Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/727

Rh of exercising clemency toward men who merely wanted a chance to compass his destruction. And yet he actually pardoned many of the government's worst enemies; one of them was Osollo, at the request of Parrodi.

Comonfort had to overcome by his own authority all difficulties of a governmental nature that might present themselves till the new constitution went into operation, and a constitutional régime was installed. Some had wanted the new code to be enforced at once; others wished the dictatorship continued till after the elections; and there were not wanting those who suggested the organization of a provisional government. Congress, however, resolved that the plan of Ayutla, and the government it created with Comonfort at its head, should prevail until a president and congress were constitutionally chosen. The enemies of the executive, on assertions and comments of the press in the United States, accused him of having solicited an alliance with that nation, which virtually would be a protectorate over Mexico. The liberal press with indignation rejected the reports, which, though purely sensational, served to give weight to the slanderous charges of the reaction. It is true that a treaty was concluded with the American minister for pecuniary assistance, to be repaid, which treaty was not ratified by the senate of the United States, and therefore was void.

The scarcity of resources, an old affliction, was one of the most serious troubles the government contended with; for it had to pay the sums agreed upon in the English convention, and with a much diminished revenue to meet the obligations contracted both by the former administration and by the revolution of Ayutla. Added to all that were the complaints heard on all