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Guadalupe Victoria and a Personal Loan from the Church in Independent Mexico*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Michael P. Costeloe
Michael P. Costeloe*
Affiliation:
University of Bristol, Bristol, England
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Extract

Before the establishment of commercial banks in Mexico in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the aspiring merchant or impecunious landowner had few sources from which he could borrow capital. Funds were available within the country but the rich preferred speculation in government bonds and securities to investment in agricultural or industrial enterprises. Financial deals in which enormous interest rates were paid by the government to private individuals became almost a matter of public scandal and were widely condemned by politicians of all parties. The only institution to operate an extensive lending policy was the Roman Catholic Church which, through the offices of its Juzgado de Capellanías, continued after independence its practice of lending money to any person able to provide adequate security for a loan. Although the contractual terms demanded were by no means onerous to the borrower, nevertheless there was much criticism of these fiscal activities by the clergy. The liberals in particular attacked the Church’s control of the land which was a direct consequence of its lending operations. The Church’s defense against these attacks was based firstly on its rights under both civil and canon law, and secondly, on the benefits which the nation’s economy received from the widespread clerical investments. Furthermore, the clergy insisted that they were genuinely interested in utilizing their wealth for the advantage of the people and country as a whole. Hence their funds were invested by way of loans in every kind of industrial and agrarian venture.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , January 1969 , pp. 223 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1969

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Footnotes

*

Research on this article was made possible by grants from the Sir Ernest Cassel Educational Trust and the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas. For assistance in its preparation, I am grateful to Mr. G. Minter.

References

1 For a detailed study of the organization and activities of the de Capellanías, Juzgado, see my book, Church Wealth in Mexico. A study of the Juzgado de Capellanías in the Archbishopric of Mexico, 1SS0-18S6 (Cambridge University Press, 1967)Google Scholar.

2 The manuscript on which this article is based is in the Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico City, Papeles de Bienes Nacionales, legajo 1693, expediente 5. Except where otherwise stated, all details are taken from this expediente.

3 The full text of this letter is given as Appendix A. Victoria had retired from the presidency on March 31, 1829. The metropolitan see was vacant and the Dean and Chapter were therefore the ruling body.

4 This report is cited in full in Appendix B.

5 Esteva had been a minister in Victoria’s administration and they were known to be personal friends.

6 For the text of this contract, see Appendix C.

7 The amounts were 250 pesos from an obra pía given on 17 September 1829 and 600 pesos from a capellanía, given on 22 January 1830. The capellán of the latter, PedroHuesca, was not living in the republic but had appointed Atilano Sánchez as his representative.

8 Sánchez was formally appointed by Victoria on April 8, 1829, and the appropriate authorization signed and witnessed before the notary Francisco de Madariaga.

9 It is not clear when and why interest payments stopped, nor is there any further reference made to Sanchez’s responsibility as guarantor.

10 A number of people were concerned in a loan of this type. Each of the capital sums used in a loan belonged in theory to the beneficiary or patron of the pious fund from which the money was taken. Hence all beneficiaries and patrons had to approve the details of any negotiation involving the funds on which they had a claim.

11 Victoria’s public life continued after he left the presidency and he undertook several commissions on behalf of subsequent administrations. In spite of owning these extensive properties, he apparently died in poverty: see Gómez, F. V., Guadalupe Victoria, Primer Presidente de Mexico (Mexico, 1952), pp. 178–203 Google Scholar.