720 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



tion. Tiie Supreme Junta of go- 

 vernment of the kingdom is well 

 convinced, that the riches of indi- 

 viduals are the riches of the state, 

 and that no nation can be rich with- 

 out encouraging its agriculture, 

 commerce and industry, and that 

 industry in general does not increase 

 but remove the obstacles which may 

 obstruct both the fiscal and civil 

 laws. From these considerations 

 the Supreme Junta cannot omit oc- 

 cupying itself with this work, be- 

 ginning with the most urgent re- 

 form, which is that of the contri- 

 bution, and providing in the place 

 of those abolished, others upon 

 such things as can more properly be 

 required to contribute, distributing 

 them equally among the contribu- 

 tors, exacting them in the time and 

 manner least offensive, and collect- 

 ing them with the least expense 

 possible. Thus the contributions, 

 which are always an evil, shall fall 

 only on those who can contribute, 

 shall be applied to their true ob- 

 jects, and not to the maintenance of 

 an innumerable multitude of tax- 

 gatherers, who are unproductive 

 consumers, and so many hands lost 

 to industry. In consequence there- 

 fore of these principles, the king 



our lord Don Ferdinand VII. and 

 in his royal name, the Supreme 

 Junta of the government of the 

 kingdom, decrees as follows : 



Art. 1. The contributions known 

 by the name of Aicabalas, Censo, 

 and Millones,* shall be abolished, 

 as soon as those which are appoint- 

 ed to supply their place shall be ap- 

 propriated and established. 



2. The Department of Finance 

 is charged to propose to his majes- 

 ty the contributions which shall sup- 

 ply the place of those abolished. 



3. The present Decree shall be 

 printed, published, andcirculated in 

 the usual form, from the royal pa- 

 lace of Seville, August?, 1809. 



MARaUIS of ASTORGA, 



President. 

 Don Martin de Garay. 



Report made to his Majesty the 

 Emperor and King, Protector of 

 the Confederation of the Rhine, 

 by his Excellency Count de 

 Hunneburgh, Minister of War, 

 September \5, 1809. 



Sire-^If the numerous victories 

 of your majesty, and the extraordi- 

 nary successes of your armies, be 



at 



_ * [The Alcabala is a tribute or royal duty which is paid upon every article sold, 

 in the form of a per-centage, according to the value of the commodity. 'J'his per- 

 centage is varied, but all the laws antf ordinances respecting it, to remove ambi- 

 guity and to prevent exactions, are collected in a book called the Alcabalotorio. 

 There is a Spanish proverb which sufficiently shews the unpopularity of this form 

 of taxation — Quien descubre la Alcabala ese lo paga. " Whoever informs of the Al- 

 cabala should pay it." In the Recopiktion de los i,ues the superior clergy and 

 judges are exempted from it. 



The Censo, which has been improperly called Ciensos and Ciensas in the news- 

 papers, is a rate collected on the rents of houses and estates. 



The Millones is an aid that the kingdom granted to the Sovereign on the con- 

 sumption of six articles of domestic use, wine, vinegar, oil, butcher's meat, soap, 

 and tallow candles. Among the accommodations at court, in the Council of Fi- 

 nances, there is an apartment called the Sala de Millones. In this room or hall the 

 affairs relating to this due to the king, are transacted, as well as some others regard- 

 ing the tax on tobacco, cocoa, and a few other commodities. The persons appointed 



to 



