The 3,692,160 dollars which remained of the First Loan, were disposed of by the Government, in 336 Bills of Exchange, negotiated upon London, the value of which, in English money, was £621,614 19s. 6d. Of these Bills, the House of Goldschmidt alone paid 160, the amount of which was £360,124 11s. 8d., the House having previously made remittances in gold, (coined and uncoined) to the amount of £327,208 15s. 7d., and paid the interest due in January, which, with commission, amounted to £36,540; other charges appear on the books of the Firm to the amount of £4,868 7s. 5d., which leave, nevertheless, a final Balance in favour of the Government of £15,234 7s. 9d. The produce of the Bills drawn upon the First Loan, was applied to the objects mentioned in the annexed Statement, by which it will appear that only 1,074,868 dollars entered the Treasury for the ordinary expenses of the State; the remainder was sunk in the payment of Tobacco Credits, (due since the years 1820 and 1821) without which this branch of the Revenue could never have been re-established; in the part payment of other National obligations; and the purchase of arms and other Naval Stores in The United States of North America. I come now to the Second Loan, and annex an Account of the manner in which its net produce (6,852,487 dollars) has been applied; by which it will appear that a Balance of £291,699 5s. 8d. still exists in favour of the Government, to which must be added the value of remittances by the Pyramus, the amount of bills not paid, (£22,646 12s, 4d.) two sums of £31,000 and £47,000, now in the hands of Sr. Rocafuerte and the House of Barclay, which, altogether, make the Balance which ought to exist in favour of the Government, £449,033 6s. Od. The whole of the second Loan was applied, (as was the first) to extraordinary expences, (as is demonstrated by the accompanying Statement,) with the exception of 1,409,180 dollars, which entered the Treasury of the Federation. Thus it appears, that the only parts of the two Loans which have been applied to the ordinary expences of the States, have been: First Loan,.. Second Loan,. Remittances in Gold,.... 1,074,868 dols. 1,409,180 1,481,578 Total,..Dollars.. 3,965,627 The credit of the Nation has been pledged, in all, for 32,000,000 of dollars. This debt might be redeemed, at the present price of the Mexican Funds (68) for 17,799,000 dollars; and if from this I deduct 2,321,335 dollars, which, according to the Accounts, is still due from the Firms which took the Loans, to the Government, it will be evident that with something less than 15,500,000 of dollars, (15,477,665) Mexico might close her whole account for Foreign Loans. Your Excellency will permit me to close this Exposé of the improvement which has taken place, during the last 2 Years, in the Revenue, with a few observations upon the increased expenditure of the Republick, and a short account of the present state of its resources. It is with unfeigned satisfaction that I am enabled to state to your Excellency, that, up to the end of the present Year 1826, and speaking of the whole period of my Administration, the Army and Civil Employés of the Federation have been paid every thing that was due to them; the Troops of the Chiapas alone have been in arrear; the Debt of the Commissary General for that Department amounted, at one time, to 60,000 dollars, but 10.000 dollars have been already remitted to him from Oajaca, and 30,000 from Vera Cruz, and the Commissaries of those States have received orders to continue a monthly remittance of 10,000 dollars, in order to provide for the Establishment on the frontier. The purchases made by the Ministry of Finance, on the Publick account, have been almost all paid for, and for those which have not yet been settled, Bills have been given at fixed dates, upon the Custom Houses on the Coast. Half a million of dollars has been already paid on account of the Crop of Tobacco which is now delivering; I cannot determine at present, what may remain due to the Planters, because, in some parts of the District, the quantity of Tobacco likely to be produced is not yet ascertained. The War with the Yaguis, and Mayos, in Upper Sonora, has been sustained with honour to the Nation, and without any extraordinary expenses to the inhabitants of that unfortunate State. The Army has been most abundantly provided, with Clothing, Arms, and every necessary. It has also been augmented by new Corps placed upon the War Establishment. To our Navy have been added, the line of Battle Ship Congreso (late the Ana), of 64 guns, the Libertad of 63 Carronades; the Corvette Morelos, 14; the Brigs of War Guerrero 22, Victoria 20, and Constante 12, two smaller Vessels, &c. A number of Publick Edifices, Barracks, &c. have been placed in a state of repair, as have the Powder Mills at Santa Fé. For Dividends, Interest on Foreign Loans, &c. including half a million of dollars which are about to be embarked in His Britannick Majesty's Ship Tweed, I have now remitted 1,288,000 dollars, which will fulfil our engagements up to the middle of 1827. All the Laws, and Decrees relative to the Finance Department, have been carried into execution, with the exception of those upon which a reference to the Chambers has been made; and of the 16th Article of the Decree No. 70, of 4th August, 1824, which directs "that the States shall pay their contingents, by monthly instalments, to the Commissaries of the Federation;" a provision with which they have been unable to comply, being all occupied with the arrangement of their respective Financial Systems. If your Excellency will bring to your recollection the first week of August, 1824, you will find that the