Our Catlzolic Heritage in T ezas
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It was at this critical time that the interim government assumed con- trol. Its powers and duties were hurriedly outlined in the Ordinance of March 16, inspired, as the members of the Convention itself frankly admitted, by "the extreme emergency of the case," 31 It was to under- take the general direction of affairs until the new Constitution could be put into effect. The men elected in the small hours of March 17 were to hold office until their successors could be chosen by the people. They were prohibited from making laws and from performing judicial functions, but they were empowered to appoint all necessary civil, military, and naval officers during the period of emergency, to create a loan of not more than one million dollars, to appropriate public funds for the defense of the country, and to negotiate treaties with foreign powers. As the minutes slipped away and the delegates to the Conven- tion tried to finish their business, the proposal to grant the interim government the power to issue treasury notes and to establish a system of import and tonnage duties was approved. The officers of the Con- vention appear to have failed to sign the last resolution, because news of the approach of the enemy precipitated the dispersal of the as- sembly, and the conscientious new government considered itself un- authorized to act in these two important matters. The officers elected-all of whom were members of the Convention with the exception of Burnet-were hurriedly administered the oath of office at about four o'clock in the morning. This provisional gov- ernment was to continue exercising its powers until October 22, when the first constitutional government of the free, independent and sovereign Republic of Texas was inaugurated. Trying, indeed, for the newly-elected officers were the days pre- ceding the unexpected victory of San Jacinto. They endeavored to reassure the panic-stricken people and to stop their flight. Their cheer- inspiring proclamations failed to restore confidence in those who be- held the Government itself move successively from Washington to Harrisburg and from Harrisburg to Galveston Island. The interim government, born in the darkest hour of the Revolution, was destined, however, to see the dawn of a new era for Texas. The victory won at San Jacinto relieved the tremendous pressure under which they had been forced to work, but it also brought new problems that almost wrecked the government. Success is frequently more trying than adversity itself. The defeated Napoleon of the West proved to be almost as fateful to Bumet's Cabinet as the apple of 11 Gammel, o;. cit., I, 1053-1054.
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