When Gómez seized power in 1908 his underlying objectives were to bring peace and work to Venezuela. By engineering his political supremacy he managed to secure peace, but the latter objective would be ensured only by laying the foundation for a stronger and more modern economy. One of the first measures he took was the improvement of the health and sanitation conditions of the country. In addition, education was stimulated and reorganized under the 1912 Código de Instructión. From the fiscal chaos under Castro the National Treasury was also restructured, a process which culminated in 1918 with the enactment of the first Ley Orgánica de la Hacienda Nacional. At the same time Gómez strengthened his own position by establishing in 1910 the Inspectoría General del Ejército, ‘so that the army would be under constant and operational supervision’, and also the Military and Naval Academies. However, the greatest change which occurred in these initial years resulted from the stimulus given to road construction. The country's transport system, as Gómez had witnessed during his past military campaigns, was in an appalling state; roads were almost non-existent, and the easiest and fastest form of travel was by sea, or by the small rail network where it existed. Consequently, in order to knit the country together, and thus bring greater unity and prosperity, on 24 June 1910 Gómez initiated a massive programme of road building and repair work, with half the Ministry of Public Works' annual budget devoted to the building of new roads.