orders.

Tordesillas, 25th of July, 1511.

F., King."

It is clear from the above instructions that, in the king's mind,
there was no inconsistency in making the Indians work in the mines and
their good treatment. There can be no doubt that both he and Doña
Juana, his daughter, who, as heir to her mother, exercised the royal
authority with him, sincerely desired the well-being of the natives as
far as compatible with the exigencies of the treasury.

For the increase of the white population and the development of
commerce and agriculture, liberal measures, according to the ideas of
the age, were dictated as early as February, 1511, when the same
commercial and political franchises were granted to San Juan as to la
Española.

On July 25th the price of salt, the sale of which was a royal
monopoly, was reduced by one-half, and in October of the same year the
following rights and privileges were decreed by the king and published
by the crown officers in Seville:

"1st. Any one may take provisions and merchandise to San Juan, which
is now being settled, and reside there with the same freedom as in la
Española.

"2d. Any Spaniard may freely go to the Indies--that is, to la
Española and to San Juan--by simply presenting himself to the