Salary and perquisites were always a knotty problem. Until 1715 the governor’s income was 2,000 ducats—1,000 ducats from the “fruits of the land” and 1,000 ducats from the annual subsidy. [Note: Council for Indians 9/2/1738] By the wage standards of the day for civil servants, it seemed a well-paying job of almost 2,750 pesos. In practice, however, the governor realized no income from colonial enterprises, no “fruits of the land.” His actual wage was, therefore, never more than 1,000 ducats paid to him from the subsidy. Sometimes, when the situado ship did not arrive, he received nothing. A change occurred in October, 1715, when Philip V set the governor’s salary at 4,000 pesos—2,000 from the subsidy and 2,000 from profits made in the colony, but this amounted to a meager increase of only 625 pesos, hardly a significant raise for the distressed governor. [Note: Council for Indians 9/2/1738] (Tepaske GSF)