Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/492

 MS SPANISH HISTORY most of the tribes were a race of half-naked sa- vages, inferior to all the great tribes, who were push- ing, at the same time, an active commerce, and en- joying a respectable share of the necessaries and comforts of a civilized state. Upon the whole, they are at present superior in almost every thing to any of the other races. This is a valuable and instructive fact, and the cause deserves to be traced^ This, I imagine, is no difficult task. In the first place, the Spanish government has never, in the case of its Indian dominions, pursued, like other nations, the visionary and pernicious principle of drawing a direct profit from the commercial indus- try of its colonies, by appearing in the character of the sole or chief merchant. On the contrary,, private industry, though injudiciously shackled,, has been permitted sojne scope, and the wholesome principles of competition have had some operation.. The Spanish government has rested satisfied with deriving a revenue from a fixed capitation tax on its native subjects ; and, however heavy in amount, or iniquitous in the collection, it has, on the whole, proved less prejudicial to improvement than the restrictions of other European nations on the agri- culture and industry of their subjects. But, above all, the prosperity of the Philippines has been ow- ing to the freedom given to European colonization j a freedom which it has been the idle glory of our nation, in particular, to withhold, or to restrict, un- it)