The revenue which the crown derives from 200,000 marcs of silver, equal to 1,700,000 piastres, is estimated† thus: nearly 16 per cent. In discounting the profit of government under the title of coinage, or the totality of the duty, we find that the duties paid by the proprietors of mines, only amount to 13 per cent. To give a more detailed explanation of the duties levied by the government, we must distinguish, agreeably to information procured by me during my stay at Guanaxuato, the pure silver from that which is mixed with gold; for if the silver contains less than thirty grains of gold per marc of silver, the mint does not pay the gold to the individuals. • 357,000l. sterling. Trans. † Representacion de la mineria de Nueva España, de 1774, p. 53. § 45. 55,1771. sterling. Trans. An ingot of silver unmixed with gold, extracted by the process of amalgamation, weighing 135 marcs, at 11 deniers piastres. reals. If the silver is procured by smelting, and below 11 deniers 19 grains, we must add the expences of affinage, which amount to 8 maravedis per marc. An ingot of auriferous silver at the rate of 12 deniers, 19 grains of silver, and 50 grains of gold, weighing 133 marcs, 2 ochavas value In silver In gold piastres. reals 1133 3 194 O 1327 3 If the ingot is so rich in gold that it contains more than a half of its weight of that metal, the expence of assay rises to 4 reals per marc. It may be seen from these examples that the individual who delivers his silver into the provincial treasuries of Mexico, in exchange for specie, pays in the first case to government 12, and in the second 19 per cent. This impost excites the proprietors of the mines to the fraudulent extraction of the precious metals. Notwithstanding the experience of so many ages, the court of Madrid has several times attempted* to increase the duty of signiorage, without reflecting that this * Representacion de la mineria de Nueva España sobre la doble exaccion del Señoreage, de 1766. imprudent step would discourage individuals from bringing in their metals to the mint. It is the same with direct imposts on gold and silver, as with the profit which the government attempts to derive from the sale of The mining operations will increase mercury. in proportion as these imposts shall diminish, and as the mercury which is indispensable in the process of amalgamation, shall be furnished at a lower price. It is astonishing that a justly celebrated author, who had the ideas relative to the exchange of metals, should have defended the duties of signiorage.* soundest From chapter, the information given by us in this it is almost unnecessary to agitate the question, if the produce of the silver mines of Mexico has attained its maximum, or if there is any probability that it will still augment in the time to seen that three mining come. We have districts, those of Guanaxuato, Catorce, and Zacatecas, alone furnish more than the half of the whole silver of New Spain, and that nearly one fourth of it is furnished by the mine of Guanaxuato. One mine, which has only been known for forty that of Valenciana, has sometimes† alone years, * Adam Smith, Book iv. chap. 6. furnished in one year as much silver as the whole kingdom of Peru. It is but thirty years since the veins of the Real de Catorce began to be worked, and yet by the discovery of these new mines the metallic produce of Mexico was increased nearly one sixth. If we consider the vast extent of ground occupied by the Cordilleras, and the immense number of mineral depositories which have never yet been attempted*, it is very possible that New Spain, under a better administration, and inhabited by an industrious people, may alone one day yield, in gold and silver, the hundred and sixty-three millions of francs at present furnished by the whole of America. In the space of a hundred years, the annual produce of the Mexican mines rose from twenty-five, to one hundred and ten millions of francs. If Peru does not exhibit an equal augmentation of wealth, it is because this unfortunate country has not increased its population, and because, being worse governed than Mexico, industry found more difficulties to overcome. Besides, nature has deposited the precious metals in that country at enormous elevations, in situations where, on account of the very high price of provisions, the working becomes extremely expensive. The abundance *Especially from Bolaños to the Presidio de Fronteras. |