independent court in Focșani. Sturdza also served for a while as Chief of the Romanian Police section in Iași, retiring to a position on the board of Sfântul Spiridon Hospital. His split with C. A. Rosetti was rendered manifest after the election of March 1869, when he introduced a formal motion to have Rosetti sent to a mental hospital. During April, Sturdza presided a delegation which welcomed Carol as he visited Iași; on the occasion, the Domnitor visited with his mother Săftica. In January 1870 the Beizadea, backed by 65 Assembly deputies, presented a motion to grant Carol a gift of 300 thousand francs. As reported by opposition papers, this was in fact a disguised gift for the Domnitors wife, Elisabeth of Wied. In February, the anti-"Red" government coalition, headed by Golescu-Negru, reportedly considered reappointing him Prefect of Iași. The troubled year 1871 signaled Sturdza's political rise as the leader of an arch-conservative caucus. The defeat of conspiratorial "Reds" following incidents known as the "Republic of Ploiești" was consecrated in the May 1871 election. On April 18, Sturdza helped organize the conservative caucus in Iași, which met at his home; it included "about a hundred people", with his former enemy Epureanu as their leader. Addressing the gathering, the Beizadea outlined a plan for modifying the Constitution to solidify Carol's rule and ensure continuity. These ideas were also embraced by Epureanu and Iacob Negruzzi, who also spoke on the occasion—the latter's address was perceived by journalist as an endorsement of absolute monarchy. Speaking for the "Political Committee of Conservative Liberals", he publicized this "Iași Petition", which caused anger in liberal circles, and concern among some of the conservative "Whites", with its demands—including not just a reduction of voting power for the lower classes, but also colonization by Germans and the death penalty. In presenting the argument for the latter, Sturdza noted: "Under Prince Mihail Sturza, after they hanged a few robbers, personal security became absolute and there were no more cases of either robbery or murder." As noted by political scientist Apostol Stan, the document was in effect a program for "more or less a personal rule" by "White" Prime Minister Catargiu. This initiative also brought the first clashes between Sturdza and the cultural society Junimea, which was turning into a political faction, and which counted Negruzzi among its leaders. According to memoirist George Panu, at that stage Sturdza "never absented"