eamen be needed, then a proclamation can be
issued to see if there are any volunteers who will sign the register;
and surely there will be many, as usual. The number lacking [to serve
as volunteers] shall be paid from that fund [_i.e._, the natives'
chest] and from what his Majesty usually gives them. The same shall
be done if soldiers are needed for Terrenate, or rice and any other
supplies. Thus will everything necessary be provided, and that without
delay; and the country will not be harassed or the Indians afflicted.

Supposing that from the sum given this year by the Indians, there
should be a surplus, because of no war or shipbuilding, then that sum
would be kept, and the following year there would be no repartimiento
nor would the amount be again collected. And supposing that the sum
that was collected should be insufficient because of the many expenses
of that year, then the Indians would be again asked for what should
seem necessary. If this were done with due system and method in using
the chest, and in a Christian spirit, each Indian would be saved,
besides his discomforts, persecutions, and afflictions, more than
fifteen or twenty pesos; his Majesty would be served better; and
many mortal sins committed by the officials--who rob the Indians on
one side, and on the other defraud his Majesty's treasury--would be
avoided; for (as has been experienced) the alcaldes-mayor or judges
who go to get rice and the other things belonging to his Majesty send
it by the quantity of five hundred baskets at cheaper rates. They get
another equal amount for themselves, for which repartimiento is made
among the Indians at the same prices [as for the king]. Many deaths
among the Indians in the shipbuilding would also be avoided; for,
supposing that ships are to be built in the islands (which must be
avoided as much as possible), they can he built by the Chinese for
pay. Consequently the Indian will live comfortably, and will feel
more love toward the Spaniard and his king, and will attend better to
his soul and the service of God. He will become a man of worship and
devotion; while in temporal affairs he will become more prosperous,
and will have something with which he can be of use to his Majesty
in case of any necessity.

Prostrate at your Majesty's feet, I desire to beg one thing, in which
lies the wealth and prosperity of this land, or its destruction. Your
royal Majesty can remedy it--although it be at the loss of his off