, Notwithstanding the strictness of the police, bow. ever, and the severity of the criminal law, there is no doubt that a contraband trade, both in gold and diamonds, is carried on, in Brasil to a great extent ; and the present plan upon which the diamond works are managed, is calculated to give every facility to this forbidden traffic. Owing to the pe cuniary embarrassments of the establishment, the Intendant has never been able to purchase a stock of negroes to carry on the work, and he is, in cense quence, obliged to engage the negroes of others, The hiring out of negroes to the diamond works has long been the favourite occupation in Tejuco, in which rich and poor, engage with equal eagerness to the full extent of their capital ; and numbers of per sons are supposed to reside in Tejuco with no other view than to place their negroes in this profitable employment. There is no apparent reason for this anxiety among all classes to hire out the industry of their negroes, seeing that the pay is small, the la• bour hard, the maintenance poor, and the treat ment not always the most gentle. It is conjectured, therefore, with great probability, that the real object is to gain access to these works for the purpose of purloining some portion of their precious produce; and it is certain, that by whatever means they are procured, the market is supplied with large quantities both of contraband gold and diamonda. The great value and small bulk of these articles, hold out such temptations, and, at the same time, such facilities for secreting them, that no laws, however strict, can possibly counteract those strong inducements to cit trade.
In this view, the policy of imposing so heavy a tax on. gold may well be questioned ; and, in re• gard to the monopoly of diamonds, there can be no doubt that it is both impolitic and tyrannical. There is something mean and rapacious in the prin ciple of those measures, of which the object is to seize upon all the most valuable produce of the country ; and Government, having set the example, can hardly expect that its subjects will be out done in the practice of avarice and fraud. In this, as in all other cases, the sagacity and address of individuals will prove an overmatch for the vio lence of power. Harsh and cruel laws may be passed; but, while the inducement to violate them con tinues, adrenturers will be found to run all risks; and though individuals may occasionally incur the penalties of the law, the contraband trade will don rib in proportion to the bounty held out by the regulations of the state. The colonial policy of Europe seems generally to have been founded on the most false calculations. Even in respect to re venue, a moderate tax on several articles of general consumption would, in a flourishing community, be far more productive than this monopoly established In Beni!. The authors of these devices for cramp ing industry seem to imagine, that, for the diamonds which are exported by private adventurers, no va luable equivalent is received in return. They make no calculation of the additional capital which they bring into the country ; of the increase thus made to the fund for maintaining productive industry ; and of the general vigour diffused by a free trade over every department of an industrious community.
They do not reflect, that an improving commerce, cherished and protected by an enlightened govern ment, would soon pour into the treasury, as the cheerful gift of a free and a flourishing people, a far ampler revenue than can ever be extortedfrom them by all the miserable devices of tyranny.
There are various other duties imposed on the transit of commodities into the interior, which are both oppressive and impolitic. They generally take place at the crossing of ferries, and are laid on ac cording to the weight of the goods passing, without any regard to their bulk or value. All heavy uti cies, in consequence, pay high, while woollens, cot tmis, and other light goods, pay only about 8 or 10 per cent. Iron, which is in great request in the in terior, pays an enormous duty, of nearly 100 per cent. This is the case also with salt, which, being ab solutely necessary in this country for the subsistence of the cattle, the effect of the tax is to discourage breeding, and is, in this view, most injurious to the interests of agriculture. A duty of 2d. per lb. is al so imposed on all commodities which pass into the mining districts, and a new tax has lately been laid on the rents of houses. We are informed, that the weight of the taxes presses most severely upon the poorer classes, and the same remark seems appli cable to other parts of the country. A tenth in kind is raised upon cattle, poultry, and agricul ture, and even upon salt. This belonged, in for mer times, to the clergy ; but as, in the infancy of Brasil, it was inadequate to their support, they peti tioned Government to have it •commuted into a fixed stipend. This petition was acceded to. In the meantime, by the improvement of the country, the tithes begun greatly to increase in value to the pro fit of the Government, and to the loss of the church, and 'the clergy now coiztplain grievously of this agreement, by which, for a temporary advantage, such a valuable revenue was surrendered. the due collection of the public revenue, the country is parcelled out into extensive districts, and the taxes of each district are farmed out to the highest bidder. These again dispose of their farm in small shares to under farmers, who oppress and plunder the people for their own private emolument. Besides a tithe of all the cattle, which is levied on estates in the in terior, meat in the shambles pays a duty of about '25 per cent. Fish pays a 10th, and afterwards a 15th. A duty of 10 per cent. is imposed on every transfer of immoveable property, and of 5 per cent, upon the sale of all moveable. Rum, whether for exportation or home consumption, pays a duty of from 15 to 20 per cent. Cotton pays a 10th, and, on its exporta tion, pays an additional duty of lid. per lb.; and all goods imported are liable at the custom-house to an ad valorem duty of 15 per cent. There is also a tax imposed at Pernambuco for lighting the streets of Rio Janeiro, while its own streets are in total darkness. The produce of these duties is expended in the support of the civil Government, in which, owing to the excessive multiplication of offices with inadequate salaries, peculation and bribery prevail to such an extent, as not only to escape punishment, but even any great degree of public reproach.