THE GOVERNMENT. ] ;>.} 



every officer having the selection of the immediate subordinate* on whom ho ii to rely for the 



rx.Tiiti.in of his duty. Tin- I ntcii'lrnt.- must be native-born, or have obtaim-l l.-tt-n* of natu- 

 rali/ati.ui at Ira^t .six years before his appointim-nt . II. in responsible for the preservation of 

 public order ; the security of life and property; the prompt adiiiinihtration of justice; the legal 

 collect i. Hi ami disbursement of the public funds; the public entuhlishiucuts of education, charity, 

 or others ; the administrative conduct of every functionary serving the public within his province; 

 and, finally, for the punctual observance of the Constitution and of legal command* emanating 

 from the Mipivme executive power. His services are compensated with reasonable liberality. 



A ny one entitled to citizenship may be appointed Governor, Sub-delegate, or Inspector. These 

 are regarded as honorary offices, for which no salary is provided, and which no one can decline 

 under a heavy penalty, unless he is more than sixty years of age, or already holds some em- 

 ployment with which such duties are incompatible. And thus most of these posts are filled 

 by junior officers of the army, whose lineal rank is not prejudiced thereby. The Governor is 

 charged to pay the most careful attention that all the duties of a certain class exacted of the 

 Intendente be executed in his own department. He may arrest and imprison any one appar- 

 ently culpable (except members of Congress, who can only be seized flagrante delicti), provided 

 he file a charge with the proper judge within forty-eight hours. He may direct-a judge to exam- 

 ine any one accused, or prepare an indictment to try him, and require the judges to furnish him 

 from time to time with the state of every pending cause. For disrespect to himself, or disturb- 

 ance of the peace, he may impose fines not exceeding twenty-five dollars, or, in defect of payment, 

 imprison the offender for forty-eight hours. Especially intrusted with the preservation of order, 

 if he apprehend disturbance, he may close any place of public amusement or entertainment, can 

 at any time refuse permission for public spectacles or for the exercise of ambulant professions, 

 and may punish police functionaries who wilfully or negligently disobey orders relative to this 

 important matter, to the extent of one month's imprisonment. These are some of the arbitrary 

 powers confided : a specification of all the duties demanded and privileges accorded him fills ten 

 large octavo pages of the "Lei del Rejimen Interior," together with references to half as many 

 more of the same book, embraced in the prescription for the Intendente. 



Municipal affairs are intrusted to a board composed of Alcaldes and Regidores, elected by the 

 people, and presided over by the Governor, who is also authorized to preside at the corporate 

 meetings in any town within his department. These officers are required to have especial 

 regard to a sanitary police, and the promotion of education, agriculture, industry, and trade. 

 There will be occasion to show the distribution of their duties more particularly when treating 

 of the municipality of Santiago. 



Judicial power is administered by primary courts, three courts of appeal, and a supreme 

 court. The courts of appeal hold their sessions at Concepcion, Santiago, and La Serena. No 

 one can be tried by an ex post facto law, nor by any specially-constituted tribunal. Except in 

 cases flagrante delicto, no arrest can be executed the order for which does not emanate from proper 

 authority, and which must be named to the accused at the time ; but in the excepted cases, any 

 one is authorized to make arrests for the purpose of conveying the criminal before the appro- 

 priate judge. At entrance of the accused into prison, the keeper is directed to record the war- 

 rant of arrest on his book, or, if no such warrant has been issued, he must then present the 

 individual to the proper judge within twenty-four hours ; and a prisoner may require that a 

 copy of the order for his incarceration be sent to this magistrate at any instant. In criminal 

 causes the accused is not obliged to give evidence against himself; nor are his descendants, 

 husband or wife, or relatives, to the third degree of consanguinity and second of affinity in- 

 clusive, obliged to serve as prosecuting witnesses. Such at least is the verbal guaranty of the 

 Constitution, though nearly every trial proves that its working is somewhat different. The 

 following instance, that occurred within a few weeks of the time when this was penned, is a case 

 in point, and shows the course of law : 



A travelling peddler was overtaken on the banks of the Cachapual by three miscreants, who, 



