Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/52

34 to California to avoid serious troubles, although he had left Spain at a very tender age. Gervasio Argüello, the suplente, took the seat, but failed to distinguish himself or to be of much use to his constituents. The famous junta concluded its labors in behalf of California at the end of 1827; and in 1828 congress made an appropriation to give the territory a district judge.

Among the acts of the supreme government, the decree of November 21, 1828, containing general regulations for the colonization of Mexican territory, deserves prominent notice. This was a supplementary decree, designed to give effect to the law of August 18, 1824, by establishing rules for the guidance of the territorial authorities in making grants of land, as also of petitioners who might desire to take advantage of the law s provisions. With some slight modifications, these regulations were in force down to the end of Mexican power in California, and in this decade a few grants seem to have been made in accordance with them. I reproduce the substance of the rules in a note.