At no greater distance therefore than half a league from the ruins of Santiago, on the site occupied by the present Antigua Guatemala, the Spaniards once more laid out a city. The customary assignment of lots was made, town commons set apart, and the natives again made to toil in the erection of buildings for their oppressors.[XVIII‑33] Nevertheless the work did not progress with the rapidity which the authorities seem at first to have expected,[XVIII‑34] and though during 1542 some progress was made, even the house of the cabildo had not been completed in April 1543. The exact date of the formal removal of the municipality to the new city is not known,[XVIII‑35] but on the 10th of March 1543 a session was held there.[XVIII‑36] On the 12th of June following the host was transferred from the church of the ruined town in solemn procession, attended by the civil authorities, and all the people present in the city. At a session held on the 21st of May 1543 a decree was passed by the cabildo that the city should retain the title of the one destroyed,[XVIII‑37] and the notaries were ordered to use in all documents the heading Ciudad de Santiago and no other, under penalty of a fine of ten pesos de oro. This decree was publicly proclaimed on the 13th of June following.[XVIII‑38] * * * * * [Sidenote: ALONSO DE MALDONADO.] Meantime another change had taken place in the government. On the 2d of March 1542 the viceroy of New Spain appointed the oidor Alonso de Maldonado provisional ruler of Guatemala, pending instructions from the crown, and on the 17th of May following the new governor presented his commission to the cabildo and was placed in office the same day.[XVIII‑39] During the following year excitement prevailed in Guatemala owing to information having been received in October of the new code of laws and the establishment of the audiencia of the Confines. It was at once resolved to make an appeal to the throne, and on the 12th of the same month the cabildo met to appoint procurators to Spain. The opinion of the inhabitants having been taken,[XVIII‑40] a committee invested with power of electing representatives was appointed,[XVIII‑41] but it was unable to agree, and on the 29th of February 1544 Hernan Mendez presented a petition to the cabildo proposing that a mass meeting be held in the principal church in order that the general vote of the people might be taken.[XVIII‑42] Nevertheless considerable delay occurred, and it was not until the following August that the appointments were decided upon, when an examination of the votes showed that Hernan Mendez and Juan de Chavez were elected. The latter, however, declined to accept, and a still further delay was caused by Mendez insisting upon proceeding to Spain by way of Vera Cruz instead of through Puerto de Caballos. At length, on March 16, 1545, Mendez received his papers and instructions, and departed for Spain.[XVIII‑43] [Sidenote: INDIAN POLICY.]