Dissensions - Transfer Of The Capital

1515-1520



The total number of Spaniards in the island at the time of the

rebellion did not exceed 200. Of these, between 80 and 100 were killed

by the Indians. The survivors were reenforced, first by the followers

of Ceron and Diaz, then by some stray adventurers who accompanied

Diego Columbus on his visit to the island. We may assume, therefore,

with Mr. Acosta, that at the time of which we write the Spa ish

population numbered about 400, who Arango, in a memorial addressed to

the Cardinal Regent, classifies as Government officials, old

conquerors, new hirelings, and "marranos hijos de reconciliados,"

which, translated, means, "vile brood of pardoned criminals," the

latter being, in all probability, the immigrants into whose

antecedents the king had recommended his officers in Seville not to

inquire.



This population was divided into different hostile parties. The most

powerful at the time was Ponce's party, led by Sedeno, the auditor,

and Villafranca, the treasurer; opposed to whom were the partizans of

Ceron and Diaz, the proteges of the Admiral, and those who had found

favor with Velasquez, all of them deadly enemies because of the

unequal division among them of the unhappy Indians.



The expedition to Florida and the honors conferred upon him by the

king naturally enhanced Ponce's prestige among his old companions.

Diego Columbus himself was fain to recognize the superior claim of him

who now presented himself with the title Adelantado of Bemini and

Florida, so that the captain's return to office was effected without

opposition.



With his appointment as perpetual prefect, Ponce assumed the right to

make a redistribution of Indians, but could not exercise it, because

Sancho Velasquez had made one, as delegate of Pasamonte, only the year

before (September, 1515).



In virtue of his special appointment as judge auditor of the accounts

of all the crown officers, he had condemned Ponce during his absence

to pay 1,352 gold pesos for shortcomings in his administration of the

royal estates.



The licentiate's report to the king, dated April 27, 1515, gives an

idea of the state of affairs in San Juan at the time. " ... I found

the island under tyranny, as will be seen from the documents I

enclose. Juan Ceron and Miguel Diaz are responsible for 100,000

Castellanos for Indians taken from persons who held them by

schedule from your Highness."



"It would be well to send some bad characters away from here and some

of the Admiral's creatures, on whom the rest count for protection."



"The treasurer (Haro) and the auditor are honest men. The accountant

(Sedeno) is not a man to look after your Highness's interests. The

place of factor is vacant."



"To your Highness 200 Indians have been assigned in Puerto Rico and

300 in San German."



A few days later (May 1, 1515) Velasquez himself was accused of gross

abuse in the discharge of his duties by Inigo de Zuniga, who wrote to

the king: " ... This licentiate has committed many injustices and

offenses, as the attorney can testify. He gave Indians to many

officers and merchants, depriving conquerors and settlers of them. He

gambled much and always won, because they let him win in order to have

him in good humor at the time of distribution of Indians. He carried

away much money, especially from the 'Naborias.'"



"He took the principal cacique, who lived nearest to the mines, for

himself, and rented him out on condition that he keep sixteen men

continually at work in the mines, and if any failed he was to receive

half a ducat per head a day."



"He has taken Indians from other settlers and made them wash gold for

himself, etc."



Before Ponce's departure for Spain the island had been divided into

two departments or jurisdictions, the northern, with Caparra as its

capital, under the direct authority of the governor, the southern

division, with San German as the capital, under a lieutenant-governor,

the chain of mountains in the interior being the mutual boundary.

This division was maintained till 1782.



Caparra, or Puerto Rico, as it was now called, and San German were the

only settlements when Ponce returned. The year before (1514) another

settlement had been made in Daguao, but it had been destroyed by the

Caribs, and this ever-present danger kept all immigration away.



The king recognized the fact, and to obviate this serious difficulty

in the way of the island's settlement, he wrote to his officers in

Seville:



" ... Spread reports about the great quantities of gold to be found in

Puerto Rico, and do not trouble about the antecedents of those who

wish to go, for if not useful as laborers they will do to fight."



That Ferdinand was well aware of the insecurity of his hold on the

island is shown by his subsequent dispositions. To the royal

contractors or commissaries he wrote in 1514: "While two forts are

being constructed, one in Puerto Rico and the other in San German,

where, in case of rebellion, our treasure will be secure, you will

give arms and ammunition to Ponce de Leon for our account, with an

artilleryman, that he may have them in his house, which is to do

duty as a fortress." And on May 14, 1515, he wrote from Medina del

Campo: " ... Deliver to Ponce six 'espingardas.'"



