CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 LIBRARY 
 
THE CHILEAN REVOLUTION 
 
 AND THE 
 
 jjALMACEDA A DMINISTRATI0N - 
 
 SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 ON THE 28th OF APRIL, 1891, 
 
 BY 
 
 DON JULIO BANADOS ESPINOSA, 
 
 a Representative from Ovalle. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Gibson Bros., Printers and Bookbinders. 
 1891. • 
 
F 
 
 SCftt 
 
 ml 
 
 C6- 
 
Speech delivered at the House of Representatives on the 
 
 28th of April, 1891, by Don Julio Baiiados Espinosa, 
 
 a Representative from Ovalle. 
 
 The mixed commission appointed to examine the draft of reform 
 of the constitution has thought fit to select one senator and one 
 representative to explain in each of the two houses, respectively, 
 the antecedents of the present bill upon the extraordinary powers 
 now under the consideration of the house. 
 
 I have the honor, of being appointed to address the house upon 
 the subject. 
 
 No Chilean fails to understand the serious situation in which 
 the republic is now. 
 
 In presence of the extraordinary events which are taking place 
 in our country, it is our imperative duty to prepare the pages of 
 their historic process which our fellow-citizens shall have to form 
 to every one of the participants in our present political affairs. 
 
 These considerations compel me to ask the indulgence of the 
 house for the expression of my opinions with that frankness be- 
 coming a man who is conscious of his duties. 
 
 Only the name of this Constituent Congress shows the solem- 
 nity of the occasion and of the present historical moment in ref- 
 erence to the vital interests and the life of the nation. 
 
 For the last thirty years the Chilean congress has periodically 
 opened its sessions without being threatened by any other danger 
 than the two foreign wars of 1866 and 1879. 
 
 If the opening of the sessions of congress has taken place 
 pending any other very serious political agitations, they were 
 never of a character to divide the Chilean family nor to endanger 
 the stability of our institutions. 
 
 To-day the Constituent Congress begins its labors surrounded 
 by the cries and tears of numerous families in mourning and un- 
 der a crowd of misfortunes ; of widows and orphans who have 
 suddenly undergone irreparable losses. '[Hear !] 
 
Besides these great evils we have to witness the vicissitudes 
 produced in our commerce, our industries, our national revenues, 
 and even our public credit abroad. And as the climax to all 
 these misfortunes, the flames of fratricidal discord burning in our 
 own hearts and disturbing our family relations. 
 
 Why in so short time and in so very few hours have we to ex- 
 perience such a radical change in our manner of existence and 
 the traditional habits of Chilean society ? Why, in the midst of 
 inalterable peace with foreign countries, have we such a numer- 
 ous army and witness the sinister spectacle of war threatening us 
 all ? Here is the question and the problem that we have to ex- 
 amine calmly, conscientiously, and patriotically. 
 
 Chile has always preserved public order and domestic peace. 
 She was born in as poor a cradle as Christ himself was, wearing 
 rags of poverty as her titles of nobility, and hearing always the 
 noise of war for over three centuries. 
 
 Poverty, the permanent condition of war with the bravest and 
 most indomitable race of the world, and the peculiar character of 
 our people, naturally sober and peaceful, made the ideal of order 
 and domestic peace bhe favorite aspiration of our public men, of 
 our liberators, and of our great historical parties. 
 
 After the revolutionary war which brought about our indepen- 
 dence, our public liberties were sacrificed, during the administration 
 of one of the illustrious founders of the republic, Don Bernardo 
 O'Higgins, in order to suppress anarchy. The struggle for our 
 emancipation began. Order in the administration and in the whole 
 Chilean family was established on solid foundations. 
 
 The honest conviction of a few statesmen, thinking that the time 
 had come for the extension of our public liberties and for the 
 restoration of the authority of the Executive Power, brought about 
 the abdication of O'Higgins, thus fostering anarchy, military 
 mutinies, and endless changes of government, amidst internal 
 struggles which lasted from 1823 up to the time of the battle of 
 Lircai, in 1830. 
 
 The chief cause of the triumph obtained then by the pelucon 
 party, representing the government of authority, and the ruin of 
 the pipiolo party, representing the government of liberty, was not 
 only the power of bayonets, but the weariness of the country 
 under the prevailing disorderly condition at that time, as well as 
 
the national aspiration to secure peace, even at the price of re- 
 stricting our fundamental rights. 
 
