Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/28

8 the war, and the amount of which was even unknown — which were already being pressed upon the treasury for settlement. Several other causes, which it is needless to enumerate, contributed to the embarrassments of the treasury.

Owing to these disturbances, added to which were the obstacles thrown in the path of the government by some state authorities, and the precarious state of foreign relations, it was almost impossible to restore the supremacy of law, and to develop the national resources. So many difficulties only served to add strength to the reactionists, whose numbers were daily increasing, and necessitated the despatch of large bodies of troops to keep them in check. It was even considered perilous that the government should continue residing in Mexico, Jalisco recommending its transfer to some second-rate town.

The liberal party was already divided into reformists and constitutionalists, and between the two was a third with intermediate ideas, some of whose members leaned to the fallen party. The constitutionalists wanted a strict observance of the constitution; the reformists demanded a revolutionary policy, looking upon the constitution as the source and motive power for the onward march. The objections of the radicals to an absolute-authority were only to its exercise by conservatives.

The elections took place in the mean time. The popular suffrage had, till the early part of February, favored Miguel Lerdo de Tejada in the states of Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Yucatan, Mexico, and Tamaulipas; while Chiapas, Oajaca, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, and Michoacan had voted for Juarez; and Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro, and