Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/493

Rh only were destined by the assembly for the general expenses of the republic; namely, those of gunpowder, post-office, tobacco, and maritime alcavala. The first has been put upon a better regulation, so also has the post-office: fresh facilities for the cultivation of tobacco have been decreed by the law of the 21st of December 1824, and the collection of the maritime alcavala has been facilitated by fresh arrangements, including the appointment of several new officers of competent ability and zeal.

The minister of finance commences his report by candidly affirming that "It is not possible to fix the true value of the revenues on account of the disorders introduced into the administration, and, therefore although they may be taken as approximating to the truth, they must not be accounted as giving a precise statement of the riches of the country." He then proceeds to give some particulars or accounts of the alcavala and of the tobacco, with some notice of the tribute, now abolished,