 From 1833, the date of our constitution, the struggle for order 
 was energetically pursued by the administrations under Presidents 
 Prieto, Bulnes, and Montt, and disorders, due to a restless spirit 
 of reforms and innovations, were constantly produced, on all sides, 
 up to the time of the bloody battle of Cerro Grande, where 
 anarchy was buried and a new era of domestic peace inaugurated. 
 Permit me, Mr. President, to make an honorable mention of 
 those who defended public order through those memorable con- 
 flicts. 
 
 Blessed be the memory of the parties and the men who at that 
 time of transition and effervescence sacrificed for the benefit of 
 public order, their liberties as citizens ! They understood as we 
 do that there is no possible liberty without order, and that liberty 
 planted on the slippery ground of anarchy soon degenerates into 
 a demagogy and licentiousness. [Cheers]. 
 
 From 1861 to 1 891 the wheel of the destinies of Chile has been 
 going on through flowers. What a fine spring has Chile had during 
 the last thirty years. 
 
 During so brilliant period our dear country rose before the 
 world with her head covered with the laurels of victory, the coun- 
 try dignified by honest work and true progress. Who can ever 
 forget the anxieties, the generous struggles of those memorable 
 political campaigns, the gigantic push and the unselfish constancy 
 of the men and parties to secure in peace the evolution from the 
 rule of authority to that of liberty. [Cheers.] 
 
 Pending that historical period our legislation underwent re- 
 forms at the level of the most advanced in the world, when the 
 Chileans had conquered all liberties compatible with the national 
 safety, and when our soldiers gave battles and made our country 
 greater, when our foreign credit competed advantageously with 
 that of the wealthiest nations of the world, when our commerce 
 and industries, propelled by incredible powers, had attained their 
 great development, when the culture of sciences, arts, and litera- 
 ture were spreading light all around, and, indeed, when we were 
 all, and in all parts of the republic, feeling emotions, fore-runners 
 of the highest state of civilization. [Cheers in the benches and 
 galleries.] 
 
The 7th of January, however, has made a sudden change of 
 affairs, and our country sobs and lowers its face under the folds 
 of our flag in mourning. The navy rose and mutinied on the 7th 
 of January ! Why so much infelicity and so dense shades of sor- 
 row after so much happiness and light? We have seen how 
 much had been done by the preceding generations, how much 
 they had to stand, and how much blood was shed to secure the 
 establishment of public order. 
 
 Let us find out, now, what are the imaginary and the true 
 reasons for the abrupt interruption of thirty years of peace, and 
 for the wreck of the work of our ancestors, with the ferocity of 
 fanatics destroying the idols of their adversaries. 
 
 During the administration of Perez, Errazuris, Pinto, and Santa 
 Maria, the antagonism of parties, among political circles, was some- 
 times shown by outbursts of rage followed by bitter contentions 
 and energetic resistance, but never were those contentions taken 
 from their proper field — the tribune, the press, the public meet- 
 ings, and the electoral conventions. 
 
 The administration of His Excellency Sefior Santa Maria left 
 the liberals sadly divided, on account of the election of his suc- 
 cessor, and the conservatives in the field badly hurt by the sanc- 
 tion of the so-called law of theological reforms. So that when His 
 Excellency Sefior Bahnaeeda was elected, he found his political party 
 split, and a prey to discord, confronted besides by the asperities 
 of his adversaries. Society was deeply excited and distrust ruled 
 all around. He had only two ways left — either to oppose both 
 the conservatives and the seceding liberals together, or to hoist 
 the white flag among the contending parties. 
 
 By means of an absolute neutrality, forgetting past hatreds and 
 dissensions, he tried to pacify the conservatives, while endeavor- 
 ing, at the same time, to bind together the liberal party, through 
 a program of development and improvements in the way of pub- 
 lic works and other reforms, calculated to forget past contentions, 
 and to bring together all patriotic and progressive men. 
 
 During his administration he has carried out, to the letter, the 
 part of his program in reference, to a strict neutrality with the 
 church and the conservative party. Nobod}' in Chile, not even 
 the illustrious prelates nor any other believers, can find a single 
 act of the Government, before the 7th of last January, tending to 
 
affect, in any way, the consciences or the religious ideas of the 
 Chileans. On the contrary, numerous acts of good-will and even 
 of protection will be reckoned. Benevolence has been carried to 
 the extreme of giving up the enforcement of what has been cher- 
 ished as the dearest reforms of the liberal party. [That is so.] 
 
