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100 by the country." Nevertheless the economic inadvisability of continuing the levies, which were such a serious drag on commerce, was so plain that the government undertook their prompt abolition, a move that subsequent experience fully justified.

The federal taxing system underwent but slight modification in the Diaz régime. The increase of income arose not so much from the creation of new taxes as from the increased receipts from old ones. From 1876 to 1892 no changes were made. The sources of income were first and most important the duties on imports and exports. These always have been the greatest contributors to Mexican revenue. Next in importance were the stamp taxes levied on all sorts of business transactions, contracts, sales, receipts, leases, promissory notes, bills of exchange, and the like. These two sorts of taxes together yielded well over four-fifths of the total revenue. Import and export duties alone made up about three-fifths.

Among the minor sources of income the most important were those from such things as lotteries, telegraphs, mines, and the post office. These were about 10 per cent of the entire collections. Direct taxes known as predial, professional, and license taxes yielded about three per cent and the octroi a similar amount. In 1892-3 a few other minor imposts were created by law and later Congresses added a few. To the end of