1821 April 2

Rid Yourselves.

Ultramaria Deputat. none

A province then there is in which no such indispensable census is in existence. Yet without, no deputation from that Province can be made /come into existence/. The census for the as yet uncensured Province - how then is it to come /can it come/ into existence?

Oh says an Advocate of the Code, there exists /will be in existence/ the Art. 325 there will be in existence If in this Province a /governing body called/ a Provincial deputation and of the /function or/ duties [...?] to that province, the seventh is to take the census and statistic account of that same province.

To this observation /defence/ there are two answers present themselves.

1. One is the observation which came to made on a former occasion, namely when the business of approving and dividing /and in pursuance /[...?]/ of the first of its ten duties/ among the component and subordinate districts the quota of contribution assessed upon it by the Cortes: namely that suppose should it happen that in the province in question it is more agreable to the inhabitants in general to have the saving or the spending of their own money to their own purpose than to bind it to Spain to be there spent by others for the purposes they have in order to give themselves the satisfaction all they have to do is to do nothing.

In like manner in the present case should there be any province in which in the time in question it is more agreable to the inhabitants to have nothing to do with your rulers than to be subject to their dominion, and in that moment to forbear sending than to send a deputation to the Cortes at Madrid all they have to do is - to forbear /save/ giving themselves the trouble of taking or causing to be taken any such Census in which case the pretence for their being governed by your Cortes and your other rulers, namely those sending a deputy by whom they are represented in the Cortes, will not have place.