 I will soon review, in a few words, the well-known history of 
 the several political parties and their relations with the chief 
 magistrate. Then we will see how His Excellency Senor BalmaV^ 
 ceda has filled his part, in regard to the program of the union of 
 the liberal party. If this phase of his policy is open to contro- 
 versies and discussions, nobody will deny that he has filled, be- 
 yond any expectations, his great plan of public works and politi- 
 cal reforms, tending to, secure the -independence of the public 
 powers and to stimulate the intellectual progress of the people, 
 to improve the public wealth, to foment national industries, and 
 to correct the errors and defects found in the public administra- 
 tion, filling up the space left empty by the deficiency of the laws 
 and regulations. 
 
 Only this part of the program of government, upheld by the 
 present chief magistrate, would be an ample foundation for the 
 unqualified anathema of the present and future generations against 
 the present revolution. [Cheers.] 
 
 Permit me, Mr. President, to mention in a few words the praise- 
 worthy labors accomplished by the present administration. I am 
 enabled to do so, as I feel honored in claiming my share in them 
 and a good title to the consideration of my friends and our party. 
 We may talk freely to-day, since nobody could well trace our con- 
 victions and sentiments to any ambitious ideas for political as- 
 cendance. We are not dealing with an administration which be-, 
 gins, but with one about coming to a close. We talk about a 
 sunset. [Cheers.] 
 
 The efficiency of,the judicial power has been improved by an 
 addition of a second section organized- for the labors of the Su- 
 preme Court ; by two-more -for- the Court of Appeals at Santiago ; 
 one at the State Court of Talca, and by district justices in every 
 department of the republic, instead of the former alcaldes of the 
 old legislation. 
 
 The postal service has been materially extended with new facil- 
 ities, introducing the Postal Union package and money-order sys- 
 
6 
 * 
 tern, and opening numerous new post-offices in the rural portion 
 of the country. Telegraphs have been largely extended. Under 
 the present administration new lines (2,787 kilometers) have been 
 added, bringing us more in contact, stimulating commerce, social 
 progress, and the national industries. Eighty-two new telegraphic 
 offices have been opened to public service. 
 
 The administration has rendered a most decided support to 
 charitable institutions by the erection of fine hospitals, as elegant 
 as that which will soon be inaugurated by the side of the Medical 
 School building. 
 
 We might safely state that the present administration has created, 
 through their constant and persevering endeavors, a "permanent 
 system of foreign immigration and colonization, in order to im- 
 prove the national industries and open vast and new fields to the 
 improvement of Chile and the human race. 
 
 Our international relations have been maintained with the tra- 
 ditional integrity, honor, self-respect, prudence, and patriotism of 
 the Chilean diplomatic service. 
 
 Few administrations have had to deal with more important or 
 more transcendental questions. At the end of tfbe war with Peru 
 and Chile, numerous claims were made against Chile, by acts of 
 our military forces, pending that glorious campaign. 
 
 The claims instituted before the corresponding courts of arbit- 
 ration, organized under His Excellency Se£or Santa Maria's ad- 
 ministration, amount in the aggregate to $25,415,727, compromised 
 and reduced by that of His Excellency, Sefior Balmaceda, after 
 numerous and tedious litigations, to only $717,000 — Chilean silver 
 dollars. 
 
 The claims, on account of the Nitrate orders, were also settled 
 with profit to the country, removing the risks and troubles which 
 were affecting unfavorably her credit and good relations with 
 friendly countries. This claim for $10,607,488 (of 44 pence) was 
 settled for £1,113,781 — sterling pounds. 
 
 In regard to the most serious case, that of the Peruvian bond- 
 holders' claim, an honorable compromise has been reached. The 
 principal of this claim was £32,000,000 besides the interest from 
 1876, or about $200,000,000. It was settled for £800,000— sterling 
 pounds. 
 
 Not long ago, Mr. President, we saw the claim introduced by 
 
the French Minister in favor of the firm of Dreyffus. The affair 
 was set aside through the tact, prudence, and patriotism of the 
 Chief Magistrate. 
 
 Besides those important settlements, many others have been 
 gradually reached, and our political skies have been cleared of 
 stormy clouds, which were threatening our public peace. 
 
 In regard to the relations of Church and State, a settlement 
 with His Holiness was adjusted in reference to the appointment 
 of Bishops and Arch-bishops, leaving the powers of the State un- 
 impaired and the consciences of the faithful at rest. 
 
