Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/493

Rh reputation which they at one time enjoyed for wealth.

The State of San Luis possesses a population of 250,000 souls. The capital, including the "barrios," or suburbs, which cover a great extent of ground, contains between fifty and sixty thousand inhabitants, and it is supposed that as many more are concentrated within a circle of six leagues in its immediate vicinity.

The State Congress is composed of fourteen deputies, elected in the proportion of one for each twenty thousand souls. In ecclesiastical matters San Luis is dependent upon the Bishoprics of Guădălajāră, and Valladolid, between which the spiritual jurisdiction over its territory is divided.

The revenue proceeds from the same sources as that of Guănăjūātŏ, with the exception of the "Contribucion Directa," which has not been tried. It has proved sufficient to cover, hitherto, the whole expenditure of the State, as well as its "contingent," San Luis, in 1826, not being one dollar in arrears with the Federation. This is partly owing to the excellent management of the present Governor, Don José Ildefonso Diaz de Leon, a man of great activity and intelligence, and partly to the advantages which San Luis derives from its situation as the natural depôt for the trade of Tampico, with the Northern and Western States. Zăcătēcăs, Sŏmbrĕrētĕ, Dŭrāngŏ, and Guădălajāră already draw from this source a large proportion of their foreign imports;