TUB PRKSIDENTIAL ELECTION IN It&l. 



their friends whenever an attempt was made by them to address the Chamber. Indeed the mob 

 had complete OOOtrol, and p...sitivel\ refused tu quit the building; so that the president found it 

 nece.s MYerl 'lays, to adjourn tin.- .sitting. iVn-eivin^ that order could not be pre- 



>l in uiiy .'tlier manner, eaeh deputy received, for distribution, five ticket*, without one of 

 uhieh no person was admitted; and aH the tickets bore tin- -ignature of the distributors, each 

 one of tin-in \\niiltl be responsible lor those who entered with his .sanction. There were no further 

 distui -bailees. Subsequently, the opposition resorted to absenting themselves day after day, and 

 thus want of the legal number prevented the transaction of business. Although nominally 

 assembling on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays of each week between June 1st and August 

 31st, yet for want of a quorum there were really only twenty instead of forty odd sessions. 



The balloting for presidential electors took place on the 2.~>th and 20th of June. Being absent 

 from the capital, Lieut. MacRae prepared the following account of the occurrences there: 



"For better comprehension of the events of this election, it is necessary to mention, in 

 advance, what the law requires of voters, and its specifications of times and places of holding 

 the polls. Shortly after every presidential election, the Cabildo appoints a commission charged 

 with granting certificates of qualification to all citizens legally entitled thereto, and who shall 

 establish such right in accordance with the public notice given. Every citizen who has never 

 been convicted of a criminal offence, and whose income is $200 per annum, whether from real 

 estate, trade, or other occupation, is entitled to a vote; and having proved these two facts to the 

 satisfaction of the commission, a certificate to that effect is given, the number of which, together 

 with the name and parish where the voter resides, is registered in a poll-book. A voter can 

 exercise the privilege only in the parish of his residence. Service in the National Guard is 

 regarded as equivalent to the income ; and every member enrolled within the prescribed time 

 becomes a voter. The number is further increased by haciendados and others, who agree with 

 persons in their employ, on the day that they are to present themselves to the commissioner, for 

 a nominal income of that amount, which contract is annulled before sunset, and the law thus 

 evaded. Under these qualifications holders may vote for members of the Cabildo, of the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies, and the presidential electors ; after which it is necessary to renew them. When 

 issued they are taken charge of by the commandants of batallions, haciendados, and employers, 

 who keep them in charge until the day of the election, and do not give them up even then, 

 unless quite sure they will be used only in favor of their own candidates. 



"By law a member of the Cabildo, and two other persons to be appointed by that body, 

 must preside at each poll ; which is required to be kept open six hours of the 25th of June, and 

 a like period of the following day. The additional judges of election are almost necessarily of the 

 same political stamp as the appointing power, and in Santiago, of course, friends of the gov- 

 ernment, ten members of the twelve composing the Cabildo belonging to that party. From 144 

 names, twelve of which are thrown into a ballot-box by each member of the Cabildo, two are 

 drawn for each of the six parishes of the city, and the individuals thus designated by lot are 

 notified to attend. The parishes are La Catedral, Santa Ana, San Lazaro, San Isidro, 

 Yungai, and Estampa. Santa Ana contains between 2,000 and 3,000 qualified voters nearer 

 to the latter than the former number and is the most populous district. The polls were 

 generally held in the corners of the plazudas (little open squares), and no attempts were made 

 to secure either free ingress or egress to voters ; a neglect most probably intentional, as will be 

 presently inferred. 



"Public meetings, or rather meetings in public places, are forbidden by law ; and after the 

 disturbance at San Felipe, and the attempted revolution in April, the Intendente had also pro- 

 hibited them in private houses. With friends of the ministry the order was only nominal ; 

 towards the opposition it was enforced to the letter ; and, in consequence, the latter were unable 

 to effect an organization or mature any system of operations. On the other hand, under the name 

 of tertulias, their opponents held frequent political meetings in private houses, and adopted 

 such a plan as, considering the character of the mass of voters, and the fact that every depart- 

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