The attitude of the first Viceroy who administered the new Intendant system was one of scepticism. Viceroy Flores, previously Viceroy of New Granada, where the system was never tried, questioned the practicability and usefulness of the reform. We have already seen his caution over Articles 127–40 of the Ordinance of Intendants, and his reluctance to attempt any of the changes prescribed by them. His fear of disturbing the traditional routine of affairs led him to veto a plan for the assignation of salaries to the Subdelegates. His reason was that the Royal Treasury was already sufficiently burdened with the salaries of the Intendants. Summarising his experience in the government of New Spain, Flores informed his successor, Revillagigedo the Younger, that, ‘so far from seeing up to now these beneficial effects (as a result of the establishment of the Intendancies), complaints are heard foretelling the final ruin of the Kingdom, and the forthcoming collapse of the Royal revenues, unless it is brought back to its previous system of government by its ancient laws, collections of regulations, and municipal statutes’.

Revillagigedo, however, tended to think that the reform should be allowed time to recover from its early difficulties. For, he believed that the Intendancies would eventually become one of the main instruments in resolving New Spain's most pressing administrative and economic problems. In that spirit, he issued two Superior Orders of 24 November 1790, requiring strict compliance with the prohibition of the repartimiento contained in article 12.