Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
Of the necessity of forming a special code of laws for the Filipinas Islands; and of ordaining that a periodical visitation of that colony be made by officials from the Peninsula.
[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.Most excellent Sir,MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.][Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.][The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.][Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.][A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]
[Such visitation should be made] every five years,by officials despatched from the Peninsula for the purpose of inspecting the manner in which the laws are fulfilled, and the conduct of government employees of all classes; to examine the progress made in all the branches of administration, and matters that are worthy of reform; to make provisional arrangements for these, according to the instructions that shall be entrusted to them; and to furnish information to his Majesty’s government, from their positive knowledge and examination of the facts. The climate of Filipinas, and the disposition, passions, and customs of its inhabitants, are very different from those of the two Americas, by whose code the islands are governed. Although they form a naturally agricultural colony, they lack agrarian laws suited to the nature and resources of the country. The administration of justice demands many modifications of the general laws; and the institutions of the municipality and the [commercial] consulate, similar to those of the Peninsula, have not corresponded to the beneficial ends which the sovereign intended in them, on account of the character of the persons who in Manila compose that class of corporations, and of their clashing interests and relations. The chairs of theology, laws, and philosophy should, I am forced to say, be abolished, on account of the abuse which is made of the knowledge gained in those branches of learning; and in their places be substituted chairs of agriculture, botany, mineralogy, arts, and commerce—throwing open the colleges and universities of España to the natives of Filipinas who desire to cultivate the former branches. In the laws which regulate law-suits, in the tariffs, in the penalties—in short, in all which has been adopted from other countriesand another condition of human life—there is a certain discord with the character, usages, and customs of the inhabitants of Filipinas which it is necessary to correct. A periodical visitation by officials experienced in affairs, would set everything in motion in that colony, fill the natives with hope, correct the arbitrary use of power (which usually increased in proportion to the distances from the center of government), and furnish to this government accurate and impartial data for making its decisions. It is a great mistake, in my judgment, to seek for light on affairs of government in the colonies from the information furnished by their authorities and corporations; they are always prone to support their own jurisdictions or interests, and, in whatever matter these may cross, it is impossible to expect impartiality. The laxity which the climate inspires, the pleasures, the relations of friendship, kindred, and interest in a small population of Spaniards - all these things cause the neglect of affairs of government, and the domination of private interests. Points of mere etiquette, questions of little importance to the [royal] service, and discords (which furnish a bad example) between married persons - it has been mainly these things which for many years have filled the official correspondence of the colonies and kept their authorities occupied. Many of the subjects which are touched upon in this writing are either absolutely unknown to the government, or have not been discussed with the specifications and explanations which their importance deserves.
I have explained to your Excellency impartially the causes which antagonize the security and progress of the Filipinas Islands; and your Excellencywill recognize, by the irrefutable facts which I have here set down, that in that colony there exist the elements necessary for it to render itself prosperous, and to distribute its wealth throughout España, increasing the glory and power of her sovereign. Your Excellency desires radical measures of reform, and solidly-grounded plans for prosperity, because you recognize that this is the great art of government and of political economy. I have endeavored not to embarrass myself with the examination of one-sided and isolated questions, but rather to rise to the comprehension of the axioms and general principles which would give perpetual strength to the tranquillity of the Filipinas Islands and lay the foundations for their advancing prosperity.
It has already been made evident by melancholy experience that the governmental measures adopted since the conquest of the colonies have not been suited to their object. It is therefore necessary either to leave existing in Filipinas the same causes which have brought other colonies to their ruin, or to change the system without loss of time. This great reform will assuredly be the work of the present enlightened government of his Majesty, and the future prosperity of the Filipinas Islands will be the grandest monument to his glory. Madrid, April 26, 1827.
Most excellent Sir,
MANUEL BERNALDEZ PIZARRO
[Here follows a “résumé of the measures proposed in this memorial,” which we have already presented by sections, at the end of each subject treated. At the end is a list of the items of estimated increase in the public revenues of the islands provided the reforms advocated by Bernaldez are adopted.]
