The yearly value of the merchants' shipments was first limited to P250,000, whilst the return trade could not exceed P500,000 in coin or stores, and this was on the supposition that 100 per cent. profit would be realized on the sales in Mexico.

The allotment of surplus freight-room in the galleon was regulated by the issue of _boletas_--doc.u.ments which, during a long period, served as paper money in fact, for the holders were ent.i.tled to use them for shipping goods, or they could transfer them to others who wished to do so. The demand for freight was far greater than the carrying power provided. Shipping warrants were delivered gratis to the members of the _Consulado_, to certain ecclesiastics, and others. Indeed, it is a.s.serted by some writers that the Governor's favourites were served with preference, to the prejudice of legitimate trade.

The Spaniards were not allowed to go to China to fetch merchandise for transhipment, but they could freely buy what was brought by the Chinese. Indian and Persian goods uninterruptedly found their way to Manila. Spanish goods came exclusively _via_ Mexico.

The mail galleon usually sailed in the month of July in each year, and the voyage occupied about five months. Very strict regulations were laid down regarding the course to be steered, but many calamities befell the ships, which were not unfrequently lost through the incapacity of the officers who had procured their appointments by favour. For a century and a half there was practically no compet.i.tion. All was arranged beforehand as to shape, quant.i.ty, size, etc., of each bale. There was, however, a deal of trickery practised respecting the declared values, and the _boletas_ were often quoted at high prices. Even the selling-price of the goods sent to Mexico was a preconcerted matter.

The day of the departure of the galleon or its arrival with a couple of millions of pesos or more, [114] and new faces, was naturally one of rejoicing--it was almost the event of the year. A _Te Deum_ was chanted in the churches, the bells tolled, and musicians perambulated the streets, which were illuminated and draped with bunting.

So far as commercial affairs were concerned, the Philippine merchants pa.s.sed very easy lives in those palmy days. One, sometimes two, days in the week were set down in the calendar as Saint-days to be strictly observed; hence an active business life would have been incompatible with the exactions of religion. The only misadventure they had to fear was the loss of the galleon. Market fluctuations were unknown. During the absence of the galleon, there was nothing for the merchants to do but to await the arrival of the Chinese junks in the months of March, April, and May, and prepare their bales. For a century and a half this sort of trading was lucrative; it required no smartness, no spirit of enterprise or special tact. Shippers were busy for only three months in the year, and during the remaining nine months they could enjoy life as they thought fit--cut off from the rest of the world.

Some there were who, without means of their own, speculated with the _Obras Pias_funds, lent at interest. [115]

The Philippine merchants often lost the value of their shipments in the State galleons by shipwreck or seizure by enemies. Mexico frequently lost the Philippine remittances to her, and the specie she sent to the Philippines. The State galleon made only one voyage a year there and back, if all went well; but if it were lost, the shipment had to be renewed, and it often happened that several galleons were seized in a year by Spain's enemies.

The abortive attempt to annex the British Isles to the Spanish Crown in 1588 brought about the collapse of Spain's naval supremacy, enabling English mariners to play havoc with her galleons from America. The Philippine Islands, as a colony, had at that date only just come into existence, but during the series of Anglo-Spanish wars which preceded the "Family Compact" (_vide_ p. 87), Philippine-Mexican galleons laden with treasure became the prey of British commanders, notably Admiral Anson. The coasts were beset by Anson's squadron. He was the terror of the Philippines from the year 1743. His exploits gave rise to consternation, and numerous councils were held to decide what to do to get rid of him. The captured galleon _Pilar_ gave one-and-a-half million pesos to the enemy--the _Covadonga_ was an immense prize. All over the Islands the Spaniards were on the alert for the dreaded foe; every provincial Governor sent look-outs to high promontories with orders to signal by beacons if the daring Britisher's ships were seen hovering about, whilst, in Manila, the citizens were forewarned that, at any moment, they might be called upon to repel the enemy.

Not only in fleets of gold-laden vessels did Spain and her dependencies lose immense wealth through her hostile ambition, for in view of the restrictions on Philippine trade, and the enormous profits accruing to the Spanish merchants on their shipments, British, Dutch, French, and Danish traders competed with them. Shippers of these nationalities bought goods in Canton, where they established their own factories, or collecting-stores. In 1731 over three millions of Mexican dollars (pesos) were taken there for making purchases, and these foreign ships landed the stuffs, etc., in contraband at the American ports, where Spaniards themselves co-operated in the trade which their absolute King declared illicit, whilst the traders considered it a natural right.

