306 MEXICO. been under the old, viz : the only port of entry on the Atlan- tic side of the Mexican dominions. These new houses were either branches of other houses in Spain, or agents, or importers at their own risk, and soon engrossed the whole trade. The Capital, (with the exception of what was actually con- sumed there,) became a mere place of transit : the fair of Jalapa was discontinued, and the wholesale dealers, (who multiplied rapidly in the Interior) came down to the coast, and purchased, at Veracruz, the supplies which the retailers, and inland consumers, in the different districts, were thought to require. This state of things, though bad enough, from the manner in which the importations were confined to one spot, and consequently the value of every article enhanced by the ex- pense of unnecessary land-carriage, was infinitely preferable to the system previously pursued, when, from the total want of competition, " the supplies of a great empire were (to use Humboldt's expression) introduced with as much caution as if it had been a blockaded town.*" Monopoly, though not abolished, was, at least, compelled to extend its operations to a less circumscribed circle ; and to the beneficial results of this change a gradual rise in the indus- try, the produce, and the revenue of Mexico, may be traced. The effects, of the impulse thus given to the country, Humboldt has recorded in Book VI., chapter XII., of his Essai Politique, by which it appears : — First, that, upon a comparison of two distinct terms of four years, (from 177^ to 1778, and from I787 to 1790,) there was a difference of 8,928,293 dollars on the amount of the exportations alone, in favour of the new system ;* and Secondly, that, on a farther comparison of two terms of twelve years, before, and after the
- The first four years, (which were the last of the Fleets and Register
ships,) gave an exportation of only 2,470,022 dollars ; while the expor- tation of the Second term, (when the Decree of Free Trade began to
