Tlic Sec11larization of the Missions
47
The new administrative officers, the justicias (justices), were given all the powers formerly exercised by the missionaries in supervising the natives and in protecting their interests. The neophytes came to enjoy much less of the theoretical liberty and freedom so loudly proclaimed by the edict under the new guardians. The missionaries had a sincere interest in the welfare of their wards whom they could not help loving as their own children. The new officers entrusted with this duty lacked, and could never come to have such affection. The Spaniards in the vicinity of the missions had long awaited this opportunity to exploit the unwary neophytes. But let us return to the provisions of the edict. The justices were to watch carefully that the Indians were to be given a fair price for their products and goods, and that when they contracted to work as laborers for a specified wage, they were to be paid in cash as stipulated, without shortchanging them. But if the Indians were willing to receive a part of their wages in kind, the justices were to allow them their choice, and insist that the goods given them be of good quality and at the current market price. They were to see to it that no gamblers or peddlers entered the secularized pueblos, and that wine and liquor peddlers did not ply their trade among the natives. It was pointed out that the sale of intoxicants not only encouraged drunkenness but led to the sale of the Indians' products, cattle, and goods for ridiculously low prices. From the best and most fertile lands near the mission pueblos, eight suertes (plats), four hundred by two hundred varas each, were to be surveyed and set aside for the common use of the Indians, in which each might plant his corn in accord with the provisions of Law 31, Title 4, Book 6 of the Law of the Indies, ordered to be observed by Article 44 of the Ordinances of the Intendencies. Two or three addi- tional plats of the size indicated, or as many as might be deemed advisable, were at the same time to be surveyed and set aside to provide for the future needs of the Indian community. In addition to the communal lands for the benefit of each pueblo, similar plats were to be surveyed and assigned to each family. In the case of large families, if one plat was insufficient, two might be allowed. Each Indian was to receive title to the land assigned him, setting forth clearly the bounds and limits of his property. This service was to be per- formed free of cost in the name of the king. The Indians could not, for any reason, sell, alienate, dispose of, or mortgage in any manner the lands assigned them. Furthermore, the grant carried with it the
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