Note 10 — COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES WITH NUEVA ESPAÑA

201–212. [On February 23, 1734, the Manila deputies presented a new memorial, under eight heads, making various minor requests in regard to the new regulation for the commerce, some of which were granted, and some refused. On April 8, a royal decree was issued making such regulation;10 after briefly reviewing the various proceedings and documents which had appeared since the decree of 1726, command is given that the viceroy’s orders be revoked, and the commerce continued in accordance with the decrees of 1702, 1712, and 1724—prohibiting the valuation on the basis of piezas, and prescribing that this be accomplished by invoices and sworn declarations; and increasing the amount of the trade permitted to Manila to 500,000 pesos of investment and 1,000,000 of returns. As for duties, they shall be paid as commanded in the decree of 1702 (which fixed 100,000 pesos as the amount to be paid at Acapulco for the round trip of the galleon), pro rata therewith on the increase from 300,000 to 500,000 pesos; but this shall be paid as required duties, and not under the name of indult. No alcavala shall be paid on sales at Acapulco, but it shall be paid on goods which shall first be sent to other provinces of Nueva España. The duties are estimated on the basis of about 17 per cent of the returns on the cargo, and as the king pays “the cost of the building, careening, and repairing of the ships, the pay of the crews and officers, and the provisions, supplies, and ammunition needed for each voyage, without receiving more than 44 ducados for each tonelada of the lading allotted, not only will there remain no profit to my royal exchequer, but it will be necessary that it supply a considerable amount in order to maintain and preserve this traffic and commerce to the natives of Philipinas, which is all the bounty that my royal munificence can exercise;” but if the Manila shippers do not wish to accept this adjustment of the duties, they can (as before) pay the exact amount of the duties on each consignment of goods, without any dispensation or remission. No one to whom space has been assigned may transfer it to others, save in the case of poor persons and widows. Any excess of returns over the 1,000,000 pesos shall be divided among the shippers pro rata on their allotments of space and valuations of goods at Manila, and they may carry it back in products and commodities of Nueva España, but not in money; if the returns fall short of the above sum, the deficiency shall not be made up, the royal officials being strictly forbidden to allow any infraction of this rule. Citizens of Nueva España are prohibited under heavy penalties from participating in this trade as shippers, of either goods or money. The measures used in regulating the size of packages shall be those which the Manila shippers have been accustomed to use, allowance having been made for the difference between these and the Castilian standards, as decreed in 1702 and 1733. The committee of distribution at Manila shall be composed of the following persons: the governor of the islands; the senior auditor of the Audiencia, or, as his substitute, the auditor next longest in service; the royal fiscal; the archbishop of Manila, or, as his substitute, the dean of the cathedral; one of the alcaldes-in-ordinary, and one of the regidors, of the city of Manila; and one of the eight arbitrators [compromissarios] who compose the commercial body11 there—provided that the regidor and the arbitrator be chosen in turn, so that this duty shall fall, successively, on all the members of those respective bodies. Despatches to this effect were sent to the officials of Mexico, Acapulco and Filipinas. (The compiler of the Extracto thinks it worth while to call attention to the opinion of the royal fiscal of Mexico, given upon reading this decree, that it was “a just one, and generally advantageous to both commerces.”)]