Chapter XV: Government and Law

I. _Melchor Calderón, Francisco Falcón and Francisco Carrasco
de Saz._ II. _Nicolás Polanco de Santillana, Juan Matienzo,
Juan de Solórzano Pereira, and Gaspar de Escalona y Agüero._
III. _The brothers Antonio, Diego, and Juan de León Pinelo
and Juan del Corral Calvo de la Torre._ IV. _Jorge Escobedo
y Alarcón and José Rezabal y Ugarte._ V. _Alonso de la Peña
Montenegro._

I

[Sidenote: Spanish autocracy]

[Sidenote: British and Spanish colonies compared]

[Sidenote: Rôle of Council of the Indies]

[Sidenote: Public discussion]

The autocratic government under which the Spanish colonists in America lived exercised a notable influence on the opinions and theories held by colonial writers on politics in the seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth century; but in the later decades of the eighteenth century the new creole-mestizo society, or party, revolted against the hitherto current political philosophy and accepted doctrines that had found expression particularly in the United States and in France. While the government of the Spanish-American dependencies was in process of development, many persons very naturally became interested in the new laws and the gradual growth of the system. As new phases of the organization appeared, new questions arose that attracted attention. In the British colonies, where provision was made for a large measure of popular local control, interest in governmental affairs found expression in addresses, projects of law, and debates in popular meetings and legislative assemblies, and through the still more popular exponent of opinion furnished by the public press. In the enjoyment of these facilities, there was almost no incentive to write or publish formal treatises on political subjects. The Spanish colonies, on the other hand, presented a very different state of affairs. The people had no voice in the colonial government; the popular orator, except in the pulpit, did not exist; there were no legislative assemblies; the viceroys, the governors, the judges of the audiencia, and the corregidores were appointed by the king or by the Council of the Indies acting for the king; only the municipal council, when not dominated by a superior authority, stood as a feeble representative of the people. The laws under which the colonists were governed were framed and issued by the king and the Council, who ruled autocratically through officials rendered practically absolute by their distance from the supreme head of the state and by the difficulties and the infrequency of the communication. Any discussion of current political or governmental questions had, therefore, to take the form of a treatise, a report, or a petition to the king or the Council of the Indies. During the greater part of the colonial period no facilities for publication existed except in Lima, the city of Mexico, and Spain; for no printing presses existed in Spanish America, except in these two capitals and certain Jesuit houses, until the last part of the eighteenth century; and until the last decade of that century there was no periodical in the South American dependencies through which public questions might be discussed.

[Sidenote: Question of Chilean Indians]

The question as to what disposition should be made of Chilean Indians captured in war with the Spaniards was raised very early and continued under discussion for many decades. This was the subject of a treatise[190] by Melchor Calderón, who went from Spain to Chile in 1555, and who became a canon and the treasurer of the cathedral of Santiago de Chile, later a commissary of the Inquisition and vicar-general of the bishopric. In 1579 he was appointed a member of the cabildo of Santiago. His book, published late in his life, in 1607, was designed to bring to the attention of the viceroy the views of the more competent colonists concerning the advisability of enslaving the rebellious Araucanians. Calderón’s argument was that since the conquerors were able to kill the Indians, it would be carrying out a more humane policy to enslave them.

[Sidenote: Diversity of opinions]

[Sidenote: Francisco Falcón]

[Sidenote: Critical view of policy]

There was a wide diversity of opinions concerning the treatment the Indians ought to receive at the hands of the government. The severe policy, supported by the encomenderos and the bulk of the secular authorities, was generally opposed by the members of the clergy; but now and then a secular writer appeared as the vigorous advocate of a just and righteous treatment of the Indians. Such an advocate was Francisco Falcón, who was a lawyer in Lima during the last part of the sixteenth century. At the ecclesiastical council of Lima, of 1582, Falcón set out with great force and freedom, verified instances of injustice, oppression, and robbery by the Spaniards, and urged the council to take remedial measures and to suppress with a firm hand “those detestable excesses.” He raised the question of the right of conquest, and denied that the Spaniards had any such right, or any reason to make war on the natives. He declared that the encomiendas had been awarded only for such a period as the emperor might wish to have them continued, and that whatever these kingdoms produce for the king should be spent for the Indians themselves, since there was no law allowing the removal of the revenues from these kingdoms to supply the needs of other countries, and before all the king should satisfy the needs of those by whom the production is effected. Falcón maintained, moreover, that no more towns of Spaniards should have been founded than were necessary “to support and furnish a backing for the preachers of the gospel.” He condemned the establishment of towns in regions already cultivated by the Indians. He opposed the exaction of a tribute from the Indians greater than that which they had paid to the Incas; at the same time he emphasized the fact that the revenues collected by the Incas were expended in the kingdom, and not sent to a foreign country.[191]

