18 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



the provinces of San Luis, Santa Fe, and Buenos 

 Ayres. Dr. Costa, Governor of Buenos Ayres, 

 informed the Government that he needed no 

 Federal support, but the Governor of Santa Fe 

 begged that assistance be sent to him at once. 

 On Aug. 1 Congress rejected the proposal for 

 Federal intervention in the insurrectionary prov- 

 inces, and Senor del Valle, in a speech from the 

 steps of the Government building, told the peo- 

 ple that Congress did not represent the country, 

 and that the Government was resolved to enforce 

 respect for the liberties of the people. The min- 

 istry had previously issued a decree ordering 

 " the disarmament of the irregular forces of Dr. 

 Costa, Governor of Buenos Ayres," and this 

 decree the Minister of War was now intrusted to 

 carry out. On Aug. 2 Gen. Roca resigned his 

 seat in the Senate, of which he was president, 

 and announced his intention of retiring to 

 private life. Meantime events were moving 

 rapidly with the revolutionists. Insurrection 

 broke out in the provinces of Salta and Tucu- 

 man, fighting was renewed in the province of 

 Corrientes, and the government of San Luis was 

 in the hands of the insurgents. In the province 

 of Santa Fe the governor resigned, the vice- 

 governor, who continued to resist, was captured 

 and shot, and a provisional government was 

 proclaimed by the Radicals. In the province of 

 Buenos Ayres, which was regarded as the de- 

 cisive battle ground of the revolution, most of 

 the towns were taken without much bloodshed, 

 and the conflict centered around La Plata, the 

 capital city of the province, which the Radicals 

 had invested with an army 8,000 strong. Dr. 

 Costa, the provincial governor, resigned and 

 fled, leaving a farewell message to the Legisla- 

 ture, in which he charged the Federal Govern- 

 ment with abetting the revolution and impeding 

 his efforts to restore order. He also denounced 

 Senor del Valle as a dictator and President 

 Saenz Pena as a foolish old man. The Radicals 

 entered La Plata, and, having proclaimed a pro- 

 visional government, appealed for a truce pend- 

 ing the decision of the national Congress on the 

 question of intervention. Such was the condi- 

 tion of affairs when on Aug. 8 Senor del Valle, 

 with 2 gunboats and 3,000 Federal troops, en- 

 tered the port of Ensenada, 6 miles from La 

 Plata. Here he effected the disarmament of 

 both the Radical and the Provincial forces. Pro- 

 ceeding thence to La Plata at the head of the 

 national troops, Senor del Valle took over the 

 provisional government, ordered the disarma- 

 ment of the contending factions, and appointed 

 Dr. Carlos Tejedor, a former Governor of Buenos 

 Ayres, as national arbitrator to restore order in 

 the province. The Radicals claimed recognition 

 for the Government established by them at La 

 Plata ; but this was opposed by Congress, and 

 the Cabinet being divided upon the question, a 

 ministerial crisis was precipitated. Senor del 

 Valle, Minister of War, and Senor Demaria, 

 Minister of Finance, resigned ostensibly on ac- 

 count of differences with the national Congress ; 

 but actually they were forced out by a combina- 

 tion of the friends of Gens. Mitre and Roca, 

 and their action led to the collapse of the Cabi- 

 net. A new Cabinet was formed Aug. 13 as 

 follows: Minister of the Interior, Dr. Manuel 

 Quintana ; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Valantin 



Virasoro ; Minister of Finance, Dr. Jose A. 

 Terry ; Minister of Justice, etc., Eduardo Costa ; 

 Minister of War, Gen. Luis Campos. The new 

 ministers were for the most part well known 

 and experienced politicians, and members of the 

 National party or the Union Civica. Senor 

 Virasoro held the portfolio of Foreign Affairs in 

 the preceding Cabinet, Dr. Quintana was Min- 

 ister of the Interior in the first Cabinet of Presi- 

 dent Saenz Pefia, Sefior Costa was Attorney- 

 General and Minister of Foreign Affairs under 

 President Pellegrini, Dr. Terry was a lawyer and 

 Deputy and a director of one of the principal 

 banks in Buenos Ayres, who had not held ex- 

 ecutive office before, and Gen. Costa had been 

 chief of staff. 



A State of Siege Proclaimed. Fighting 

 was renewed at La Plata after the announce- 

 ment of the new ministry, and continued in all 

 the insurrectionary provinces. On Aug. 15, the 

 Federal Congress, which up to that time had 

 refused to intervene in provincial matters, re- 

 solved upon the proclamation of a state of siege 

 throughout the republic, and in favor of Federal 

 intervention in the provinces of Santa Fe and 

 San Luis. The resolute action of the Govern- 

 ment did much to restore public confidence. 

 National troops took possession of all the public 

 buildings in La Plata, and the officers of the 

 provisional government set up by the Radicals 

 abandoned the place ; Dr. Tejedor, the Govern- 

 ment arbitrator in Buenos Ayres, suspended all 

 the legislative, executive, and judicial authori- 

 ties ; several officers of the garrison at La Plata 

 were arrested by order of the Minister of War ; 

 and arbitrators with powers similar to those of 

 Dr. Tejedor were sent with troops to San Luis, 

 Santa Fe, and Corrientes to restore order in 

 provinces. But although temporary quiet was 

 restored, the Radicals did not abandon their 

 revolutionary plans. Desultory fighting con- 

 tinued in several of the provinces, and a revolt 

 against the newly elected Governor, Delarosa, 

 occurred in the province of Tucuman. the rebels 

 capturing and occupying the capital city and 

 overturning the Government. Ex-President 

 Carlos Pellegrini, as Federal arbitrator, was 

 sent with a body of troops to quell the rising. 

 Revolts occurred in the provinces of Cordoba 

 and San Juan, and in Santa Fe the rebels 

 captured Rosario, the second city in size and 

 importance in the republic. On Sept. 20 the 

 national troops in Cordoba, Tucuman, and 

 Corrientes were in the mutiny, and it was found 

 that Col. Espina had succeeded in exciting a 

 revolt in the navy and was in possession of two 

 gunboats and the old ironclad " Andes." The 

 President and ministry passed the night at the 

 Government House and a considerable number 

 of Radical leaders and several officers were ar- 

 rested and taken aboard an ironclad. It was also 

 determined to mobilize the entire National 

 Guard. 



(Jen. Roca in Command. By Sept. 25 it had 

 become evident that the whole country was con- 

 vulsed by insurrectionary movements, and that 

 the severest measures of repression would have 

 to be used. The Government invested Gen. 

 Roca with the command of all the troops, and 

 prominent Radicals were ordered to be arrested 

 and imprisoned, wherever found. The Govern- 



