remont will undoubtedly take his
place in history below men now more obscure but more solid than he was.
His services and his ability were both great. If he, his friends, and
historians had been content to rest his fame on actualities, his
position would be high and honorable. The presumption of so much more
than the man actually did or was has the unfortunate effect of
minimizing his real accomplishment.

CHAPTER III

LAW--MILITARY AND CIVIL

The military conquest of California was now an accomplished fact. As
long as hostilities should continue in Mexico, California must remain
under a military government, and such control was at once inaugurated.
The questions to be dealt with, as may well be imagined, were delicate
in the extreme. In general the military Governors handled such questions
with tact and efficiency. This ability was especially true in the case
of Colonel Mason, who succeeded General Kearny. The understanding
displayed by this man in holding back the over-eager Americans on one
side, and in mollifying the sensitive Californians on the other, is
worthy of all admiration.

The Mexican laws were, in lack of any others, supposed to be enforced.
Under this system all trials, except of course those having to do with
military affairs, took place before officials called _alcades_, who
acknowledged no higher authority than the Governor himself, and enforced
the laws as autocrats. The new military Governors took over the old
system bodily and appointed new _alcaldes_ where it seemed necessary.
The new _alcaldes_ neither knew nor cared anything about the old Mexican
law and its provisions. This disregard cannot be wondered at, for even a
cursory examination of the legal forms convinces one that they were
meant more for the enormous leisure of the old times than for the
necessities of the new. In the place of Mexican law each _alcalde_
attempted to substitute his own sense of justice and what recollection
of common-law principles he might be able to summon. These common-law
principles were not technical in the modern sense of the word, nor were
there any printed or written statutes containing them. In this case they
were simply what could be recalled by non-technical men of the way in
which business had been conducted and disputes had been arranged back in
their old homes. But their main reliance was on their individual sense
of justice. As Hittell points out, even well-read lawyers who happened
to be