r 27, 1720, and published in Mexico by the
Viceroy on February 15, 1724, the following was enacted, viz.:--That
in future there should be two galleons per annum, instead of one
as heretofore, carrying merchandise to Acapulco, each to be of 500
tons. That the merchandise sent in the two was to be of the value of
P300,000 precisely in gold, cinnamon, wax, porcelain, cloves, pepper,
etc., but not silks, or stuffs of any kind containing silk, under
pain of confiscation, to be allotted in three equal parts, namely,
to the Fiscal officer, the Judge intervening, and the informer, and
perpetual banishment from the Indies of all persons concerned in the
shipment. That the number of Manila merchants was to be fixed, and any
one not included in that number was to be prohibited from trading. No
ecclesiastic, or professor of religion, or foreigner could be included
in the elected few, whose rights to ship were non-transferable. That if
the proceeds of the sale happened to exceed the fixed sum of P600,000,
on account of market prices being higher than was anticipated,
only that amount could be brought back in money, and the difference,
or excess, in goods. [If it turned out to be less than that amount,
the difference could not be remitted in cash by Mexican merchants for
further purchases, the spirit of the decree being to curtail the supply
of goods from this Colony to Mexico, for the benefit of the Spanish
home traders. The infringer of this regulation was subject to the
penalties of confiscation and two years' banishment from the Indies.]

By Royal Decree of the year 1726, received and published in Manila
on August 9, 1727, the following regulations were made known,
viz.:--That the prohibition relating to silk and all-silk goods was
revoked. That only one galleon was to be sent each year (instead of
two) as formerly. That the prohibition on clothing containing some
silk, and a few other articles, was maintained. That for five years
certain stuffs of fine linen were permitted to be shipped, to the
limit of 4,000 pieces per annum, precisely in boxes containing each
500 pieces.

The Southern Spanish traders in 1729 petitioned the King against the
Philippine trade in woven goods, and protested against the five-years'
permission granted in the above decree of 1726, declaring that it
would bring about the total ruin of the Spanish weaving industry,
and that the galleons, on their return to the Philippines, instead of
loading Spanish m