[Sidenote: Francisco Carrasco]

Another phase of the Indian problem was taken up by Dr. Francisco Carrasco de Saz.[192] He discussed extensively the payment of tithes by the Indians, and reached the conclusion that they should make this payment. For the legal aspects of this question he was fitted by his broad knowledge of law. In the practice of his profession in Lima he acquired the reputation of being one of the ablest and most distinguished lawyers of his time. He was rector of the University of San Marcos in 1613, and became fiscal of the royal tribunal called the Crusada. Later he went to Panama as oidor, or judge, of the audiencia.

II

The judges, or oidores, of the audiencia were usually men of legal knowledge. Nicolás Polanco de Santillana was a member of the audiencia of Chile about the middle of the seventeenth century. He was in Santiago at the time of the earthquake of 1647,[193] and, prompted by the questions that arose concerning the attitude the government should assume in the presence of such a disaster, he wrote _De las obligaciones de los jueces y gobernadores en los casos fortuitos_, beginning and completing his book while the city still lay in ruins about him. Polanco de Santillana is accredited also with _Comentario a las leyes del título primero del libro primero de la recopilación_; but both of these works appear to have been lost. A colleague and contemporary of Polanco de Santillana, Machado de Chávez, wrote _Discurso políticos y reformación del derecho_, and this also has disappeared.

[Sidenote: Matienzo]

[Sidenote: _Gobierno del Perú_]

Three especially important works on politics in the colonies are Matienzo’s _Gobierno del Perú_, Solórzano’s _Política indiana_, and Escalona’s _Gazofilacio real del reino del Perú_. These are treatises on government and law, dealing with the institutions and offices through which the administration of the dependencies was carried on, and describing the powers and processes of the civil and military organization. Matienzo’s book is the earliest of these; it was written prior to 1573, while the author was a judge of the audiencia of Charcas. The two parts of the manuscript constituting this volume found their way into the British Museum, and remained unpublished until 1910, when they appeared in print under the auspices of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of Buenos Aires. The volume was edited by Dr. José Nicolás Matienzo, a descendant of the author. It forms an important addition to the printed sources of knowledge relating to the early history and organization of the Spanish dependencies in South America. The first part treats almost exclusively of the Indians under the Incas and in their subsequent relation to the Spaniards; while the second part treats of the Spaniards and of the governmental institutions established by them in America.

[Sidenote: Matienzo’s views]

Matienzo affirms the justice of the Spanish conquest, and some of the grounds of his opinion are, that the Spaniards had received a concession from the pope; that they found America not occupied by any civilized power; that the Indians did not wish to receive the Catholic faith; and that by this act the Indians were relieved from the tyranny of the Incas. This point having been settled to the apparent satisfaction of the author, he passed to the consideration of the various classes of the Indians, classes indicated by the relation they are made to hold to the Spaniards, and by the tribute they are required to pay. In justification of the position of the encomenderos, who became the notorious oppressors of the Indians, it is asserted that when Indians were assigned to encomenderos the principal purpose was that “they might, with greater facility, be taught our holy Catholic faith” (Cap. XIV).

After a detailed statement of the status of the Indians under the Laws of the Indies Matienzo devotes the second half of his volume to an extensive examination of the organization and operations of the government established by the Spaniards in Peru, thus giving to the whole treatise the character of a legal and historical exposition, of importance not merely for its analysis of the laws and customs prevailing in the Spanish colonies of South America in the sixteenth century, but also for its presentation of the views entertained by a judge of the audiencia, and, presumably, of other high secular officials.

