Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/634

614 severe penalties, and special officers were selected to enforce these regulations. The product was purchased by the government at a stipulated price, as a rule low enough to make its growth almost unprofitable, and then resold, either raw or manufactured, chiefly as cigars and cigarettes. This soon became a considerable source of revenue to the government, giving in 1801 and 1802 net profits of about $4,000,000 for each year. An attempt made by the crown to establish plantations failed, and the old system of purchasing was continued. Regular importations were also made from Cuba and Louisiana, to supply certain kinds which could not be raised in New Spain.

Tobacco and cigar factories were established in many cities and towns, but the most prominent were those at Mexico and Querétaro, each of which employed about 7,000 persons of both sexes, whose pay aggregated more than $700,000 a year. The annual product of all the establishments represented about $7,500,000, of which nearly one half fell to the share of the crown.

Among the chief sources of wealth to the Spaniards during the eighteenth century, and the one least restricted by the government, was the raising of livestock. New Spain with its sparse fauna and rich