[Another MS. in the possession of Edward E. Ayer, dated Madrid, July 15, 1827, is of similar scope to this; it is signed with the initials “P. de S. M.,” and is addressed to the Spanish minister Ballesteros. The writer states, in the prefatory note, that his paper is the fruit of his many years of practical experience and observation, being actively engaged in commerce from Manila throughout the Philippine archipelago, in China, in all the foreign colonies of India, and on the Pacific coasts of America; and that he has written this paper “in the short time since he knew the charge given to Señor Bernaldez.” He sends it to the minister to be laid before “thejunta extraordinaria(or special committee) which at that time was considering the judicious informatory report of the auditor Señor Bernaldez Folgueras in regard to the protection and preservation of the Filipinas Islands;” and he offers to appear before the committee in person, to give any further information or explanation which may be desired. He states that, like Ballesteros, he is a Galician; and he displays much enthusiasm for the advancement and prosperity of Filipinas. This MS. is headed, “Impartial reflections of a Spaniard, who is enrolled among the citizens of Manila, upon the causes of the decadence of the Filipinas Islands, and the means which he deems most suitable for making them productive to the central government, and for restoring them to the state which, by their advantageous location, they are capable of occupying.” It begins by deploring the injury and loss caused to the islands by the piracies of the Moros, and recommending that the Spanish government remedy the abuses and negligence displayed in the administration of the colony, and the enormous and extravagant expenditure offunds in the wars against those pirates. This latter could be ended by effecting the conquest of Joló, Mindanao, and other centers of piracy, and establishing therein military and agricultural colonies of Visayans; this, and the development of the natural resources of those islands, would stop piracy and add much to the colonial revenues. Following the example of the English colonies in America, and of the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay and California, agriculture should be fostered in every way in Filipinas—where much greater success can be obtained because the native population is large and robust, and needs not to be supplemented by slave labor, which fortunately has been kept out of the islands. This and other industries there can be promoted at the same time, by proper measures. The preservation of the colony cannot be left to the Indians, and six thousand men from España, selected carefully, should be sent to Filipinas as soldiers and colonists, lands being bestowed on them; and with them should come commissioners of high standing and integrity to reform abuses in the colony and take measures for its benefit. Banks should be established, currency provided for, and facilities given to all the people for securing credit when needed—under the care, protection, and partly the management of the government. Commerce should be made entirely free to the world, in all kinds of products, whether native or foreign, save for the payment of moderate customs duties. A lottery should be established; fire and marine insurance companies should be protected; all artisans, of every class, nationality, and religion, should be free to settle in the islands (those who oppose this show puerile fears and absurd and impoliticnotions); the ownership of land should be made secure and legal; waste lands should be brought under cultivation, under penalty of losing title to them; such lands should be freely granted to all, whether natives or foreigners, who will cultivate them; and intending colonists be aided in all practicable ways, even from the public funds. The convents and cabildos which have the administration of funds deposited with them for the promotion of agriculture should be obliged to render their accounts of these, and to distribute them so as to carry out the intentions of the founders; and the funds which were to be invested in the Acapulco trade should, as that has now ceased, be applied to the benefit of agriculture. Foreign nations should be allowed to send consuls to Manila, which would be a benefit not only to foreigners residing in the islands, but reciprocally to Spaniards who navigate the seas controlled by foreign nations. A printing-office should be established there, and provision be made for the publication of a daily paper devoted to commerce and industry, and having correspondents in the other Oriental colonies to furnish information of their progress and achievements in all the useful arts. A mint should be erected at Manila; and the government establishments there for making cannon and gun-powder, which now are almost useless, should be put on an effective footing, and those articles should be supplied for the defense of the merchant and coasting vessels. A probate court has been formed, for the proper care of intestate property and that left to minors; and its administration should be regulated carefully, and the funds in its charge be administered for the benefit of its owners and of the country. Manilaand its environs should be sufficiently policed, and lawlessness curbed; vagabonds should be kept under control, and all who employ Indian servants should be made responsible for their conduct; and such servants should not be employed by any one, whether Spaniard or foreigner, nor allowed to enter colleges as students, without producing certificates from the police department. A college should be established in which the youth should receive instruction inbelles lettres, medicine, chemistry, botany, experimental physics, and mathematics; and a botanical garden should be made near Manila. Martins should be introduced into Luzon, for the extermination of the locust plague. The intendancy of the royal exchequer should be separated from the office of captain-general, so that the intendant shall have authority to direct the affairs of the former independently.]
