The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; 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, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 52]

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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

[Vol. 52

misled their readers as to the real cost of government
under Spain. The figures shown in these budgets
were the totals of net collections (and expenditures),
for ordinary purposes, for the central government
of the islands alone. They did not include the
purely local licenses and other taxes, the surcharges
on general taxes for local government (to be expended under supervision of the central authorities),
the percentages that went to collectors, the other fees
forming part or all of the compensation of some
judicial and other officials, special surcharges for
port works and other purposes not covered in the
ordinary budget, etc. Naturally, no estimate was
included of the value of the forced-labor levy. The
products of " squeeze" and " pickings," in some cases
so fully established as to be notorious, were of course
not included; nevertheless, they represented part of
the cost of government to the people. Finally, an ecclesiastical establishment, really a part of the government itself, drew support from the people in many
ways beyond what would have been provided had
not the power of government been behind it, under
a system of voluntary contributions, for instance,
eral hundred pages, are valuable for giving in minute detail the
expected items of expenditures, down to the last petty employee
on salary; but they can give, of course, only the estimate of the
revenue expected under each item, and actual collections sometimes varied considerably from these figures. Above all, these
Presupuestos bear out the general remark that the Spanish budget
as published tends to conceal rather than to reveal the actual
burden resting on the people. They are not budgets for the insular government alone, hence the budgets for the city of Manila
and for the local governments (provinces and towns), published
separately in some years at Manila, must be consulted to get total
net collections for all branches of government. In addition, one
must dig out for himself from the laws governing taxation, etc.,
and from the archives the data regarding fees for collection,
notarial, legal and other fees accruing to private pockets, surcharges for special purposes, etc.