shirked the repugnant obligations of a chiefdom, for
the Government rarely recognized any bad debts in the collection of
the taxes, until the chief had been made bankrupt and his goods and
chattels sold to make good the sums which he could not collect from
his group, whether it arose from their poverty, death, or from their
having absconded. I have been present at auction sales of live-stock
seized to supply taxes to the Government, which admitted no excuses
or explanations. Many _Barangay chiefs_ went to prison through
their inability or refusal to pay others' debts. On the other hand,
there were among them some profligate characters who misappropriated
the collected taxes, but the Government had really little right to
complain, for the labour of tax-gathering was a _forced service_
without remuneration for expenses or loss of time incurred.

In many towns, villages, and hamlets there were posts of the Civil
Guard established for the arrest of criminals and the maintenance of
public order; moreover, there was in each town a body of guards called
_Cuadrilleros_ for the defence of the town and the apprehension of
bandits and criminals within the jurisdiction of the town only. The
town and the wards together furnished these local guards, whose
social position was one of the humblest and least enviable. There
were frequent cases of _Cuadrilleros_ passing over to a band of
brigands. Some years ago the whole muster belonging to the town of
Mauban (Tayabas) suddenly took to the mountains; on the other hand,
many often rendered valuable aid to society, but their doubtful
reliability vastly diminished their public utility.

From the time Philippine administration was first organized up to
the year 1884, all the subdued natives paid tribute. Latterly it
was fixed at one peso and ten cents per annum, and those who did not
choose to work for the Government during forty days in the year, paid
also a poll-tax (_fallas_) of P3 per annum. But, as a matter of fact,
thousands were declared as workers who never did work, and whilst
roads were in an abominable condition and public works abandoned,
not much secret was made of the fact that a great portion of the
poll-tax never reached the Treasury. These pilferings were known
to the Spanish local authorities as _caidas_ or droppings; and in a
certain province I met at table a provincial chief judge, the nephew
of a general, and other persons who openly discussed the value of
the differe