n find no purchaser at any price, it is impossible that its value
should cover either the cost of carriage or the customs duty. Moreover,
this tobacco tribute is a great burden on the colonial budget; which,
in spite of all deficits, is charged with the expenses attending the
collection of the tobacco, its packing, its cost of local transport,
and half the expense of its carriage to Europe.

[De La Gandara's proposed reforms.] Dated in March, 1871,--the
beginning of a Golden Age, if De La Gandara's plans had been carried
out and his expectations realized,--there exists an excellent
statement from the Intendant-General addressed to the Minister of
Colonies pointing out plainly to the chief of the Government the
disadvantages arising from this mode of administration, and urging the
immediate repeal of the monopoly. In the next place proof was adduced,
supported by official vouchers, that the profits derived from the
tobacco monopoly were much smaller than usual. The total average
receipts of the tobacco administration for the five years 1855 to
1869, according to official accounts, amounted to $5,367,262; for the
years 1866 to 1870, only $5,240,935. The expenses cannot be accurately
estimated, inasmuch as there are no strict accounts obtainable; if,
however, the respective expenses charged in the colonial budget are
added together, they amount to $3,717,322 of which $1,812,250 is for
purchase of raw tobacco.

[Slight real profit from monopoly.] Besides these expenses pertaining
exclusively to the tobacco administration there are still many other
different items to be taken into account; yet the cost incurred in
this branch of the service would be saved, if not altogether, at
least largely, if the State surrendered the tobacco monopoly. The
total of the disbursements must certainly, at the very lowest, be
estimated at $4,000,000; so, therefore, the State receives only a net
profit of $1,357,000; but even this is not to be reckoned on in the
future, for if the Government does not speedily cease carrying on this
trade, they will be forced into a very considerable and unavoidable
expense. To begin with, they must erect new factories and warehouses;
better machinery must be bought; wages will have to be considerably
increased; and, above all, means must be devised to pay off the
enormous sum of $1,600,000 in which the Government is indebted to the
peasants for the crops of 1869 and 1870, and to assure cash payments
for futur