The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 45, 1736: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 45, 1736: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
It is evident, however, from another table (which follows the above),
that Spanish commerce had much activity outside the trading-fleets;
this shows the amounts of "merchandise which left the ports of Spain
each year from 1748 to 1753 for its colonies on the continent of
America; duties which they have paid; their current value in the
New World; expenses which they have borne; their net product for the
metropolis [i.e., Cadiz]." Of these goods, the only one monopolized
by the crown was quicksilver, to the amount of 3,600,000 livres'
worth. The greater part of this merchandise consisted of cloth and
stuffs, of silk, linen, and wool; there was a considerable amount
of iron, paper, wax, brandy, wine, and oil; and to Nueva España
was sent 1,000,000 livres' worth of cinnamon, and to Caracas 10,000
barrels of flour. Of the goods sent to Nueva España (not counting the
quicksilver), 6,367,297 livres' worth were of Spanish production,
and 14,401,815 of foreign. The import duties levied on the latter
at Cadiz amounted to 1,185,343 livres, and the export duties on
both Spanish and foreign to 1,245,059; and admiralty and avería
duties besides came to 419,623. The goods on board, then, cost
23,619,137 livres, to which must be added the following charges:
transportation to America, 3,617,623; import duties and alcavala
in America, 4,327,473; commissions on sales and return freight,
3,231,296--a total of 34,795,529 livres. The value of this merchandise
in America was arbitrated at 43,274,787 livres; deducting the above
costs, a profit of 8,479,258 livres remains from the merchandise sent
from Spain to Nueva España. On the return voyage, the main part of
the cargoes was in gold and silver--6,480,000 livres' worth for the
king, and 37,716,047 for the merchants; the crown monopolized copper
and cacao, 259,200 and 12,960 respectively; the cochineal was worth
6,426,000 livres, and the indigo 4,160,160; and various drugs, dyes,
etc. made with these a total of 56,216,533 livres (all these values
being those estimated in America). To this cost must be added freight
charges, 1,491,543 livres; and various duties to the crown (including
customs, admiralty, church, etc., the largest being for "indult and
coast-guards"), amounting to 6,428,987. Consequently, when the ships
arrived at Cadiz the value of the gold and silver had been reduced
to 5,625,607 livres for the king, and 32,775,345 for the merchants;
while the cost of the other commodities had increased from 12,020,486
livres to 14,145,922. The current value in Europe of these goods (not
including the gold and silver) was 18,465,419 livres, a gain over the
entire cost of 4,319,497 livres (30 1/2 per cent)--of which 124,527
belonged to the king, and the remainder to the merchants, as the net
proceeds on the commerce between Spain and Nueva España, outside of
the precious metals, in both the outward and return voyages each year.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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