[The writer proceeds to describe the character of the Tagalog natives, which he paints in gloomy colors.] It is impossible to define either the character of these Tagálos, or their morality—although it can be said that they have none; for, although in outward appearance they profess the Catholic religion, inwardly and in their actions they manifest that they follow no religion. The zeal with which the first conquistadors undertook to instruct them in the true belief has been useless; and the watchful care of the missionaries whom the piety of our kings has not ceased to send to those regions has been of no avail, except to make of their neophytes, instead of true Catholics and useful members of society, a new species of men, who unite the slothfulness of the savages to the vices of civilized peoples. Thus it is that theTagálos are fickle, vagabonds, full of superstitions, assassins, liars, licentious but without love, adroit thieves; and, in one word, they do not respect even the most sacred of the laws, divine or human. They lose no opportunity to make mischief among the authorities, and between the latter and Spaniards of all classes; and they have the cunning to throw the blame on these last, as being more timid. Moreover, they perjure themselves without the least scruple; their telling the truth depends on their being more or less carefully instructed by the parties to the suit; and unfortunate is he who summons them as his witnesses. They do not understand love, and their sensuality is carried to the extreme; consequently they are cruel fathers and worse husbands, and they have not the least respect or consideration for their wives. Paternal love is a strange thing for them, and therefore when they punish their children they do so barbarously, and if they begin it in the morning they do not finish until night. The same cruel disposition is seen among the schoolmasters who are paid by the government to teach the youth in their villages.
The code of laws for the Indias, considering these Indians as neophytes like those of the Antillas and the Americas, has made them participants in the privileges and liberties granted to those natives; and it exempts them from the penalties of which they render themselves worthy by the atrocious crimes which they continually commit. Incest, for example, is a common vice among them, for which opportunity is given by the little privacy in which the families live; for the mother, daughters, and sisters all sleep in one bed [hacen cama redonda], without any other separation from the men than merely a blanket.It is difficult to prove this crime among them, and only the cura or missionary could rebuke them and apply the proper correction, in their wrongly-understood condition of neophytes, if in confession they should reveal their sin; but, as lying is their dominant vice, they are silent or else deny it, and the cura cannot, even when he knows of it, obtain any satisfaction from them. The capital and its environs are the refuge of the more perverse, who migrate from the provinces and from their villages, in order not to work and to relieve themselves from paying the tribute. There they devote themselves to studies in the colleges of Santo Tomas, San José, and San Juan de Letran, making progress in a short time, and deceiving the professors with their apparent ingenuousness; at the same time they are occupied as servants to the Spaniards and foreigners, but only nominally, since they do not go to their master’s house except for eating, sleeping, and stealing from him (which they do with astonishing dexterity). After a little time, having abused the master’s patience, and having violated his wife, daughters, and other relatives, if he has such (without respecting even those who have not reached the age of puberty), they end by departing with the utmost coolness; and in order to avoid recognition, and so that they cannot be caught if they happen to be pursued, they employ the trick of shaving the head, and, while naked, anointing the entire body with oil, and then take to flight, with no other covering than a mere breech-clout. The poor Spaniard, although he finds that he has been robbed, does not think of resorting to the magistrates to make complaint, for he knows that instead of doing him justice they would, after making him spend muchmoney, sentence him to pay the costs and exculpate the Indian, regarding the latter as a neophyte. Still less does he say a word about the rape, in order not to make public his own dishonor. Let it not be supposed that this occurs only among private persons; for there have been persons in authority who have experienced in their own houses similar acts of insolence from these vicious and immoral neophytes. After these evil deeds, they disappear, as I have said; and in a very short time they are seen returning from Ilocos, Camarines, and Cebú, ordained as clerics, with what sort of character may be understood—now cleansed from all their crimes, and absolved from guilt and penalty, to continue their studies in the colleges. Thus they graduate as bachelors and doctors, and secure curacies, in which they commit the acts of folly which may easily be inferred, and which it would be tedious to explain here; and with their corrupt behavior they set an example to their parishioners of dissoluteness, impiety, and slothfulness.
