Issuing this declaration on the first day of the Polkos Revolt, General Matías de la Peña y Barragán laid out the causes of the revolt and the rebels' demands. A moderate, Peña y Barragán reaffirmed his support of the Constitution of 1824 and the so-called August Movement that had overthrown the conservative regime of Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga six months earlier. He opposed, however, the radical puro measures taken by acting president Gómez Farías, specifically the law of January 11, which allowed the state to expropriate 15 million pesos from the Catholic Church to help pay for the war with the United States.
[From the newspaper "El Republicano." (February 27, 1847)]
PLAN FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE TRUE FEDERATIVE PRINCIPLES.
Proclaimed by the garrison and the National Guard of this capital.
Agitated as the Mexican nation has been for many years due to several political storms that have brought it close to the danger of collapse, none of the vicissitudes it has suffered has put its nationality and existence in more danger than the Revolution consummated in San Luis Potosí. Roused from its lethargy into which it disappeared by such an inconceivable movement, the Mexican nation merely had to raise its majestic brow to annihilate any liberticidal plan. The events of last August, the ease with which they were carried out and the enthusiasm with which all classes cooperated in them, confirms that truth unequivocally; but only then did anyone try to shake off the yoke to which the people were to be tied, try to remedy the most urgent of evils, and to extirpate the cancer that was soon going to consume this homeland, so worthy of a better fate. As a result it was not possible to take the precautions necessary to avoid radical measures, nor prevent the helm of the State from falling into inept hands, incapable of saving the Republic from the immense difficulties caused by past mistakes; the war to the death declared by a resourceful neighboring power, the extreme shortage and poverty of the public funds, the abandonment of our borders, the depredations of the savages, the internal divisions which intensify day by day, the poor understanding of the principles of freedom and order, the disorganization of all the administrative branches, the greatest internal confusion and the most complete disrepute abroad, all were obstacles that were supposed to be fought by the supreme powers that should have arisen from the August Revolution, and soon was not able to defeat the interim administration that established itself by force to carry it out. The revolution has the glory of having reestablished the federal system, so desired by all the people, and this system should invariably govern their destinies; but unfortunately the Republic's situation has not improved, and it seems that a hidden and invincible force is dragging it towards its ruin, which will be certain if the efforts of those who are good are not mustered to prevent it.
The majority of congress and the executive elected by virtue of the unconstitutional decree of the 21st of December, which has already been appealed by the legislatures, have feigned ignorance of the essence and true spirit of the August Movement. The first has contradicted it by proceeding to the nomination of president and vice-president of the Republic, who as interims should be the result of the legislatures' free election, so that the full development of the federative principle could be seen; but this has not been the only blow intended to violate that program. Congress itself, or its majority, made up of men blinded by vanity, has followed the most twisted and indiscrete path imaginable. The war that Mexico finds itself obligated to sustain, certainly demands swift, effective and decisive action; and instead of our representatives turning to other sources to resolve it swiftly, instead of uniting and nurturing the public spirit, instead of making use of the ecclesiastic fund, without violating the equity and rights of a class of the State, they have closed their eyes to all considerations, abusing the principles that govern private and corporate property, have not wanted to see the connections between the clergy's wealth and that of other classes, have not appreciated the observations that have brought the matter to light, and proved conclusively that the January 11th Law would only succeed in creating the worst of all discords, which is the one that relates to religious principles, and worst of all, that the intended profits would never materialize, leaving our honorable army to perish without glory in an immense desert.
Yet these evils, the very idea of which makes even lesser minds shudder, and especially the depraved nomination of the acting chief executive, would be bearable if this important power, which is like the soul of the Nation, had been entrusted, in the event of general Santa-Anna's absence, to skilled and able hands which, although they could not save it from a shipwreck, had at least allowed a glimmer of life and good fortune to shine; but it has not been so: the State's reins have in fact been entrusted to a man incapable of taking them: his whim and overweening vanity is the only guide to his actions: he has surrounded himself with the most contemptible and despicable people, by the scum of every faction, and his cabinet, undermined by the lack of prestige of its members, so much so that even those who are dying to get these positions refuse to fill them, presents an image of a corpse that arouses both pity and fear. Public distrust has reached its limit: the paralysis of all businesses is altogether complete; and as an inevitable consequence, misery and desperation are only the first part of this horrible but certain equation.