As the Southern (Peninsula) Spanish merchants were helpless to stay this compet.i.tion, which greatly affected their profits, their rancorous greed made them clamour against the Philippine trade, to which they chose to attribute their misfortunes, and the King was pet.i.tioned to curtail the commerce of this Colony with Mexico for their exclusive benefit. But it was not Spanish home trade alone which suffered: Acapulco was so beset by smugglers, whose merchandise, surrept.i.tiously introduced, found its way to Mexico City, that, in latter days, the Philippine galleons' cargoes did not always find a market. Moreover, all kinds of frauds were practised about this time in the quality of the goods baled for shipment, and the bad results revealed themselves on the Mexican side. The shippers, unwisely, thought it possible to deceive the Mexicans by sending them inferior articles at old prices; hence their disasters became partly due to "the vaulting ambition that o'erleaps itself and falls on t'other side." The Governor commissioned four of the most respectable Manila traders to inspect the sorting and cla.s.sification of the goods shipped. These citizens distinguished themselves so highly, to their own advantage, that the Governor had to suppress the commission and abandon the control, in despair of finding honest colleagues. Besides this fraud, contraband goods were taken to Acapulco in the galleons themselves, hidden in water-jars.

In the time of Governor Pedro de Arandia (1754-59) the 100 per cent. fixed profit was no longer possible. Merchants came down to Acapulco and forced the market, by waiting until the ships were obliged to catch the monsoon back, or lie up for another season, so that often the goods had to be sold for cost, or a little over. In 1754 returns were so reduced that the _Consulado_ was owing to the _Obras Pias_ over P300,000, and to the _Casa Misericordia_ P147,000, without any hope of repayment. The _Casa Misericordia_ lent money at 40 per cent., then at 35 per cent., and in 1755 at 20 per cent. interest, but the state of trade made capital hardly acceptable even at this last rate.

Early in the 18th century the Cadiz merchants, jealous of the Philippine shippers, protested that the home trade was much injured by the cargoes carried to Mexico in Philippine bottoms. So effectually did they influence the King in their favour that he issued a decree prohibiting the trade between China and the Philippines in all woven stuffs, skein and woven silk and clothing, except the finest linen. Manila imports from China were thereby limited to fine linen, porcelain, wax, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. At the expiration of six months after the proclamation of the decree, any remaining stocks of the proscribed articles were to be burnt! Thenceforth trade in such prohibited articles was to be considered illicit, and such goods arriving in Mexico after that date were to be confiscated.

By Royal Decree dated October 27, 1720, and published in Mexico by the Viceroy on February 15, 1724, the following was enacted, viz.:--That in future there should be two galleons per annum, instead of one as heretofore, carrying merchandise to Acapulco, each to be of 500 tons. That the merchandise sent in the two was to be of the value of P300,000 precisely in gold, cinnamon, wax, porcelain, cloves, pepper, etc., but not silks, or stuffs of any kind containing silk, under pain of confiscation, to be allotted in three equal parts, namely, to the Fiscal officer, the Judge intervening, and the informer, and perpetual banishment from the Indies of all persons concerned in the shipment. That the number of Manila merchants was to be fixed, and any one not included in that number was to be prohibited from trading. No ecclesiastic, or professor of religion, or foreigner could be included in the elected few, whose rights to ship were non-transferable. That if the proceeds of the sale happened to exceed the fixed sum of P600,000, on account of market prices being higher than was antic.i.p.ated, only that amount could be brought back in money, and the difference, or excess, in goods. [If it turned out to be less than that amount, the difference could not be remitted in cash by Mexican merchants for further purchases, the spirit of the decree being to curtail the supply of goods from this Colony to Mexico, for the benefit of the Spanish home traders. The infringer of this regulation was subject to the penalties of confiscation and two years' banishment from the Indies.]

By Royal Decree of the year 1726, received and published in Manila on August 9, 1727, the following regulations were made known, viz.:--That the prohibition relating to silk and all-silk goods was revoked. That only one galleon was to be sent each year (instead of two) as formerly. That the prohibition on clothing containing some silk, and a few other articles, was maintained. That for five years certain stuffs of fine linen were permitted to be shipped, to the limit of 4,000 pieces per annum, precisely in boxes containing each 500 pieces.

