The importation of Quicksilver was declared to be Duty free, and Powder, (although it continued a Government Monopoly,) was ordered to be delivered to the Miners at prime cost.
In making most of these concessions, the Government of Mexico only followed the example of the Peninsula; most of the reductions indicated above having been sanctioned by the Cortes of Madrid, at the suggestion of the Mexican Deputies, in June and July 1821; but the establishment of Mints in the different States, (their legal establishment, I mean,) is due to the Revolution; as is the free introduction of Quicksilver, on so many different points of the Coasts of the Republic. Both these are most important advantages; for the last opens an easy access to many rich Districts, to which Quicksilver could only be conveyed at an enormous expense before; while the newly erected Mints, when provided, as they will be in the course of time, with funds for the purchase of the Plata Pasta, as brought in by the poorer Miners, must promote the progress of Mining enterprises throughout the Federation, since, by destroying the Monopoly of the Capital, they diminish, most materially, both the time and the expense necessary in order to convert Bars into Dollars, at a distance (sometimes) of three and four hundred leagues from the place where the silver is raised; and thus add, specifically, to the value of every marc that the Mines produce.
But, notwithstanding these advantages, Capital
