ing of security and stability which only numbers can impart.
Governmental improvements made in 1 844-1 845. The government as adopted in July, 1843, while probably the best that could then be secured, was in some respects very weak. Instead of a governor there was to be an executive committee of three. The land law, which was of greater interest to most of the settlers than any other feature, was especially defective, because it allowed the Catholic and Protestant missions to claim each an entire township, aside from the land their members held as individual settlers. Lastly, there was no way to raise money for the support of the government except by private contributions, a thoroughly inefficient and always disappointing method. The legislative committee of 1844, made up mainly of the newcomers, on their own responsibility, revised the entire system, providing for a governor, a house of representatives, a more satisfactory judiciary, a new land law permitting none but actual settlers to hold claims, and above all a means of raising taxes to support the government. This last was the keystone of their political arch, as the leaders well knew, and they w^ere wise enough to fit it exactly to its purpose. The law required that every settler's property should be assessed on a regular basis, and in case any one refused to pay the tax apportioned to him, he was to lose the right to vote and all other benefits of the government. If his claim were jumped, the court could not relieve him; if a thief were to drive off his cattle
