convey to the said port persons, merchandise, and other things; and
if this profit be hindered they will have nothing wherewith to sustain
themselves, and will not be able to pay his Majesty the royal tributes,
nor aid in other impositions and personal services. The same losses
will be increased by granting a monopoly of the said buyo, bonga, and
tobacco--not only for the neighboring villages but even for provinces
where it is collected and brought to this city; for their natives
have no other source of income which would be to them so important
and profitable as the gathering, carrying, and sale of buyo, bonga,
and tobacco, and if this were stopped they would be reduced to the
greatest poverty and want. That would make it impossible for them to
succeed in paying the royal tributes, impositions, repartimientos, and
other consequences of the service of his Majesty; and to the citizens
and the people of various nationalities who dwell here, for whom the
said commodities serve as food and sustenance, there would be caused
expense and inconvenience, as has already been seen by experience, for
even without the said monopoly being erected, but merely projected and
intended, the said buyo, bonga, and tobacco have risen and increased in
price, so much that the cost at present is twice what it was before,
and at the time when it was decided to erect the said monopoly--which
not only is of the fruits of the land, and articles which the said
peoples use for their sustenance, but likewise is prohibited by
equity and the laws. Consequently, looking for the greatest service
to God and his Majesty, the growth and preservation of these islands,
and the welfare and comfort of the citizens and natives thereof, they
[_i.e._, the president and auditors] declared that they would revoke,
and they did revoke, the said grant with everything therein contained;
and that they would declare it, and they did declare it, to be null
and of no force and effect. And they declared that they would notify,
and they did notify, each and every magistrate of his Majesty, that