Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/515

Rh precious metals to three per cent had caused immense amounts of treasure to leave the country.

The first foreign loan was contracted with Goldschmidt in 1823 for the sum of £3,200,000, which represented $16,000,000, and in the following year another for a similar sum was concluded with Barclay, Herring, Richardson, and Company. The loss on these loans was enormous. At the end of December 1841, the indebtedness for the principal, with arrears of interest and unpaid dividends, amounted to $49,277,557. Having found it impossible to meet the liabilities agreed upon, an understanding was arrived at with the London bond-holders, which was ratified on the 1st of June, 1839, to fund the whole debt, and new bonds were then issued. Nevertheless, the same difficulties existed in the future, and Mexico was unable to pay the dividends with punctuality, to say nothing of the redemption of her bonds; and the amount of her foreign indebtedness increased rapidly by the accumulation of arrears. Under another adjustment, made in 1850 with the bond-holders, Mexico recognized £10,241,650, and the interest was reduced from five per cent to three per cent. For the payment of the new stock, a considerable portion of the revenue from customs was pledged. For a