icial in charge of this service to travellers, and in control of the
_Cuadrilleros_, was styled the _Alguacil_. Hence the Tribunal served
the double purpose of Town Hall and casual ward for wayfarers. There
were all sorts of Tribunales, from the well-built stone and wood
house to the poverty-stricken bamboo shanty where one had to pass
the night on the floor or on the table.

By decree of Gov.-General Weyler (1888-91) dated October 17, 1888,
which came into force on January 1, 1889, the obligation of the
Tribunal officials to supply provisions to travelling civilians had
been already abolished, although, under both reforms, civilians could
continue to take refuge at the Tribunal as theretofore. Notwithstanding
the reform of 1890, until the American advent the European traveller
found it no more difficult than before to procure _en route_ the
requisite means for provincial travelling.

CHAPTER XIV

Spanish-Philippine Finances

The secession of Mexico from the Spanish Crown in the second decade
of last century brought with it a complete revolution in Philippine
affairs. Direct trade with Europe through one channel or another had
necessarily to be permitted. The "Situado," or subsidy (_vide_ p. 244),
received from Mexico became a thing of the past, and necessity urged
the home authorities to relax, to a certain extent, the old restraint
on the development of Philippine resources.

In 1839 the first Philippine Budget was presented in the Spanish
Cortes, but so little interest did the affairs of the Colony excite
that it provoked no discussion. After the amendment of only one
item the Budget was adopted in silence. It was not the practice
in the earliest years to publish the full Philippine Budget in the
Islands, although allusion was necessarily made to items of it in the
_Gaceta de Manila_. However, it could be seen without difficulty in
Madrid. Considering that the Filipinos had no political rights, except
for the very brief period alluded to in Chapter xxii. (_vide Cortes de
Cadiz_), it is evident that popular discussion of public finance would
have been undesirable, because it could have led to no practical issue.

There is apparently no record of the Philippine Islands having been at
any time in a flourishing financial condition. With few exceptions,
in latter years the collected revenue of the Colony was usually much
less than the estimated yield of taxes. The Budget for 1888 is here
given in detail as