The level of imbecility with which the foreigner views us increases daily, and with disdain he would have us disappear from the face of the earth as our fate warrants. What has the executive branch done to save us? Absolutely nothing. What has the general congress done, other than undermine the sovereignty of the States by uselessly decreeing what was their responsibility to decree? What safeguards have those powers implemented to resolve the difficulties that should be forcefully dealt with as soon as they arise? Let the state of near social dissolution in which the Republic finds itself answer the question; and under such circumstances, before this dissolution takes place, it is its duty and its right to find the means to save it from a complete ignominious ruin. It is inevitable, then, that some reforms be introduced which, while leaving the system intact, will change the personnel of the acting representatives, and guide it towards a safe harbor. Therefore, this capital's troops, the National Guard and its long-suffering residents, in accordance with the sentiments they have perceived from every quarter of the Republic, have decided to uphold the following principles, which they believe is the key to its future tranquility:
Article 1. Henceforth the general legislative and executive powers in office shall cease their duties, having become undeserving of the Nation's trust.
Art. 2. This cessation does not affect in any way the existing Constitution of October 4, 1824 which the nation has adopted, nor the organization of the States and the continuation of their present powers; but if, and this is not expected, any legislature opposes this plan, it shall be revised, followed by having new elections in complete accordance with the State constitution.
Art. 3. Temporarily and while the State legislatures proceed towards the election for president and vice-president of the republic, the federal executive power shall be carried out by the Chief Justice, in accordance with Articles 97 and 98 of the Constitution.
Art. 4. The lack of a Governing Council shall be made up for by a supplemental one, composed of some other individuals, as many as there are States of the federation today, and they shall be nominated the day after this plan goes into effect, by the Supreme Court, and they should be native to or a neighbor of the state they represent, and meet the rest of the requirements the Constitution calls for to be senator.
Art. 5. The provisional council shall be installed three days after its nomination, and will immediately elect the two colleagues that shall join the Chief Justice to carry out the supreme executive power. Their powers shall be those that the constitution concedes to the Governing Council, as well as granting or denying its consent to draft laws that the government presents to them as very urgent or necessary, only pertaining to the War and Finance departments.
Art. 6. Fifteen days after the government has been established according to this plan, it shall designate the days on which the election of deputies to the general congress will occur with an amendment to the official announcement of December, 1841, inasmuch as it does not contradict the Federal Constitution of 1824, nor the present plan.
Art.7. Eight days after the election of representatives to the general congress, the State legislatures shall proceed to elect senators, in accordance with the Constitution of [18]24.
Art. 8. The seating of both houses will go into effect four months after the elections, and the general congress will designate the day after its installation the date on which the legislatures shall hold the election for president and vice-president of the Republic, as well as the day in which these officials will take ownership of their positions, abbreviating the terms as much as possible.
Art. 9. The general congress will preferably be in charge of revising the federal constitution. The reforms can be made at any time, and in the laws that come out of this matter, everything expected regarding the formation of common laws shall be observed, with the only difference being that for reform voting, two thirds of the votes from both houses are required. The executive branch shall not comment on any reform.
Art. 10. The interim constitutional executive that is put into power by art. 3 of the present plan, will have all the necessary authority to carry out the current war, and in all other matters will act in accordance with the constitution and laws in effect.
Art. 11. When the houses are seated, until the legislative election of president and vice-president, the interim executive shall not have any other authority or power, than that conceded by the Constitution of 1824 to the one that holds this position.
Art. 12. The decrees referring to the seizure of mortmain assets shall not go into effect, nor shall the one that authorized the government to raise an additional five million pesos.
Art. 13. The interim President of the Republic, national hero of the homeland, Major General Sr. Antonio López de Santa-Anna is recognized as General-in-Chief of the Mexican army.
Mexico, February 27, 1847.--General-in-Chief, MATÍAS DE LA PEÑA BARRAGÁN.--Below are the signatures of all the Chiefs of the garrison.
