EXPORT DUTIES 67 



Like most hard-wood trees the halata is of very slow 

 growth. Those giants of the forest recklessly destroyed 

 in a few short hours have taken hundreds of years to 

 attain their full development. In ten or fifteen years 

 there will not be, it is to be feared, a single balata-tree 

 in the districts where gum is being obtained by the 

 destructive system in vogue amongst the collectors. 

 What is most to be regretted in the wholesale destruction 

 of these trees is that the very valuable timber they might 

 supply is allowed to remain and rot on the ground. Of 

 course the reason for this is that in most cases the trees 

 are found in the depths of the forest far from any road, 

 so that the dragging out of logs of this heavy wood 

 would be an undertaking too costly to leave any return on 

 the outlay. 



In former times no taxes or export dues were levied 

 in Venezuela on the products of the country, the object 

 of the government having been to encourage and pro- 

 tect native industries and agriculture. Now all this is 

 changed. Some fifteen or twenty years ago one of the 

 presidents introduced the thin edge of the wedge of 

 adding to his revenue and to the incomes of his satellites 

 by putting a small shipping-tax on one of the exports. 

 I think it was coffee. The plan answered so well that 

 other products were added to the list of dutiable exports, 

 while the taxes were increased at every opportunity. 

 Balata pays to-day 25 centimos of a bolivar ^ per 

 kilogram ; feathers, 50 bolivares or nearly 10 dollars '; 

 hides, 15 centimos ; tonca-beans, 25 centimos ; coffee and 

 cocoa, 10 centimos ; cattle per head, 10 bolivares. These 

 are government charges. An additional 25 per cent, 

 (formerly it used to be 12i) has to be paid to the 



' A bolivar is equal to a franc in value, and a centimo to a centime. 



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