Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/282

262 branches. Commanders of forces and districts committed the most outrageous abuse of trust and power with a view to enrichment, either dividing the gains with those above them or relying on their knowledge of defects elsewhere to escape accusation. Incited by the spoil, those in authority, from the president down, sought to increase their share by appointing creatures of their own to positions of responsibility, irrespective of merit, and frequently under the most unjust circumstances, dismissing or retiring before the proper time able and experienced administrators, swelling the already disproportionate ranks of officers with improvised captains and colonels, and granting sinecures and allowances, while worthy servants and deserving widows cried aloud for the reduced or withheld pay and pensions due them. Under such mismanagement the country could not possibly advance, weighed as it already was with taxes in every conceivable form, and menaced at every moment with fresh forced loans. Capital sought to hide itself; trade languished; industries broke down under the additional infringement of protection by special decrees or patronized smuggling; agriculture suffered from the flight of laborers before the harsh enlistment and impressing regulations; and while in the north wild Indians spread desolation unhindered, the depressed state of affairs in the central and southern provinces added to the hordes of bandits infesting the roads.

Canalizo was again forced upon the senate for reelection as acting president, and relieved himself