It
happened in many places that the peasants were the more numerous and
could therefore dispose of all the places in the administrative
committee. They were so informed. "No," was their answer; "we want one
or two members of the committee taken from among ourselves; they will
watch over our interests. As for defending them, as for action, the
nobles we name will do it better than we, for they are more learned than
we are." In one of the assemblies the nobles, moved by the tact and
moderation of the peasants, insisted and almost forced a peasant to
become president of the administrative committee of the district. When
the salary of the members of the committee had to be decided, the
peasants usually considered it too high for them, and, letting the
nobles and the merchants have it, got it diminished by one-half for
themselves.
All the district assemblies, after voting for the formation of the
administrative committee, named the deputies for the larger assembly in
the chief town in the province, which in its turn chose among its own
members the members for the provincial administrative committee.
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