Commission appointed for this purpose were called to the state of the trade for the five years preceding their independence, to the five years subsequent to that event, and to the probable progress which it might be expected to make for the future. The result of this inquiry has been that, previous to the independence, the trade, owing to the confusion arising from political events, "was very indifferent," that "from the independence to 1825, it may be considered to have increased to double," and they add that "in order to calculate the progress it may make for the future, it is only necessary to raise the veil to the grand picture which presents itself to the world, of a country possessing in its bosom the richest elements of commercial productions, with its own government, with its liberal institutions, and with a general desire of applying itself to those useful labours by which the commerce of nations has always flourished."—They remark that their commerce with Spain consisted almost entirely
