The
force of men there should be reduced, if practicable; and certain forts
in Maluco should be abandoned. In these and other ways expenses must
be reduced. The governor and the archbishop must warn the religious
orders to cease their exactions upon the Indians. A separate letter
warns the governor that expenses must be reduced to the utmost; and
that he must maintain the colony on its own revenues, without aid
from the government. He is advised to endeavor to open and work the
mines in the islands; but in doing so he must not molest or injure the
Indians. He should endeavor to enlist their aid in this undertaking,
and the missionaries should use their influence with the natives.
The Jesuit Joan de Ribera writes to some high official in Spain
(December 20, 1618), urging the importance of Manila and the
Philippines, and the necessity of opposing the progress that the Dutch
are making in India, Japan, and the archipelago, so as to preserve for
Spain the rich trade of the East. Another most important consideration
is the need of maintaining these islands as a center for religious
labors among the heathen tribes.
A naval officer, Sebastian de Pineda, sends from Nueva Espana (1619)
to the king a paper on ships and shipbuilding in the Philippines. He
begins by describing various kinds of timber used for this purpose;
then enumerates, the shipyards in the islands, and the wages paid to
the workmen. Fourteen hundred carpenters were formerly employed at
one time in the Cavite shipyard alone; but half of them were killed
or captured by the Moros in 1617, many have died from overwork, and
many others have fled to parts unknown because they had been unpaid
for five years.
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