[Sidenote: Audiencias]

The audiencia was not only a supreme court, but also a high administrative body. In the vacancy of the viceregal office the audiencia conducted the government in the interim. To increase the efficiency of the administration, audiencias were established in certain provincial capitals. In the fully developed colonial organization, there were, in South America, audiencias in Panama, Bogotá, Quito, Lima, Charcas, Caracas, Buenos Aires, and Santiago de Chile. Concerning the creation of the audiencia, of which he was a member, Matienzo wrote:

[Sidenote: _Gobierno del Perú_ quoted]

“There are very important reasons for founding the audiencia of Charcas, in addition to the one that had been established in the city of Lima; for the Indians from the mountainous regions coming to Lima become ill and many die from the effects of the climatic change; and, moreover, for the Spaniards it is a great grievance to be obliged to go three hundred leagues from those mountains to Lima, and five hundred leagues from Tucumán and other places; and crimes ordinarily remain without punishment, because of the distance from the court; and since the region of Charcas adjoins the Chiriguanos, Indians hostile to the Spaniard in neighbouring places, who have a great desire, if they were able to do so, to return to Peru; and if the leaders were badly treated, they might begin a war, and do a great amount of damage in the country. The audiencia is there to resist them, and it is a great wall and defence.”

[Sidenote: Solórzano Pereira]

[Sidenote: _Política indiana_]

[Sidenote: Sources of _Política indiana_]

The second of the three important works mentioned is entitled _Política indiana_, by Juan de Solórzano Pereira. He was a student, and later an instructor, at Salamanca. In 1609 Philip III sent him to Lima as a member of the audiencia in that city. Subsequently he became governor of Huancavelica and inspector of quicksilver mining. After his return to Spain and service in various offices, he was finally promoted, in 1629, to membership in the Council of the Indies. In the dedication of his work to Philip IV he affirms that he was ordered to write, at his discretion, on the subjects of law and government; moreover, that on his return to Spain he caused to be printed two volumes in Latin entitled _De Indiarum jure et gubernatione_, and that he was given to understand that the king would be pleased and served if those books were translated into Spanish, in order that they might be used by those persons who did not understand Latin; and many persons by letter had expressed their desire for such a translation. But on account of certain difficulties attending the making and using a literal translation, he decided not to bind himself to the letter of the Latin text, but to improve it by adding to it in many places and by abbreviating it in others. In this way was formed the text of _Política indiana_. In this form it treats of the discovery, acquisition and retention of the Indies; of the natural features of the continent; of the government; of the Indians, their services under the Spaniards, and the tribute paid by them; of the tithes and encomiendas; of the royal patronage; of the Church, the various classes of ecclesiastical orders and their officers; and of the secular magistrates: the viceroys, the presidents, the audiencias, and the various councils and committees. The work thus appears as a digest of the laws and decrees issued with application to the Indies prior to the last quarter of the seventeenth century. While the bulk of the references are to the _Recopilación de los leyes de las indias_, other writings, such as those of Matienzo, Acosta, and Torquemada, are frequently cited, and, in keeping with the fashion of the times, there is embodied a profusion of citations from classical authors. With all its superfluous display of learning _Política indiana_ still holds and will continue to hold a conspicuous place among the books of the first order for students of the laws and government of the Spanish colonies in South America.

[Sidenote: Gaspar de Escalona]

[Sidenote: _Gazophilatium regium Perubicum_]

The third member of this group is Gaspar de Escalona y Agüero. It is not positively known where he was born. Three cities have contended for the honour of being recognized as the place of his origin. Alcedo, the author of the geographical and historical dictionary, and the historian Cevallos affirm that he was born in Ecuador, but other evidence points to Lima as his native town. Wherever the honour may rest, it was in the schools of Lima and the University of San Marcos that he was educated. He held a number of public offices: he was corregidor of Jauja, governor of Castrovireyna, procurador-general of the city of Cuzco, and oidor, or judge, of the audiencia of Chile. His principal work, entitled _Gazophilatium regium Perubicum_, was printed in Madrid in 1647; the first part in Latin, and the second part in Spanish. It treats particularly of matters of justice, of questions concerning the civil administration and the treasury, and of the affairs of the army. Its analyses and descriptions present minute details both of the organization and the functions of the public offices.

These writers were not reformers after the manner of persons who aim to supplant the established government by a new form of administration; they were loyal to the system which they served, but this loyalty did not withhold them from criticising the practical execution of the existing laws; they condemned with severity the criminal exactions of the corregidores of Indians, and other abuses due to the dishonesty of officials and their remoteness from the centre of superior authority.

