es or is new in the country is ignorant of the
rules in force, or has not the means of acquiring them. Besides so
far as they are not overthrown by the Leyes de Indias the laws of the
Siete Partidas have as much force as do the latest Recopilacion, [67]
Roman law, royal and old law, and, in fact, all the confused mass of
the Spanish codes. Consequently, it is a vast sea in which are found
abundantly the resources necessary to mix up matters and stultify
the course of justice. In English India, a book is printed annually
of all the orders which have been communicated to the tribunals and
governors. This forms a collection which is entitled The Regulations,
which is now being translated into the language of the natives by
order of the government.

There are orders and even articles of the ordinances of good
government to specify the price of food. These schedules are very
often, as is evident, the cause of the disappearance of things, and,
as they are not found in the market it is necessary to petition the
gobernadorcillo to provide food which he is obliged to furnish at
the price named in this schedule; and at times where there are many
Spaniards and soldiers, that amounts to hundreds of fowls, eggs,
etc., which the village must supply monthly and even daily. This is
not only an odious task, but also the reason for infamous vexations
on the part of the cabezas de barangai, for the unhappy cailianes are
those who have to furnish it all without even collecting a thing. It
must be well known that cheapness in articles proceeds only from
collecting those articles and this proceeds only from abundance,
and abundance only from freedom in the market; and the assigning of
a low price to any article by schedule is the most direct method of
restricting its production and heightening its price.

After all that we have set forth, one can well say that the department
of the administration of justice is what needs the most prompt
and speedy reform. From that, then, it is obvious that all the
alcaldes-mayor ought to be jurisconsults. The custom of allowing
governors to trade is not suitable for the age in which we live,
surely, although there are some who do not abuse their position,
and today there are some who can be presented as models of honor and
nobility, especially Don Juan Castilla who governs in Samar, and Don
Francisco Gutierrez de los Rios in Laguna. Not only is the latter
free from the avarice and other faults which are s