[38] "Item: That the governor be warned to endeavor to avoid, as far as possible, the injuries inflicted upon the natives in the cutting of wood and in personal services; for they sometimes draft them in the planting season or at harvest, so that they lose their fields, as I have seen. In addition to this, many times they do not pay the Indians, because there is no money in the treasury, which is continually short of funds. This often arises from the fact that they do not estimate and consider the needs of the Indians with the amount of money that is available; and consequently all the Indians complain. Finally, when the said Indians are paid, it is done by the hand of the chiefs or cabezas de barangay, who generally keep the money." (Reforms Needed in Filipinas, by H. de los Rios Coronel.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 315-316.) [39] "The loss of so many ships caused us great sadness of heart. The greatest hardship fell to the Indians, for they cannot live without ships. When one is lost it is necessary to build another, and that means the cutting of wood. Six or eight thousand Indians are assembled for that task, and go to the mountains. On them falls the vast labor of cutting and dragging the timber in. To that must be added the blows that are rained down upon them, and the poor pay, and bad nourishment that they receive. At times, religious are sent to protect and defend them from the infernal fury of some Spaniards. Moreover, in the timber collected for one ship there is (actually enough) for two ships. Many gain advantage at the cost of the Indians' sweat, and later others make a profit in Cavite, as I have seen." (D. F. Navarrete, O. P.; 1676, from his Tratados Históricos.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 38, pp. 42-43.) [40] "* * * I must remind your Majesty that the islands are at the end of their resources, as far as the Indians in them are concerned; for it is they who bring the timber from the forests for the said shipbuilding. I have thought of an expedient for this, in order not to complete the destruction of the Indians; it is, to ask the viceroys of your Majesty in Nueva España and Pirú to send vessels here. * * *" (Letter to Felipe IV, by Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, Cavite, July 11, 1636.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 26, p. 289.)