interference by the civil authorities. All
sorts of scandals and irregularities are liable to spring from these
causes, affecting not only the missionaries but the natives, as well
as the many heathen peoples who surround Manila.

The present volume is terminated by a short appendix taken from
Sinibaldo de Mas, showing the condition of the judiciary of
the Philippines in 1842. Justice is administered by the royal
Audiencia, by the alcaldes, and by the gobernadorcillos, the last
being Filipinos. The action of the alcalde-mayor is very limited and
dependent on the Audiencia. Mas draws a vivid picture of some of the
alcaldes which shows that the system is honeycombed with graft. The
great evil arises from the fact that alcaldes are allowed to trade, and
hence business absorbs all their energies for the six years of their
office, for during that time they must become rich. As one does not
need to be a lawyer to become an alcalde, those posts generally being
assigned to military officers, the incumbent of such post needs an
adviser. This results in great delay, and often justice is completely
subverted. By advancing money at usurious rates the alcalde bleeds
those who borrow from him, and in fact such unfortunate people can
almost never get square with the world again. The gobernadorcillos
in turn lash the alcaldes, for they are necessary to the latter,
and good terms must be maintained with them. For the general legal
business the alcalde depends on his clerk, a native, who runs things
to suit himself, and in his turn makes his office an occasion for
graft. The parish priests who formerly had so great influence in the
villages have now been ordered by the governors to cease meddling
with secular matters, and some of them even are in collusion with
the alcalde, whom they endeavor to aid in order that they may gain
their own ends. Notwithstanding the alcaldes are few who are not
often fined during their term. The government is most to blame for
this state of affairs for its course implies that the alcaldes
are expected to be rogues. Crime has increased greatly of late
years. Punishments are too light, and many criminals even get off
scotfree. This produces only bad results. The officials are slow to
arrest because the criminal will soon be released as a general rule,
and will always take vengeance if possible. Although he argues that
the death sentence ought to be abolished as an unnecessary cruelty,
Mas urges that the lash