needs of internal trade. That all the gold and silver, in various forms, which private persons offer for coinage be accepted at the mint, returning it to them in the standard coin which it yields after the expenses are deducted. That the government there be authorized to accept in payment of taxes the gold from the mines of Filipinas, after it is assayed. That regulations be drawn up by competent persons, in which precautions are taken against any fraud in this matter. Of the charitable funds established in Filipinas [The obras pías merit full attention from the government,] on account of the advantages which the agriculture and industry of the islands may gain from them. If the limited and privileged dealings of Manila with Nueva España had not been reduced to a merely passive commerce of transfer or transportation, those foundations would, at the same time while they have become wealthy, have given real opulence to that commerce. Of the enormous profit of two hundred and three hundred per cent which the transactions of the galleon yielded at Acapulco, the greater part was for the foreign dealers of India and China, whose wares supplied almost all the lading of the galleons, and for the obras pías; a greatly reduced profit remained for the Manila merchants, which could be shown by a calculation which might be made of the many millions imported from Nueva España by the galleons, and of the comparatively small value, in money or assistance, which has remained [therefrom] in the islands. [The returns from these funds are now greatly diminished, since the cessation of the Acapulco trade, for on that depended the commerce with India and China, which also has practically ended, save for the commodities from those countries which are consumed in Filipinas. This could not have been foreseen by the founders of those funds, many of which, moreover, are impeded by various restrictions and conditions; and the government should interpose its authority not only to secure the fulfilment of the founders' wishes, but to commute the investment of the funds in such a way that they may be used to promote the agriculture and industry of the country. These funds ought also to be preserved as a most useful resource in case of war or revolution, when the usual revenues of the government would cease. Bernaldez therefore recommends:] That the government of Manila furnish special protection to the charitable foundations of the islands, and keep close watch over their honest administration. That it stimulate the managers to obtain immediately from the competent authority the commutation of the allotments of these funds so as to benefit the agriculture and manufactures of the country, giving reports of what shall be effected in a matter so important for the welfare of the islands. That the funds in the communal treasuries of the Indians and the Chinese, those of the secular revenues, [151] and any others which are not subject to private foundations and