But Arango saw as clearly as Las Casas had seen that Cuba to show progress must have facilities for uplift, and for the improvement of the mental and moral status of the inhabitants. He accordingly started a movement which resulted in the formation of the "Junta de Fomento," or Society for Improvement, which was long a power for good in the island, until later the Spanish Captains-General saw in it a means to further their own designs, and it became an instrument for oppression. Its object was avowedly to protect and to promote the progress of agriculture and commerce. The formation of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce was another benefit which Arango conferred upon Cuba. For a long time he was the Syndic of the Chamber of Commerce. There were certain perquisites of this office which Arango steadily refused to accept, and he also declined the salary which the office carried with it. In all his long and useful life he never accepted remuneration in any office which he held under the Cuban government. Now the real power at the court of Spain at this time was the infamous Godoy, the personal favorite of the king and the queen's lover; who seemed to be so firmly entrenched that no one would dare to oppose him. This creature turned greedy eyes toward Cuba. It was quite the fashion of those times for Spanish courtiers to consider Cuba as a source of revenue to bolster up their own fortunes. So Godoy claimed to be protector of the Chamber of Commerce, and demanded that the receipts of the custom house at Havana be turned over to him. He immediately met with the opposition of Arango, who bitterly opposed his every move and stood firmly against his plans for mulcting Cuba; in which conflict it is a pleasure to relate that for once virtue was triumphant. Godoy was unable to carry out his designs, and Arango was not only victor but he gained a still further point for Cuba, the relinquishment of the royal monopoly of tobacco. There is another curious and interesting phase of this matter, which speaks highly for the remarkably forceful personality of Arango. Although he at all times stood firmly as the inflexible opponent of any schemes which the court at Madrid might father for the oppression of Cuba, he was always an object of respect and esteem in high political circles in Spain, and he was offered a title of nobility. Possibly he looked upon this as a bribe. At any rate he declined it. However, when the Cross of the Order of Charles III. was offered him he accepted the decoration.