Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/592

572 of 1553 ordering that the sons of the first conquerors of New Spain who were not possessed of encomiendas should be preferred for the position of corregidor and other offices, in order that they might derive a support therefrom. The pension-list to widows and offspring of the old conquerors at the time amounted to about 24,000 pesos per annum.

Even these broad and searching measures were deemed insufficient by Friar Pedro de Gante, for in 1552 we find him writing to the king setting forth the great suffering of the natives from excessive labor and heavy taxation. He beseeches the monarch to look with merciful eyes on his red subjects not only of New Spain but of New Galicia. Nor were these prayers disregarded by the crown. Orders were issued for the benefit of the natives, and issued again, and several oppugnant decrees of the viceroy and audiencia were repealed by royal command. And yet many and gross evils continued. The archbishop confirmed Gante's statement, yet added that the natives were vicious, given to carnal pleasures, drinking, and gambling, and excessively fond of litigation. They were