History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 2/Chapter 27

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XXVII.

INDIAN POLICY.

1550-1560.

Luis de Velasco, Second Viceroy — Royal Instructions and Subsequent Regulations — Enforcement of the New Laws — Consternation Caused by their Execution — Slaves Set Free — Diego Ramirez' Commission — Caciques' Abuses Checked — The Crown Assumes Full Jurisdiction — Encomienda Entail — Opposition of the Audiencia — Bad Effects of the New Laws on Mining and Revenue — Population and Its Character — Reform Measures — Powers of the Viceroy Restricted — The Audiencia Made his Council — Philip II. Proclaimed King — He Begs for Money.

The newly appointed viceroy, Luis de Velasco, was a member of the noble house of the constable of Castile, and a knight of Santiago, who to his illustrious birth and high merits united the experience gained by nearly thirty years of military service and as a ruler in Navarre. During his long career he had displayed sterling personal worth and practical statesmanship. He was of industrious habits, and in him patience and firmness were united to a winning affability. He seemed fitted in every particular to fill the responsible position to which he had been called by his sovereign.^[1] Indeed, it was necessary that the government so judiciously organized by Mendoza should be as faithfully administered by his successor.

After the conference at Cholula, Velasco proceeded to the capital, which he entered the 25th of November 1550.^[2] His reception by the municipality and people was cordial, every one expecting the best results from his rule.^[3]

There were the usual instructions, under date of April 16, 1550, from the king to the viceroy, containing much upon the already hackneyed subject of Indian policy and Indian treatment. It made little difference to the colonists how much was said or ordered by Spain and Rome regarding freedom, conversion, and the like; but when there was talk about enforcing the so-called new laws of 1542,^[4] that was indeed a serious matter.

Among other details to insure the further relief of the natives it was ordered that the compensation to collectors of tribute should be paid, not by the Indians, but out of the proceeds from vacant corregimientos.

The royal officials were not to be called to other duties than strictly those of their respective offices, experience having shown that such officers, under the pretext of collecting the revenue, often inflicted much injury.^[5] Churchmen must not interfere in matters foreign to their calling.^[6] Another most important injunction by the monarch was the advancement of public education, and the establishment of a university in Mexico.

As in duty bound, Velasco set himself at work energetically to carry out his instructions and continue to the best of his ability the work so well begun by Mendoza. His straightforward course won for him the respect and love of his subjects, and confirmed the confidence of the sovereign. One of his first acts was the enforcement, in 1551, of the new laws which it had been deemed expedient by Mendoza and Tello Sandoval to suspend in 1544 at the importunate petitions of the colonists. The king's commands were now peremptory to make effective the laws for the manumission of the natives. By an affirmatory decree of July 7, 1551, the crown ordered that all Indian women taken prisoners in war, and males who at the time of being captured were under fourteen years of age, whether already branded or not, should be forthwith set free. This decree likewise included the prisoners taken in the last Jalisco war, as there was no right to make them slaves. Full-grown men taken prisoners and held in slavery, if the possessors could not show that they had been captured in a just war and after all the requirements of the royal ordinances on the subject had been fulfilled, were to be at once liberated, the burden of proof being laid on the masters; brands or bills of sale or other titles of possession were to go for nothing in such cases, the presumption being that those Indians were free vassals of the king.^[7]

The colonists came forward with their opposition stronger than before. Old arguments were revived; they begged and threatened and wailed. The king's officers were firm, and one hundred and fifty thousand male slaves, besides great numbers of women and children, were set at liberty. It was a grand consummation, a most righteous act; and when we consider the times, the loss of revenue to the crown, the unpopularity, nay, the absolute danger of the movement in regard to the colonists, and also that it was voluntarily done, we cannot but bless the religion which manufactures consciences productive of such results.^[8]

Another important injunction was embodied in a cédula of September 21, 1551, from Prince Philip, who now governed Spain, forbidding the viceroy and audiencias to keep Indians in their service unless for fair wages. All demands of personal service as tribute were to be discontinued; the king and council knew that the natives preferred to pay their tribute in money, and not in labor, and this preference hereafter was to be respected. The viceroy, oidores, and archbishop were directed to assess the tribute the crown Indians were to pay in future, in lieu of personal service.^[9]

