Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/396

378 officials were appointed in July 1834, by the recommendation of Ramirez: Francisco Figueroa as contador, Juan B. Alvarado as vista, Francisco P. Pacheco as comandante of the guard, and Eugenio Montenegro as corporal of the guard. The two former had a salary of $600, and the latter of $400. Lieutenant Araujo, who came and departed with Híjar and Padrés, was a naval officer who was sent, with perhaps a few subordinates, to command the California marine service.

There was no lack of official correspondence respecting the theory and practice of financial management in this as in other periods; but much of what was written related to petty routine details, none of it had any apparent effect in the way of reform, and part was clearly not intended to have any other effect than the throwing of responsibility for existing evils upon other shoulders than those of the writers. The receipts at the custom-house were far from sufficient to meet the expenditures of the civil and military budgets; and the complaints from all quarters of hard times were constant, as were also contentions respecting the division of revenues, each official and class of officials fearing with much reason that some other would gain an advantage. In the absence of complete statistical data, we may only conjecture that mutual jealousy and precautions secured a comparatively just distribution among military, political, and treasury employees.