Note 9 — FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE ISLANDS, 1766

There is an interesting statement in Viana’s Respuestas, fol. 151–155, regarding the iron mine of Santa Ynes and its early history. One Francisco Salgado claimed to have discovered it, and tried to operate it for some time; but he finally abandoned the work, and it (or rather the right to work it) was sold, some years afterward, by the government to the highest bidder. Viana says of this mine: “It is called a mine, but more properly is a quarry of rocks containing iron, with which rocks the mountains of Santa Ynes abound; and in order to obtain them no vein is followed, nor is there need for tunnels, as there is in the mines.” Salgado sold considerable iron from Santa Ynes, including 2,000 picos of it to the royal storehouses at four pesos a pico, instead of the current rate of ten pesos; this low price was claimed by the royal fiscal as the right of the crown, in the term of Ezpeleta as governor. In 1765, Salgado was claiming from the government 36,000 pesos, to reimburse him for the losses he had met in operating Santa Ynes; but Viana sturdily opposed this, saying that the mine naturally belonged to the crown, and that Salgado had forfeited any rights which he might have had therein, and did not make any claims to the mine at the time when it was placed in the hands of Francisco Casañas and Juan Solano, as he should have done in order to render them valid at the present time; moreover, he had made various misrepresentations of the matter at different times, and ought to be punished for falsehood.

In fol. 158, 159, Viana states that (in 1765) Casañas is dead, and Solano pays to the royal treasury five hundred pesos a year. Viana is anxious to prevent the abandonment of the mines (which he fears in view of the losses and injuries caused by the late war), since they contain enough iron to supply all India, and ought to be operated for the benefit of the royal treasury, thus saving the great expense which it incurs in buying iron from China, and preventing the drain of so much money from the islands. He therefore proposes that some two hundred Chinese be placed at work in the mines to operate and develop them, and build the necessary furnaces and other appliances; this will also reduce the population of the Parian, and will cost nothing to the treasury save the rations for the Sangleys, who should be compelled to cultivate the lands near the mines and raise most of what is needed for their support and that of their families (for the married ones should be selected for this colony). They should be placed under a manager of skill and energy, with twenty-five or thirty soldiers at his disposal. From this enterprise, “numberless advantages would ensue for the king and for the public. The consumption of iron in the islands amounts to from 80,000 to 100,000 pesos’ worth annually; and even the most ordinary sort, that from China, costs seven to eight pesos a pico for bars, and twelve to thirteen when wrought into nails, balls, etc.” By the above plan the cost of producing the iron would be reduced to about three pesos a pico. All the Sangley ironworkers should therefore be seized, and transported to the mines. ↑