CHILI. 



127 



id failed l" discharge their duty as laid 

 -lilutinn, and nnild ii"l thereby 

 in foran\ one to anpcal to revolution, 

 ii in tin' event of tin' chief of tin- nation 

 liable for the shortcomings of tin- majority 

 -. a revolution can not be |in>claiinc(l 

 W a remedy. The Constitution has for. 

 the case when the President or his ministers 

 late the Constitution and laws, and cslab- 

 the manner and procedure for making 

 ,e tlieir responsibility for such action, 

 wiiieli. on the part of any one else, is subver-i\e 

 d ivsolutionary." He had refrained from in- 

 king Congress to an extra session because of 

 titude that the majority might assume, 

 liound to follow his judgment and exer- 

 discretionary powers to avert danger to 

 e pulilic welfare. The Constitution charges 

 e President with the duty of maintaining 

 iblie order at home and looking after the safety 

 of the republic abroad, and declares that he 

 "1 use any means for these objects, always 

 rving the Constitution and causing it to be 

 rved. Without the civrl service and the 

 military forces he could not discharge this duty. 

 The laws to provide for these are not exclu- 

 ively in the power of Congress, but require the 

 mcurrent assent of the President ana of the 

 uneil of State. The same situation had oc- 

 rred before in his term of office when, during 

 uary and a part of February, 1887, he had 

 ried on the Government without an appro- 

 iation bill or an army bill, and every President 

 ce the establishment of the republic had 

 verned the country for days and even for 

 onths when Congress had neglected to pass 

 these acts without being treated as a tyrant or 

 ietator. "As a Chilian," he said "as the 

 ief of the State, I could not, with my convic- 

 ns, accept the political position that the par- 

 liamentary coalition pretended to impose on 

 me." He assumed no dictatorship because he 

 declined to submit to the dictatorship of Con- 

 and to surrender the reins of government 

 to those who traduced his purposes and sought 

 to deprive him of his constitutional rights. 



Preparations for War. The President had 

 the standing army of about 8,500 men and the 

 funds in the treasury, amounting to several 

 million dollars, partly in the banks. The proc- 

 lamation of the Congressionalist leaders was 

 answered by one from Balmaceda assuming a 

 military dictatorship, and declaring the whole 

 untry under martial law. All newspapers 

 ire suppressed, except two, official organs that 

 ire estaul ished. Clubs and societies were closed, 

 d people were forbidden to leave their houses 

 r live o'clock. Private houses were watched 

 d searched, and men of social position were 

 st inadoed to compel them to reveal the hiding- 

 laces of political refugees. The prisons were 

 choked with persons prominent in social, pro- 

 feional. and commercial circles who were iden- 

 tified with the various parties. The farms and 

 estates of leading rebels were pillaged, their 

 rops burned, the houses sacked, and their 

 'looded horses and cattle taken to mount and 

 the troops. Servants, tradesmen, and 

 acted as spies in every house, and through 

 16 month of January a reign of terror prevailed 

 Santiago and Valparaiso. Nevertheless, the 



Revolutionary Committee was reorganized and 



intermittent communication was kept up with 

 the navy and the revolutionary leaders. The 

 families of Con^rcssionalists emigrated, and 

 thousands of suspected partisans fled into tin- 

 Andes or across tho frontier. The armed police 

 force in the capital and its port numbered 2,000. 

 The populace of Santiago and Valparaiso and of 

 mo st 01 the southern cities and of the farming 

 districts in the valleys of the Andes generally 

 sympathized with Balinaceda, and regarded him 

 us tho champion of the democracy against the 

 land barons, foreign priests, and alien capitalists, 

 while the industrial and mining population sup- 

 ported Congress. The soldiers were confined m 

 the barracks, and the sentiments of the officers 

 and men were investigated, the less trusty troops 

 being sent away and replaced by drafts from agri- 

 cultural districts. The Congressionalist leaders 

 were not prepared for the energetic measures of 

 the Administration, which prevented any rising 

 in the capital or in the cities of the south that 

 they counted on. When the banks refused to 

 pay out money on Balmaceda's orders, they were 

 declared abettors of the revolution, the directors 

 fled from arrest, and an official examiner took 

 possession. The bank of Edwards was closed by 

 order of the Government, and all the officials 

 and clerks were imprisoned. The National Bank 

 and the Bank of Valparaiso were unable to pay 

 the 6,000,000 pesos that they held of Government 

 funds, as depositors had drawn out their cash 

 reserves to hoard. The directors were therefore 

 induced to sign a request to the Government to 

 issue 12.000,000 pesos of paper, on condition that 

 they might use 1,600,000 to tide over their diffi- 

 culties. The Government resorted also to whole- 

 sale confiscation and attached the bank accounts 

 of all the Congressionalists. 



President Balmaceda increased his army till 

 he soon had 30,000 men under arms. The pay 

 of the soldiers was increased to $30 a month. 

 The people in the interior, in the center, and 

 south showed little interest in the struggle, and 

 no active sympathy with Congress. Ignorant 

 agriculturalists were drawn to the army by boun- 

 ties, leaving the wheat fields without harvesters. 

 The public works were stopped, and a large pro- 

 portion of the 25,000 laborers enlisted. Admiral 

 Viel set about completing the fortifications of 

 Valparaiso, which was at no time safe from bom- 

 bardment, except for the reason that the city 

 was mainly owned by Congressionalists. The 

 forces were placed under the supreme command 

 of the Minister of War. Having all the railroads 

 and some swift transports that could evade tho 

 fleet, the Government re-enforced the garrisons at 

 all the ports, and had a military force in every 

 district. In the vicinity of the capital there 

 was an army of 16,000 infantry, l,iiOO cavalry, 

 and six batteries of field artillery, and in other 

 parts of the country 14,000 men were garrisoned. 

 Balmaceda issued proclamations ordering the 

 pay of officers and men who fell in battle to be 

 continued permanently to their families, increas- 

 ing their salaries by 50 per cent., and offering 

 two years' pay to sailors wno would desert to the 

 Government and a free pardon to officers who 

 had joined the insurrection under orders from 

 their superiors. There was some guerilla fight- 

 ing in the center. Bridges and railroads were 



