The Intendant holds a place of great trust: he is the superior magistrate, and his duty is to administer justice, and to see that the laws peculiar to the district are duly executed. He is of course president of the assembly, or juncta, and calls meetings whenever he thinks proper; he disposes of the military force of the district, orders roads to be made or stopped, and stations guards on them to examine travellers, and to detain suspicious persons. He has also the privilege of giving or refusing permission for persons to enter the district, or settle in it; and every one, however high in rank and property, who passes thither is supposed to have the Intendant’s express concurrence, which, as a matter of form, is sometimes dispensed with. He appoints officers, signs all papers, receives all reports that are made, and acts accordingly. To him solely the treasury is entrusted for the payment of the salaries of the officers, the negroes’ wages, tradesmen’s bills, and every incidental expense attending the establishment. He issues paper-money, and withdraws it from circulation whenever he thinks proper; for all which he is responsible to Government alone, and may be said to be almost absolute in his office.
In addition to these important functions, the present Intendant has assumed the whole direction and regulation of the mining concern, which none of his predecessors ever practically interfered with, it being the peculiar province of the Administrator-general. For this undertaking he is equally qualified by the superiority of his talents, and by the extent of his acquirements: he studied mineralogy many years under the celebrated Werner, by whom he was considered as one of his most enlightened disciples; afterwards he travelled through Hungary, and all the most interesting German states; and, lastly, made the tour of England and Scotland, where he resided two years.
The Administrator-general, to whom belong the management and direction of the works, ought to be equally experienced in mining and mechanics, particularly in hydraulics: he should be a man of general information, combined with great practical knowledge, relative to the locality of the district, so as to be able to ascertain the real value of every situation, and to direct the operations accordingly. He should have a mind fertile in resources, and prepared to meet every disappointment or casualty that can possibly occur, that the time of the negroes may not be employed in vain; he should also facilitate their labors by the introduction of machinery, and should be particularly attentive to their good treatment, since on them his success, and consequently his reputation, must in a great measure depend.