to bestow upon the said city for six years, for its public property, one-half of the fines and pecuniary penalties paid into my treasury, and the incomes from the said storehouses; with the obligation that, each three years, the account of money thus obtained be sent, as well as a statement of what is expended. You shall take care to procure the advancement of the said city in this, to watch in what manner this grant is used, and to order that the said account and statement be sent at the proper time.
9. I have also been petitioned, in the name of the said city, to order that neither in the said city nor in any other part of the other islands shall be paid the three per cent duty[1] imposed by Don Gonçalo Ronquillo, as the country is very new and needy, and the inhabitants have to assist in many other things. Although I would be very glad to relieve them, still expenses are so heavy, that I must aid myself by whatever is available. Therefore it will be advisable to collect the said three per cent. You shall give orders to this effect; and that the amount that is collected from these duties on merchandise be placed in my treasury on a separate account, and it shall be used for paying the soldiers stationed there; and that of the rest that is collected this duty be discontinued for the present.[2]
10. I have also been petitioned, in the name of the said city, to order that none of those who resort from foreign parts to the ports of the said islands—as
- ↑ Regarding the rates thus levied, see VOL. V, pp. 29, 30.
- ↑ This last sentence is literally translated from the MS. which we follow; but there is evidently a defect or error in the text—probably arising from some mistake made by the first copyist, as the MS. is not the first original, but a copy made apparently by some government clerk.
