118 



COLOMBIA. 



sellers, in our province, to an exceedingly small 

 number : this result, although it be not so styled, 

 is precisely the same thing as the ancient mono- 

 poly ; a mischievous system, under which no 

 country can prosper. The regulations cited above 

 give our merchants an absolute power over the 

 rest of the people — they impose the most unwor- 

 thy obligations ^n foreign merchants, and subject 

 them to a degrading subordination. There can 

 be no doubt, indeed, if they be allowed to con- 

 tinue, that our commerce will remain in the same 

 confined state as formerly, and the interests of the 

 whole province will be sacrificed to those of a new 

 monopoly. 



" I am a merchant who fully enjoy the exclu- 

 sive privileges of the regulations ; and, happen- 

 ing to be acquainted with all the languages most 

 usefiil in commerce, I possess an advantage over 

 most of my companions ; nothing, therefore, in 

 appearance, can be more beneficial to me, than 

 the enforcement of the three articles in question. 

 But, as long as I desire the good of the province, 

 and prefer the interest of the public to my own^ 



