Note 17 — REPRESENTATION OF FILIPINAS IN THE SPANISH CORTES

At the opening of the new session of the Cortes, the Philippine substitutes of the previous session held over.17 An order18 of March 22 decided that the vice-royalties, captaincies-general, etc., were not to be filled for stated periods, but incumbents were to hold them at the will of the king. Of great importance was the approval on June 30, of a petition presented by Arnedo on June 16 asking for direct mails between Spain and the Philippines under charge of the navy department. On that same date the report of the committee on Hacienda on the estimated budget for the Ministry of Ultramar for 1822 (over 330,000 reals more than that of 1821), aroused considerable discussion, especially among the American delegates.19 A decree of June 29 provided for public schools and provincial universities, of which Manila was to have one. This decree provided for schools and courses much ahead of anything in the islands, but it remained a dead letter because of the speedy suppression of the constitution.20 This session of the Cortes closed on June 30.