308 



THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN 1851. 



Nor were qualifications prohibited by law issued to men of his class only ; domestic servants, 

 and inmates of the almshouse and hospital, were in some cases made recipients the certificates 

 remaining in possession of those who had instigated the fraud against the nation. A still worse 

 feature in these cases was, the charge brought against certain members belonging to the ministe- 

 rial party, that they had sold certificates of this class on the day preceding the election, intend- 

 ing to contest them when the spurious representatives should present themselves at the polls ! 

 And thus it may very safely be said, that the majority of persons interested in the election were 

 either purchasers or sellers. Many haciendados, miners, and other legal voters, who controlled 

 large bodies of men, were averse to both candidates, and kept aloof from the polls altogether. It 



was said in my presence to one of these gentlemen, "You know, Don , had but your finger 



been raised, every remaining vote would have been polled." Owing to the measures which allowed 

 but the smallest number of ballots to be deposited, indifference to the success of either, and know- 

 ledge that the government would triumph, if necessary, by force, not one third of the legalized 

 votes were cast. This is shown very plainly in the annexed table ; and it must be recollected 

 that every member of the National Guard is entitled to a vote. 



Election for President in 1851. 



No returns of the number of votes in Chiloe, Valdivia, Concepcion, or Coquirnbo, were pub- 

 lished, nor were they made to the Minister of the Interior, so that I failed to obtain more than 

 is given. Concepcion and Coquimbo were known to have given large majorities for Cruz ; and 

 if the other provinces voted in alike ratio to their population, the total number of votes did not 

 exceed 25, TOO, of which Mr. Montt could not have had more than 20,000. He is therefore 

 President of Chile by less than one fourth of the suffrages of his qualified countrymen. What 

 became of the others more than 40,000 voters? 



It may appear strange that only one twentieth of the population, and in one province only 

 one out of each hundred, should be enrolled in the National Guard ; but this is owing to the fact 

 that the masses live on estates where the haciendado has more control than the officers, and 

 hence the government cares not to extend a privilege which may be used against its candidates. 



The canvass being over, and the returns of the electoral colleges made, conformable to law, it 

 was asserted that the opposition members of Congress would eventually defeat the election by 

 absenting themselves in such numbers as would prevent legal scrutiny of the final returns on 

 the 30th of August. This is the day specified by the Constitution, and, according to their in- 

 terpretation, was the only one when the act could be consummated. Government, however, 

 was not to be cheated of its candidate by any such North American manoeuvre ; and to this end, 

 the Minister of the Interior presented a law, and got it passed, declaring that if anything should 

 prevent the attendance of a quorum (three fourths) of the members on that day, then the scrutiny 



