As Clinch well puts it: "The converts raised seven eighths of the farm produce;--the Missions had gathered two hundred thousand bushels in a single harvest.

All manufacturing in the province--weaving, tanning, leather-work, flour-mills, soap-making--was carried on exclusively by the pupils of the Franciscans.

It was more than doubtful whether they could be got to work under any other management, and a sudden cessation of labor might ruin the whole territory." Something must be done, so, after consultation with some of the more advanced of the padres, the governor issued a proclamation July 25, 1826, announcing to the Indians that those who desired to leave the Missions might do so, provided they had been Christians from childhood, or for fifteen years, were married, or at least not minors, and had some means of gaining a livelihood.

The Indians must apply to the commandant at the presidio, who, after obtaining from the padre a report, was to issue a written permit entitling the neophyte and his family to go where they chose, their names being erased from the Mission register.

The result of this might readily be foreseen.