Page:Mexico and its reconstruction.djvu/112



every other country the means at the disposal of the Mexican government for meeting its foreign and domestic obligations are determined by the natural resources of the country, the economic development of its people, and the taxation system that has been adopted. The latter two elements are capable of gradual changes. Such have occurred and are in process. But neither can be revolutionized with the overthrow of one government and the establishment of another, because each depends upon the development of the factors that precede it—economic development of the people upon the development of the natural resources and taxing practice upon both.

The collection of public revenue in Mexico during the colonial period was not according to any well thought-out plan as to where the burden should lie. There was no taxing system properly so called, but the government merely laid its hands on the sources of revenue from which returns could be secured most easily. Tax collection was haphazard; it affected persons, articles, and places that could be easily reached. Opportunism and not a fair distribution of burden was its guide, and many of the levies were thoroughly uneconomic and