 One of the more important reforms undertaken by the present 
 administration is the new penitentiary system. The diversity of 
 direction, the regulations, discipline, order, and economical organ- 
 ization of the old system were not always consistent with our 
 constitutional rights, and discrimination between penal matters 
 and arrests imposed to delinquents and to prosecuted persons. 
 The new organization was enforced in 1888, imparting unity to , 
 the service, giving a wider margin to the fiscal management, and 
 affording easy means for the correction of all abuses and for the 
 protection of the innocent and the guilty persons alike. 
 
 The improvement and diffusion of public education has been 
 one of the chief objects of reform by this administration. It will 
 be enough for me to state, in corroboration of this assertion, that 
 everything connected with the institutions of learning has been 
 modified from their very foundations. 
 
 When the fine building for the Medical School was finished, 
 new regulations were accompanied by a new system of studies ; 
 new branches of medical science have been entrusted to sev- 
 eral foreign Professors of high standing in their countries, and of 
 well-known abilities, under proper courses of lectures, leading 
 the way, as true apostles of learning, to the care of public health 
 and the preservation of life. 
 
 The courses of mathematics have undergone a true revolution 
 with us. The system of studies has been adjusted to the indus- 
 trial exigencies of the age and to the present progress of this 
 useful branch of human knowledge. A Polytechnic school, served 
 by eminent teachers brought from abroad, under proper contracts, 
 has been duly organized. The empiric old system has paved the 
 way for the modern multiform specialization, in keeping with the 
 industrial progress of the times. 
 
8 
 
 » 
 
 A good institution of learning requires most competent Profes- 
 sors. Under this principle the present administration has founded 
 the Pedagogical Institute, where persons intended for the pro- 
 fessoriate are trained under European teachers of well-known 
 abilities. 
 
 High education has been the subject of a radical change with 
 the adoption of the concentric system of teaching, under twenty- 
 seven Professors specially qualified for the new methods, which 
 have produced a revolution in the scientific world. 
 
 The primary instruction has not been left behind in these pro- 
 gressive new systems. The normal schools have been reformed, 
 improved, and enlarged. New plans of studies and aew regula- 
 tions have been adopted, and we might as well state that the 
 manual, artistic, gymnastic, and civic branches of training have 
 been created. 
 
 The branches of special instruction have been energetically and 
 steadily pushed, such as the establishment of schools of agricul- 
 ture, meehanical arts, and of mines. A school of design, another for 
 deaf and dumb, and for blind, as well as professional schools for 
 children of both sexes, have been established. 
 
 For the first time Chile has laid the foundation for the educa- 
 tion of the fair sex, building a lyceum for girls in Valparaiso and 
 sending to Europe for the full complement of professors. 
 
 The Museum has been completely reformed in its re-organiza- 
 tion. The Conservatory of Music has produced the first and 
 really brilliant results, due to the protection rendered to this in- 
 stitution during the last three years. 
 
 National gratitude ought not to lose sight of those men de- 
 voted to the ' progress of the country, in fomenting popular in- 
 struction. 
 
 The great political and social revolutions are peacefully carried 
 to a successful issue, while at home and attending to public 
 schools. 
 
 A chair of learning is a focus of light, always illuminating our 
 spirits and guiding our hearts. [Cheers.] 
 
 Notwithstanding that the reforms operated by the present ad- 
 ministration in popular instruction should suffice to entitle it to 
 the admiration and thanks of all future generations, this manly 
 and progressive spirit of reform has been extended to every other 
 branch of the public service. 
 
In every country the people pay by expensive taxes and public 
 imposts for the material works undertaken by their governments, 
 but that is not so in the present case. Instead of increasing the 
 taxes they have been lowered down. 
 
 A good portion of the public debt has been paid and cancelled 
 to an amount beyond our expectations. 
 
 The following taxes have been abolished : 
 
 The alcdbalas (taxes on certain sales) ; those on patents ; on 
 military pensions ; on inheritances ; on domestic furniture ; on 
 certain kind of machinery. The extra charge on import duties on 
 flax, line and jute for gunny bags, and coarse cotton goods. The 
 extra cha»ge on the internal importation and storage of goods has 
 been reduced from 47% to 35%. 
 
