Date published: 1964-01-01
Source:
The Governorship of Spanish Florida (ID122)Author: TePaske, John J. (ID86)
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Race described: Spanish
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Content id: 4686
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1740-02-16 - 1740-02-16
Montiano's treasury officials had to replace those lost by their dead predecessors
Blaming Moral for the disappearance of the 12,000 pesos did not satisfy the Council. Moral had only signed the warrants releasing the money and supplies. His treasurer and accountant had issued the goods and specie and were responsible for keeping account of the expenditures. This made the treasury officials equally culpable. At this juncture, however, it was not feasible to indict them for negligence. Moral’s treasurer, Salvador Garcia de Villegas, and his accountant, Francisco Menendez Marques, were dead. Their successors, Juan Esteban de Pena and Francisco de Castilla, could hardly be held responsible. [Note 80: FL royal officials to king 4/18/1742] Still, the Council hoped to prevent a recurrence of such behavior. On February 16, 1740, it ordered Montiano and his two treasury officials to replace the 12,000 pesos from the first situado reaching the Florida capital. It also commanded the governor and his two aides to return to the three-key system of withdrawing specie from the Saint Augustine treasury. When public money was withdrawn, all three had to be present. No money could be extracted without full knowledge of all three; each bore equal responsibility for all expenditures. [Note 81: Consejo 2/16/1740]
(Tepaske GSF)
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