and should have an outlet for its merchandise, since from that must
be supplied what Nueva-España now receives from the islands.

In order that Nueva-España may preserve itself if this trade be
suppressed, the years while it lived without that trade have no
consequence; for it would be a mistake to compare a period when that
kingdom was in so early an infancy [56] that the royal incomes therein
scarcely amounted to thirty or forty thousand ducados, and when in the
whole kingdom the amount of outside capital employed did not surpass
two hundred thousand, with what El Cerro [57] now alone produces,
where one reckons the product by millions and takes no account of
the tens and hundreds. From all this one may infer that whoever sits
down to a meal, however plentiful, when he sees it growing less would
doubtless have sufficient strength to call out and plead his hunger;
and much more when we baptise business with the name of diet.

But this has not much force, since it is not intended to suppress,
but only to change the mode of this supply. In order to see whether
it be feasible, one should consider, that, barring certain articles
of adornment and luxury, the chief exports from España to Méjico are
wine, oil, and linen, and from the Philipinas woven and raw silk.

The former products, in whatever quantity needed, must always be
bought from España. There is no other region that can supply them,
nor does Méjico itself produce them; therefore its enforced dependence
on España follows. However, in what pertains to linen, Méjico may
supply itself in part by using the cloth that the Indians make from
cotton. The rest (namely, silks supplied by Manila) may be obtained in
great abundance, without begging it from anyone, by only encouraging
the industry in any of Méjico's provinces. These are very suitable