themselves; for the
latter, being the purchasers, necessarily have to pay more, the Chinese
sellers taking into consideration the new charge and imposition which
has been levied on them. Consequently, the said two per cent has come
to have actual effect and with greater profit by the said three per
cent substituted in its place, which fact the said governor, Don Juan
de Silva, had in mind. If the decree were again to be carried out,
it would mean a double imposition for the above-mentioned damages
and obstacles, and there would be no possibility of executing it.

Fourth, because the royal duties which the inhabitants pay on
the said investments that they make, are very great; for on every
thousand pesos of principal that they invest the duties in the said
city and in Nueva Espana amount to two hundred and seventy pesos and
more, while the cost and expense incidental to the said investments
amount to two hundred and eighty pesos more. Consequently, the said
royal duties alone for each one thousand pesos invested inevitably
amount, as is well known, to five hundred and fifty pesos. Therefore,
within four years, setting aside the said costs and expenses, the
said inhabitants come to pay more than the said one thousand pesos
of capital for the said royal duties. The same thing happens in the
same proportion when larger sums are invested.

The fifth springs directly from the preceding reason; for since the
said duties and said costs and expenses are so great, and the profits
so slight and uncertain, as above stated, the said inhabitants cannot
continue the said trade and commerce of Filipinas with Nueva Espana;
for to do that would be a poor management and administration of their
possessions, carrying them over seas at so many risks, and in danger
of catastrophes such as generally happen, which are daily becoming
greater; while there is no profit, or so little that, with the said
two per cent, the profits will be of little or no consideration, for
which they will not expose their goods and capital to so great a risk.

Sixth, because, if the said collection and enforcement of the said two
per cent were to be insisted upon, it would be a foregone conclusion
that the inhabitants would abandon the said trade and commerce, and
would not make the said investments, for the reasons stated above. That
has proved to be so on the occasions on which the said collection has
been discussed with some warmth--and especially when the said