Ot1r C at/10/it; Heritage in Texas
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detailed opinion on all the questions raised. Galindo Navarro, the A sesor, believed that the repair and maintenance of the parish churches and priests' houses should be paid for out of the church treasury. However, if the revenue derived by the priests in charge of the new pueblos was not sufficient to take care of these essential obligations, a moderate sum for the necessary repairs might be taken each year from the fondos comu11es (community funds). The same source might be drawn from for the indispensable sums to purchase flour and wine for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, wax candles, and altar linens. But in the case of extensive repairs or the construction of additions to either the churches or the priests' quarters, neither should be undertaken without a special permit from the commandant general, authorizing the use of native labor for the purpose. Navarro completely ignored the question concerning the payment of pri- mary teachers and the construction of schools. Perhaps he thought that the parish priest was supposed to teach the children, and that since their number was small, the priest's house in each pueblo was adequate to take care of the children for some time without additional expense to the recently secularized natives. 31 The commandant general finally approved the recommendations of Navarro and issued a formal decree to that effect.u Attempt to sewre salaries for jt1sticias. On August 4, 1794, Governor Munoz, apparently following a suggestion previously made by the bishop of Nuevo Leon, recommended to the commandant general that the new justices, who were to have general supervision of the secularized Indians and to help them administer their temporalities, should be assigned a salary which would enable them to devote more time to this important office. He explained that he had given each one of them a plat of land equal to that assigned to each Indian family. Ever since the property had been allotted to the natives, they had shown diligence in attending to their own affairs, and the justices had been most zealous in the performance of their duties. But the governor expressed a fear that they might lose interest after the novelty of their office had worn off. He thought it would be advisable to determine the exact salary to be paid them out of the community funds of each pueblo, or to allow them 31 Galindo Navarro to Pedro Nava, May 10, 1793. Saltillo Archives, Vol. VI, pp. 220-225. "Pedro Nava to Manuel M,uiioz, May 24, 1794, Saltillo Archives, Vol. VI, PP· 228-229.
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