[The discipline of the third regiment of the line before the insurrection was poor, a fact that was attributed, among other things, to the bad condition of the barracks. On the other hand, a corps composed of native troops recruited from Manila and the neighboring places remained loyal, and was used to good effect in putting down the insurrection. In the opinion of many, native troops officered by Spaniards (even to the sergeants and corporals) would prevent disaffection in the future, and be much better than Peninsular troops. In this treatise it is Matta's purpose to set forth "the measures by which the tranquillity of these inhabitants and the conservation of this precious portion of the Spanish monarchy, will be conserved in the future." The moral condition of the islands is most delicate and merits the close attention of the government, "and most especially of your Excellency, to whom is chiefly confided the tranquillity and conservation of these important possessions--which now demand radical administrational and economic reforms that will permit the development of the wealth of their fertile soil, and the welfare of all their inhabitants; and peremptory measures of foresight and security, which will render those advantages lasting, keep the country loyal, and inalterably bind the union of the islands with the mother-country." In consequence of the civil wars in Spain, the Spanish government has been compelled to draw heavy sums against the treasury of the Philippines, by which not only has the treasury been exhausted but a debt of more than four million pesos incurred--a debt that cannot be met for years, "both because the needs of the colony are increasing annually, and because the remainder left from the revenues, after covering the ordinary obligations of the budgets, is almost all spent in tobacco leaf, which is sent for the consumption of the mother-country, in accordance with the orders of the government." In regard to the military defense of the country, conditions are as bad. "There are but few arms and they are in poor shape. The provinces are undefended. The army is composed almost exclusively of natives, and they are so few in number that the army is insufficient to defend the capital and fort of Cavite in case of a foreign invasion." Indeed, in case of invasion it might be best to raze the fortifications built at the expense of so great sacrifices.]