As  often  has  been  the  case  when  governmental  author-
ities have  yielded  to  the  temptation  to  issue  fiat  money,
it  became  in  this  case  impossible  for  them  to  summon  the
resolution  not  to  do  so  again.  It  was  an  easy  way  to
meet  expenses.  The  bills  issued  were  poorly  printed
and  counterfeits  soon  appeared  from  all  directions,  in-
cluding United  States  ports.  Even  the  official  issue

1  Reports  from  Her  Majesty's  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Officers
Abroad,  Commercial  No.  36  (1883),  .  .  .  Part  VII,  .  .  .  Report
by  Lionel  E.  G.  Garden  on  the  trade  and  commerce  of  Mexico,  gives
a  good  description  of  the  conditions  in  the  early  eighties  of  the  last
century.
86    MEXICO  AND  ITS  RECONSTRUCTION

was  soon  exhausted.  Another  decree  of  November  28,
1913,  raised  the  total  by  $20,000,000  Mexican  and  was
Soon  followed  by  others  necessitated  by  the  continuing
needs  of  the  army  and  the  steady  decline  in  the  rate  at
which  the  bills  were  currently  accepted.  Meanwhile
Villa,  Zapata,  and  others  were  issuing  rival  currencies
forced  into  circulation  in  the  districts  they  controlled.
*Later  Carranza  was  forced  to  retire  to  Vera  Cruz  and
from  that  city  he  issued  quantities  of  "Vera  Cruz  bills."
The  value  of  Carranza  paper  continued  to  fall,  and
counterfeits  continued.  It  was  evident  that  soon  the
"bilimbiques,"  as  his  paper  was  nicknamed,  would  be  so
low  in  value  that  they  would  not  circulate  at  all.
