The Argentine Constituents, after having explained, in the sententious preamble which serves as a preface to their great political code, what place was theirs who were building the great edifice of the State, turned to consider from what sources the revenues for the Treasury might be drawn, in order to satisfy the necessities of the administration of the country. To this effect they enacted that these resources should be: “The taxes upon imports and exports; the sale or allocation of lands forming part of the national territory; the postal revenues, and the other taxes, which the General Congress will impose equitably and in proportion to the population; also such loans and credit operations as the same Congress shall decree for the urgent needs of the nation, or for undertakings of national utility.” (Article 4). Has the foresight of the Constituents in establishing these sources of revenue been justified? or, in other words, were the elements of revenue created by the fundamental charter efficacious? A little study of the system of Argentine revenue will show that of all these sources enumerated, the only ones that have a permanent and fertile existence are those relating to the customs receipts; that is, to the duties of export and import. The others either give poor and uncertain results, such as the sale and allocation of national lands; or are of a perilous nature and to be used with restraint, such as loans and transactions on credit; or they are drawn from services which produce revenue only within narrow limits, such as the Posts. Besides the sources appointed by the Constitution for normal requirements and ordinary periods, the same charter enumerates another source to be resorted to in exceptional cases or for purposes of defence, when the common security and the general welfare of the State may demand it. This source is the imposition of “direct taxes, during a fixed period, and equally proportioned all over the Republic.” It follows from these limits that the principal effective source of revenue intended by the Constitution to form the Federal Treasury is that of indirect taxation. So far the new fundamental code has not only followed the example of the principal nations, and hearkened to the counsel of economic science, but has also put into effect an eminently practical and far-seeing procedure. Señor Alberdi, who of all writers has most profoundly studied the system of revenue established by the Argentine Constitution, has stated that indirect taxation is the most fruitful fiscal resource, as is proved by the customs revenues, which are relatively greater than those of all other taxes put together. The indirect tax, adds Señor Alberdi, is relatively the most equitable, as every one pays according to his tastes and his powers of consumption; the foreigner as well as the son of the soil.[97] [Footnote 97: See _Sistema económico y rentístico, Obras de Alberdi_, Vol. IV, p. 419.]