Persons having slaves in the capital were forbidden to remove them. This policy was earnestly recommended to Velasco by his predecessor, on the ground that the slaves would thereby be enabled to obtain their freedom with greater certainty.^[10]

In pursuance of the royal command of June 1, 1549, the viceroy determined to check the practice of forcing the natives to carry heavy loads, and gave orders accordingly.^[11] It was even found necessary in some cases to check the clergy who had assumed temporal as well as spiritual authority. But as their acts could not be openly corrected without bringing disgrace upon the church, the viceroy asked for the privilege of exercising more private measures, which request the crown granted. Likewise the crown interposed its authority as late as 1558, to prevent caciques from abusing their subjects, capital punishment, mutilation of limbs, and other inflictions by their order being forbidden. The supreme jurisdiction in civil as well as criminal cases was formally assumed by the crown; and July 8, 1557, it was ordered, to prevent the caciques from robbing the wages of the laborers they employed, which had become a common practice, that such wages should be paid before the ministro doctrinero.

The thraldom of the chiefs over the macehuales, or laborers, was a heavy one. Many held the position of caciques by their own assumption, without being the rightful heirs of deceased chiefs. As a matter of fact many of the old lords and chiefs had died, since the Spanish conquest, leaving no succession. Others had become rulers by the favor of the friars or corregidores, who had made them governors, alcaldes, or sheriffs; and as soon as an Indian began to hold such an office he called himself a chief. The next year another set would be created, and this was continued from year to year till the number had so multiplied that about one fourth of the native population called themselves principales, or chiefs. Cortés brought the subject to the attention of the crown with the addition that these self-constituted caciques, having the rod of power in their hands, had seized a large portion of the taxable lands, claiming them as patrimonial, and settled on them native rent-payers, from whom they exacted high rents besides the royal tribute of one dollar, and a half fanega of maize.^[12]

Had the yearly tribute been no more than this, the burden might easily have been borne; but as a matter of fact the natives had many burdens laid upon them, such as personal labor, providing firewood, and supplying fodder for animals. The king, the communes, the friars, and the head-men who ruled the towns, all were entitled to a share. The exactions other than crown receipts were called "sobras de tributos y bienes de comunidad," and at one time were no less than 300,000 pesos, and together with personal service were pure imposition on the macehuales. They had, moreover, to serve for nothing whenever the authorities called upon them to build town-houses or to make other improvements. Under such a system towns could get along without funds, and the surplus spoken of was appropriated by the unprincipled collectors.^[13]

A common trick was for the collectors to ask every two or three years for a new count, on the ground of a decrease in the population, which they made apparent by hiding a number of the natives. Then with less to account for they would collect from all and keep the surplus. The remedy suggested by Cortés to check these frauds, and to do away with all undue thraldom, and at the same time offer an inducement to the macehual to acquire industrious habits and improve his fortunes, was to give each man or head of a family a title for himself and his legal heirs, to a share of land, conditioned upon his faithful payment every year of a certain rent, under penalty of forfeiture of the leasehold. By this arrangement the tribute would be laid on the land, and not on the laborer. The surplus shares of land remaining at the first grants should be awarded to those born thereafter in the district, and of proper age, who had no land to cultivate because their parents had not a sufficient quanity.^[14] This proposal met with favor on the part of the crown. Early in 1560 it was ordained that all scattered natives should be called to dwell in towns, where they were to hold lands, and to pursue their useful mode of obtaining a livelihood. This was really the reiteration of an order of October 1558. If carried out in a proper spirit this law would have proved beneficial; but the avariciousness of the white men charged with its execution defeated its object. They gave the natives only the more barren lands, reserving the best for themselves and their friends.^[15] On the other hand it was true that the natives did not like to work, and the government felt obliged at last to compel them to raise more grain than they actually required for their own use and for tribute.^[16]

The viceroy Velasco attended faithfully to the carrying-out of these orders. Towns within five leagues of Mexico city were to be visited for the above purposes by the oidores. For visiting more distant towns, and enforcing the measures for the benefit of the natives, the crown ordered that the licentiate Diego Ramirez, an upright man,^[17] should be specially commissioned. The audiencia was made to render him all possible aid, and to countenance no appeals from his decisions. Ramirez' term, originally limited to six months, was afterward extended for as long a time as he might need to complete his useful tasks.