[The writer then enumerates the good qualities of this people, so far as they go. They are inclined to the arts and sciences, and learn quickly, and their deficiencies therein are due only to their lack of books for their instruction, and tools with which to finish off their work; this is mainly due to their improvidence, “for an Indian, even though he is a doctor and a cura, is unable to save one cuarto for purchasing those things, no matter how cheap they may be; on the other hand, he will, if he needs money for his vices, pledge his breviary or sell his missal.” “Nevertheless, they exercise all the occupations except those of silversmith, tailor, and watch-maker, for no one would trust them [in these];” butlack of tools prevents them from doing as good work as Europeans. They have taste in the fine arts, and almost all the buildings are planned by them. They are excellent artillerists, and a French naval commander (in 1798) thought them better than his own; and are useful in naval fights, on account of their courage and agility. An Indian will in a few days’ practice understand as much of seamanship as a European would gain in twenty years; and many of them have migrated from the islands as seamen on the ships. But they resent being called “negroes,” and in several cases where they have been thus affronted they have mutinied, killed the Europeans, and fled with the ship and cargo. So great has been this migration that in the other colonies of Asia rigorous measures have been taken to stop it, and “in all the ports of India, the entrances and roads are full of gibbets on which men from Manila are hanged, for a warning; but, seeing that this had no effect, all the owners and captains of merchant ships have been compelled by law not to receive on their vessels more than four or six of these Indians.” The Tagálos are free with their money, and readily lend to any European whatever they may possess. They take great care of their fighting cocks (“who are for them actual idols”), are very temperate in eating and drinking, and are never seen intoxicated. They are often devoted to agricultural labor, and will do well in it when they are supplied with better methods and appliances.]
[Some account is given of the Negritos and other wild tribes of Luzón; and it is stated that any colonist who wishes to settle among them will be able to succeed in any agricultural or other enterprise whichhe may undertake, if he will obtain the consent of the chiefs, pay the savages whom he may employ exactly what he has agreed to give, and not annoy them with matters of religion. As for the civilized Tagálos, their women are entirely different from the men; they are kind, hospitable, and industrious, and, although coquettish, are very modest and decorous in behavior. They sow the rice, and gather all the crops; roll cigars, and weave beautiful fabrics of cotton and abacá; and embroider beautifully, besides making hats, mats, and many other articles. In fine, “if it were possible to put an end to all the men and leave only the women, or rather unite them to other men who would possess their good qualities and think as they do, Filipinas would come to be the most wealthy and fortunate country in the universe.” It is certain that agriculture would be the best mode of life for the Indians, and they ought to be urged to engage in it, after the examples furnished by the Jesuits in Paraguay, the Quakers in America, and other successful colonists. The writer suggests various means to stimulate the Indians to greater industry (especially as the Spaniards cannot undertake work in the fields), and for the formation and management of agricultural enterprises; he would have them well treated, promptly and justly paid, and supplied with house, land, and suitable amusements. It has been a great mistake to prohibit the alcaldes-mayor and other provincial officials from owning estates there, while permitting them to engage in trade; this policy ought to be reversed, and they be obliged to cultivate the land, and prevented from harassing the Indians as they have done. In forming large estates, provision should be made for the homes ofthe laborers being comfortable, arranged in regular streets, protected as far as possible from the danger of fire, and shaded by trees of useful sorts; and from these should be well isolated the proprietor’s dwelling, sheds, machinery, and other property. Gardens, orchards, fishponds, etc., should be formed; and all appliances should be furnished which are desirable for improving the quantity and quality of the products of the estate, and for providing a safe and abundant supply of food, and of the luxuries which are dear to the heart of the Indian. Careful directions are given for the selection of land, the supply of water, cattle-raising, making of plantations, protection against storms, etc. An interesting account is given of the Chinese in Filipinas, their trade, relations with the Spaniards, the abuses in these, the hatred felt toward them by the Tagálos (resulting mainly from the illicit relations of the Chinese with the Indian women), their mode of life, etc.; they should be compelled to devote themselves only to agriculture and the useful arts, and to abandon commerce and business entirely. They have been very injurious to the interests of the islands, and ought to be expelled from Filipinas, save as they are engaged in handicrafts or the tillage of the soil. The Spaniards ought thus to follow the example of the Dutch in Java and other islands, where the Chinese have made excellent agriculturists and manufacturers of agricultural products, and have enriched both themselves and the Dutch; if they had been thus treated in Filipinas, that country would now be as prosperous and wealthy as are the Dutch colonies, and its trade would be as rich and extensive as that of the Dutch. As it is, enormous sums of money have beencarried to Filipinas from España, and spent in the islands, with hardly any return to the mother country; and the greater part of this wealth has been absorbed by the trade with China, and has been stored away in that country.]
[A note at the end of this MS. outlines the author’s plan for the establishment of a banking system at Manila.]