 The total of, these suppressions, reducing public imposts and 
 burthens on the people, amount to over two million dollars aV 
 year. ) 
 
 The licenses on certain kind of commercial establishments, and 
 for the exercise of professional and mechanical industries, have 
 been left to the municipal control for the local wants of the re- 
 spective districts. * 
 
 The payments of the public debt have continued, reducing it 
 by the ordinary installments and by extra conversions besides. 
 Thus far the payments of the pending balance of the debt of the 
 Santiago and Quillota railway, of the Garland bonds, of the 
 Llallai to San Felipe, and the bonds of the Santiago and San 
 Fernando, and those of the National loan of 1882 have been re- 
 duced to the amount of $3,573,100. 
 
 No foreign loans have been contracted, except those for repro- 
 ductive State works, like the new ralroads, and to cancel the 
 Nitrate certificates, representing a most valuable public profit. 
 
 Very successful and profitable conversions of the foreign loans 
 of 1858, 1867, 1870, 1873, and 1875, have been obtained, reducing 
 the annual public expenditures on that account in $1,253,757 less 
 than the corresponding usual appropriation. 
 
 From the time when Chile was. against her wishes and in de- 
 fense of her honor, dragged into a war against Peru and Bolivia, 
 it was deemed to be her unavoidable duty to keep her army and 
 navy on the best possible footing of armament and discipline. 
 
 His Excellency, Senor Balmaceda, has tried his best to Lave 
 
10 
 
 the army and navy well provided with every necessary and most 
 improved element of war, after the latest discovery and improve- 
 ment. 
 
 During the present year our army and navy will receive the 
 most efficient artillery known, and the last portion of the repeating 
 Marilicher rifles, which will place our infantry on a footing with 
 the best in the world. 
 
 By the Military School, furnished with an improved system of 
 studies, the School of Classes has been created. Its usefulness 
 cannot be questioned. 
 
 Th.a.navy, which has proved so ungrateful, has been the favorite 
 branch-with-the -pres&B t- administratioB r ^whieh -has-do»e-^ttore- for 
 the pawer_and_greatne ss of the country, t han all the previous. ad- 
 minisirations .together from -the- time of -our-independenca^ Indeed, 
 the vessels, built during the past five years, form a fleet by far- 
 more powerful and superior to that of the latter period of the 
 Santa Maria administration. 
 
 We will soon receive the iron-clad Aetubo Peat, the largest in 
 both Americas; the two cruisers, Peesidente Eeeazueis and 
 Peesidente Pinto, with the two tenders Condoe and Huemal. 
 The torpedo cruisers, Lynch and Condell, have just obtained a 
 glorious victory over the rebel fleet, in one of the boldest and most 
 brilliant combats ever won by our navy. [Loud cheers.J 
 
 The plans and specifications for the great fortifications of 
 Talcahuano are finished and for the new forts of Valparaiso, as 
 well as those necessary for the defense of Pisagua and Iquique. 
 Several excellent guns have been placed in position at Valparaiso 
 and Talcahuano, which, together with the heavy calibers now be- 
 ing especially constructed at the Krupp foundry, will make un- 
 assailable those ports by any squadron coming to the Pacific 
 Ocean. 
 
 The building of dry-docks which was , contemplated by the 
 previous administrations has been undertaken by the present one. 
 The Chilean fleet will soon have a fit place for every kind of work 
 or repairs needed without going abroad. , 
 
 The torpedo system of defense has been materially improved 
 the old vessels have been repaired, first-class light-houses have 
 been established and erected, and schools afloat have been created 
 for the instruction of the mariners. The Naval School building 
 
11 
 
 has been finished. Several apprenticeship commissions have 
 been sent to Europe. 
 
 The plans for the port of Llico have been already finished, and 
 show that it will be most likely one of the best in the world. 
 
 The codification of the laws has attracted the closest attention 
 from the Balmaceda administration. The Code of mines has 
 been promulgated ; that of civil procedure is about . ready, and 
 steps have been taken toward the completion of the code of crim- 
 inal proceedings. 
 
 A vigorous prosecution of the public works has been a char- 
 acteristic feature of the present administration. 
 
 Over a thousand kilometers of railways are in course of con- 
 struction, in equal extent to what existed before 1886. 
 
 The great bridges over the Bio-bio river, the Laja, the Suble, 
 and the colossal viaduct of the Malleco, and over thirty smaller 
 bridges, have been completed. 
 
