THE CHILIAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY.

IN 1886 Señor José Manuel Balmaceda, the present dictator of Chili, was elected president of the Republic for a term of five years. During the first two years of his government he followed the honorable traditions and practices of his predecessors, and his administration was regarded as satisfactory. It soon became apparent, however, that fraud and jobbery, until then unknown in Chilian administrations, were becoming every-day occurrences. It was also discovered that President Balmaceda had determined to designate his own successor. A well-filled treasury and the abundant revenues of the Republic proved too strong tempta tions for the man. He had obtained the highest gift which the nation could bestow; the Constitution did not permit his re-election and his political ambition was satisfied; his one ambition. now was to enrich himself. The nitrate beds of Tarapaca, owned by the government, presented the most promising field for speculation. If a rich syndicate could be formed to buy these beds and if a large amount could be distributed among the promoters of the scheme, his ambition would be satisfied, for he intended to be the chief promoter. In order, however, successfully to carry out this project a Congress favorable to its promotion was necessary, as well as a successor who could be depended on. He could not find a fitter instrument for the consummation of his plan than his confidential agent and broker Señor Enrique Sanfuentes, a man without political experience and with a reputation acquired in questionable transactions.

The candidacy of Señor Sanfuentes now became the one object of his administration. The vast official patronage was made use of to favor this man, and honest officials were dismissed in order to make way for those pledged to support him. The President endeavored to divide the Liberal party in order that the adherents of Sanfuentes might hold the balance of power. His

THE CHILIAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY. treachery and intrigues, however, were soon discovered, and the honest men of all parties united in an effort to put down this shameful intervention in electoral matters and to assure a free expression of the people's will in the designation of their candidates. An electoral bill, embodying the principles of the Australian ballot system, was introduced in Congress and passed both chambers; a municipal law, modelled after the New England town system, and calculated to give local independence to the districts, and to educate the people in the principles of selfgovernment, received the almost unanimous support of both houses. Such measures, however, were distasteful to the Presi dent, as they were obstacles to his criminal purposes.

In the beginning of the year 1890, the President, ignoring the parliamentary institutions of Chili, as established by the Constitution and observed during 58 years by 19 Congresses and by all previous administrations, taking advantage of the congressional recess, suddenly and without giving any explanation replaced the parliamentary cabinet by one composed of his own creatures. This was an attack on national institutions, for Chilian cabinets are of the English type; the ministers are appointed by the President without confirmation by the Senate, and having seats in Congress depend on a parliamentary majority for their existence. In many other ways the President deliberately violated the Constitution, usurping powers which that instru ment confers exclusively on Congress or upon the executive and Congress jointly. As soon as Congress met of its own right, in June 1890, both the Senate and the House, by overwhelming majorities, passed a vote of censure upon the Cabinet. The President, however, insisted on maintaining his ministry, claiming that henceforth he would observe the presidential rather than the parliamentary system of government. Congress, exercising a constitutional right, then refused to pass a bill authorizing the collection of taxes until the President should appoint a ministry of honest men. Public opinion was greatly aroused and the press of the whole country denounced the President's course. Disturbance of public order was imminent. Just then news came that the patriotic citizens of the Argentine Republic had deposed their tyrant, and Balmaceda, fearing a

like fate, was obliged to yield until such a time as he should consider himself strong enough for a successful coup d'état. He therefore called on Judge Prats of the Supreme Court to form a ministry.

Congress expressed itself as satisfied and abstaining, in the interest of harmony, from impeaching the guilty ministers, passed the tax bills and other administrative measures. This calmed the public mind. The President, however, had not abandoned his criminal designs, and two months later he obliged the ministry of Judge Prats to resign. He now dissolved Congress, which had just assembled in extraordinary session to vote, among other measures, those authorizing public expenditures and fixing the strength of the military and naval contingent for 1891, and named another personal ministry.

The danger of a disturbance of public order now again became imminent; numerous and vehement representations were addressed to the executive by the leading citizens of Chili, by public corporations, and by the press of the country, urging him to respect the Constitution and the will of the people; but all was unavailing. The Comision Conservadora, a committee composed of seven senators and seven representatives elected by their respective chambers to act during the recess of Congress, repeatedly called on Balmaceda to summon Congress, but he turned a deaf ear to all patriotic appeals.

