A watchful crown had provided its treasury officials with a number of formal means for exercising power. Of the four functions of nonecclesiastical government into which Spanish administrative correspondence was properly divided, we have so far concentrated on Hacienda, or the exchequer; the royal officials were also active in Capitania, Justicia, and Gobierno. They were importantly involved with the garrison; they were the judges in cases of the exchequer, and they were members of the city council. The proprietors of the treasury in St. Augustine were not powerless before the governor’s military role of captain general. They were able to exert influence on him in a number of ways: first, they were inactive officers of the garrison; second, one of them usually served as the military purchasing agent and collector of funds; finally, they were the official accountants, payroll officers, and stewards. When it came to dealing with the military, the royal officials were privileged and powerful. (Bushnell KC)