It was enjoined on the visitadores, whether Ramirez or an oidor, to prevent among other abuses that of inflicting corporal punishment on the natives by friars who had usurped the power of imprisoning, whipping, and clipping the hair of native offenders. They were also to cause the removal of all herds of cattle and flocks of sheep grazing on lands to the injury of the natives; and to see that the latter had the requisite spiritual aid.

One of the objects of Ramirez' trust was to officially apprise the encomenderos that their tenor would be only for the natural life of themselves and their next legitimate son or daughter, but at the death of the second holders the repartimientos were to revert to the crown. This was pursuant to the royal decree of April 5, 1552, providing the succession to an encomienda in the eldest son or direct heir lawfully begotten.^[18] Not long afterward the succession was extended to the second, and later to several more generations,^[19] so that in effect it became perpetual.

The royal order giving preference to the conquerors was extended to their sons, notably by a law of 1553 ordering that the sons of the first conquerors of New Spain who were not possessed of encomiendas should be preferred for the position of corregidor and other offices, in order that they might derive a support therefrom.^[20] The pension-list to widows and offspring of the old conquerors at the time amounted to about 24,000 pesos per annum.^[21]

Even these broad and searching measures were deemed insufficient by Friar Pedro de Gante, for in 1552 we find him writing to the king setting forth the great suffering of the natives from excessive labor and heavy taxation.^[22] He beseeches the monarch to look with merciful eyes on his red subjects not only of New Spain but of New Galicia. Nor were these prayers disregarded by the crown. Orders were issued for the benefit of the natives, and issued again, and several oppugnant decrees of the viceroy and audiencia were repealed by royal command. And yet many and gross evils continued. The archbishop confirmed Gante's statement, yet added that the natives were vicious, given to carnal pleasures, drinking, and gambling, and excessively fond of litigation. They were ground down by heavy taxes and personal service, a portion of which went to the priests, and the rest was consumed by the caciques, governors, and chiefs in eating and drinking. The tributes had been lowered, but the common laborers felt not the benefit of the decrease, as they were made to pay at the old rates, the chiefs reaping the advantage of the difference. They were virtually held in slavery.^[23] On the matter reaching the ear of the king the audiencia was directed January 19, 1560, and again July 12th, of the same year, to check such abuses.

It was the audiencia as much as unprincipled encomenderos and infamous tax-collectors that thwarted the beneficent designs of the king and his viceroy. As a court of appeal this tribunal would render nugatory many of the viceroy's decrees. Then the affairs of the natives would be postponed and impeded in such a manner as to defeat the ends of justice, and render of no effect the beneficent royal purposes.^[24] This was folly on the part of the high court, and a cause of inconvenience to the litigants. The condition of the natives, as a matter of justice and charity, called for prompt despatch in their suits at law, and freedom from costs; no pettifoggers should have been allowed to meddle with them. In their ignorance, and for several reasons, the Indians permitted the mestizos and others to exercise over them a baneful influence, in inducing them to keep up litigation, particularly about their lands. The best course that occurred to the viceroy was to expel all mestizos and obnoxious Spaniards from the Indian towns. He also insisted that the authorities, both high and low, should be ever watchful, in order that the natives might accept as real the government's protection.

Among the measures favoring the natives the provision of hospitals for the care of their indigent sick was worthy of much commendation. Prince Philip, at the suggestion of Viceroy Velasco, decreed in 1553 the construction of a suitable building for that purpose in the city of Mexico,^[25] and other hospitals and infirmaries were founded.^[26]

Obviously the enforcement of the new laws soon began to tell on the royal revenue. This had been predicted to Velasco in the beginning of his rule, but he had said that such considerations were of little import; the freedom of men was of more importance than all the mines in the world.^[27] Velasco was forced to admit, however, that the new laws had caused trouble and poverty, partly because of exemption from personal service, but in a great measure owing to the fact that the Spaniards would not exert themselves. He feared that the royal treasury would long feel the bad effects of this state of things, unless a timely remedy was applied.^[28]