By his refusal to summon Congress he rendered it impossible to carry on the government legally; for the Constitution provides that "only by virtue of a law is it permissible to fix annually the strength of the naval and land forces, and to fix annually the expenses of public government." Señor Balmaceda, disre garding these explicit provisions of our fundamental charter, on the 1st of January last issued a manifesto in which he proclaimed himself dictator; declaring that he had been obliged to violate the Constitution and that he would continue to violate it. He furthermore proclaimed:

"I count on the support of the army and navy, who know that I am their constitutional chief, and that they are essentially obedient forces that cannot deliberate."

It mattered not to him that our Constitution provides that no

magistrate or department of the government can, even under the pretext of extraordinary circumstances, arrogate to himself or to itself other powers than those expressly conferred.

The acts of the President were declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Chili. Congress, in view of them, exercising a constitutional prerogative, deposed him and called upon the people to aid them in putting down the revolutionary government of the Dictator. From the day in which the President closed Congress-the 5th of October-he began active preparations for his coup d'état. The police force was everywhere increased; the officers of the army were obliged to pledge their unconditional support, and in case of refusal were dismissed or imprisoned. Public assemblies were broken up by his police, who shot down the citizens; men of the highest standing were imprisoned without cause; the right of public meeting was taken away. But the people, accustomed to the enjoyment of tranquillity under the rule of honest presidents, did not believe that Balmaceda would dare to trample under foot the Constitution which he had sworn to respect; they did not believe that he would be guilty of high treason to the state.

His courtiers, by their flattery, had led him to believe that he enjoyed great popularity and deluded him into thinking that a coup d'état would not be attended by any disastrous consequences to himself. He believed that Congress would formally protest, and that there might be some slight disturbance of order, which could afford him the excuse that he so eagerly desired for assuming all public power and for banishing the leading men of the opposition. He felt that the rich men who opposed him would never consent to take up arms against his revolutionary government, because they had so much to lose. He did not suspect that a citizen of Chili could love his country; he did not believe that a Chilian could hate tyranny and oppression, or love. the constitution under which he had enjoyed the fullest measure of liberty. He seemed to think that personal interest and mercenary motives influenced all citizens as they influenced him.

The citizens of Chili, when called to the defence of their constitution, rallied to the support of Congress. The officers and men of the navy without exception offered their services.

Unfortunately the Chilian soldier is uneducated, by nature brave, but docile and subservient. The enlisted men of the army were bribed into supporting the Dictator. They obeyed the orders of hireling officers and everywhere prevented the unarmed citizens from rising in support of Congress. Yet all the leading generals and a large majority of the officers of the regular army are to-day fighting for their country's cause in the army that supports Congress, though the Dictator at once trebled the salaries of his soldiers and offered bribes to those who would desert the congressional side.

As soon as the navy declared against him, the Dictator published a decree assuming all public authority, and suspended all laws which might embarrass the exercise of his power. He suspended the newspapers and destroyed the presses. The Supreme Court set at liberty citizens who had been illegally imprisoned, but he refused to obey its mandates. It then declared his acts illegal and unconstitutional, whereupon he closed all the courts.

The property of members of Congress and leading citizens was in many cases pillaged and destroyed; that of others was confiscated. Judges, senators, and representatives were impris oned; ladies and gentlemen were subjected to torture and indignity. The London "Times," referring editorially to these atrocities, says:

"He has shrunk from no severity and no brutality in dealing with the upholders of constitutional rights. It is impossible to ignore accusations formally made from many different quarters. There is a body of evidence to show that, whatever be the constitutional aspects of the quarrel, it has been fought on Balmaceda's part with absolute unscrupulousness and unflinching cruelty."

In order to give his government some semblance of legality he abrogated the electoral laws, and the members of Congress were declared to be no longer in the exercise of their legislative function, although they still held, by constitutional right, the charge confided to them by the electors. He then ordered elections to be held for a so-called constituent assembly in order to reform the Constitution, which nobody but himself had violated.

It is absurd to suppose that, in a country governed by martial law, with no courts and no press, a lawful election can be