The Southern Spanish traders in 1729 pet.i.tioned the King against the Philippine trade in woven goods, and protested against the five-years'

permission granted in the above decree of 1726, declaring that it would bring about the total ruin of the Spanish weaving industry, and that the galleons, on their return to the Philippines, instead of loading Spanish manufactures, took back specie for the continuance of their traffic to the extent of three or four millions of pesos each year. The King, however, refused to modify the decree of 1726 until the five years had expired, after which time the Governor was ordered to load the galleons according to the former decree of 1720.

The Manila merchants were in great excitement. The Governor, under pretext that the original Royal Decree ought to have been transmitted direct to the Philippines and not merely communicated by the Mexican Viceroy, agreed to "obey and not fulfil" its conditions.

From the year 1720, during the period of prohibitions, the Royal Treasury lost about P50,000 per annum, and many of the taxes were not recovered in full. Besides this, the donations to Government by the citizens, which sometimes had amounted to P40,000 in one year, ceased. A double loss was also caused to Mexico, for the people there had to pay much higher prices for their stuffs supplied by Spanish (home) monopolists, whilst Mexican coffers were being drained to make good the deficits in the Philippine Treasury. The Manila merchants were terribly alarmed, and meeting after meeting was held. A Congress of Government officials and priests was convened, and each priest was asked to express his opinion on the state of trade.

Commercial depression in the Philippines had never been so marked, and the position of affairs was made known to the King in a pet.i.tion, which elicited the Royal Decree dated April 8, 1734. It provided that the value of exports should thenceforth not exceed P500,000, and the amount permitted to return was also raised to P1,000,000 (always on the supposition that 100 per cent. over cost laid down would be realized). The dues and taxes paid in Acapulco on arrival, and the dues paid in Manila on starting, amounted to 17 per cent. of the million expected to return. [116] This covered the whole cost of maintenance of ships, salaries, freight, and charges of all kinds which were paid by Government in the first instance, and then recovered from the _Consulado_.

The fixed number of merchants was to be decided by the merchants themselves without Government intervention. Licence was granted to allow those of Cavite to be of the number, and both Spaniards and natives were eligible. Military and other professional men, except ecclesiastics, could thenceforth be of the number. Foreigners were strictly excluded. The right to ship (_boleta_) was not to be transferable, except to _poor widows_. A sworn invoice of the shipment was to be sent to the royal officials and magistrate of the Supreme Court of Mexico for the value to be verified. The official in charge, or supercargo, was ordered to make a book containing a list of the goods and their respective owners, and to hand this to the commander of the fortress in Acapulco, with a copy of the same for the Viceroy. The Viceroy was to send his copy to the Audit Office to be again copied, and the last copy was to be forwarded to the Royal Indian Council.

Every soldier, sailor, and officer was at liberty to disembark with a box containing goods of which the Philippine value should not exceed P30, in addition to his private effects. All hidden goods were to be confiscated, one-half to the Royal Treasury, one-fourth to the Judge intervening, and one-fourth to the informer; but, if such confiscated goods amounted to P50,000 in value, the Viceroy and Mexican Council were to determine the sum to be awarded to the Judge and the informer.

If the shipment met a good market and realized more than 1,000,000 pesos, only 1,000,000 could be remitted in money, and the excess in duty-paid Mexican merchandise. If the shipment failed to fetch 1,000,000, the difference could not be sent in money for making new purchases. (The same restriction as in the decree of 1720.)

The object of these measures was to prevent Mexicans supplying trading capital to the Philippines instead of purchasing Peninsula manufactures. It was especially enacted that all goods sent to Mexico from the Philippines should have been purchased with the capital of the Philippine shippers, and be their exclusive property without lien. If it were discovered that on the return journey of the galleon merchandise was carried to the Philippines belonging to the Mexicans, it was to be confiscated, and a fine imposed on the interested parties of three times the value, payable to the Royal Treasury, on the first conviction. The second conviction entailed confiscation of all the culprits' goods and banishment from Mexico for 10 years.

The weights and measures of the goods shipped were to be Philippine, and, above all, wax was to be sent in pieces of precisely the same weight and size as by custom established.

