Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/308

 268 MEXICO. lishment of the monopoly of tobacco, which took place in 1764 ; but infinitely more, to that relaxation in the Colonial Policy of the Mother country, to which I have alkided in the Fourth Section of the First Book, and to the encouragement given to the mining interests by the reduction of the price of quicksilver, from eighty-four to sixty-four-dollars the quintal. The revenue rose as the price of this important article fell, and, as an impulse was given to the Colonies, by the removal of some of the earlier restrictions upon their trade. Had Spain profited by the lesson, and extended her concessions, in proportion as she found less reason to regard them as incom- patible with her own interests, her position, at the present day, might have been very different from what it is. The principal sources of the revenue of Mexico at that time were : — Dollars. Duties derived from the Mines, (derechos de oro y plata,) profits on sale of quicksilver, Coinage 5,500,000 Monopoly of Tobacco ( estanco de tahaco ). 4,500,000 Alcavalas ..... 3,000,000 Indian Capitation tax .... 1,300,000 Duty on Pulque .... 800,000 Importation and Exportation duties. . 500,000 Cruzada, (sale of Bulls, &c.). . . 270,000 Post-office ( renta de correos ). . . 250,000 Gunpowder (estanco de polvora). . . 150,000 Media Anata and Mesada, (both ecclesiastical con- tributions). . . . . 100,000 Cards {estanco de naypes) . . . 120,000 Stamps (papel sellado) .... 80,000 Licenses for Cockpits {estanco de galios). . 45,000 Snow {estanco de nieve) .... 30,000 Net annual produce in 1803 . 16,645,000 Gross amount of receipts, according to tables formed by