[Sidenote: The three works compared]

[Sidenote: Escalona’s book]

Matienzo’s exposition presents the state of public affairs only thirty or forty years after the conquest of Peru, and is the earliest attempt to set forth systematically the immature political organization and the social state of this part of the Spanish dominions. The author’s undertaking was comparatively simple, and he carried it out simply; but sixty or seventy years later, when Solórzano wrote, the colonial system had become more fully developed; the volume of laws had been greatly increased; and new institutions had been created. In the presence of this more complex state of society, Solórzano undertook to present the substance of these laws, to describe the institutions, and to make use of earlier writings in forming an organized body of knowledge relating to the colonies. Escalona Agüero, in his _Gazophilatium regium Perubicum_ (_Gazofilacio real del Perú_), supplements both the _Gobierno del Perú_ and the _Política indiana_. He describes the colonial institutions and deals extensively with the officials, indicating the qualities they are required to possess; gives minute directions for official action; specifies the salaries attached to the various offices; presents an elaborate description of official accounts, the method of keeping them, and of the tribunal of accounts; discusses the mines and the manner of distributing their products; and describes the system of taxation, with special emphasis laid on the _Alcabala_, or tax on the price of articles when sold. This book, printed in Madrid in 1647, consists of three parts; the first part of one hundred and ninety-nine folio, double-column pages is printed in Latin; the second part has three hundred and two pages in Spanish. In this work the author has examined not only the laws and regulations referring to what are ordinarily known as governmental affairs, but also those relating to economic affairs.

III

[Sidenote: Antonio de León Pinelo]

A more voluminous writer on politics than any of the foregoing appeared in the person of Antonio de León Pinelo, who dealt with the legal and governmental affairs of the Spanish dependencies. The circumstances of his early life are still obscure. An article on him in the _Mercurio peruano_ throws no light on the date or the place of his birth, and other available sources offer very little definite information; but it is inferred from statements in his life of Santo Toribio that his childhood and youth were passed in Lima, and that, with his younger brothers, Juan and Diego, he studied at the University of San Marcos. Having completed his studies at the university, he went to Spain; there his talents and learning were recognized, and he was appointed _Relator_ of the Council of the Indies. In 1624 he published a discourse on the importance, the form, and the arrangement of a collection of the laws of the Indies, and under the authority of the Council of the Indies he compiled two volumes of these laws. In accomplishing this task he encountered the notorious confusion and contradictions prevailing in the body of laws and decrees issued for the government of Spain’s possessions in America.

[Sidenote: Pinelo’s works]

The project to publish these two volumes met apparently insurmountable obstacles, but, in accordance with a previous plan, the compiler formed an abridgement of their contents, which was called _Política de las Indias_. Three other works appear to have been drawn largely from the original compilation. These were _Bulario índico_, _Tratado de las confirmaciones reales_, and _Historia del supremo concejo de las Indias_. Pinelo’s bibliography of authors who had written on the Indies was entitled _Biblioteca oriental y occidental_, and was published in Madrid in 1629. It was reprinted in three folio volumes in 1737 under the direction of the minister Andrés Gonzales de Barcia.[194]

[Sidenote: _Del oficio y potestad_]

Antonio de León Pinelo mentions Gutierre Velásquez Altamirano, who was a professor of law in the University of San Marcos while Pinelo was a student there. Later Altamirano was appointed oidor of the audiencia of Guatemala, but died in Madrid before assuming the duties of his office. As a native of Lima, and as a student of law, he very naturally became interested in the government of the colonies, and wrote a work entitled _Del oficio y potestad del vicario del príncipe, y gobierno universal de las Indias_, which was apparently never published.

[Sidenote: Diego de León Pinelo]

[Sidenote: Oppression of the Indians]

Antonio’s brother, Diego de León Pinelo, became a professor in the University of San Marcos and rector of that institution for the years 1656 and 1657. He was appointed Protector of the Indians, and later fiscal of the audiencia of Lima. His extensive knowledge of legal and ecclesiastical matters was generally recognized, and many of his writings on juridical subjects were made public. In 1660 the Council of the Indies sent Padilla’s letter to the viceroy, the letter treating of the grievances, frauds, and acts of injustice under which the Indians suffered. At the same time the king ordered that a commission should be formed to examine the evils referred to, and seek a remedy. In obedience to a request from the viceroy Diego de León Pinelo set forth the misfortunes and extortions imposed upon the Indians. Pinelo’s report and Padilla’s letter were printed at Lima. The amount of attention given to this subject by the viceregal government may be inferred from the fact that the decrees, complaints, and claims issued during Alva’s term as viceroy, between 1655 and 1661, filled, when written, twenty-five books with 9,660 leaves. The attention bestowed upon this subject gives some indication of the extent of the abuses and excesses perpetrated by the corregidores and parish priests.[195]