The Council for freight allotment in Manila was to comprise the Governor, the senior Magistrate, and, failing this latter, the Minister of the Supreme Court next below him; also the Archbishop, or in his stead the Dean of the Cathedral; an ordinary Judge, a Munic.i.p.al Councillor, and _one merchant_ as Commissioner in representation of the eight who formed the _Consulado_ of merchants.

The expulsion of the non-christian Chinese in 1755 (_vide_ p. 111) caused a deficit in the taxes of P30,000 per annum. The only exports of Philippine produce at this date were cacao, sugar, wax, and sapanwood. Trade, and consequently the Treasury, were in a deplorable state. To remedy matters, and to make up the above P30,000, the Government proposed to levy an export duty which was to be applied to the cost of armaments fitted out against pirates. Before the tax was approved of by the King some friars loaded a vessel with export merchandise, and absolutely refused to pay the impost, alleging immunity. The Governor argued that there could be no religious immunity in trade concerns. The friars appealed to Spain, and the tax was disapproved of; meantime, most of the goods and the vessel itself rotted pending the solution of the question by the Royal Indian Council.

There have been three or four periods during which no galleon arrived at the Philippines for two or three consecutive years, and coin became very scarce, giving rise to rebellion on the part of the Chinese and misery to the Filipinos. After the capture of the _Covadonga_ by the British, six years elapsed before a galleon brought the subsidy; then the _Rosario_ arrived with 5,000 gold ounces (nominally P80,000).

However, besides the subsidy, the Colony had certain other sources of public revenue, as will be seen by the following:--

PHILIPPINE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 1757

Income.

P cts.

Stamped Paper 12,199 87 1/2 Port and Anchorage Dues 25,938 00 Sale of Offices, such as Notaries, Public Scribes, Secretaryships, etc. 5,839 12 1/2 Offices hired out 4,718 75 Taxes farmed out 28,500 00 Excise duties 4,195 00 Sale of _Encomiendas_, and 22 provincial govts. hired out 263,588 00 Divers taxes, fines, pardons, etc. 18,156 00 Tribute, direct tax 4,477 00 Sudsidy from Mexico 250,000 00 Deficit 79,844 00 ------- -- P 697,455 75

Expenditure.

P cts.

Supreme Court 34,219 75 Treasury and Audit Office 12,092 00 University 800 00 Cost of the annual Galleon 23,465 00 Clergy 103,751 00 Land and sea forces all over the Philippines including offensive and defensive operations against Moros--Staff and Material 312,864 00 Salaries, Hospital and Divers Expenses 70,158 00 Remittance in Merchandise to Mexico on account of the Subsidy 140,106 00 ------- -- P 697,455 75

When the merchant citizens of Manila were in clover, they made donations to the Government to cover the deficits, and loans were raised amongst them to defray extraordinary disburs.e.m.e.nts, such as expeditions against the Mahometans, etc. In the good years, too, the valuation of the merchandise shipped and the corresponding returns were underrated in the sworn declarations, so that an immensely profitable trade was done on a larger scale than was legally permitted. Between 1754 and 1759, in view of the reduced profits, due to the circ.u.mstances already mentioned, the Manila merchants prayed the King for a reduction of the royal dues, which had been originally fixed on the basis of the gross returns being equal to double the cost of the merchandise laid down in Acapulco. To meet the case, another Royal Decree was issued confirming the fixed rate of royal dues and disburs.e.m.e.nts, but in compensation the cargo was thenceforth permitted to include 4,000 pieces of fine linen, without restriction as to measure or value; the sworn value was abolished, and the maximum return value of the whole shipment was raised to one-and-a-half millions of pesos. Hence the total dues and disburs.e.m.e.nts became equal to 11 1/3 per cent. instead of 17 per cent., as heretofore, on the antic.i.p.ated return value.

In 1763 the Subsidy, together with the _Consulado_ shippers' returns, amounted in one voyage to two-and-a-half millions of pesos (_vide_ p. 88). After the independence of Mexico (1819), tribute in kind (tobacco) was, until recently, shipped direct to Spain, and Peninsula coin began to circulate in these Islands (_vide_ Currency).

