482 P. S. Reinsch The struggle thus begun came to a head during the administra- tion of Admiral Aube, in the years from 1879 to 1881. The council-general had become restive under the control of the naval governors. It felt its strength as a representative body and had discovered what power it could exercise by means of refusing money grants. By law of the state, ever since the organization of the general councils, the colonial expenses are divided into obliga- tory and facultative, the latter being fixed by the local assemblies ; as some important services are on the facultative list, the council is enabled to exercise great influence by a suppression of items in the budget. The home government defined its position through a letter' written by the Minister of the Marine and Colonies, Admiral Jaureguiberry, to Governor Aube on December 20, 1879. There the minister maintains that the council has no right to vote the suppression of employments or to diminish a credit for the salary of designated persons or for services organized by the ministry of the marine. Positions in these services are to be considered as guaranteed by a regular investiture. The general council refused to take this view of the case. It interpreted the word facultative liberally and held that, if it found a service superfluous or too ex- pensive, it had full power to reduce the credit therefor, regardless of the position of individual incumbents. In general matters of administration, the council showed itself unfavorable to the policy of internal improvements upheld by the governor. By imposing too strict a time-limit for a survey they defeated a railway project favored by him. They reduced the credits for the following services : roads and bridges, customs, regis- tration, veterinary aid and dry dock. The latter was the subject of particular discussion between the governor and council. On Oc- tober 26, 1880, the Minister of the Marine wrote to the governor calling his attention to the necessity of liberal credits for keeping up the dock, and deprecating the policy of retrenchment favored by the local assembly." Notwithstanding this appeal the council voted a reduction of fifteen thousand francs. Another matter of controversy was the protection of the imported Hindu laborers. Under the date of July 14, 1880, the British consul had addressed to the governor a long complaint concerning the inefficiency of the immigration service. He stated that his remonstrances had constantly met the objection that the general council had not voted the necessary funds for the protection of the immigrants and he threatened a withdrawal ' Cited in Aube, La Martinique, Paris, 1882, p. 99. This book is an account of Aube's administration, with documentary evidences. 2 Letter cited in Aube, La Martinique, p. 24.
