Note XXXV‑17 — Chapter XXXV · GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS. 1601-1700.

In 1604 the city contained 890 principal families, comprising encomenderos, merchants, traders, machinists, agriculturists, and others. The tax-list aggregated 4,500 tostones. The amount fell less than 2,000 tostones during 1607 to 1612, inclusive; and increased to 5,195 in 1613. In 1614 the amount was 7,180 tostones, and in 1626 it reached 15,980 tostones. The mode of assessing the people was so offensive that in 1625 dissensions became rife and the complaints against the assessors were so bitter that one of them, Márcos Estopiñan, alcalde ordinario, was thrown into prison. The excessive taxation ceased soon after; for in a cédula dated August 3, 1629, the alcabalas were rented for eight years to the cabildo for 10,000 tostones annually. Pelaez, Mem. Guat., i. 226-9.