Note 1 — COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES WITH NUEVA ESPAÑA

“All the New World was subjected to the alcavala. This is a tax levied only upon whatever is sold at wholesale, and does not extend to the articles for daily consumption; it is derived originally from the Moors. The Spaniards adopted it in 1341, and established it at the rate of five per cent. It was finally placed at ten, and forced up even to fourteen per cent; but in 1750 arrangements were made which brought the rate back to what it was at first. Philip II, after the disastrous end of that fleet so well known under the pompous title of ‘invincible,’ in 1591 resolved, on account of his needs, to exact this aid from all his possessions in America. At the outset, it was only two per cent; in 1627, it rose to four.” (Raynal, Histoire ... des établissemens et du commerce des Européens, ii, p. 310.) ↑