Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/232

214 secularization to show the cause of the popular feeling against Victoria.

In addition, however, to what I have written about the occurrences of 1831 in California, there remains something to be said of what was being done in Mexico for California, that is, of the labors of Cárlos Carrillo, who had been elected in October 1830 to represent the territory in congress. Don Cárlos reached Mexico in April 1831, after a flattering reception at San Blas and at other points on the way, and he was somewhat active in behalf of his constituents, in comparison at least with his predecessors, so far as we may judge from his own letters. He may be regarded as the representative rather of Captain José de la Guerra than of the Californians, acting largely on that gentleman's advice; but it would have been difficult to choose a wiser counsellor. Carrillo complained to the national government of the arbitrary and unwise acts of the rulers sent to California, resulting to a great extent from the distance of the territory from Mexico. His proposed remedy was the separation of the political and military power, which should be vested in two persons, and his views on this subject met with some encouragement from the president and ministers, who even broached to Don Cárlos the expediency of accepting for himself the civil command. California's urgent need for an organic law was presented, as also the necessity of establishing courts of justice, and regulating the administration of finance. It was complained, moreover, that a great injustice had been done in the promotion of Mexican officers like Zamorano and Pacheco to captaincies over the heads of Californians who had grown gray in the service. Carrillo requested the territorial diputacion to petition congress for the reforms for