Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/216

Rh commerce, and the doctrines it contains may be said to be held universally, without distinction of party. But however firmly they may cling to these opinions, the declaration of them is now useless. The country is deluged with British manufactures, other nations are joining in the traffic, and whatever may be the will or wishes of prejudiced men, no power on earth can now prevent their entrance, or revert back to the wretched policy of former years. The question now should rather be, how agriculture can be best promoted, and the cheap conveyance of produce to the coast be most readily facilitated.

The most important production of the republic in the present day is indigo. Its superior quality is acknowledged in Europe, and indeed by its means alone, is the very existence of Guatimala generally known. From official papers of the government it appears, that the average quantity produced, from the years 1791 to 1800, was 875,256 pounds, each year, and from 1809 to 1818, only 459,407 pounds annually—a lamentable decrease in an article so highly valued, and of such material importance to the country. The precise cause of this rapid decrease it is not easy to state, but probably it may be in part attributed to the commencement of a revolutionary spirit.