um to supply the salaries and expenses which are
here paid out and incurred. For before the royal Audiencia came here,
the archbishop and bishops drew from Mexico fifteen, twenty, and some
years thirty thousand pesos apiece; but, even with all this, all those
who had to draw money from the royal treasury were complaining and
irregularly paid. Many works were neglected, and necessary expenses
were abandoned. With the new stipends and salaries of an archbishop,
three bishops, four auditors, and a fiscal, which amount to twenty-four
thousand pesos, we must cut down much more. All that sum, which is
the salary of powerful people, must be maintained; and therefore we
must suffer wretched service, and abandon, as has been done, works
and affairs in which there should be no lack. For some remedy and
alleviation of this difficulty, I will point out some expedients which,
in my opinion--as one who understands the present state of affairs, and
has some knowledge of the country--your Majesty, if you are so pleased,
can use, employing such of them as appear to be most expedient.

2. I find no basis on which people could rest their opinion that
there should be in these islands the said archbishop and bishops;
for the population of them all does not exceed six hundred Spanish
citizens, and the one bishop who was in this city was sufficient. One
is sufficient for all matters which might arise of which the prelates
take cognizance, or which are necessary, for they are very few and
unimportant; and those who appeal to the metropolitan go to Mexico
and return in one year. The three provinces in which were lately
erected the three bishoprics are so near this city that one can come
from them in ten or twelve days; and in the one which has the largest
settlement of Spaniards there are not more than a hundred citizens,
or even so many--namely, in Zubu. The other two, which are Camarines
and Cagayan, do not amount, each one, to seventy Spaniards. In
each one there is a curate, who administers the sacraments to
the Spaniards; and convents of friars, who administer them to the
Indians who live in the said villages and their neighborhood. If the
prelate who is chosen in Manila is a religious of proved integrity,
and industrious, he can very well attend to these matters easily,
and without overwork. Whatever has been said or may be said to your
Majesty to the contrary, either arises from ignorance of the matter
or from private designs, and does n