An important document is that sent--in two memorials, of 1619 and March, 1620, respectively--to the king by Hernando de los Rios Coronel, long procurator-general of the Filipinas, on "reforms needed" in the islands--of which he has been despatched by the citizens to inform the king. Accordingly, he writes (apparently at Madrid) a detailed statement of the "matters that demand reform." Serious losses of life and property have been caused by the delays in despatching the trading ships from Manila; the governors should be compelled to send them at the favorable season. The officials on these vessels should be appointed from among the deserving citizens of the islands, and not be the relatives or servants of the governor or other royal officials. The citizens have been greatly defrauded in the assignment of lading on the galleons, and too much of this is granted to charitable institutions. The trading ships should not be used for any other purposes. The Manila authorities buy ammunition and other supplies in China, which, "in order not to anger the Portuguese in Macan," they buy from them rather than from the natives, but the supplies thus cost three times their value; the agent who buys them should buy wherever he can do so to the best advantage, and directly from the Chinese. The royal ships should be built in India, and the burden of enforced service in this work should be removed from the Indians. Commerce from Japan to Nueva Espana should be stopped; and Spaniards should not be allowed to man Japanese vessels. An enemy can close Manila harbor to all vessels desiring to enter; another route to it should therefore be devised and made available. The Moro pirates must be prevented from harassing the islands, and the best means for this end is to proclaim that any one who will may capture and enslave those pirates. No royal official should be allowed to attend the session of the Audiencia in which a case concerning him is tried. When Filipino natives serve as soldiers, their families should during their absence be relieved from tributes and other impositions. The ecclesiastical affairs of the Malucas should be under the jurisdiction of Cebu, not of Goa. The commanders of the trading ships should not be allowed to carry on the trade that they now do; and the officials at Acapulco should be checked in making extortionate charges. Ignorant and inefficient men should not be placed in the ships as sailors. The common seamen therein (who are Filipino natives) are inhumanly treated, and many of them die from hunger, thirst, or cold, on each voyage. Slave women are carried on the ships, in spite of the royal prohibition; and thus arise "many acts offensive to God," and much cause for scandal. No sailor or passenger (unless a person of rank) should be allowed to take with him more than one male slave. Numerous other abuses are mentioned, regarding the traffic in slaves, the treatment of seamen, and the overloading of ships.