320 The Winning of the West 



Americans the right of deposit ; and he made all his 

 preparations as if on the theory that New Orleans 

 was to become the centre of an aggressive military 

 government. 



His dislikes, however, were broad, and included 

 the Spaniards as well as the Americans. There was 

 much friction between him and the Spanish officials; 

 he complained bitterly to the home government of 

 the insolence and intrigues of the Spanish party. 

 He also portrayed in scathing terms the. gross cor- 

 ruption of the Spanish authorities. As to this cor- 

 ruption he was borne out by the American observers. 

 Almost every high Spanish official was guilty of 

 peculation at the expense of the government, and of 

 bribe-taking at the expense of the citizens. 



Nevertheless the Creoles were far from ill-satisfied 

 with Spanish rule. They were not accustomed to 

 self-government, and did not demand it; and they 

 cared very little for the fact that their superiors 

 made money improperly. If they paid due deference 

 to their lay and clerical rulers they were little in- 

 terfered with ; and they were in full accord with the 

 governing classes concerning most questions, both 

 of principle or lack of principle, and of prejudice. 

 The Creoles felt that they were protected, rather 

 than oppressed, by people -who shared their tastes, 

 and who did not interfere with the things they held 

 dear. On the whole they showed only a tepid joy 

 at the prospect of again becoming French citizens. 



Laussat soon discovered that they were to remain 

 French citizens for a very short time indeed; and 



