INTRODUCTION. 



well as from excise on spirituous liquors, where cir- 

 cumstances do not forbid their distillation. These are 

 generally so high, and exacted in so arbitrary a man- 

 ner, as to be exceedingly oppressive. Stamped pa- 

 per or pajpel sellado^ considering its extensive uses, is 

 also a lucrative branch. Every public act or private 

 agreement, must be upon stamped paper; and consi- 

 dering the immense quantity consumed in law suits, 

 where every thing is reduced to writing, the evidence^ 

 pleas, statements, arguments of the parties and their 

 counsel; the decrees, interlocutory or final, of the 

 judge; all must be on the stamped paper. Every 

 document obtained from the government and its dif- 

 ferent branches must be written on it; the price is also 

 enormously high; varying from twenty-five cents to a 

 dollar for every sheet. There was also a duty on the 

 importation of slaves, which amounted to about thirty 

 dollars a head; although the Spaniards did not en- 

 gage in the slave trade, they willingly encouraged 

 their importation. 



The worst part of the Spanish exactions, was that 

 which fell on the Indians. In the first instance, these 

 unfortunate people were held by the conquerors as 

 slaves, and treated with a degree of cruelty unexam- 

 pled. They were parcelled out into repartimientos,* 

 of greater or less extent, according to the dignity of 

 the person to whom the grant was made. The In- 

 dians were considered as belonging to the king, not as 

 subjects but as slaves; and he thought it right to re- 

 ward the conquerors, by allowing them their services 

 for certain periods. It was not until the year li74%, 



*From the word repartir, to divide, to distribute. 



