VIII, D, 3 Salt: Carriedo y Peredo 179 



could be lent was determined a month before the ship sailed, and 

 was then apportioned by the members of the municipal board 

 among themselves, each member voting that his colleague should 

 receive a share. The total apportionment never reached more 

 than 12,000 pesos, and the sum allotted to each depended, pri- 

 marily, on his political status, and, to a secondary degree, on 

 his financial credit." The rate of interest varied according to 

 the length of the voyage and the possible danger involved in 

 the enterprise. It was, however, lower than the current rates 

 charged borrowers from "obras pias" administered by the reli- 

 gious orders, whose customary rate was 50 per cent to Acapulco, 

 35 per cent to India, and 25 per cent to China,^^ whereas the 

 city exacted only 25 to 37.5 per cent on the "nao," 18 per cent 

 to India, and 12 per cent to Java, besides deducting 3 per cent 

 for expenses and one-eighth per cent for bringing silver from the 

 port of disembarkation to Manila.'^ Luckily, the ships during 

 this period fared well, and only once — by the wreck of the San 

 Andres on the Naranjos group, in 1798 — was the whole invest- 

 ment (12,250 pesos) lost. In case the loan was not repaid at 

 the completion of the voyage, a lien was made on the boletas 

 (tickets conferring the right to ship on a "nao"),*" unless such 

 lien had been anticipated by previous creditors." The number 

 of bad debts thus incurred was surprisingly small. The most 

 notable case in which a creditor who had outrun his finances 

 escaped payment was that of Jose Blanco, a rice exporter by 

 trade and a member of the municipal board, who borrowed 

 money for investment on the Magallanes in 1804. In this case 

 his boletas were seized by the insular government for misap- 

 propriation of funds in connection with cockpit licenses in Negros. 

 His indebtedness finally became so large that he was given an 

 allowance of 30 pesos a month to support his wife and family. 



It may be noticed that loans were discontinued from 1782 to 1786 and 

 that in the second voyage made in the former year an unusually high 

 rate of interest was charged. This was due to the loss of the San Pedro. 

 Besides this amount (8,619 pesos, 4 tomins) and the sum lent in 1777 

 for investment to Coromandel, all loans were repaid with interest on the 

 return of the vessels to Manila. 



"Actas de Manila (1810), 118; (1811), 47. 



** Ibid. (1777), 174-178; Dias Arenas, Rafael, Memorias historicas de 

 Filipinas (1850), 397; Jagor, Feodor, Reisen in den Philippinen (1873). 



"Ibid. (1808), 28-29; (1809), 194-195; (1810), 23; (1811), 46-47. 



"Ibid. (1808), 149-150, 156-157; (1809), 174-175. 



"Ibid. (1814), 31. Cf. Martinez de Zuniga, Estadismo de las Islas Fili- 

 pinas (1893), 2, 185-186; Le Gentil, Voyages dans les mers de I'lnde 

 (1779), 2, 205, 297-298; Churchill, Collection of Voyages, (1764), 4, 177. 



