Durán's substantial neophyte-property treatise (the reply Doc 157 answered): defends the padres (fault mere 'sorpresa é inadvertencia'), then argues the mission goods 'son propiedad legal de los Neófitos' — the Indians 'los han sudado, los han criado con sus propios brazos' — so the government has no more right to requisition them than any private person's property; the missionaries are mere 'tutores' of the neophyte communities (their goods like a *menor*'s, regulable but not seizable). Clinches it by quoting the Supreme Government's own 19 Oct 1831 decision (re: the S. Luis Obispo síndico Martiarena) that 'los bienes de las Misiones… no deben ser tenidos por bienes de la Hacienda pública'; auxilios are owed only by 'necesidad urgente,' not 'rigorosa de justicia' — though in practice the missions never refused, often under threats. ⚠ also indicts Híjar's mismanagement (50,000 p of needless salaries 'sobre las propiedades de los mismos indios')
| Date | 1836-06-15 (exact) |
|---|---|
| From | Fr. Narciso Durán (Santa Bárbara) |
| To | Col. Mariano Chico |
| Series | State Papers, Missions and Colonization |
| Tomo | II |
| Original tomo page | p.374–383 (Sav. pp. 635–8) |
| Savage copy page | 293–302 |
| Scan leaf | n292–301 |
| Document type | abstract (treatise) |
| Source | Savage abstract |
Read this leaf on the Internet Archive ↗ · leaf n292–301
Fr. Narciso Durán (Santa Bárbara) to Col. Mariano Chico, 1836-06-15, State Papers, Missions and Colonization, II, p.374–383 (Sav. pp. 635–8), Archives of California, C-A 53, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Cite the document by series, tomo and original tomo page, as the literature does; the C-A number locates it in the repository. To cite this catalogue entry itself, use https://archivesofcalifornia.com/record/ca53/ca53-d168.html