Note 2 — Manila Treasury Accounts, 1630–35

Spanish, el cargo de penas de Camara. Cargo, as thus used, refers to the amount charged on the books of the accountant, and especially to the general balance struck; in a general sense, cargo and data, in the old Spanish system of accounting, corresponded to “debit” and “credit” in modern bookkeeping. The difference between these (alcance), in an individual account, would be nearly the same as our term “balance of account.” The old Spanish methods of accounting were somewhat different from the modern, and based on more complicated procedure; and it is difficult to find modern equivalents for various words and phrases used therein—especially for some which designate the duties of accountants, and for others which are no longer in actual use. The whole accounting and auditing system was very elaborate and characteristically suspicious. There were, in every case, two men working together; and, if one of them was absent, some different work must be assigned to the other for that day, by the bureau of accounts. There were three classes of employees in this work, in the Spanish colonies: the contadores de cuentas (who apparently were of higher rank than the others), contadores de resultas, and ordenadores de pago. The second of these terms is no longer used in accounting, and no satisfactory explanation of its commercial use is given in lexicons. The ordenadores de pagos (an office abolished at intervals) might correspond to our disbursing officers, save that they did not, I think, actually handle the money; hence, their functions rather correspond to a part of the duties of our auditors. It may be that the term cuentas is used in the accounting system to define accounts in general, items of any and all sorts owed to the state; and resultas, as referring to the accounts kept of money paid out, on one or another account, by the public treasury—its balances (alcances) being, therefore, the sums remaining over and above the amounts spent. This would give us a system of accountants for the items owing to the state—in other words, for its incomes; and another system of accountants for the expenditures of the government. In such case, resultas might also designate the balances reverting to the credit of the state—that is, the unspent balances of various funds; this meaning would harmonize with the related functions of the contadores de resultas and the ordenadores de pagos, who supplied each other’s places. These are suggestions rather than definitive statements, for which latter is needed expert knowledge of the old Spanish accounting system. The Recopilación de leyes de Indias contains much information on these points; see especially lib. viii, tit. i, ii, xxix; lib. ix, tit. viii.—James A. LeRoy.