Don Luis Urrijola [30] left the intendancy, the tobacco had lost its credit, and nine thousand boxes were held in the magazines, which no merchant then or since has cared to buy. The new superintendent, Don J. M. de la Matta took direct and positive measures by separating the magazine from the factory, and reducing the functions of the latter to the manufacture only, etc., whereupon the requests for the new tobacco were renewed, so that when I left Manila, it was impossible by a great amount to meet the demands of the trade. But had it not been for the providential appointment to the superintendency of said clever and zealous employe, perhaps that revenue would have entirely ceased. This is one of the foremost resources of that country, and the governor-general would at this moment find himself, perhaps, in the greatest straits, and it would be impossible to prevent the evil, although he knew its origin and progress, as he had no intervention in the department of the treasury, which is, nevertheless, the soul of all government. In the same place I also heard talk of the sale of posts, of abuses in the pay of vouchers and other matters. [These things may be misrepresentation or calumny, but they are ever increasing in force and are being repeated with exaggeration--which tends to weaken Spanish prestige which is the source of their moral strength.] I believe that all that I have observed is enough and more than enough to show that the actual system of administration suffers from capital defects, and to assert that, in my opinion, the organization of a government is peremptory, which besides being a check on despotism and a barrier to ambition, by means of correction and reform through itself, contains the elements of unity, concord, prudence, rectitude, power, and duration. Here follows for what it may be worth, a plan circumscribed on fundamental bases. [31]