m _Diario de
Manila_, 1850), by Rafael Diaz Arenas.

[136] See _Recopilacion de leyes de Indias_, lib. ii, tit. xvi, ley
liv (dated: Valladolid, April 29, 1549, Carlos I and the queen of
Bohemia; Valladolid, April 16 and May 2, 1550, Maximiliano and the
queen; Valladolid, May 9, 1569, Felipe II), and tit. vi, ley xxvi
(dated: Madrid, July 20, 1618, Felipe III; ordinance 139 of 1636,
Felipe IV), which forbid alcaldes and other officials to trade, to
use the money of the communal funds of the natives, or to compel the
latter to serve them. Lib. v, tit. ii, treats in great part of the
office of the alcalde, and ley xlvii (dated: Madrid, July 10, 1530,
Carlos I; Valladolid, September 4, 1551, Carlos I and the queen of
Bohemia; Pinto, April 4, 1563, Felipe II; Lisboa, August 31, 1619,
Felipe III), declares that the alcaldes and others are included in
the prohibition to trade. (Cited by Jagor.)

[137] By royal decree of July 17, 1754. (Cited by Jagor.)

[138] Renouard de St. Croix, ii, p. 124. (Cited by Jagor.)

[139] This note is as follows: "The _obras pias_ are pious legacies,
in which it was generally determined that two-thirds were to be
loaned at interest for maritime commercial enterprises, until the
premiums--which for the risk to Acapulco reached 50 per cent, to
China, 25 per cent, and to the Indias, 35 per cent--had increased
the original capital to a certain amount. Then the interest of that
amount was to be applied to the good of the soul of the founder, or to
pious or charitable ends (Arenas, _Historia_, p. 397). One-third was
usually retained as a reserve, to cover chance losses. These reserve
funds were long ago claimed by the government as compulsory loans,
'but they are still regarded as existing.'

"When the trade with Acapulco came to an end, the capitals could no
longer be employed in accordance with the request of the founder,
and they were loaned at interest in other ways. By a royal decree,
dated November 3, 1854 (_Leg. ult._ ii, p. 205), an administrative
council is appointed to take charge of the money of the _obras
pias_. The total capital of five foundations (or rather only four,
since one of them no longer has any capital) amounts to a trifle less
than one million dollars [_i.e._, pesos]. From that amount the profit
obtained from the loans is distributed according to the amount of the
original capital--which is, however, no longer in existence in cash,
because the government has disposed of i