Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/49

Rh This I regard as the amount of the Exports, in gold and silver, that must, necessarily, have taken place, in order to cover that portion of the Imports from Europe, that remained unpaid, after deducting the whole of the exportable national Produce; with the addition of ten millions only as remittances to Madrid.

The Spanish Property remitted to Europe constitutes, therefore, nearly the whole of the unregistered Exports, the amount of which must be entirely a question of conjectural evidence; there being no data whatever upon which a calculation could be formed. We must, therefore, be guided by a few leading points, which seem to require more particular attention.

The First of these, is the well-known fact that, before the Revolution, two-thirds of the capital of the country were in the hands of Spaniards, who engrossed the whole commerce of Mexico, and were, likewise, most extensively engaged in agriculture and mines.

The Second, is the equally well-ascertained fact, that almost all these Spaniards have quitted the country, and that the depressed state of the Mines, of Agriculture, and of Trade, is due, in a great measure, to the withdrawing of those capitals, by which they were formerly supported.

The Third, is the curious circumstance which I have endeavoured to develope in the preceding pages, namely, that no portion of this capital can be