The Spanish population was discontented; a considerable part of it was in a state of indigence, partly owing to the number of vagrants and to extravagant habits which had again increased notwithstanding the restrictive sumptuary laws. On the other hand, among the natives there was more independence and comfort; and the viceroy had become apprehensive of evils to come. He told the king that the land was full of negroes and mestizos, greatly exceeding the Spaniards in number, and all anxious to purchase their freedom with the lives of their masters. To accomplish this end there was reason to fear they would join whichever side should rebel, Indians or Spaniards. To avert revolt he recommended expeditions to be made, the companies to be formed of white men, negroes, and mestizos. No more Spaniards should be allowed to come to the country, much less negroes, there being twenty thousand of the latter present, and their number increasing. It would be well also to send to Spain as many of the mestizos as possible.

To satisfy the Spaniards he favored the plan of giving the conquerors and first settlers or their heirs the promised encomiendas, but without political or judicial powers, and making them pay a portion of the taxation, say one sixth or one seventh, for the support of the church, conversion, and instruction of the natives; committing, at the same time, the care of teaching the aborigines to the prelates, which duty hitherto had belonged to the encomenderos. These should be required to dwell at their encomiendas, and in the town with the prelate.^[29]

With corruption present in the grand tribunal, and purity of intention on the part of the king's representative it was natural that questions regarding the powers of the viceroy should arise. Velasco, as well as others, appealed to the emperor to make clear his duties. Theoretically, the viceroy's powers had been, and continued to be till 1560, unlimited in matters of government. As a matter of form, Velasco had, on difficult affairs, invariably asked the audiencia's advice. That body together with some wealthy Spaniards, whose abuses he had suppressed, or attempted to check, labored not only to undermine his standing at court, but to restrict his powers. They were aware that they could not influence the king against Velasco personally, whose pure motives and good services were much valued; still, they brought to bear plausible pretences, and won to their views some of the king's counsellors. Velasco's health was represented as broken, which might affect his mind, and render his decisions not always judicious. For this reason they claimed it was expedient to appoint him a council, whom he should consult upon state affairs before adopting any resolution. Such a course would insure the proper deliberation, and relieve him of much responsibility. By such means the king was finally brought to accede to the suggestions of his counsellors, and decreed that in future the viceroy of New Spain should adopt no action without the previous advice and consent of the audiencia, which became thus constituted as a viceregal council. All the authorities who treat of this subject agree that the new system was productive of confusion and evil consequences, and that Spaniards as well as Indians suffered from it.^[30]

A large portion of the most worthy Spaniards disapproved of the course adopted toward Velasco. Even the ayuntamiento of Mexico objected to it without showing any factious spirit. It chose two of its members, Gerónimo Ruiz de la Mota and Bernardino Albornoz, to represent at court the evils arising from the late enactment. They were joined by three prominent fathers of the Franciscan, Dominican, and Austin orders, who had been despatched on the same errand, one of whom was Francisco de Bustamante, the Franciscan comisario general. The viceroy, on his part, while obeying the royal mandate, reiterated to the king his desire that a visitador should be sent out. The agents reached Spain in 1562, presented their case, and the royal counsellors, to quiet them all, advised the appointment of a visitador. The licenciado Valderrama was accordingly commissioned with instructions to consult public exigencies, and promote, as far as possible, the welfare of New Spain. In due time will be presented to the reader his arrival, and the manner in which he discharged his trust.

Most of the measures enacted of late years by the crown for the administration of affairs in New Spain emanated from Prince Philip, who was in charge of the government, owing to the emperor's failing health and absence in his German dominions.^[31] In January 1556 Philip was in Brussels, where he had come according to his father's instructions, to be present at the king's abdication, and to receive the crown of Spain. The official notification was made by both Charles and the new monarch, who assumed the name of Philip II. on the day after the ceremony, but it does not seem to have reached the city of Mexico till early in 1557, although rumors of the change had been rife during the year. The official announcement was received by the ayuntamiento of the capital on the 5th of April, 1558, and with the approbation of Viceroy Velasco, the 6th of June was fixed for the act of recognition and of swearing allegiance to the new king, when among other ceremonies the banner was raised. Archbishop Montúfar celebrating as pontifical at high mass.

