

CHILI. 



131 



ili.. Vicuna, who had l>cen put forward in 

 the ('!. n '!' Sanfuentes and had retired from the 

 Calniift in order to become the official candidate, 

 man <if wealth, well known to tlic people, 

 ., In-Ill -i-\eral Cabinet offices. The C..n- 

 :larly elected, when must of Ilic <>lli- 

 i.o .should direct and .supervise the elec- 

 11 pii-on i >r proscribed, met on April 

 hear the 1'n -(dent's message, in which 

 i-s in the Constitution, to deprive Congress 

 of iis |ower o\er the public purse and its con- 

 trol of the Kxecutive, were recommended. As lie 

 :.arged. he said, with the duty of adminis- 

 ihe state and guarding the internal se- 

 ilic position of Congress, which tended to 

 overthrow of the established order, obliged 

 t> " assume all the public powers and bring 

 . r the elements necessary to make trium- 

 phant the principle of authority in Chili, with- 

 out which nothing durable can exist." Under 

 the-e circumstances he found imposed on him the 

 painful duty of reducing the chiefs and promo- 

 revolt to impotence by .arresting them or 

 driving them away from the scene of their activ- 

 ity." Among the cruelties credited to Balmace- 

 da and his officers the worst were connected 

 with the pursuit of supporters of the revolution, 

 the torture of their friends who refused to reveal 

 their asylums, and the assassination of the lead- 

 ers who were arrested. The nominating con- 

 vention chose Claudio VicuQa as the candidate 

 for the presidency by 294 votes out of 296. The 

 ('"iigress passed a bill of indemnity for all the 

 f President Balmaceda since Jan. 1, and 

 another conferring on him extraordinary pow- 

 n. He was authorized to arrest, imprison, and 

 punish any person inimical to the Government; 

 to expend the public revenue according to his 

 own judgment without being called upon for es- 

 timates; to borrow money on the credit of the 

 state without the previous authorization of Con- 

 ; to suspend the judicial power, dismiss 

 judo's, and deal with political offenses by execu- 

 tive degree ; to suppress the rights of free speech, 

 public meeting, and liberty of the press; to or- 

 gan i/.e military tribunals and define their juris- 

 diction and authority; and to declare any part 

 of the territory of the republic to be in a state 

 of siege. The gold and silver reserve held by 

 the treasury against the paper currency was 

 ordered to be sold by Congress, and a new forced 

 loan of $20,000,000 was authorized. A new 

 ministry was appointed by President Balma- 

 feda in June, which was composed as follows: 

 Premier and Minister of the Interior, Jules Bar- 

 iiiilias Kspinoza; Minister of Foreign Affairs and 

 Worship, .Manual Maria Aldunate; Minister of 

 Justice and Education, Francisco Xavier Con- 

 cha ; .Minister of Finance, Manuel Aristides 

 Zanartu ; Minister of Warand Marine, Jose Ve- 

 la-, pie/,; Minister of Industry and Public Woiks, 

 Nicanor Agulde Espinoza. On July 25 the 

 electoral college unanimously elected Claudio 

 Vienna President of the republic for the term 

 beginning Sept. 18, 1891. 

 Organization of the Junta. A Junta de 

 '>io, or Provisional Government, was for- 

 mally constituted at Iquique on April 12, for the 

 administration in the name of Congress of the 

 eight departments held by the revolutionists. 

 The Junta was composed of" Waldo Silva, V ice- 



President of the Senate ; R. Barroa Luco, Presi- 

 dent of the Chamber of Deputies; and Jorge 

 Monti, Commander of the Squadron. '!'!. 

 pointed a Cabinet rousting of Isidor Errazunz, 



iary of the Junta for foreign Affair 

 lice, and Education; Joaquin Walker Marline/.. 

 Secretary of Finance ; and Col. Ilolley, Secretary 

 of War and Marine. 



Naval Operations. The fleet torpedo cruis- 

 ers "Lynch" and ' Condell," after a series of 

 exciting escapes from the insurgent vessels, were 

 brought safely into port at Valparaiso before the 

 middle of March. Besides these, the Govern- 

 ment possessed three small gunboats and a fast 

 armed steamer, the " Impenale," chartered from 

 the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, which 

 had successfully run the blockade five times to 

 convey troops to the north. The "Cousino," 

 another converted cruiser, after several voyages 

 was captured by the revolutionists, who made an 

 attempt to seize the " Pilcomayo," a new gun- 

 vessel that was waiting in the harbor of Monti- 

 video, with a full force of sailors and marines, 

 for a favorable opportunity to make the voyage 

 to Valparaiso without being caught by the Con- 

 gressional cruisers. A party of armed Chilians 

 went on board with the intention of surprising 

 the crew ; but the object was detected, and they 

 were overpowered after a pitched battle on the 

 deck. The " Blanco Encalada " entered Valpa- 

 raiso in a dark night with the intention of blow- 

 ing up the " Mary Florence," a tug fitted up as 

 a gunboat, with a fish torpedo. This missed its 

 mark and destroyed the dry dock. The ship es- 

 caped unhurt from the fire of the fort. The 

 " Mary Florence " and a torpedo boat that stole 

 out after her were descried, and destroyed with 

 their crews by shells from the "Blanco" and 

 the " O'Higgins," which engaged the batteries at 

 long range, and during the battle shells from 

 the fort hit the hull and one of the guns of the 

 " O'Higgins." After the arrival of the first of 

 the two torpedo catchers, the "Condell." three 

 rebel agents went into Valparaiso and nearly 

 succeeded in getting possession of her. The 

 whole crew and the officer in command were in 

 the plot. The captain from on shore, seeing 

 them starting the engine, got aboard before the 

 gunboat began to move, and before he was seized 

 and bound he gave the alarm ; so that before she 

 could get out of the harbor the other vessels sur- 

 rounded her. A revolutionist named Gomez 

 found means to spike the Armstrong guns in 

 Fort Andes at Valparaiso. The Government at 

 first hesitated to risk their flotilla in active oper- 

 ations, expecting soon to be able to crush the 

 rebellion with a superior naval force. The "Er- 

 razuriz " and " Pinto " were ready, except their 

 armament and crews. A severe check to the 

 plans of Balmaceda was caused by the refusal 

 of the French Government to let them leave 

 France. The embargo, granted on representa- 

 tions of Congressional envoys, was removed in 

 June after both sides were heard, but the French 

 authorities still refused to allow crews to be 

 recruited in France. A loan of 1,500,000, that 

 had been subscribed in Germany for the con- 

 struction of railroads, the bankers refused to 

 allow Balinaceda to divert to military objects. 

 His offers for a Greek war ship, for the crack 

 new Argentine cruiser, and for fast merchant 



