By this judicious liberality and good faith, the fullest scope was given for private exertion; and this, in a country where mineral treasures are so abundant, was soon found to be all that was requisite in order to ensure their production to a great extent.
The Duties, however, which were payable upon the whole of the Silver raised, were very considerable. They consisted of the King's Fifth, (reduced, subsequently, to the Demiquint, or tenth,) the Duty of One per cent, (derecho del uno porciento) and the Mint dues, (derechos de Monedage, y Señoreage) which amounted, in all, to 3½ reals (of eight to the dollar) upon each marc of Silver, which contained 68 reals, but for which the proprietor received only 64. Where Gold was combined with the Silver, the duties of the Casa del Apartado were added, which made a total of 1918 per cent. Those paid on pure Silver were l625.
The amount of these Duties was not nearly so detrimental to the interests of the Miner, as the necessity of transmitting the whole produce of his mine in Bars to the Mint of the Capital, where alone it could be converted into dollars. This, in the more distant Provinces, (from the enormous expence of land-carriage,) was equivalent to a very heavy additional duty, from which neither the Revenue, nor the Country derived any material benefit; but which tended, unavoidably, to confine all Mining operations to a small circle, and caused the rich Districts of the North to be neglected, while the Mining Capitals
