Funding and Allocating Expenditure in the Caja Real of Maldonado (Rio de la Plata), 1782-1806

Abstract

This paper analyses the fiscal expenditure of the Real Hacienda (Royal Treasury) in the area of Maldonado. The expenditure of wealth from 1782 to1806, oriented to fund the settlement policy in that region and the military defence of the land, was studied through the analysis of data from accounting books of the Caja Real (Royal Cash Office) of Maldonado. This paper also shows that fiscal expenditure was mostly sustained by transfers from the cash offices of Buenos Aires and Montevideo that, in turn, received funds from other cash offices. Thus, coins were constantly injected, ultimately, from mining surplus in the cash office of Upper Peru into Maldonado for 25 years. This injection of coins helped consolidate the demographic and economic growth of the region.