For himself, Tacon paid no attention to the royal mandate which announced the reestablishment of the Constitution of 1812 and foreshadowed orders for election of deputies to the Cortes. Under the royal decree of 1825, which was still in force, Tacon had power to set aside any instructions which came from Spain, if it seemed to him to the best interests of Cuba. He did not hesitate to take advantage of this authority, which gave him the same rights as a Spanish governor over a city in a state of siege, allowed him to suspend any public functionary no matter what his rank, and to banish any resident of the island who opposed him, without trial, and even without the formal preferring of accusations, as well as to suspend any law or regulation emanating from Spain, should he see fit. Under Tacon's orders, a column of soldiers, picked from the Spanish army of occupation, and chosen--much against their will and inclination--from the rural and provincial militia and cavalry, was placed under the command of General Gascue, in the town of Guines. Meanwhile, Tacon's secret agents were carrying on an active propaganda among the citizens of Santiago de Cuba, and endeavoring to seduce public sentiment from Lorenzo's to Tacon's side. They did not hesitate to tell the most unblushing falsehoods, and to make the most dishonest promises to win the people over, and by such means attained some degree of success. If Tacon had had a different sort of opponent the story would have been written along very different lines. A strong commander of the large forces at Santiago de Cuba could easily have compelled him to withdraw from his position, and could have assured for Cuba greater freedom, and this course might in the long run at least have postponed her further efforts for separation from Spain. But General Lorenzo though well-meaning was fatally weak. Instead of resisting Tacon's tyranny he left Cuba for Spain, in an effort to make sure of the support of the Spanish crown, leaving Tacon to follow his own will, and to wreak his vengeance on those who had opposed him. Tacon was of course delighted with the success of his strategy. He sent some of the officers of his companies to Santiago and established a military commission to try all the people of prominence who under General Lorenzo had opposed him. Moya, the commandant, was the presiding judge, and Miret, a lawyer and a tool of Tacon's, acted as advocate. No greater travesty of justice has ever been staged than the proceedings of this precious body.