stated. This matter is of importance to your Majesty's royal service,
and to the welfare of the inhabitants of these islands.

In the first section your Majesty commands that only the inhabitants
of these islands and no others may ship the merchandise which is to
be transported to Nueva España, and that the amount invested therein
shall not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand pesos of eight reals,
as was previously determined by other orders and decrees; while
the returns from this shall not exceed, in principal and profit,
five hundred thousand pesos. As for this section, it deserves serious
consideration that after the expenses of sending out a cargo--including
the fees to be paid here and in Nueva España, which amount to thirty
per cent in all, with the addition which the new decree imposes--it is
impossible to recover from five hundred thousand pesos the principal
and the [present] profits on the investment of the said two hundred
and fifty thousand pesos which are granted by this permission. To
reach this amount, it is considered necessary that at least three
hundred and fifty thousand pesos be spent on the cargo. In addition
to the charges referred to, many expenses fall upon the inhabitants
of this city for the maintenance and provision of their houses,
and thus are consumed and expended a part of the profits made on
the investments which they make here. If your Majesty were pleased
to permit that the amount of these investments might be at least
three hundred thousand pesos, wherewith all expenses might be paid,
then the permission to bring back five hundred thousand might well
stand. Until it is known what decision will be reached on this point,
your Majesty's commands shall be fulfilled. Care will be taken that the
investment shall not reach three hundred thousand, or pass far beyond
two hundred and fifty thousand. It should also be considered that
when his Majesty, the sovereign of the realm, who is now in heaven,