Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/539

Rh liberation of the natives, for whatever cause enslaved. And great must have been his exertions to obtain the final passage of the ordinances, for we find that many powerful holders of slaves and repartimientos opposed; and indeed Cortés, then in Spain, did not support him. On the contrary, he presented a memorial to the emperor in which the encomienda system, with some modifications, was recommended as of transcendent importance to New Spain.

The deliberations of the junta finally resulted in a code of laws, which received the emperor's sanction in Barcelona, November 20, 1542. After mature consideration, however, it was found that some of the provisions were deficient, and on June 4, 1543, the code was accordingly amplified; on the 26th of the same month its immediate publication and enforcement in New Spain were decreed. The new code referred in a great measure to the treatment of the Indians, particularly in regard to their enslavement. The remedies were by no means so radical as Las Casas had desired. The granting of his principal request, that the enslaved Indians should be set free, was rendered of little avail by permitting owners who could establish a legal title to their possession to retain them. No natives were henceforth to be enslaved under any pretext, not even that of rebellion. It will be remembered that before the enactment of these laws, Indians captured in war, or guilty of certain crimes, could be legally enslaved; and it never had been difficult for holders to prove that one offence or another had been committed.

Those to whom the repartimientos had given too many serfs, must surrender a portion of them; and on