to support on home resources; being in constant trouble on account of the soldiers of the escoltas, often favorites and servants of the padres and corrupters of the neophytes; knowing well that to insure the integrity of the nation and tranquillity and prosperity at home, it was best to abolish once for all the oppression of the neophytes by establishing a secular government, since once converted from slaves to proprietors they would become enthusiastic supporters of the federal system, a means of defence against foreign schemes, and of support to the territorial government and troops; desiring to release the missionaries for the founding of new missions; therefore I proposed to consolidate the security and good order of the territory by converting into free men and proprietors the 18,000 forzados, indigentes reducidos in the old missions, in order to advance rapidly to the civilization of the multitude of gentiles who also with their lands belong to our nation, thus avoiding the necessity of foreign colonization. Therefore I repeat, at the beginning of 1831, all being ready for the regeneration intrusted to me, and for which I had striven so hard, mindful of the laws and of the benefits to result, taking advantage of the most fitting occasion to develop the power of right by which was to be restrained the colossal arbitrary power of the missionaries — I took steps to put the neophytes under the civil authorities, deeming this the fullest possible compliance with the laws and superior orders."[1]
The special pleading quoted, or condensed from the author's original verbosity, was of course all beside the true question at issue. The territorial government, as Echeandía well knew, had no power to secularize the missions. Nevertheless, a decree of secularization was issued January 6, 1831. It was an illegal and even revolutionary measure, devised by
- ↑ Echeandía, Carta que dirige á Don José Figueroa, 1833, MS., p. 44-50. Though put in quotation-marks, what I have given is but a brief résumé of the author's endless and complicated words and phrases.