During this same period the island was constituted a bishopric, with

Alonzo Manso, ex-sacristan of Prince John and canon of Salamanca as

prelate. He came in the beginning of 1513, when the intestine troubles

were at their worst, bringing instructions to demand payment of tithes

in specie and a royal grant of 150 Indians to himself, which, added

to the fact that his presence would be a check upon the prevalent

immorality, raised such a storm of opposition and intrigue against him

that he could not exercise his functions. There was no church fit for

services. This furnished him with a pretext to return to the

Peninsula. When Ponce arrived the bishop was on the point of

departure. There can be no doubt that King Ferdinand, in reappointing

Ponce to the government of the island, trusted to the captain's

military qualities for the reestablishment of order and the

suppression of the attacks of the Caribs, but the result did not

correspond to his Majesty's expectations.



Haro, the treasurer, reported to the king on October 6, 1515: " ...

From the moment of his arrival Ponce has fomented discord. In order to

remain here himself, he sent Zuniga, his lieutenant, with the fleet.

He caused the caciques Humacao and Daguao, who had but just submitted,

to revolt again by forcibly taking ten men for the fleet."



The crown officers confirmed this statement in a separate report.



These accusations continued to the time of Ferdinand's death (February

23, 1516), when Cardinal Jimenez de Cisneros became Regent of Spain.

This renowned prelate, whom Prince Charles, afterward Emperor Charles

V, when confirming him in the regency, addressed as "the Very

Reverend Father in Christ, Cardinal of Spain, Archbishop of Toledo,

Primate of all the Spanish Territories, Chief Chancellor of Castilla,

our very dear and much beloved friend and master," was also Grand

Inquisitor, and was armed with the tremendous power of the terrible

Holy Office.



It was dangerous for the accusers and the accused alike to annoy such

a personage with tales inspired by petty rivalries from an

insignificant island in the West Indies. Nevertheless, one of the

first communications from Puerto Rico that was laid before him was a

memorial written by one Arango, accusing Velasquez, among other

things, of having given Indians to soldiers and to common people,

instead of to conquerors and married men. "In Lent," says the accuser,

"he goes to a grange, where he remains without hearing mass on

Sundays, eating meat, and saying things against the faith ..."



The immediate effect of these complaints and mutual accusations was

the suspension in his functions of Diego Columbus and the appointment

of a triumvirate of Jerome friars to govern these islands. This was

followed two years later by the return of Bishop Manso to San Juan,

armed with the dreadful powers of General Inquisitor of the Indies and

by the nomination of licentiate Antonio de la Gama as judge auditor of

the accounts of Sancho Velasquez. The judge found him guilty of

partiality and other offenses, and on June 12, 1520, wrote to the

regent: "I have not sent the accounts of Sancho Velasquez, because it

was necessary that he should go with them, but the bishop of this

island has taken him for the Holy Inquisition and he has died in

prison."



The Jerome fathers on their way to la Espanola, in 1516, touched at

what they describe as "the port of Puerto Rico, which is in the island

of San Juan de Boriquen," and the treasurer, Haro, wrote of them on

January 21, 1518: " ... They have done nothing during the year, and

the inhabitants are uncertain and fear changes. This is the principal

cause of harm to the Indians. It is necessary to dispose what is to be

done ... Although great care is now exercised in the treatment of the

Indians their numbers grow less for all that, because just as they are

ignorant of things concerning the faith, so do they ignore things

concerning their health, and they are of very weak constitution."



The frequent changes in the government that had been made by Diego

Columbus, the arrest of Velasquez and his death in the gloomy dungeons

of the Inquisition, the arrival of de la Gama as judge auditor and

governor ad interim, and his subsequent marriage with Ponce's

daughter Isabel, all these events but served to embitter the strife of

parties. "The spirit of vengeance, ambition, and other passions had

become so violent and deep-rooted among the Spaniards," says

Abbad, "that God ordained their chastisement in various ways."



The removal of the capital from its swampy location to the islet which

it now occupies was another source of dissension. It appears that the

plan was started immediately after Ceron's accession, for the king

wrote to him November 9, 1511: "Juan Ponce says that he located the

town in the best part of the island. We fear that you want to change

it. You shall not do so without our special order. If there is just

reason for change you must inform us first."



Velasquez, in his report of April, 1515, mentions that he accompanied

the Town Council of Caparra to see the site for the new capital, and

that to him it seemed convenient.



In 1519 licentiate Rodrigo de Figueroa sent a lengthy exposition

accompanied by the certified declarations of the leading inhabitants

regarding the salubrity of the islet and the insalubrity of Caparra,

with a copy of the disposition of the Jerome fathers authorizing the

transfer, and leaving Ponce, who strenuously opposed it, at liberty to

live in his fortified house in Caparra as long as he liked.



On November 16, 1520, Baltazar Castro, in the name of the crown

officers of San Juan, reported to the emperor: "The City of Puerto

Rico has been transferred to an islet which is in the port where the

ships anchor, a very good and healthy location."