Consequent on the banishment of the non-christian Chinese in 1755, trade became stagnant. The Philippines now experienced what Spain had felt since the reign of Phillip III., when the expulsion of 900,000 Moorish agriculturists and artisans crippled her home industries, which needed a century and a half to revive. The Acapulco trade was fast on the wane, and the Manila Spanish merchants were anxious to get the local trade into their own hands. Every Chinese shop was closed by Government order, and a joint-stock trading company of Spaniards and half-breeds was formed with a capital of P76,500, in shares of P500 each. Stores were opened in the business quarter, each under the control of two Spaniards or half-breeds, the total number of shopmen being 21. The object of the company was to purchase clothing and staple goods of all kinds required in the Islands, and to sell the same at 30 per cent. over cost price. Out of the 30 per cent. were to be paid an 8 per cent. tax, a dividend of 10 per cent. per annum to the shareholders, and the remainder was to cover salaries and form a reserve fund for new investments. The company found it impossible to make the same bargains with the Chinese sellers as the Chinese buyers had done, and a large portion of the capital was soon lost. The funds at that date in the _Obras Pias_ amounted to P159,000, and the trustees were applied to by the company for financial support, which they refused. The Governor was pet.i.tioned; theologians and magistrates were consulted on the subject. The theological objections were overruled by the judicial arguments, and the Governor ordered that P130,000 of the _Obras Pias_ funds should be loaned to the company on debentures; nevertheless, within a year the company failed.

A commercial company, known as the "_Compania Guipuzcoana de Caracas_," was then created under royal sanction, and obtained certain privileges. During the term of its existence, it almost monopolized the Philippine-American trade, which was yet carried on exclusively in the State galleons. On the expiration of its charter, about the year 1783, a pet.i.tion was presented to the Home Government, praying for a renewal of monopolies and privileges in favour of a new trading corporation, to be founded on a modified basis. Consequently, a charter (_Real cedula_) was granted on March 10, 1785, to a company, bearing the style and t.i.tle of the "_Real Compania de Filipinas_." Its capital was P8,000,000, in 32,000 shares of P250 each. King Charles III. took up 4,000 shares; another 3,000 shares were reserved for the friars and the Manila Spanish or native residents, and the balance was allotted in the Peninsula.

The defunct company had engaged solely in the American trade, employing the galleons; its successor left that sphere of commerce and proposed to trade with the East and Europe.

[117] "To the '_Real Compania de Filipinas_' was conceded the exclusive privilege of trade between Spain and the Archipelago, with the exception of the traffic between Manila and Acapulco. Its ships could fly the Royal Standard, with a signal to distinguish them from war-vessels. It was allowed two years, counting from the date of charter, to acquire foreign-built vessels and register them under the Spanish flag, free of fees. It could import, duty free, any goods for the fitting out of its ships, or ships' use. It could take into its service royal naval officers, and, whilst these were so employed, their seniority would continue to count, and in all respects they would enjoy the same rights as if they were serving in the navy. It could engage foreign sailors and officers, always provided that the captain and chief officer were Spaniards. All existing Royal Decrees and Orders, forbidding the importation into the Peninsula of stuffs and manufactured articles from India, China, and j.a.pan were abrogated in favour of this company. Philippine produce, too, shipped to Spain by the company, could enter duty free. The prohibition on direct traffic with China and India was thenceforth abolished in favour of all Manila merchants, and the company's ships in particular could call at Chinese ports. The company undertook to support Philippine agriculture, and to spend, with this object, 4 per cent, of its nett profits."

In order to protect the company's interests, foreign ships were not allowed to bring goods from Europe to the Philippines, although they could land Chinese and Indian wares.

By the Treaties of Tordesillas and Antwerp (q.v.), the Spaniards had agreed that to reach their Oriental possessions they would take only the Western route, which would be _via_ Mexico or round Cape Horn. These treaties, however, were virtually quashed by King Charles III. on the establishment of the "_Real Compania de Filipinas_." Holland only lodged a nominal protest when the company's ships were authorized to sail to the Philippines _via_ the Cape of Good Hope, for the Spaniards' ability to compete had, meanwhile, vastly diminished.