[Sidenote: Juan de León Pinelo]

The second brother of Antonio, Juan de León Pinelo, who, as already indicated, studied at the University of San Marcos, became a cura at Potosí, and later went to Spain with Antonio. He was subsequently transferred to Puebla de los Angeles, and became a canon in the Cathedral of that city. His writings, published and unpublished, deal chiefly with ecclesiastical questions.[196]

[Sidenote: Corral Calvo de la Torre]

Juan del Corral Calvo de la Torre, born in the town of La Plata, in Upper Peru, studied in Lima, and was granted the title of advocate by the audiencia. He became a member of the audiencia in Santiago in 1698, and while occupying this position prepared his extensive work, designed to be three volumes in folio, under the title of _Expositio ac explanatio omnium legum Recopilat Indiarum_. But his application for permission to publish it received from the king the following reply:

[Sidenote: Royal refusal of manuscript]

“El Rey. Don Juan del Corral Calvo de la Torre, oidor de mi Audiencia del reino de Chile. En carta de 1º de marzo del año próximo pasado, dais cuenta del método que habéis observado en la ejecución de los comentos y exposiciones de las leyes de las Indias, teniendo ya acabados dos tomos, y el primero remitido a Lima, y para enviar el segundo; y habiéndose visto en mi consejo de las Indias, con lo expuesto por su fiscal, se ha considerado que la aprobación que pedís de esta obra, como el que sea su impresión de cuenta de mi real hacienda, se debe suspender por ahora hasta tanto que se vea y reconozca, en cuyo caso, y siendo digna de darse a la prensa, se podrá ejecutar en España, para cuyo efecto la podréis ir remitiendo en las ocasiones que se ofrecieren. De Madrid a 25 de mayo de 1726. Yo el Rey.”

[Sidenote: _Estado político del reino del Perú_]

A subject similar to Escalona’s is treated in an anonymous publication of ninety-two folio pages entitled _Estado político del reino del Perú_; but the treatment is of a very different character, and it is written with a very different purpose. Escalona aimed to set forth a comprehensive and impartial view of the political structure, and to describe it as it was defined by law. The _Estado político_, on the other hand, is designedly critical, as may be inferred from certain phrases from the long sub-title, such as “government without laws, officials without industry, treasures without poverty, fertility without cultivation, wisdom without esteem, militia without honour, cities without patriotism, and justice without a temple.” After these and other similar phrases, the author ends his title-page with the remark that “these attributes constitute a grave detriment to this kingdom, and as a remedy two expedients are proposed to his Majesty by a loyal vassal who writes them, solely moved by a true love of his prince and natural Lord, and for the greater good of the kingdom of Peru and of his Patria Lima.” The first of these expedients was a reform in the militia, or the military affairs of the kingdom; the second was a reform in the commercial affairs.[197]

[Sidenote: The _Memorias_ by the viceroys]

The formal treaties on government and law are supplemented by a number of public documents that have been printed. Important among these are the _Memorias_ and _Relaciones_ delivered by the viceroys to their successors. They present contemporary accounts of public affairs, the actual state of the government, recent changes, and projects for future modifications.[198]

IV

[Sidenote: Escobedo y Alarcón]

[Sidenote: Escobedo’s official positions]

A large number of the colonial writers on law and government were at the same time practical administrators. This has contributed to make their literary productions reliable and worthy of confidence as sources of information concerning the political affairs of the dependencies. In the last half of the eighteenth century Jorge Escobedo y Alarcón appeared in this double capacity. He was appointed a judge of the audiencia of Charcas in 1776; he held an important post in the government of Potosí; he was the superintendent of the mint, the mines, the bank, and the royal treasury of that city. He participated in the defence of Potosí against the insurgents of 1780, and thus helped to make that town an asylum for the threatened inhabitants of the neighbouring region during the rebellion of Tupac Amarú. He was promoted to the position of a judge of the audiencia of Lima, and in 1782 Charles III appointed him visitador-general of the courts of justice and of the royal treasury of the viceroyalties of Peru and Río de la Plata. He became political governor and intendant of the province of Lima, and in this capacity he was president of the municipal council for the years 1785 and 1787; and at the same time he presided over the superior council of the treasury, which he created, and his administration of these offices was signalized by important reforms. And during these active years of his life he wrote on the development and exploitation of the mines, on the former repartimientos of the corregidores, and on the means of aiding the Indians without imposing upon them the burdens which that system entailed. These and some of his other writings were published in Lima in 1784. After the conclusion of his work in America, Escobedo retired to Spain, and in 1805 he was president of the second division of the Council of the Indies.

