When the merchant citizens of Manila were in clover, they made donations to the Government to cover the deficits, and loans were raised amongst them to defray extraordinary disbursements, such as expeditions against the Mahometans, etc. In the good years, too, the valuation of the merchandise shipped and the corresponding returns were underrated in the sworn declarations, so that an immensely profitable trade was done on a larger scale than was legally permitted. Between 1754 and 1759, in view of the reduced profits, due to the circumstances already mentioned, the Manila merchants prayed the King for a reduction of the royal dues, which had been originally fixed on the basis of the gross returns being equal to double the cost of the merchandise laid down in Acapulco. To meet the case, another Royal Decree was issued confirming the fixed rate of royal dues and disbursements, but in compensation the cargo was thenceforth permitted to include 4,000 pieces of fine linen, without restriction as to measure or value; the sworn value was abolished, and the maximum return value of the whole shipment was raised to one-and-a-half millions of pesos. Hence the total dues and disbursements became equal to 11 1/3 per cent. instead of 17 per cent., as heretofore, on the anticipated return value. In 1763 the Subsidy, together with the _Consulado_ shippers' returns, amounted in one voyage to two-and-a-half millions of pesos (_vide_ p. 88). After the independence of Mexico (1819), tribute in kind (tobacco) was, until recently, shipped direct to Spain, and Peninsula coin began to circulate in these Islands (_vide_ Currency).