Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/239

Rh which Bustamante, (the historian of the Revolution, and himself a Deputy,) justifies, by saying that the salary was merely nominal, and that two thousand dollars were the utmost that any one hoped to receive. Be this as it may, it is certain that whatever could be construed into public property, either as taken from the enemy, or as the produce of fines paid by the different Haciendas, (in the nature of black mail,) became liable for the payment of these sums, whenever the Congress chose to determine that it should be so; and moreover, the assembly was so well aware of this fact, that it always endeavoured to get the management of the public purse out of the hands of the Military Commandants, in order to entrust it to Intendants of its own nomination. Unfortunately, the man selected for this office at Tehuacan, (Martinez) was particularly strict and unyielding, (Bustamante calls him cosquilloso, ticklish,) in every thing connected with his department; and contrived to involve himself, almost immediately, in a dispute with Tĕrān, by demanding possession of the money, and stores, which that general had, with infinite pains, succeeded in collecting. In this claim, Martinez was supported by the Congress, and Teran was thus reduced to become, de facto, a dependant upon the body, which had just thrown itself upon his protection, or to deny its authority altogether. He asserts, however, that he would have supported with patience, his share of the dead weight of the Congress, had any