CARACCAS. 





I, the taxes .v,e numerous and op. 

 , the jrovernn.' nt establishment is so expen- 



, that, till a very recent period, the expenditure 



. di-il the levenue by at least two-thirds. While 



the i the ti rasury continued thus insigni- 



fu-.uit, both the civil and military administration 



e concentrated in the person of the captain- 



ral. 



the revenue became more considerable, the sys- 

 tem of management was changed ; and, in 1777, an 



'.{nut \vas placed at the head of the finances, 

 \\uose authority extends over the whole district. In 

 his own department, the intendant is totally uncon- 

 trmiled. Ho has power to ordain any regulation 

 \vhich may seem necessary for the interior govern- 

 ment of the finances, and nominates provisionally to 

 every vacant office in the administration. In the dif- 



nt provinces, he has delegates or governors, who 

 i:i their respective jurisdictions administer the public 

 money, direct the ordinary expences, and determine 

 provisionally on all difficulties arising within their li- 

 mits, on the collection of duties. They can autho- 

 rise no extraordinary expenditure, however, without 

 the concurrence of the intendant ; and to him, in 

 case of any dispute about the collection of revenues, 

 there always lies an appeal. To agriculture, com- 

 merce, and navigation, the intendant is bound to di- 

 rect his principal care. With regard to agriculture, 

 he can make no regulation, but only transmits to the 

 king his observations on the measures most proper 

 for its encouragement. In regard to commerce and 

 navigation, he is under no such restraint. Without 

 any responsibility, he may repress the abuses he per- 

 ceives, or issue ordinances for improving their sys- 

 tem. The office of the intendant continues five years, 

 during which he enjoys the rank of a field-mar- 

 shall. His annual salary is 9000 hard dollars, and 

 hie other emoluments amount to double that sum. 



The business of the principal customhouses is con- 

 ducted by a cashier or contador, and treasurer, who 

 are royal officers, and whose duties are nearly the 

 same. The accounts of the customhouses and re- 

 ceivers are subject to the controul and revision of a 

 tribunal de cuentas, or of accounts, which is com- 

 posed of two officers, called contadores mayores, or 

 chief auditors. These contadores must verify all 

 accounts before they can be sent to Spain : they re- 

 gulate all questions of account, and enjoy their of- 

 fice during the same time as the intendant. From 

 the decisions of the court of accounts and the in- 

 tendant, an appeal lies to the supreme chamber of 

 finance, of which the intendant is president. In de- 

 scription, this system of financial authorities appears 

 abundantly simple ; but, in reality, there is no part, 

 even of the Spanish dominions, in which the per- 

 sons employed in collecting taxes are, in proportion 

 to the amount of the revenue, more numerous than 

 tn Caraccas. 



Our limits do not allow us to give a detailed ac- 

 count of the different taxes levied in this govern- 

 ment. We shall, therefore, content ourselves with 

 giving, in the following table, a statement of the 

 receipts and expenditures of the different provinces, 

 for five years, commencing in 1793. 



Caraccafc. 



Revenue 

 and taie*. 



This statement dqps not comprise the sums arising 

 from the culture and sale of tobacco, which belongs 

 exclusively to the crown, because th-.-se sums are ad- 

 ministered separately, and have their own peculiar 

 bank and appropriation ; nor the receipts from bulls, 

 the power of distributing which was first granted by 

 the Pope to the Spanish monarch, for the benefit of 

 his subjects, who took arms against the infidels in the 

 holy war.- Though this war has long been at an 

 end, the bulls still continue to arrive from his Holi- 

 ness ; and the blessings which they impart are con- 

 sidered too precious, and their advantage to the ex- 

 chequer is too important, to allow them to be easily 

 renounced. These bulls annually produce 26,000 

 hard dollars ; and the exclusive sale cf tobacco, de- 

 ducting all charges, brings in 700,000 hard dollars 

 a year. 



The first settlements of the Spaniards in this part 

 of Terra Firma, were completely similar, in their 

 history, to their other settlements in America. 

 To this, as to the other regions of the New World, 

 they were at first impelled by their thirst for gold ; 

 and the provinces which now compose the captain- 

 generalship of Caraccas, as they contained no mines 

 which could be wrought to much advantage, were 

 long neglected by the Spanish government. Before 

 these mines could be explored, however, it was ne- 

 cessary that the original inhabitants of the country 

 should be subdued. In this conquest the Spaniards 

 had to encounter considerable difficulties. Many of 

 their troops were cut off by sudden and unexpected 

 onsets of the Indians ; and they purchased, with no 

 small loss of blood, a territory which they were 

 soon inclined to abandon, as altogether unprofitable. 

 In our account of the mines of this dependency, we 

 have already mentioned the disasters to which the 

 Spaniards were exposed from the Indians. They at 

 length, however, succeeded in their total subjuga- 

 tion ; and the same form of government was esta- 

 blished here which had been framed for the other 

 Spanish dominions in the western hemisphere. 



All the Spanish provinces in America are govern- Govern 

 ed by representatives of the king, some of whom, as mnt. 

 the governors of Mexico and Peru, are named vice- 

 roys ; and others, as the governor of Caraccas, have 

 the appellation of captains. general. The power of 

 this governor is supreme in military affairs in the 

 province of Venezuela, and its dependencies, Mara- 

 ca'ibo, Variuas, Guiana, Cumana, and the island ' 



