be exposed to foreign competition—as, for example, the comparatively few cotton, woolen, and paper mills, and print-works—accordingly enjoy a degree of protection that nearly or quite amounts to prohibition of all competitive legitimate imports; though it may be doubted whether the fiscal officers who advised or determined such rates had any knowledge or care for any economic theory, but they may have been, and probably were, influenced in their conclusions by the representations of interested parties. But, be this as it may, the practical working of such a tariff, in such a poor, undeveloped country as Mexico, is well illustrated by a recurrence to Don Rubio and his cotton-mill. The average fabric produced at this establishment is protected by a duty on similar imports of nine and three quarters cents per square metre, or about eight cents per square yard; and sells in the city of Mexico for four dollars per piece of thirty-two varas (or thirty yards), or at the rate of about thirteen cents per square yard. In the more remote districts of the country, or at retail, these prices are considerably greater. Domestic industry is thereby promoted; and the cotton-manufacturers of Mexico amass great wealth.
But let us look at the other side of this picture. The number of operatives who obtain opportunities for employment by reason of the existence
