regard to business interests signed by the alcaldes in Filipinas be declared null and void; for it is very difficult to find in the country persons to whom to hand over a capital and be sure of their good faith, and it is not easy to take them with him from España. And even leaving aside these disadvantages, it will always result from the prohibition that the agent of the alcalde will haveto manage his money with great secrecy and as if it were his own, in which case there would be no trouble. The government of India was a few years ago entirely commercial, but since the commerce was prohibited, none of its dependents engage in it. Those who have savings deposit them in one of the banks or in one of the good commercial houses there at four or five per cent, or indeed they buy public stock or speculate with them. Alcaldeships in my opinion ought to be divided into three classes and given to individuals, all of them advocates, who would form a body of civil employes. When an alcaldeship of the first class fell vacant, it would be given to the senior advocate in charge of those of the second class, and so on. The regulation that alcaldes were to remain in the country only six years was founded certainly on the fear that they might acquire a dangerous influence over the country. To the degree that the precaution is not unfounded, the term is very short for so long a distance, for among other obstacles it contains the one that when a chief is beginning to know the country he has to leave it. Fifteen or twenty years would be a more fitting time.

In English India all the civil and military employes know the language of the country. That extreme, however advantageous it be, and is, in fact could be brought about here only with difficulty. It would have been easy if one of the dialects of the islands had been established from the beginning as the language of the government and of the courts; for a Visayan learns Tagálog very quickly, and any other idiom of the country, and the same thing is true of the other natives.

[If that had been done] all would at this momentshow well or poorly the dominant language, just as in Cataluña, Valencia, the Baleares Islands, and the Basque provinces, Castilian is known. But this is not a matter which can be remedied in a brief time. Consequently, if an alcalde who is beginning to administer justice in Cagayan has to go immediately to Cebú, he will surely arrive there without knowing the language, although he had given himself to the study of it from the very beginning. But if this is an evil, this evil is now being endured, for the alcaldes arrive from España, and since they know that they have to return in six years, they do not take the least trouble to learn the language, and they leave the government in this regard just as when they entered it.

In the capital and its suburbs, justice is administered by means of two lay alcaldes, who are appointed annually by the ayuntamiento from the citizens of the city. When the appointees are men of wealth, they resign, for this charge alone occasions them ill-humor and serious occupations which distract them from their business. Those who accept or desire it, can have no other stimulus than that of vile interest, tolerating prohibited games, etc. It is, then, necessary to appoint two lawyers with suitable pay to be judges of first instance.

Everyone knows what theLeyes de Indiasare, the epoch in which they were made, and the distinct regions for which they were dictated. It is, then, indispensable and peremptory to make the civil codes of legal processes, of criminal instruction, and of commerce especially for the country.

In India there is a commission of the government composed of four votes and a president, chargedwith making and revising the laws of India. For the same purpose, in my opinion, three persons who had studied or should study the country would be sufficient here. In such case I would be of the opinion that they be not allowed to do their work together, but that each one work alone and present his results. Another commission ought to be appointed immediately (there would be no harm in those same men forming it) to examine the codes and present a résumé of the points in which they differed essentially. These would be few and in regard to them the government could take the best resolution.

1Alcalde de monterilla: An ironical and descriptive qualification of petty judges (Dominguez’sDiccionario).2As appears from a note by Mas, the alcaldes paid a certain sum for the privilege of trading. Their salaries in 1840 were variously for the sums of 300, 600, and 1,000 (one instance) pesos. The trading privilege cost from 40 to 300 pesos.3This is the famous philosophical treatise on political science, which was published by Charles de Secondat, baron de la Brède de Montesquieu, in 1748, and was the product of twenty years’ work.4Jeremy Bentham, the English jurist and philosopher who lived in the years 1748–1832.5Probably referring toLa scienza della legislazioneof Gaetano Filangieri, the Italian jurist, who lived 1752–88. He was influenced somewhat by Montesquieu.6i.e., Of the Leyes de Indias.

1Alcalde de monterilla: An ironical and descriptive qualification of petty judges (Dominguez’sDiccionario).

2As appears from a note by Mas, the alcaldes paid a certain sum for the privilege of trading. Their salaries in 1840 were variously for the sums of 300, 600, and 1,000 (one instance) pesos. The trading privilege cost from 40 to 300 pesos.

3This is the famous philosophical treatise on political science, which was published by Charles de Secondat, baron de la Brède de Montesquieu, in 1748, and was the product of twenty years’ work.

4Jeremy Bentham, the English jurist and philosopher who lived in the years 1748–1832.

5Probably referring toLa scienza della legislazioneof Gaetano Filangieri, the Italian jurist, who lived 1752–88. He was influenced somewhat by Montesquieu.

6i.e., Of the Leyes de Indias.

