In a word, the influence of the archbishop was sufficient to keep the audiencia from undertaking a formal investigation of the causes of the governor's death. It was quite generally recognized that the murder had been committed in the interests of the prelate, probably by an assassin who had been in his pay, or in that of his friends, the Jesuits. This is another illustration of the subserviency of the audiencia to the governing power, on this occasion a churchman, who had actively participated in the removal of his predecessor. An interesting though ineffective protest was made by the audiencia against the appointment of José Basco y Vargas as Governor of the Philippines in 1778. A communication was sent to the court describing the abject state into which the king had degraded the audiencia by subordinating it to a man whose title and rank as Captain of Frigate gave him only the right to be addressed as You, while each of the magistrates enjoyed the title of Lordship. The Council rejected the complaint as an absurdity, after which certain oidores conspired to bring charges against Basco y Vargas, to arrest him and to make Sarrio governor. The latter had been ad interim governor after the death of Anda, and he was at that time the beneficiary of the title and position of segundo cabo, or second in command of the king's forces in the Islands. Sarrio refused to join the magistrates in their revolt against the governor. Basco y Vargas was informed of their treason, and it is significant that he complied with the royal laws, not by attempting to punish the offenders himself, but by sending the recalcitrant magistrates to Spain where they were dealt with by the Council of the Indies. [550] This was only a prelude to the discord which existed throughout the administration of this able governor. The king was obliged to issue special cédulas on various occasions, ordering a cessation of the perpetual discord. [551] Basco y Vargas formed a society for the advancement of the economic interests of the Islands, [552] and in that, as well as in his successful organization of the profitable tobacco monopoly, he was opposed by the audiencia. The tribunal claimed that the governor was limiting its sphere of authority in inaugurating these reforms. [553] Basco y Vargas recommended and brought about the separation of the superintendency of real hacienda from the rest of the government. This the audiencia also opposed, but in the contest over jurisdiction which ensued between the governor and the intendant, the governor and the audiencia acted in complete harmony, because this new official threatened their mutual interests and prerogatives. [554]