(for they are those who have charge of the
Indians of the missions), at the end of the year all the rice has been
used, so that the needs of the poor Indians are not succored. That
waste can well be avoided; and they regard it as another very large
tribute. Therefore, it is advisable for the service of God and the
welfare of those poor natives that your Highness order the said commons
to be suppressed. If it be necessary to keep them, it is advisable
that the governor of the Filipinas order that there be one reliable
steward in each one, who shall have charge of the said depository; that
no magistrate or religious put into or take out of the said commons;
and that during any time of necessity the rice be lent to the poor;
and at the harvest it be paid in kind. If this were to be put into
execution, it would be of great importance, according to an opinion
that I expressed on this matter in the Filipinas. If the above plan
were observed in the commons round about Manila, some forty in number,
there might be, as a result, one hundred thousand fanegas of rice
or more on the occasion of any sudden need, which could be placed
within the city very speedily; for, as the city has no depository,
the greatest danger of the Spaniards, in case any enemy besiege them,
lies in their capture through famine. With this the remedy would be
secure, and at the same time the Indians would be fed and aided in
their needs. When it was expected to place this plan in execution,
the said governor sent three of his servants, with a salary of seventy
reals to be paid by the commons. Those men, who consisted of judge,
alguacil-mayor, and clerk, remained at each commons, balancing
accounts and making investigations until all the contents were used
up on their said salaries. Consequently, they established order or
agreement in nothing, and all remained as before. For this reason,
then, affairs are going to pieces; for men are not sought for the
offices, but offices to accommodate whomever the governor desires.

_Item_: That many posts for alcaldes and corregidors have been
created by making two such districts out of what was formerly one,
so that the governor could accommodate persons to whom he was under
obligations. That is much to the cost of the Indians, and [an offense]
to God and to my conscience; for the multiplication of those offices
means the multiplication of those who destroy the Indians and inflict
innumerable injuries upon them. I petit