On the 17th of June, 1556, Philip had repeated to the viceroy the notice of his elevation to the throne, confirming him, the members of the audiencia, and others in their respective offices. He then spoke of the distressed condition of his treasury, directing the viceroy to appeal to the wealthy Spaniards for pecuniary assistance. He was not to use coercion, but only most persistently to ask, and to assure them that their aid would be of great service to their king and country. The viceroy was to arrange with the lenders for the mode of reimbursing the loans. Father José de Angulo, who had visited the court at Brussels on ecclesiastical affairs, was directed by the king to return to New Spain without delay, and exert himself in procuring the much needed funds.

 

 

1. Herrera, dec. viii. lib. vii. cap. xiv.; Alaman, Disert., iii. app. ii. One religious writer erroneously states that Velasco had served in the campaign against the Chichimecs. It was probably his son that was referred to, who at a later time rendered service there. Medina, Chron. S. Diego, 253. Velasco, in a letter of July 12, 1552, to the emperor, says that the secretary of the royal council, Francisco de Eraso, assured him at the time of his appointment, that if Mendoza, after serving three years in Peru, desired to be a second time viceroy of Mexico, he, Velasco, was to give up the office to him, and go to Peru with the same rank. With this understanding he left his family and interests at home. He was willing to continue his most faithful services to the crown, but if required to go to Peru the king should allow him an adequate salary, say 30,000 ducats, and 3,000 more for travelling expenses; as his means were quite limited and the coming to Mexico brought him 12,000 ducats in debt, which was being paid out of his small income in Spain. Carta al Emp., in Cartas de Indias, 260-2, and fac. sim. 5. He was allowed 2,000 pesos a year more than Mendoza had received. The salary of the oidores was at the same time increased to 150,000 maravedis each. This increase of compensation was coupled with the obligation on the part of the favored officials to abstain from all money-making, and to devote their whole energy to their official duties. Puga, Cedulario, 144. Ata later date the viceroy bitterly complains of his inadequate salary, which compelled his wife and children to be separated from him, in despite of which his expenses in Mexico necessarily exceeded his pay, and he was sinking his small patrimony with increasing and unavoidable debt, adding, 'lo que pretendo es no yrlas á pagar á la otra vida.' He wants the crown either to allow him sufficient compensation or send him his recall, before he is utterly ruined, reminding the king that he deserves some consideration at his hands after his 30 years of faithful service, the petitioner being an old man 2,000 leagues away from his home, family, and relatives. Velasco was a 'caballero profeso' in the order of Santiago. When he left the government of Navarre he was granted 200,000 maravedis a year during his life, or until an equivalent was allowed him. Velasco, Carta al Emp., in Cartas de Indias, 266-7.
2. Lorenzana gives his arrival in Mexico city Dec. 5th, and several authors follow him; all evidently in error, for the government record-book shows his first order to have been dated Nov, 28th, and the last one of Mendoza on Oct. 4th. Gob. Pol., in Cortés, Hist. N. Esp., 14; Torquemada, i. 617, makes him arrive in 1551.
3. 'Para dicha y felicidad de la Nueva-España.' Vetancvrt, Trat. Mex., 85 'hombre cabal y pío.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 154.
4. Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xxiii. 520-47.
5. The crown in the first three years of this viceregal term issued several decrees to govern the treasury officials and other royal officers, notably: Examination of accounts now proceeding not to be interfered with even on appeal. Treasurer, contador, factor, and veedor to furnish each an additional bond of 10,000 pesos in gold. Escribanos de minas to have their fees curtailed. Duties on smelting and marking gold and silver, hitherto allowed to the marquis of Camarasa, the secretary Cobos, to be hereafter accounted for to the king. Treasury officials to sell all confiscated goods without delay at public vendue, an oidor to be always present at sales for treasury account. Masons, tailors, tinkers, and others of low degree, not to be made corregidores. The audiencia was inhibited from making appointments to offices held in perpetuity, and rendered vacant by death or resignation of the incumbent. Puga, Cedulario, 126, 128, 134, 136, 139, 181, 183-5.
