The system used to govern the colony was not intricate. Thinly populated and unproductive, Florida was not worth large expenditures of money and personnel. It was more practical and cheaper to keep administrative machinery simple. The governor was by far the most significant provincial official. Dominating the entire colony, he dealt almost singlehandedly with the multitude of problems arising in his province. His two principal assistants, the accountant (contador) and treasurer (tesorero), had only limited powers. They kept accounts of the subsidy, made disbursements to the garrison, inspected supplies stored in the royal warehouses, and occasionally advised the governor on colonial problems. Sometimes colonial military and religious leaders joined the two treasury officials to form a temporary advisory council (junta), but otherwise no other Spanish governmental institutions took hold. Even the familiar and fundamental town council (cabildo) failed to become a part of the political machinery of the province. [Note: During the early years of the Florida settlement, Menendez established a cabildo as an aid in governing the colony, but after the exodus of 1570 the cabildo dissolved and was never reconstituted.] Throughout the colonial epoch the governor remained the key to policies and politics in frontier Florida. (Tepaske GSF)