Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/644

624 had however wrought evils too serious to be quickly remedied, and whilst some industries had been abandoned, of others the knowledge had been entirely lost. The statutes and ordinances of most of the different guilds were antiquated and inappropriate; the instruction of apprentices was generally very poor. Of the total yearly product of manufactures, valued at about $7,000,000, the greater part consisted of articles of prime necessity. It was only, as we have seen, when war in Europe hindered communication with Spain, that some activity prevailed, but it always subsided, and the ground thus gained was soon lost.

The mining interest was, of course, a very prominent one, though its importance has been so greatly exaggerated as to cause the assertion that New Spain was of little value except as a mining territory. What the country under another form of government did accomplish, is a subject which I shall treat later.