ever to the great chagrin of cavillers. Early in 1787 arrived in New Spain several of the intendentes appointed for the provinces. A royal order of October 25, 1787, required such officials to produce their commissions to the viceroy, who would endorse them, place the appointees in office, and notify the audiencia of the fact. The intendentes had to apprise the viceroy of the persons appointed by them as subdelegados, and this was also made known to the audiencia of Mexico.[1] Like all radical measures in government, the present one did not work well at first. After three years' experience the new system was found defective in many points, and loud were the laments and predictions of calamity.[2] Some trifling changes had been effected, one of which was that of annexing the superintendencia general to the viceregal office. Many of the other intendencias had been filled with men of ability and integrity, but of little or no administrative experience, and entirely ignorant of the country's peculiar needs. This was a serious mistake which caused the many defects of the system to be still more glaring. Constant suggestions were made to the king for reforms, but they all remained unheeded.[3] The
- ↑ Intendentes residing within the district of the audiencia of Guadalajara, had to notify it of the appointed subdelegados. March 21, 1793, the king ordained that such intendentes should take the official oath before that court. Ordenes de la Corona, MS., i. 5-6; Cédulario, MS., iii. 10-11. Antoneli in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2a ep., ii. 338.
- ↑ The necessity of amending some of the articles of the regulation and suppressing others had been represented to the crown. Flores, Instruc. 15-18, in Linares, Instruc., MS.
- ↑ Viceroy Revilla Gigedo recommended that some of the intendencias, such as Guadalajara, Vera Cruz, and Yucatan, should be intrusted to military officers of high rank, like mariscales de campo and brigadiers; others to colonels; and the rest might be placed in charge of civilians. He also suggested the creation of one intendencia for the four eastern provincias internas, one for
title of México por Dentro y Fuera, bajo el gobierno de loa vireyes, ó sea Enfermedades politicas, etc. Mex., 1831, 8vo, 183. Vol. iv., bearing the title of Justa Repulsa del Reglamento de Intendencias, given as an appendix to the foregoing work, is taken up chiefly with strictures on that ordinance. These manuscripts are probably original, and the signatures of Villarroel appended to them with a rúbrica, in his own handwriting. Bustamante, in a criticism of the work in No. 24 of his periodical La Voz de la Patria, speaks of the author as one who had a thorough knowledge of the state of New Spain, and of his belief that Viceroy Revilla Gigedo had it before him when he formed his wise instructions for his successors; adding likewise that many of the reforms there recommended by Villarroel were from time to time adopted.