6. There being in New Spain many friars and clergymen who had come there without the requisite royal permission, some of the latter disguised as laymen, stringent orders were issued to the viceroy and audiencia to return all such to Spain forthwith. The first order of 1550 was reiterated May 31, 1552. Puga, Cedulario, 133-4, 179. In the same year, 1552, to avert 'los desmanes de los eclesiásticos en asunto de mugeres,' the king forbade the taking by churchmen to the Indies of women, even though the latter might be their own sisters. Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 160.
7. If any such natives had been allotted to the crown for its fifths and sold, the sale money was to be returned to the purchasers out of the royal treasury and the natives freed. Other natives held as slaves, not as the result of war, and claiming their freedom, were to be listened to, and their cases adjudicated according to the existing laws. The decree was to be circulated far and wide, that it might become known to all Indians; the Franciscan friars were also directed to instruct the Indian slaves to demand their liberty. Puga, Cedulario, 124-8, 144-5, 154, 186, 209; Órdenes de la Corona, MS., ii. 16, with autographs of Prince Maximilian and Queen Juana.
8. 'Quedando del todo sin esclavitud, y molestia.' Vetancvrt, Trat. Mex., 8.
9. An earlier cédula, July 7th, had enjoined the fixing of Indian tribute, and did away with the necessity of its being paid in gold-dust by any native. Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 471-4; Torquemada, iii. 254-5.
10. 'Con cargo que no le saque de la ciudad, porque dándoles lugar que los lleveu fuera, no consiguen tan en breve la libertad.' Mendoza, Rel., Apuntam. y Avisos, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., vi. 509.
11. Some say they could not carry for money, because they were so ill-paid. 'Ni que fuese de gracia, ò por voluntad de los propios Indios, ni oprimidos, y forçados.' Torquemada, i. 618. In June 1552 the king commanded that orders of the viceroy should be obeyed, even when appealed from and the appeal allowed by the audiencia. Puga, Cedulario, 132. The king had also contemplated the reappointment of a protector of Indians in New Spain, but for some reason failed to do so for some time. Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 481; Beaumont, Crón. Mich., v. 143-5, MS., 860-1.
12. The marqués del Valle urged the discontinuance of the system. The real old chiefs might, however, have their pillalli, or patrimonial lands, cultivated by fairly paid native laborers. Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 449-51. In time many macehuales deserted their lords, which the Spanish court discountenanced. Oct. 20, 1568, it ordered that such deserters should be restored to their natural caciques. However, in 1628 and 1654 royal orders were issued to investigate false titles and set such aside, to protect the rightful caciques in their privileges, and at the same time relieve the plebeians from unjust burdens. No mestizo could become a cacique; a law of 1576 expressly forbade it. Zamora, Leg. Ult., ii. 153.
13. An abuse injurious to both the payer and the royal treasury. Cortés, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 441-2, 446-52, 456; Valderrama, in Id., iv. 359; Rel. Anón., in Id., vi. 166-7. Cortés seemed, however, to have the interests of the crown more at heart than those of the victim. He wanted the tributes increased in more favored localities, where many could make in two or three days the amount of their yearly tax, but being too lazy to work and benefit themselves, needed to be forced to it. In fact, they chose to pay four or six reales rather than the half fanega of maize, when a whole fanega was worth only four or five reales. The grain should be demanded, he urged, in lieu of money; otherwise in a short time there would be a famine. There was another imposition the natives were called upon to suffer; that of Spanish travellers billeting themselves with their servants and animals upon them. A royal order in 1563 required that travelling Spaniards should be put up at inns, if there were any, or if not, to pay for what they had. Zamora, Leg. Ult., ii. 556.
14. In 1575 the royal tribute continued at the old rate. A number of natives had become the owners of large haciendas and other property paying no other tax. Enriquez, Carta al Rey (Sept. 23, 1575), in Cartas de Indias, 307-8; Hakluyt's Voy., iii. 463.
15. This injustice caused a dispersion, and the project had to be abandoned. Torquemada, iii. 263.
16. I judge that was the object in view when the viceroy and audiencia decreed December 6, 1578, in obedience to a royal order of May 7, 1577, that the encomenderos should not sell to or exchange with their own Indians the maize received in tribute. Montemaior, Autos Acord., 33.
17. From the beginning to the end of his rule Velasco was careful to appoint none to office but the moral and upright. Torquemada, i. 622; Beaumont, Crón. Mich., v. 549, MS., 1133.