With such important immunities, and the credit which ought to have been procurable by a company with P8,000,000 paid-up capital, its operations might have been relatively vast. However, its balance sheet, closed to October 31, 1790 (five-and-a-half years after it started), shows the total nominal a.s.sets to be only P10,700,194, largely in unrecoverable advances to tillers. The working account is not set out. Although it was never, in itself, a flourishing concern, it brought immense benefit to the Philippines (at the expense of its shareholders) by opening the way for the Colony's future commercial prosperity. This advantage operated in two ways. (1) It gave great impulse to agriculture, which thenceforth began to make important strides. By large sums of money, distributed in antic.i.p.ation of the 4 per cent, on nett profit, and expended in the rural districts, it imparted life, vigour and development to those germs of husbandry--such as the cultivation of sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, indigo, pepper, etc.--which, for a long time had been, and to a certain extent are still, the staple dependence of many provinces. (2) It opened the road to final extinction of all those vexatious prohibitions of trade with the Eastern ports and the Peninsula which had checked the energy of the Manila merchants. It was the precursor of free trade--the stepping-stone to commercial liberty in these regions.

The causes of its decline are not difficult to trace. Established as it was on a semi-official basis, all kinds of intrigues were resorted to--all manner of favouritism was besought--to secure appointments, more or less lucrative, in the _Great Company_. Influential incapacity prevailed over knowledge and ability, and the men intrusted with the direction of the company's operations proved themselves inexperienced and quite unfit to cope with unshackled compet.i.tion from the outer world. Their very exclusiveness was an irresistible temptation to contrabandists. Manila private merchants, viewing with displeasure monopoly in any form, lost no opportunity of putting obstacles in the way of the company. Again, the willing concurrence of native labourers in an enterprise of magnitude was as impossible to secure then as it is now. The native had a high time at the expense of the company, revelling in the enjoyment of cash advances, for which some gave little, others nothing. Success could only have been achieved by forced labour, and this right was not included in the charter.

In 1825 the company was on the point of collapse, when, to support the tottering fabric, its capital was increased by P12,500,000 under _Real Cedula_ of that year, dated June 22. King Charles IV. took 15,772 (P250) shares of this new issue. But nothing could save the wreck, and finally it was decreed, by _Real Cedula_ of May 28, 1830, that the privileges conceded to the "_Real Compania de Filipinas_"

had expired--and Manila was then opened to Free Trade with the whole world. It marked an epoch in Philippine affairs.

In 1820 the declared independence of Mexico, acknowledged subsequently by the European Powers, forced Spain to a decision, and direct trade between the Philippines and the mother country became a reluctant necessity. No restrictions were placed on the export to Spain of colonial produce, but value limitations were fixed with regard to Chinese goods. The export from the Philippines to Acapulco, Callao, and other South American ports was limited to P750,000 at that date. In the same year (1820) permission was granted for trade between Manila and the Asiatic ports. Twenty-two years afterwards one-third of all the Manila export trade was done with China.

When the galleons fell into disuse, communication was definitely established with Spain by merchant sailing ships _via_ the Cape of Good Hope, whilst the opening of the Suez Ca.n.a.l (1869) brought the Philippines within 32 days' journey by steamer from Barcelona.

The voyage _via_ the Cape of Good Hope occupied from three to six months; the sailings were less frequent than at the present day, and the journey was invariably attended with innumerable discomforts. It was interesting to hear the few old Spanish residents, in my time, compare their privations when they came by the Cape with the luxurious facilities of later times. What is to-day a pleasure was then a hardship, consequently the number of Spaniards in the Islands was small; their movements were always known. It was hardly possible for a Spaniard to acquire a sum of money and migrate secretly from one island to another, and still less easy was it for him to leave the Colony clandestinely.

The Spaniard of that day who settled in the Colony usually became well known during the period of the service which brought him to the Far East. If, after his retirement from public duty, on the conclusion of his tenure of office, he decided to remain in the Colony, it was often due to his being able to count on the pecuniary support and moral protection of the priests. The idea grew, so that needy Spaniards in the Philippines, in the course of time, came to entertain a kind of socialistic notion that those who had means ought to aid and set up those who had nothing, without guarantee of any kind: "_Si hubiera quien me proteja!_" was the common sigh--the outcome of Caesarism nurtured by a Government which discountenanced individual effort. Later on, too, many natives seemed to think that the foreign firms, and others employing large capital, might well become philanthropic inst.i.tutions, paternally a.s.sisting them with unsecured capital. The natives were bred in this moral bondage: they had seen trading companies, established under royal sanction, benefit the few and collapse; they had witnessed extensive works, undertaken _por via de administracion_ miscarry in their ostensible objects but prosper in their real intent, namely, the providing of berths for those who lived by their wits.