to end the cantonal rebellion can also be seen in the instructions given to Republican General Ripoll, leading an army consisting of 1677 infantry, 357 horses and 16 pieces of artillery, from a base of operations in Córdoba: On 14 July a debate took place in the Cortes at the proposal of the deputy for Cartagena, a federal Republican of the "moderate" sector, who after stating that "I have always been on the side of the policy represented by Mr. Pi y Margall" accused him of having crossed his arms – "A great way to make order!" he said – to which Pi replied that "the Government has not had weaknesses, what is lacking are material means". The next day Pi y Margall asked the Cortes to quickly discuss and approve the new Constitution to stop the continuation of the cantonal rebellion. Two days later, on 17 July, the Spanish Draft Constitution of 1873 had been written by Emilio Castelar, but three "Intransigent" members of the Constitutional Commission presented an alternative draft. In this climate of division Pi y Margall tried to form a new government that grouped all the sectors of the Chamber together. For this he asked for a vote of confidence, but he obtained the support of only 93 deputies, compared to 119 that the "moderate" Nicolás Salmerón obtained. What had happened was that since Pi y Margall's policy of persuasion and repression had failed to stop the cantonal rebellion, the "moderate" sector had withdrawn its support by voting in favor of Nicolás Salmerón. The next day Pi y Margall resigned after 37 days of office. On the same day of his resignation, 18 July, the "intransigent" deputy Casalduero intervened. He accused Pi y Margall of having betrayed the ideas that he had defended until then – the construction of the Federation from the bottom up – and that he had been swept away by the "moderate" sector that advocated repression. A month and a half after having resigned, and when the Cortes were about to be suspended at the proposal of the new president Emilio Castelar, Pi y Margall explained to the House why at that time he had defended the federal construction from the top-down, and not from bottom-up as he had always advocated: The government of Nicolas Salmeron and the repression of the cantonal movement Nicolás Salmerón, elected President of the Executive Power with