rdensome and unequal extortion,
falling upon the poor: this was at last yielded, and it, of course,
became a very popular measure, although with little real benefit; for
the producers themselves were compelled to suffer severely from the
rapacity of their own troops outside. The President of the Council was
Senor Crespo, a very respectable, honest person; and could he have been
induced to fill the post, saving a few illiberal ideas and fears of
compromising himself with his former friends outside, all would have
gone on smoothly; but he refused to serve, and Senores Pelaiz and Leon
were appointed to preside over the civil tribunals. This caused
dissatisfaction, as neither had a surplus of moral character to boast
of; but as the commodity was scarce, the judgeships would have remained
vacant a long while, before more suitable selections could have been
found among the Mexicans. Nevertheless, the policy pursued by us became
popular with all classes, and there were but few exceptions to the
general wish, that our flag might float over them forever. What tended
in a great measure to revive confidence among the wealthier inhabitants,
was our manner of conducting business at the custom house. The scale of
duties, as exhibited by the Secretary of the Treasury, was modified to
suit this market, and, in the absence of all bribery and corruption, it
restored a certain harmony of association among the merchants, which,
necessarily, was interrupted by the Mexican policy of holding out
inducements for every trader to undersell his neighbor; when all were
constantly intriguing with the government _empleados_ to get their
cargoes through the customs, at a lower mark than usual. This system was
done away with, trade was thrown upon an assured basis, and it
consequently encouraged a more friendly intercourse. As a single
instance of the rapacity and extortion practiced by the Mazatlanese
authorities displaced by us, there were five-and-twenty officials
employed within the custom house; and of a yearly revenue averaging
nearly a million of dollars, not a rial ever went to the general
government. In the first place, the Mexican tariff was frequently so
heavy as to amount to prohibition, and to save time and the risk of
smuggling, it was only necessary to throw a third or fourth of the
duties into the commandante's or collector's hands, who, in turn, made
a smaller distribution to the cormorants beneath them. Telles had it in
his power to h