Note 89 — Chapter X · THE AUDIENCIA AND THE CHURCH: THE ROYAL PATRONAGE

The suspicions of the general public were confirmed, and the popular distrust increased when the inspection of Oidor Calderón revealed that the finances of the society had been carelessly kept, and that the books contained numerous discrepancies. The scrutiny of the oidor showed the existence of a deficit of 383,437 pesos; that is, the records called for property in the hands of the society to the value of that sum which could not be found. The Misericordia, in a series of protests, accounted for the discrepancies by alleging that the audiencia had declared many of its debtors bankrupt. Relief from the inspection was requested on the grounds that the local feeling and the prejudice of the oidores would cause them to be unfair to the society. It pleaded that the inspection should be made by the chief accountant of the Council of the Indies (contador de cuentas) once in five years. In this request it was supported by the recommendation of this official.89