On
page 747 of the Gaceta de Manila for May 5, 1889, was
published Royal Order No. 310, dated April 27,
1888, as follows:
| "Article
1. There is extended to the islands of Cuba,
Porto Rico and Philippines, the Royal Order of November
1, 1887, referring to the creation of a special
paper for Payments for Subscriptions to Periodicals and the
Instruction of this 13th of December of the sane year,
dictated for compliance with said decree."
“Article
2. This disposition will become effective dating from the 1st of September,
next, in the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico and from the 1st of November
of the same year in the Philippines. – Given in the Palace on April 27,
1888.” [51] |
Attached
to, and published immediately following, the Royal Order above quoted,
was the Royal Decree of
November
1, 1887, to which reference is made. Article 1 of the Royal Decree of November
1, 1887,
reads
as follows:
“Article
1. There are created special warrants of the Mutual Drafts of the Treasury
(Giro Mutuo de Hacienda) for the exclusive purpose of the payment for subscriptions
to periodicals, of the following series and prices:"
Series
A, of 50 centimos de peseta
Series
B, of one peseta.
Series
C, of three pesetas
Series
D, of 5 pesetas [51] |
|
Subsequent
articles of the above decree indicate that
those who desired to subscribe for periodicals
were required to purchase from the Government those
special warrants for the amount of the subscription.
The publisher was required to submit
the warrants to an office of the Treasury
for redemption. The Government
deducted 25-3/4 percent of the face value of the
warrant as a charge for this "service",
paying the balance to the publisher who presented
the warrant for redemption. The estancas
were granted a commission of 3/4 percent on their
sales of these special warrants.
From
other sources, it is learned
that Royal Order No. 310, above quoted, was first
published in Manila on June 6, 1888. This Royal
Order provided that it was to become effective
in the Philippines on November 1, 1888.
Apparently, it was not actually enforced in the
Philippines , however, until after May 5,
1889, on which date Royal Order No.
310 was published in the Gaceta de Manila. The delay in enforcing
this decree was probably due to the delay in receiving
from Spain a supply of the "special warrants" mentioned in the decree.
The denominations of these special warrants for
use in the Philippines should have been
and probably were, expressed in pesos, instead
of pesetas since the peso was the monetary unit of
the Philippines at that time.
The
writer has not seen a specimen of these special warrants and it is
possible that none has been preserved. All of those
which were sold would normally be returned to the Treasury
for redemption and after redemption would probably be destroyed.
FOOTNOTE
[51]
Translated by A.H.W. from the Spanish
text. |
