Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/767

were not out of place, was lavish; while the pay-roll, arrears, and clothing of the army called for large sums. In the emergency, the negotiation of a loan was the only means of relief; but how to effect it was the difficulty. The junta was well aware of the repugnance with which forced loans were regarded, and of the unfavorable impression and injury to its credit which would be created if it resorted to such a measure. It therefore endeavored to effect its object by an appeal to the corporations and wealthy individuals for voluntary subscriptions to the amount of 300,000, the monthly deficit. The call, however, was not responded to with that enthusiasm which contributors had shown little more than a decade before. The sum of $277,067 was all that was raised, and the junta felt compelled to employ the compulsory system in order to cover the monthly deficit. Its previous fears were now verified, and in the collection of the quotas assigned to individuals all kinds of difficulties were incurred, many persons even submitting to imprisonment in preference to paying their contingent. This led to measures still more arbitrary. In February an individual fine of $1,000 was imposed upon those who did not pay their quotas on the appointed date; and as coin was being noticeably withdrawn from circulation, the regency passed an order forbidding the custom-houses to issue the necessary papers for the exportation of money from any town. But this measure paralyzed internal trade and foreign commerce; and the junta modified it by allowing internal remittances to be made, but so trammelled the concession with red-tape regulations as to the destinations and employment of such funds, and by the imposition of 15 per centum deposits as security against shipments of money out of the country, that dissatisfaction was great; the idea, moreover, being conveyed that the aim was to exact this percentage as a duty on all Spanish capital that might be withdrawn in future. Though internal trade was thus somewhat relieved,