18. In the event of his inability or unwillingness to accept it, then the second son, and so on to the last; if there were no sons, then the eldest daughter, and in her default, the next in succession, under certain obligations; if there were neither sons nor daughters, then the widow. After the death of this second holder, the encomienda was to revert to the crown. Under the king's general regulations no mulatto, mestizo, nor any one of illegitimate birth could hold an encomienda. If any was so holden, it was to revert at once to the crown. The order was subsequently modified, allowing the viceroy of Peru in 1559 to legitimize children born out of wedlock, even where the mothers were Indians, upon the payment of a sufficient sum to secure the encomiendas they were to inherit. That privilege was rescinded in 1561; its revival asked for, was refused in 1573, and had not been allowed as late as 1612. It is likely that the same rule held good in Mexico. Puga, Cedulario, 136.
19. The right of transmission to the third generation having been tolerated in New Spain in 1555, Viceroy Velasco was in doubt if, in default of children, the privilege extended to widows and other heirs. This was at first refused; but on the 9th of February, 1561, the viceroy and audiencia were directed to permit, when there were no sons or daughters in the third generation, surviving husbands to inherit the encomiendas of their wives, and vice versa, until the crown should enact some general law. This led to abuses in marriages between old women and young men, or of old men with young women, to secure the inheritance of encomiendas, which were frequent and continued until in later years the king adopted measures to prevent such unequal alliances. February 27, 1575, and July 8, 1603, such inheritances were forbidden in the second and third generations, unless the parties had been married and lived together at least six months. Puga, Cedulario, 132, 136, 139, 149-50, 184-6, 192-3; Testimonio, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xiii. 478-80; Montesclaros, in Id., vi. 284, 288-90. In 1563 the crown resolved that encomiendas should no longer be transmissible to heirs in the third generation. This project exasperated holders of the second generation, and much trouble arose in consequence. Peralta, Not. Hist., 195. But it was not carried out. And there were cases, on the contrary, in later years, where the tenure passed to the fourth and even to the fifth generation. The encomenderos were required by law to dwell in the provinces where they held their encomiendas. The provision was, however, often disregarded. Those living in Mexico with permission were not authorized to compel their Indians to bring the tributes thither; nor had they the right of taking from the Indians any article of food without paying therefor. Puga, Cedulario, 154.
20. The second marqués del Valle, soon after his arrival in Mexico, showed himself to be not unmindful of the old conquerors, now few, and most of them poor. It was true, he said to the monarch, that they received some assistance from the royal treasury, but it did not suffice to support them. To further aid them he wished that of the 400 public offices at least 100 should be given them; considering the fact that a great many of those offices existed merely to afford a maintenance to some man; otherwise 200 might be abolished. Cortés, Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 459-60.
21. Those pensions were paid out of the fund of indios vacos, or unappropriated Indians; the lowest was 30 pesos, and one, the highest, of 450 pesos; many were of 300 pesos; a few of 400 pesos; the rest ranged from 250 pesos downward. Agurto, Pensiones, in Id., xiv. 201-20. In 1554 there were 18 encomenderos, who were aged and without heirs; at their death the Indians would revert to the crown. A list appears in Relacion, xiv. 220-2. The veedor of New Spain, Santander, in a letter to the sovereign of July 15, 1557, recommended the perpetuity of the tenure of Indians, on the ground that there would be less warfare and mortality; the Spaniards would be better disposed to serve their king, and the royal revenue would be augmented without taxing the white settlers. It seems that for him the Indian had no rights that should not be made subservient forever to the interests of the crown and the benefit of the Spanish conqueror. Santander, Carta, in Col. Doc. Inéd., xxvi. 351 et seq.
22. This condition of things made it impossible, he said, for the natives to advance morally or otherwise. The effect was to debase them more and more, and to rapidly decrease their number. Gante, Carta al Emp., in Cartas de Indias, 92-102; Zamora, Leg. Ult., ii. 152-4; Órdenes de la Corona, MS., ii. 13.
23. Arzob. de Méj., Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 499, 515-22. Father Toral, who had invariably shown himself a warm friend of the natives, did acknowledge, however, that Velasco had done much toward improving their condition, as he had abolished personal service, slavery, and many abuses. Toral, Carta á S. M. el Rey, in Cartas de Indias, 138.
