ditional 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.[1]
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
- ↑ Cortés, Escritos Sueltos, 270-8. To make the natives obey the laws, more Spaniards should reside in the country and means be provided for their suprt; not in money, but by granting mines; above all, the indignation must be avoided which would be caused by liberating the Indians. Not possessing them, the Spaniards would not remain in the country, as had been proved on the Islands when the Indians disappeared. And in this same strain Cortés goes on, recommending the judicious apportionment of Indians among the conquerors and Spanish settlers.
