112 CUSTOM-HOUSE ARRAXGEMENTS. 



these legal go-betweens, who pledge them- 

 selves, for a stipulated fee, to make the 'ar- 

 rangements,' and translate the manificstos 

 (that is, biUs of merchandise to be manifested 

 at the Custom-house), and to act the part 

 of interpreters throu2fhout. 



but this is rarely 



The 



carried on with rigid adherence to rules ; for 

 an 'actuated sympathy' for the merchants, 

 and a ' specific desire' to promote the trade, 

 cause the inspector to open a few of such 

 packages only, as will exhibit the least dis- 

 crepancy with the manifest. 



The derechos de arancel (tariff imposts) of 

 Mexico are extremely oppressive, averaging 

 about a hundred per cent upon the United 

 States' cost of an ordinary ' Santa Fe assort- 

 ment' Those on cotton textures are particu- 

 larly so. According to the Arancel of 1837 

 (and it was still heavier before), aU plain-wove 

 cottons, whether white or printed, pay twelve 

 and a half cents duty per vara, besides the 

 derecJio de consumo (consumption duty), which 

 brings it up to at least fifteen. But it is 

 scarcely necessary to add that Hiere are be- 

 heved to be very few ports in the Repubhc 

 at which these rigid exactions are strictly exe- 

 cuted. An ' arrangement' — a compromise is 

 expected, in wliich the officers are sure at 

 least to provide for themselves. At some 

 ports, a custom has been said to prevail, of 

 di\'iding the legal duties into three equal 

 parts : one for the officers — a second for the 



merchants — ^the other for the government 



Y 