[Sidenote: Rezabal y Ugarte]

[Sidenote: Rezabal’s _Biblioteca_]

José Rezabal y Ugarte was one of the later writers on legal and political questions. Although a native of Spain, the greater part of his life was spent in America. He studied at Salamanca, and in 1777 he was appointed judge of the audiencia of Chile. In 1780 he was transferred to Lima, and in 1787 he became a member of the audiencia of Cuzco. In 1792 the king appointed him regent of the audiencia of Chile. This career naturally fixed his attention particularly on affairs of administration, and while oidor in Chile he prepared instructions for inferior municipal officials, compiling for this purpose a large number of ordinances bearing on this subject. He compiled also two thousand royal orders designed for the government of America, which had been issued subsequent to the publication of the _Recopilación de las leyes de las Indias_. He discussed, moreover, the king’s rights in the matter of secular medias anatas, and the obligations of service under certain Castilian titles. This report was published in 1792.[199] Among other writings were a dissertation on the various forms of money referred to in the Laws of the Indies, a treatise on the introduction of negroes into America, and various subjects relating to their utility and their government; and a work dealing with the status of regents of audiencias in America, their creation in 1776 and their powers and prerogatives. His _Biblioteca_ of the writers who had belonged to the four greater colleges of Salamanca was published in 1805. Rezabal died in Chile in 1800.

V

The fact that the Church was embodied in the state in the Spanish dependencies sometimes led ecclesiastics to discuss political questions, or governmental problems involving the Church. An instance of this is found in Villarroel’s _Gobierno eclesiástico pacífico_.

[Sidenote: Alonso de la Peña Montenegro]

[Sidenote: Doctrineros de Indios]

Moreover, it is to Bishop Alonso de la Peña Montenegro that we are indebted for an important treatise of this character, presenting what may properly be called the constitutional position of the Church as a part of the colonial organization, as determined by decrees, rules, and regulations, particularly those affecting the doctrineros de Indios. We have here in great detail the provisions elaborated and approved by superior authority for fixing the duties of priests and missionaries in the exercise of their functions in America, as well as the obligations of all persons within the sphere of their ministerial influence. Although the reciprocal obligations here defined may not in all cases have been observed, still these provisions make clear the theory and expectation of the superior authorities with respect to the ecclesiastical part of the social organism. It is true that the inquiries of Juan and Ulloa regarding this subject, which have been set down in their _Noticias secretas de América_, throw much light on the departure of many priests from the rules and regulations by civil or ecclesiastical authority, nevertheless the law stands although it may be sometimes violated.

[Sidenote: Ecclesiastical functionaries]

The author describes the parish and the parish priest, discusses the manner of electing the doctrineros de Indios, or missionaries to the Indians, and shows the participation of the civil authority in ecclesiastical affairs by pointing out the fact that “no archbishop, bishop, prebend of any cathedral, doctrinero de Indios, or parish priest in a parish of Spaniards may be appointed without first having been presented by his Majesty, or persons empowered to represent him.”

[Sidenote: Topics of Peña’s treatise]

In this treatise other subjects of vital importance were considered, such as the appointment of members of the regular clergy to the position of missionary or parish priest; the mortal sin of accepting a mission without knowing the language of the Indians; instruction in Christian doctrine; questions concerning revenues and alms; preaching to the heathen and their conversion; the functions of the priests respecting the wills, or last testaments, of the Indians; the tribute, idolatry, witchcraft, and drunkenness of the Indians; projects for extending the dominion of the Church; the relation of the Indians to mining and work in manufacturing establishments; provisions regarding discipline and the ritual; and the vast array of problems that had arisen in the process of organizing the church and adapting its ministrations to a people who had no share in the heritage of Christian traditions.[200]