Bibliographical DataThe following document is obtained from a MS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla:1.Letter from the archbishop of Manila.—“Simancas—Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes de arzobispo de Manila; años 1579 á 1697; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 32.”The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid:2.Jesuit protest.—“Papeles de los Jesuitas, to. 4o., no. 259.”The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Archivo general, Simancas:3. Paz’sDescription of Philipinas.—“Consejo de Inquisicion, libro 786.” (We present such part of this document as relates to the Philippines.)The following are taken from the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library):4.Condition of Philippines, 1652.—Tomo ii, pp. 385–390.5.Jesuit missions, 1655.—Tomo ii, pp. 391–399.6.Events in Manila, 1662–63.—Tomo ii, pp. 421–480.7.Letter from Salcedo.—Tomo ii, pp. 481–483.8.Friars and episcopal visitation.—Tomo ii, pp. 401–419.The following is obtained from Retana’sArchivo:9.Royal funeral rites.—Tomo ii, pp. 105–158.The following are taken from Pastells’s edition of Colin’sLabor evangélica:10.Aid asked for Jesuits.—Tomo iii, pp. 786, 787.11.Two Jesuit memorials.—Tomo iii, pp. 804, 805.The following is taken fromHistoria general de los religiosos descalzos ... de San Agustin:12.Recollect missions, 1646–60.—Part ii, by Luis de Jesús (Madrid, 1681), pp. 371–373, from a copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago; and part iii, by Diego de Santa Theresa (Barcelona, 1743) pp. 134–558, from a copy in the Library of Congress—using only such matter as relates to the Philippines.The following is obtained from an old pamphlet not usually included in Philippine bibliographies:13.Description of Filipinas, 1662.—From a pamphlet published at Puebla, Mexico, in 1662; it is bound in with Letona’sPerfecta religiosa(Puebla, 1662, a rare work), in the copy possessed by Antonio Graiño y Martinez, Madrid.The following is obtained from Sinibaldo de Mas’sInforme de las Islas Filipinas:14.Administracion de Justicia(1842).—Vol. ii, no. 12.

The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla:

1.Letter from the archbishop of Manila.—“Simancas—Eclesiastico; Audiencia de Filipinas; cartas y espedientes de arzobispo de Manila; años 1579 á 1697; est. 68, caj. 1, leg. 32.”

The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid:

2.Jesuit protest.—“Papeles de los Jesuitas, to. 4o., no. 259.”

The following document is obtained from a MS. in the Archivo general, Simancas:

3. Paz’sDescription of Philipinas.—“Consejo de Inquisicion, libro 786.” (We present such part of this document as relates to the Philippines.)

The following are taken from the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library):

4.Condition of Philippines, 1652.—Tomo ii, pp. 385–390.

5.Jesuit missions, 1655.—Tomo ii, pp. 391–399.

6.Events in Manila, 1662–63.—Tomo ii, pp. 421–480.

7.Letter from Salcedo.—Tomo ii, pp. 481–483.

8.Friars and episcopal visitation.—Tomo ii, pp. 401–419.

The following is obtained from Retana’sArchivo:

9.Royal funeral rites.—Tomo ii, pp. 105–158.

The following are taken from Pastells’s edition of Colin’sLabor evangélica:

10.Aid asked for Jesuits.—Tomo iii, pp. 786, 787.

11.Two Jesuit memorials.—Tomo iii, pp. 804, 805.

The following is taken fromHistoria general de los religiosos descalzos ... de San Agustin:

12.Recollect missions, 1646–60.—Part ii, by Luis de Jesús (Madrid, 1681), pp. 371–373, from a copy in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, Chicago; and part iii, by Diego de Santa Theresa (Barcelona, 1743) pp. 134–558, from a copy in the Library of Congress—using only such matter as relates to the Philippines.

The following is obtained from an old pamphlet not usually included in Philippine bibliographies:

13.Description of Filipinas, 1662.—From a pamphlet published at Puebla, Mexico, in 1662; it is bound in with Letona’sPerfecta religiosa(Puebla, 1662, a rare work), in the copy possessed by Antonio Graiño y Martinez, Madrid.

The following is obtained from Sinibaldo de Mas’sInforme de las Islas Filipinas:

14.Administracion de Justicia(1842).—Vol. ii, no. 12.

Table of ContentsContents of Volume XXXVIIllustrationsPrefaceDocuments of 1649–1658Royal Funeral Rites at ManilaRoyal Aid for Jesuits Asked by Manila CabildoCondition of the Philippines in 1652Jesuit Missions in 1655Bishopric of Cebu, or of Santisimo Nombre de JesusIsland of LeyteIsland of Samar and YbabaoOtonIsland of NegrosMindanaoTerrenate and SiaoThe Mindanao MissionsThe jurisdiction of Iligan, with its residence of DapitanLetter from the Archbishop of Manila to Felipe IVTwo Jesuit Memorials, Regarding Religious in the Moluccas, and the InquisitionJesuit Protest against the Dominican UniversityDescription of the Philipinas IslandsArchbishopric of ManilaHamlets falling in the circumference of the city of ManilaPort of CabitteBishopric of Cagayan or Nueva SegoviaBishopric of Camarines or Nueva CazeresBishopric of Sebu or Nombre de JesusTerrenateDocuments of 1660–1666Recollect Missions, 1646–60Chapter SixthChapter SeventhDecade Seventh—Book FirstChapter I§ II§ III§ VI§ VIIChapter II§ VIBook Second of the Seventh DecadeChapter II§ I§ II§ IIIDescription of Filipinas IslandsDistribution of these islandsClimate, population, and productsThe city of ManilaThe ecclesiastical estateReligious orders in FilipinasEvents in Manila, 1662–63Letter from Governor Salcedo to Francisco YzquierdoWhy the Friars are not Subjected to Episcopal VisitationAppendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842Appendix: Judicial Condition of the Philippines in 1842Bibliographical Data

ColophonAvailabilityThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.org.Page scans of this work are available in theThe United States and its Territoriescollectiona the University of Michigan.EncodingRevision History2009-10-24 Started.External ReferencesThis Project Gutenberg eBook contains external references. These links may not work for you.CorrectionsThe following corrections have been applied to the text:PageSourceCorrection18abcorbsabsorbs176thanthat211knowlegeknowledge

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.org.

Page scans of this work are available in theThe United States and its Territoriescollectiona the University of Michigan.

This Project Gutenberg eBook contains external references. These links may not work for you.

The following corrections have been applied to the text:

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