24. The emperor's attention was called to the matter by the Franciscan comisario and other fathers of that order, among them Motolinia and Sahagun, who complained that the audiencia's course made much confusion between the Spaniards and natives. Bustamante et al.. Carta al Emp., in Cartas de Indias, 121-2. The viceroy told the king that were it not for his forbearance much trouble might have resulted from the insolent behavior of some of the oidores; he then begged for the appointment of a visitador of the audiencia, and for the removal of those objectionable oidores.
25. It was to cost 2,000 pesos de oro. An extra allowance of 400 pesos de oro yearly was also granted. The fund having been exhausted before the edifice was finished, the prince, now King Philip II., in 1556 gave a further sum of 2,000 pesos de oro from the royal treasury. This, together with the aid the natives themselves could afford, was deemed all-sufficient. This hospital, and others which were subsequently established, proved very useful during the desolating epidemics of 1555 and later. Cavo, Tres Siglos, 163. In 1556 Father José de Ángulo was at Brussels, where Philip's court then was, and heard from the royal lips high praise of Viceroy Velasco's Indian policy and of the loyalty of the natives. Velasco was commended in a letter of January of that year. Felipe II., Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 403-6. Puga, Cedulario, 187.
26. Viceroy Enriquez, who ruled the country from 1568 to 1580, saw their necessity, and made provision accordingly. He distrusted his countrymen, who, he feared, cared little for the Indian. In his suggestion to his successor he speaks clearly: 'despues de servirse de los indios, mas cuidado tienen de sus perros que no dellos.' Henriquez, Instruccion, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 482-6.
27. Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 158-9, piously ascribes Velasco's first act of justice to the natives to his anxiety for bespeaking God's favor to his rule: 'para comenzar su gobierno con la bendicion de Dios.'
28. Velasco, Carta al Emp., in Cartas de Indias, 267.
29. The council of bishops in 1555 also said to the crown that the country was full of vagrants from Spain; men who had neither occupation nor means of livelihood; and it was necessary to stop the emigration of more of that class. Mex., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iii. 526-7. This condition went on from bad to worse for several years. The veedor, Doctor Santander, a resident of 16 years in America, recorded July 1557, that there were 4,000 white persons born in Mexico who were unemployed and without support; to which number were to be added the white persons from Spain, and the half-breeds. Santander, Carta, in Col. Doc. Inéd., xxvi. 351. To check vagrancy a royal order of Oct. 3, 1558, exacted that Spaniards, Indians, and mixed breeds should dwell in towns. Puga, Cedulario, 205. In some parts of New Spain provisions were scarce, and the villas of Purificacion and Pánuco were in 1553 already becoming depopulated. Valasco, in Cartas de Indias, 263-5. The women were so extravagant in the use of jewelry that the country felt its bad effects. No improvement was gained by the royal measures to check vice. The second marqués del Valle complains bitterly of indolence, increasing want, and vice; truth was almost a stranger in the country; lying and perjury had become a staple, 'porques cosecha desta tierra.' Cortés, Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., iv. 455-6, 458-9. Still later, in 1570, vagabondage and lawlessness were still rampant. Mendieta, Carta á Joan de Ouando, in Prov. del Sto Evang., MS., No. 16, 208-9. An Englishman who visited the city of Mexico in 1572 declared, 'the men ... are marvellous vicious; and in like manner the women are dishonest of their bodies.' Hawks' Rel., in Haklvyt's Voy., iii. 463.
30. 'Se experimentó que encallaban cada dia mas los negocios de los Españoles, y se olvidaban de los naturales.' Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 170. Mendieta speaks of the contempt that was thrown upon the royal representatives in the country. Even the natives had learned to pay no respect to their decisions, having been prevailed on to look to the audiencia as the real superior authority; 'no hagais cuenta de lo que este os ha dicho, ni de lo que dexa mandado, que no es sino vn hombre por ai, que pasa de camino, y no puede nada, que allà en Mexico, estàn los Tlatoques. . . que nos favorecerán, y haràn lo que quisièremos.' Torquemada, i. 625-6.
31. He wrote to the audiencia of Mexico, May 10, 1554, to announce his approaching marriage with Queen Mary of England, and to order that during his absence the commands of his sister, the princess of Portugal, should be obeyed. Puga, Cedulario, 149.