Volume 50 — LETTER FROM VIANA TO CARLOS III

All this lawless conduct (which results from the absolute sway of the ministers of doctrinas) will be evident to your Majesty from the copy which I enclose of two fiscal opinions, which are literally transcribed from the official records belonging to the year 765; the originals are found in the respective expedientes preserved in the office of the court secretary of this Audiencia. In these is told sufficient to give some idea of the despotism of the said religious, on whom nearly all the people of these islands are dependent—some through fear, and others through unjust acts of compliance and tolerance which at the present time make it exceedingly difficult to check that despotism. This will never be accomplished unless the governor and the ministers of the Audiencia proceed unitedly and with equal firmness, without yielding to the religious, and with inflexible zeal for the fulfilment of the laws and the municipal ordinances of these islands. But for this end it would be indispensable to confer the public offices of the provinces on men tried and true, who would fulfil their obligations; and not on persons who, buying the said offices in Manila, undertake to fill them by inflicting so many injuries [on the natives] that their very infractions of law oblige them to depend absolutely on the religious, and to maintain the latter in their possession of authority over the Indians and over the alcaldes. From this beginning it results that neither the orders of the governor nor of the Audiencia take effect, and that all the measures which are conformable to the laws and to your Majesty’s royal decrees prove futile; for there is a false show of fulfilling them, which leaves these matters in the same confusion which attempt was made to remedy.

There is equal proof for what I demanded regarding the trade of the Spaniards with the Indians. It is grievous to see that no one dares to carry on this trade; for, however strict may be the orders which have been issued, not only by your governors but by this Audiencia, the curas of doctrinas have many means for rendering them ineffective. They dissuade the Spaniards from going to the Indian villages, where, as a rule, they are treated with incredible contempt, and are denied even the food which they need (and for which they offer money), because neither the governadorcillo nor any other Indian dares to sell it without permission from the father minister. Not only does the father usually deny this, but he stirs up the anger of the Indians against the Spaniard—whom they call Castila; the name of Castilian has thus become exceedingly odious among the natives, and they regard every Spaniard with dislike, if indeed not with hatred. To see a Spaniard in their villages appears to them such a novelty that all the inhabitants—old persons, the youths, and the children—sally out to look at him, with loud yells and uproar, in which one can only hear, “Castila! Castila!” and amid the annoyance of being surrounded by Indians, without being able to understand them, the Spaniard has no other resource than to go in search of the father of the doctrina, and humiliate himself before him with the same abjectness as the said Indians show, in order that the reverence shown to this despot may furnish him with lodging and food, and render his life safe. This would not happen if the Castilian language had been extended into the provinces, for experience shows that every Indian who understands it feels much affection for the Spaniards; and the natives aid them wherever they meet them, if they are not in the presence of the fathers of doctrinas.

It is no less certain that many of the fathers trade in the villages which they administer, and that for this reason also they are undertaking to hinder, by the aforesaid means, the trade of the Spaniards. All this will seem as incredible to your Majesty as it seemed to me until my official duties, and the things that I myself have seen in the provinces through which I have traveled, proved its truth to me; and even more than what is notorious and public to all who have lived in these islands for some time can be told to your Majesty by Doctor Don Simon Anda y Salazar, who certainly was often undeceived, by experience, in regard to the aforesaid intentions of the religious.

I, Sire, would not dare to write on subjects so delicate, and so difficult to explain, if I were not fully convinced of what I have stated above, and of the fact that this abuse has not been nor will it be remedied, while a governor little acquainted [with his duties] in the early years of his term casts into oblivion the measures taken by his predecessor, or revokes them, through the persuasions of the religious; and when he reaches the point of being undeceived he comes to the last years of his government, and the measures that he takes then have the same fate as those already mentioned, on the arrival of his successor. The same thing occurs with the ministers [of the Audiencia] who have recently arrived at this city; for, under the influence of the said religious, they regard as recklessness and impiety that which afterward, with some experience, they recognize as zeal for the royal service. This disunion and lack of agreement in their opinions would not be experienced if the laws were punctually observed, and if the “Ordinances for the provinces” were established as law—which would regulate all these matters, and not allow freedom for failure in supporting them, as they ought to be supported, by an opinion that is equally firm in all the governors and ministers. For nothing so injures good government as the attempt of those high officials to temporize with every one, and not incur any one’s ill-will; and to look out for their own profit, to the detriment of the general good. It is notorious, at the same time, that for the said reasons whatever concerns his Majesty and the public is in almost utterly desperate condition; that the laws and royal decrees are not held in due reverence and respect; that they are transgressed with reckless readiness; that seldom is justice administered, on account of the intervention of influential persons; and that only where there is no advantage for self—as is the case in the affairs of poor people—are the laws observed. From this abuse—offensive to the supreme power of his Majesty, which usually is not obeyed in these islands, where a spirit of greed is the sole ruler with absolute dominion—it results that zealous and upright ministers are the only ones who are persecuted; and that those who remain inactive, and are susceptible to presents, and can be led into unlawful yielding and compliance, are popular with the citizens.

If these departments of the government were separated in the above manner, there would be an invariable method of procedure in the two tribunals of the Audiencia and the intendancy. For in the former, even if one or another minister should pass away, there would remain others, who could instruct the new officials, so that the said method should never be changed without evident necessity, justified by documents and by unanimous opinions; and in the intendancy the same thing would occur, by means of the practical knowledge which would pass from some royal officials to others, and from some subordinates to others. Especially should be left to parties [in controversies] free recourse by appeal to the royal Audiencia from all the acts and measures of the intendant; and he, with the ministers [of that court], should proceed to the choice (by a majority of votes) of the [provincial] governors, corregidors, and alcaldes-mayor. Thus, likewise, would be avoided the sale of those offices, which is frequent; and the merit and services of the citizens would be rewarded, so that they might have some stimulus in regard to their conduct and valor, and be encouraged to serve your Majesty by these hopes—which are entirely lacking to them at the present time, in which he alone is preferred who gives most for the offices.

