! University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan

ecame governor. In his many decrees and petitions to the
senate, Rabasa greatly extended the power of the governor to
be able to make administrative decisions.'' To fulfill his
promise that it was possible to govern with honesty and
efficacy, he began a revision of many of the existing norms.
By reorganizing the Public Treasury, he was able to combat
waste and excessive bureaucracy; for financial stability, he
created the General State Treasury and named a Secretary of
the Treasury. In a decree of September 8, 1892, he outlined
the exact steps that needed to be followed by each member
of the various departments so as to carry out their position
honestly and effectively,^ which reformation produced a
$28,000 peso surplus in the first year of operation.
Though this year as governor won almost unanimous
praise from the people in Chiapas, Rabasa did succeed in
alienating one group of citizens in San Cristobal las Casas,
for on August 9» 1892, he received permission from the Con­
gress to change the capital city from San Cristobal to
•7
Tuxtla Gutierrez. Rabasa thought this was necessary for
two reasons: first, it was in the center of the state and
^Secretaria del Gobierno de Chiapas, Decretos :
1892-189^ (February 26, 1892), 1.
^Victor Lievano, Codigo de las leyes de hacienda
del Estado (Tuxtla Gutierrez, 1919) » 169•
tj Secretarxa. . . Chiapas, Decretos (August 9j 1892),
1.