Treasury of the Federation then contained 1,000 dollars in specie, and that the whole Amount of the Sums in hand, in all the Government Offices throughout the Republick, was 88,220 dollars. Six months pay were due upon the Civil List; the Army was in arrear, and without clothing; the Tobacco Planters had received nothing since the Year 1820; and Claims upon the Government were being daily brought forward. Such was the state of disorganization to which the Revolution had brought the Country, that 9,000,000 of dollars (taken up by my Predecessors on Account of the first Loan) had not enabled them to establish any sort of System: of this Loan only 3,629,160 dollars remained at my disposal, and 500,000 had been already taken up on account of the Second. My Administration has lasted as long as that of my 3 Predecessors together; in it I have only made use of 5,225,949 dollars (the Amount of Bills drawn by me) and 1,481,578 dollars which I received in gold; the 2 Sums make together............ Deduct, remitted to England in Spécie................. 6,707,527 dols. 1,283,800 .......Dollars... 5,423,727 Take into account the sums due by the States for Contingents, and Tobacco, which amount to full 3,000,000, and it will be seen whether Mexico is not able to maintain her situation in the World, without Foreign assistance. The Year 1826 is now terminated, but I have not yet received the Accounts from the distant parts of the Republick; I can therefore only lay before your Excellency an imperfect sketch of our Finances, at the commencement of 1827, which are as follows:Sums due by the States for Contingents, and Tobacco, at the lowest calculation.......... Tobacco in leaf, and worked up, now in the Fac 3,000,000 dols. tories of Orizaba and Cordova, taken at......... 4,204,711 In the Government Magazines of Tobacco, stock on hand........... In the Segar Manufactory here............ 1,262,760 129,792 In the Government Magazines for the Army; Cloth ...... ........ ing and Cloth........... In the same, Woollen Stuffs and other trifles......... In the same, 51,675 Muskets, 852 Rifles, 5,000 Carbines, 8,755 Sabres, 950 Pairs of Pistols, which compose the stock on hand after arming the whole Army; taken at the Price at which they were bought..... 282,038 25,790 670,839 40,000 Reams of Paper, in the different States.... Do. in the Federal District......... 200,000 46,564 Bars in the Office of the Commissary of Jalisco, sent At Vera Cruz; duties upon Vessels now in Port..... At Tampico de Tamaulipas; duties of Importation and Internation, for which security has been given. At Pueblo Viejo de Tampico; duties............ Money in hand in the other Government Offices throughout the Federation, not in this List........ On the road for the Capital, from Refugio 73,000 dollars, and from Potosi, and Soto la Marina 30,000: in all 1,116,273 229,306 416,340 103,000 Total, Dollars... 12,117,203 Besides the sums here enumerated, others are due, in the Ports of San Blas, Acapulco, Mazatlan and Guaymas, which certainly do not amount to less than 300,000 dollars. At Campeche, on the 28th December, 53,516 dollars were due, at Refugio 40,552, and, both at Sisal and Alvarado, there is still some small balance in favour of the Government, although Alvarado, as a Port, may be said no longer to exist. In this Exposé I do not mean to strike a general Balance for the whole period of my Administration. I stated at the commencement, that I had not the necessary data for that purpose, from the more distant parts of the Republick, uor a sufficiently accurate account of the Remittances in Specie, Tobacco, and other effects, which are now on their way from some parts of the Federation. I can, however, assure your Excellency that every thing is calcu lated at the lowest possible computation, particularly the Sums due in the Custom Houses on the Coast, as has been proved very recently, at Vera Cruz, where a Vessel, the duty on which I had estimated at 20,000 dollars, has produced 35,000; besides I have not included in my calculation, in any of the Ports, the internation duty, which alone amounts to 17 per cent. With regard to the correctness of my statements, were they not calculated to stand the test of enquiry, I should become the sport of my Adversaries, to whose attacks I have been so long exposed; I trust, however, that this plain statement of my conduct as Minister will convince both your Excellency and the Republick, that I have not been unworthy of the confidence, which your Excellency has reposed in me. The preceding pages have been drawn up in the midst of increasing occupations, a circumstance which will, I trust, entitle them to that indulgence, of which your Excellency has given me so many proofs, amongst the greatest of which I esteem the admission of my resignation, which your Excellency, wearied by my entreaties, has, at last consented to accept. Mexico, 10th January, 1827. I have the honour to be, &c. JOSE IGNACIO ESTEVA. LETTER of the Secretary of the Navy, relative to the Expenditure for the Naval Service of The United States, in 1826.-9th February, 1827. SIR, Navy Department, 9th February, 1827. In conformity to the Provisions of the Act of Congress of the 1st of May, 1820, I have the honour to transmit a Statement, showing the Appropriations for the Naval Service, for the Year 1826, the amount of expenditure under each specific head, and the balance remaining unexpended under each head, on the 31st day of December, 1826. The balances under the several heads will be required for the objects for which the respective Appropriations were made. I am very respectfully, &c. SAMUEL L. SOUTHARD. The Hon. the Speaker of the House of Representatives. |