There is another matter not less important, the reduction of the villages and houses of Indians into parishes [debajo de Campana], which I have continually recommended, and still urge; for I am of opinion that without such reduction we shall have neither Christians nor good vassals, as it is impossible for the Indians, while dispersed, to be instructed in the mysteries of the Catholic religion. Living, as most of them do, without government either spiritual or temporal, they readily abandon both their religion and their vassalage, as experience has proved. This would be corrected by the said reduction, and, as a result, the Indians would become more civilized; they would go to church frequently, the children would attend the schools, and their instruction in the Castilian language would be facilitated, and with it our trade. If schools for the instruction of boys and girls were established in the chief towns of the provinces, as I recommended to the superior government, religion and the Christian church would flourish in these valuable dominions—whose natives are susceptible of great religious and social progress, if zeal and care be displayed for that which has hitherto been neglected.

In the present report I have expressed myself at some length, bringing in the points just mentioned because I think that they help to a more intelligent understanding of the two most important matters, the trade of the Spaniards with the Indians, and the knowledge by the latter of the Spanish language. To understand better the ideas of the ministers of doctrinas, it only remains for me to say, through love for the truth, that among them there are some religious of exemplary virtue, who are included [in my censure only] in what concerns their spiritual administration, in other matters fulfilling [their obligation of] obedience to their superiors, and not meddling with worldly affairs; but I cannot avoid giving, in conclusion, a brief account of the manner in which the ministries are filled in their chapter-sessions.

The factions among the religious are notorious, and sometimes scandalous; and they are engaged during the entire year in activities for the chapter-session. The faction which gains the upper hand shares among its adherents all the ministries which have the right to vote, and those of the greatest profit and ease; and the rest are distributed among those of the opposite faction, who go as exiles to the mountains, and especially to the missions. This is the reason why so few souls are converted among the pagans; because no longer are selected for missionaries the religious who have a vocation [for that work], and zeal, but those who have no influential friends and those who are unable to attend the chapter-sessions.

But even all that is here mentioned will not be enough for the amendment of the many evils which demand it, unless all [the officials] are encouraged and animated by the [right] spirit in the governor of these islands, on whose good or evil conduct depends the good or the bad behavior of almost all the people who compose this colony. This government has in its charge a multitude of affairs, which on account of their extent overtax the ability of one person alone, and on this account they are entrusted to many—but with this distinction, that when the governor is able, assiduous in his duties, vigorous, and just in his dealings (traits which unfortunately have been seldom seen in these islands for many years past), such also are those who assist him; and they take pains to secure his approval as much as they fear to displease him. But when the governor is a man of limited ability, indolent, or dominated by avarice (which is most frequently the case), all his associates have these same failings and vices. Moreover, all business then depends on the governor’s secretary; nothing is attended to, save what yields [him] some profit, and everything is neglected which concerns your Majesty, the government of the provinces, the proper management of the royal exchequer, and the public welfare. In these matters, the earnest zeal of neither the fiscal nor of some other upright ministers is sufficient, for since they are such they oppose what is unjust, and obtain no other result than many vexations, and the grief of seeing that these islands are going headlong to their final ruin. Hence it may be concluded that only a governor who is able, industrious, and very disinterested, in conjunction with reverend bishops of like zeal, assiduity, and disinterestedness, can constitute the effectual check by which the curas of doctrinas may be kept within bounds, by subjecting them to the [episcopal] visitation, and to the enforcement of the laws of the royal patronage; and by stationing in the provinces alcaldes who are men of honor and who fear God, who will be vigilant for the laws and ordinances—as they will be if, free from uncertainty as to their authority, they have no cause to fear the religious. But, on the other hand, if they have cause for such fear they will neglect everything, and only busy themselves in what encourages their covetousness, with acts of extortion and violence which seldom are punished, because they are hidden in the residencias; and because the governor, who regularly sells these offices to the persons who give most for them, permits their acts of injustice, which he would punish if the appointment were a disinterested one and in accordance with the royal intention of your Majesty. By these facts it seems to be demonstrated that the main root of all these evils is in the inefficiency, indolence, and, most of all, the covetousness of the governors; and that the remedy for them lies alone in the division of the [governmental] business, as I have already stated, or else, if this division be not made, that the governors be men who are able, assiduous, and disinterested. For such will cause all the members [of the government] to follow the example of their head; and the laws, the royal decrees, and the ordinances will be obeyed, so that your Majesty may be recognized as sovereign lord of these dominions, and a thoroughly good government will be established which can preserve these Christian lands, with benefit to the royal treasury, as I have had the honor to represent to your Majesty. For otherwise it does not seem probable that the royal orders of your Majesty will be productive of results, for experience shows that such has not been the case hitherto with the many pious and excellent provisions contained in the wise laws of the Indias, and with the repeated royal decrees by which, at various times, those laws have been confirmed. These have not yet been fulfilled, nor will they be, unless disinterestedness rules, and unless there is punishment for covetousness—for this is what ruins and upsets everything, and, by force of defying and insulting upright ministers, causes the latter to live without freedom to execute justice, and to render the worthy tribunal of the Audiencia useless and inactive; for the iniquitous proceedings of some governors, and especially of the present one, have reduced this court to the utmost humiliation, as the numerous transactions of which I have given account to your Majesty prove. May God preserve the Catholic royal person of your Majesty for many years, as is needful for the monarchy. Manila, May 1, 1767.

[Francisco Leandro de Viana, fiscal of the royal Audiencia.]