SALABLE OFFICES.
Taxation was a ground of grievance, and the complaints raised by the citizens of Santiago eventually caused a reduction of an impost, which during the years 1614 to 1626 more than doubled itself,[XXXV‑17] and was doubtless offensive. Another cause for dissatisfaction was the patronage which appertained respectively to the crown, the audiencia, and the cabildo. To the crown belonged the appointment of the president and five oidores,[XXXV‑18] ninety-two judicial and military officers, one fiscal with the same salary as that of an oidor, a contador and treasurer,[XXXV‑19] and various other minor officials. At the disposal of the president were nearly one hundred salaried appointments: namely, those of the corregidores, to the number of about fifteen, including the corregidores of Nicaragua and Honduras;[XXXV‑20] that of the alcalde mayor of San Tomás de Castilla, and other patronage.
The audiencia disposed of the offices of the alguacil mayor, the receiver and treasurer of fines and court fees, two escribanos and chief secretaries of the audiencia, the assessor of taxes and six receivers, the secretary of the court of estate pertaining to interstates, and several other positions. All these offices were salable.[XXXV‑21] The positions of all officers of the municipality were also open to purchase.[XXXV‑22] With regard to the patronage of the cabildo, it was much more limited, and naturally confined to appointments within the city limits.[XXXV‑23] Under such a system of patronage and sale of public offices, it was but natural that important positions were frequently held by incompetent favorites or by exacting officials. Hence arose repeatedly disputes and discord between the cabildo and people on the one side, and the audiencia and royal officers on the other.
Nor were the colonists exempt from calamities caused by pestilence and natural phenomena. In 1601 an epidemic carried off great numbers with startling rapidity, and the years 1607, 1621, 1640, and 1651 were signalized by fearful earthquakes which caused great loss of life.[XXXV‑24] In 1686 a pestilence decimated the population. The peculiarity of this epidemic was that the robust and healthy fell victims to it more readily than the weak and sickly. This calamity was followed in 1687 by a violent earthquake which caused great destruction to churches and houses, and a loss of over three hundred lives. A similar disaster equally destructive occurred in 1689.[XXXV‑25]
DIVERS ADMINISTRATIONS.
In May 1654 Fernando Altamirano, Conde Santiago de Calimaya, took possession[XXXV‑26] of the presidency of Guatemala. His rule was made notorious by the sanguinary quarrels of the Medenillas and Carrazas, in which implacable family feuds most of the nobles of Guatemala became involved, and the president unfortunately took part.[XXXV‑27] He died in 1657; and during the administration of his successor, Martin Cárlos de Mencos, formerly commander of the galleons, the audiencia was engaged in frequent disputes relative to privileges and jurisdiction.[XXXV‑28]
The ayuntamiento was at this time a much more powerful corporation than formerly, owing to the greatly increased number of its members, and the marked favors bestowed upon it by various sovereigns of Spain during this century. In the valley of Guatemala it had civil and criminal jurisdiction over no less than seventy-seven villages, a prerogative repeatedly confirmed by royal cédulas.[XXXV‑29] Questions of precedence, however, had for the time to give place to that of self-defence owing to the presence of freebooters on the northern coast. The fortifications of San Felipe on the Golfo Dulce had been begun in March 1651, and although in the following year the oidor Lopez de Solis objected to further expenditure without direct permission of the crown, the oidor Lara Mogrobejo, the fiscal Esquivel, and the royal officers Santiago and Sotomayor proved their right to use certain sums originally assigned for the defence of Trujillo and Santo Tomás, and the fortifications of San Felipe were completed in 1663.
In 1667, Mencos' term of office having expired, he returned to Spain, and in the same year the new president, Sebastian Álvarez Alfonso Rosica de Caldas, arrived.[XXXV‑30] Caldas advocated with enthusiasm the already projected conquest of the Lacandon country, which will be described later, and in a letter to the king offered to effect its subjugation at his own expense, on condition that it be called after his own name.[XXXV‑31] This proposal led to no result so far as the president was concerned, but its publication[XXXV‑32] stimulated inquiry and ultimately caused the opening of a road between Yucatan and Guatemala.
The administration of Caldas was warmly approved by the cabildo, and in an important question regarding authority the members espoused his cause. The fiscal, Pedro de Miranda Santillan, being accused of barratry, the president not only suspended him, but caused him to be imprisoned in San Felipe.[XXXV‑33] The king disapproved of this high-handed measure touching one of the officers of the crown, and to make matters worse the fiscal died in prison on the 9th of October 1669. Before hearing of the decease of Santillan his Majesty had, by cédula dated May 6, 1670, appointed him an oidor of the audiencia, and by another cédula of the same date Bishop Juan de Santa María Saenz Mañosca was appointed visitador and president. A tedious investigation followed, but before it was concluded Caldas died.[XXXV‑34]
The new president was noted for extreme punctiliousness in questions of etiquette. On one occasion being on foot an oidor drove by without stopping his carriage as a mark of respect, for which dereliction the president fined him two hundred pesos. At another time an oidor gave offence by making great display with his carriage and four horses, attended by two outriders. A decree was forthwith published, prohibiting a repetition of such ostentation by any one except the bishop.