The king was constantly defrauded of his revenues by contraband trading which prevailed throughout the provinces, but nowhere to such an extent as in Panamá. In the year 1624 the amount of merchandise registered as passing through the casa de Cruces was 1,446,346 pesos, while goods to the amount of 7,597,559 pesos were reported by the factor Cristóbal de Balba to have been smuggled through. No punishment was inflicted for these frauds, though his Majesty thus suffered a loss of 1,370,656 pesos, and the matter was compounded by the payment of 200,000 pesos into the treasury, the factor having received a bribe of 6,000 pesos. Smuggling was practised to such an extent that it threatened the very existence of legitimate commerce. For this condition of affairs Spain had but herself to blame. The merchants of Seville, who still enjoyed a monopoly of the trade with the provinces, despatched only a small squadron twice a year to supply the wants of the colonists. They regulated no less the supply of European goods in America than of American goods in Europe, and took care that both should be shipped in quantities so small as to ensure enormous profits. All kinds of devices were resorted to by contraband traders, both Spaniards and foreigners,[XXVII‑22] to secure a portion of the rich traffic of the Isthmus, and the government finding its revenues constantly decreasing, finally declared smuggling to be a mortal sin, and made those who engaged in it liable to be tried by the inquisition. * * * * * [Sidenote: ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS.] It is now in place to allude briefly to the progress of ecclesiastical affairs in Panamá, for here, as elsewhere, they figure largely in the history of the province. With regard to moral and spiritual matters, the people of Panamá, as we have seen, were low enough. Reforms were needed, but reformers were few. On the 26th of November 1572 Pedro Castro de Vedeales, provoked by the flagrant abuses of the time, addressed the licenciado Juan de Ovando, his Majesty's counsellor of the holy inquisition and visitador of the council of the Indies, upon reforms needed in church matters. The communication is elaborate and reviews the errors and misdoings of the Spaniards, particularly in their intercourse with the natives.[XXVII‑23] When Francisco de Toledo, the new viceroy, arrived at Panamá on his way to Peru in 1569, he restored the royal prerogative of church patronage, which in this diocese, and throughout his viceroyalty, had fallen by disuse into the hands of the archbishop and bishops. In the same year, probably, Francisco Ábrego, a secular priest, had been elevated to the bishopric of Panamá, and continued to hold that office till his decease in 1574.[XXVII‑24] During his administration the chapter considered and formally ratified the decrees of the council of Trent, and in keeping with its behests appointed _adjutos_, or inferior ecclesiastical judges.