These disquieting occurrences made the Spanish government fear for the safety of Cuba and decided the court to give the island a governor more capable of coping with the eventuality of invasion. The Field Marshal D. Salvador de Muro y Salazar, Marques de Someruelos was appointed on the second of March, 1799, and ordered secretly and immediately to repair to the place of his destination. Accordingly there appeared in Havana on the thirteenth of May a distinguished stranger who delivered to the governor important messages from the court and proved to be no less than the new governor. Santa Clara immediately retired in favor of his successor and Someruelos entered upon the functions of his office. The Intendente Valiente was promoted to the position of Counselor of the Indies and his place was taken by D. Luis Viyuri. Colonel D. Sebastian de Kindelan was appointed to the governorship of Santiago. The administration of Someruelos beginning on the threshold of a new century, it seems meet to cast a backward look upon the condition of the island and the great changes which had taken place during the hundred years just closing. The great need for reform was urged upon the government immediately after the British occupation of Havana, which had opened the eyes of the authorities to mistakes made not only in the political and military, but especially in the economic management of the colony. Revenues had to be created in order to meet the increased expenses of the administration and defray the cost of much needed improvements. Hence upon the proposal of Count Ricla the king had ordered a thorough reorganization of the administration and especially of the treasury department. In the attempt of solving the problem of taxation, Spain had followed a suggestion of M. Choiseul, minister of foreign affairs in France, which was conceived with little knowledge of colonial conditions and legislation and hastily accepted by the supreme government. This change in the tax system then in force in the Indies produced great commotion in the island of Cuba and other Spanish possessions in America.