CAMPILLO, JOSE DEL Spanish statesman. Under the protection of Patino, who became prime minister in 1726, Campillo was constantly employed on naval administrative work both at home and in America. It was Patino's policy to build up a navy quietly at home and in America, without attract ing too much attention abroad, and particularly in England. In 1741, when Spain was entangled in a land war in Italy and a naval war with England, Campillo was made prime minister. His short tenure of power was chiefly notable for his vigorous attempt to sweep away the system of farming the taxes, which left the State at the mercy of contractors and financiers. He persuaded the king to allow him to establish a system of direct collection, by which waste and pilfering would be avoided. He died on April I I, Campillo wrote a treatise on a New System of Govern ment for America printed at Madrid 1789. He also left a ms. treatise with the curious title, What is superfluous and is wanting in Spain, in order that it may be what it ought to be, and not what it is.
See D. Antonio Rodriguez Villa, Fatino .y Campillo (1882) .