 Sixty fine school buildings are already finished with capacity 
 for 23,300 pupils. There are eighteen jails, either finished or in 
 course of construction, with capacity for eighteen hundred per- 
 sons ; six buildings for governors and intendentes ; several Ly- 
 ceums ; three Normal Schools ; an office for the Department of 
 Public Works, and a suitable building for a School of Arts, be- 
 sides others for the Military School ; the Lyceum for girls at Val- 
 paraiso ; the Merchants Exchange ; one for the direction of 
 primary education ; a theatre for the Conservatory of Music ; four- 
 teen wharfs, the rest of the large mole of Valparaiso, besides other 
 minor works. 
 
 We must bear in mind that all these buildings are substantial, 
 fine structures, of solid materials, and creditable works of archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 As a complement of all these works stands the monument raised 
 in Santiago in honor of science, and the canalization of the 
 Mapocho river, a kind of gigantic work, enough to make immortal 
 its author, in spite of the injustice of men. [Cheers. J 
 
 What shall I say now of the great projects resisted by a retro- 
 grade spirit of ignorance, by political antagonisms, or by ob- 
 noxious emulations ? 
 
 I will keep silence about all that would have been done, and 
 has not been accomplished, for reasons that may not prove credit- 
 
12 
 
 able to the opponents of His Excellency, Senor Balmaceda, but 
 that will do him honor. 
 
 Many Chiefs of States have tried to advance the material im- 
 provemen tof their countries, at the sacrifice of all or part of the 
 citizens' liberties. Let us find out whether Senor Balmaceda has 
 followed their example, or has, on the contrary, introduced re- 
 forms to protect the personal rights of every citizen. 
 
 It is not my purpose to dwell upon secondary subjects of re- 
 form undertaken by the public administration in codifications and 
 the several branches of the government service to prove the spirit 
 ruling their conduct ; it will be enough to recall what has .been 
 done to secure the autonomy and independence of the public 
 powers. 
 
 Everybody knows that the framers of the constitution of 1833 
 endeavored to organize a vigorous executive power to the injury 
 and even nulli fication of th e_pj^ex.constitutlonal powers of State. 
 This administration has fixed exactly the boundaries of those 
 powers. Their independence is the best guarantee of order and 
 liberty under any government. 
 
 In order to organize upon solid foundations the legislative 
 power, a bill was submitted upon parliamentary incompatibilities, 
 the best that I know on the subject. To .satisfy the scruples of 
 the supporters of the measure things were probably carried be- 
 yond proper bounds, in order to increase the prestige of congress. 
 
 Esteeming as necessary to give the municipal power an auton- 
 omy compatible with our education, habits, and political and so- 
 cial standing, a bill was submitted to congress and approved, fix- 
 ing the boundaries of the municipal power, and where its indepen- 
 dent action begins. 
 
 When I mention this project I am far from referring to that fa- 
 mous contrivance of autonomous wards, an exotic plant, imported 
 from countries with habits, education, and with a race different 
 from ours. [Cheers.] 
 
 The judicial power has been for many years akin with the ex- 
 ecutive and under its intervention. This system has had serious 
 difficulties and the opposition of statesmen. To correct evils en- 
 dangering the independence and impartiality of the judges, a bill 
 was approved, providing for the best means to avoid the evils 
 brought about by the practice of popular elections of judges. 
 
13 
 
 To avoid the want of a proper supervision of the several public 
 offices, the law of incompatibilities on account of relationship was 
 enacted. 
 
 WhaLshall I say now about the respect shown by this adminis- 
 tration_for_ihfi_rights-of-our- citizens ? This-eonsideration has 
 been, carried to fataLexfaerrmg. An excessive indulgence has per- 
 mitted, unawares, without anticipating the consequences, that the 
 violent storm, sweeping now over the northern provinces of the 
 country, would have been prepared in the very bosom of our Na- 
 tional representation. [Well ! True !] 
 
 The liberty of the press has been no liberty, but the worst kind 
 of licentiousness. As by a flood, everything has been carried down 
 and nothing has been respected. 
 
 We have seen the way in which individual liberties have been 
 respected. 
 
 Who has been persecuted before the 7th of January last ? I ask, 
 which citizen has been subjected to duress before the revolution- 
 ary~hydra had raised its monstrous heads in this country of peace 
 and common-sense ? 
 
 Public meetings were freely held, until a few hours before the 
 uprising of the naval squadron, when the tempest was already 
 raging, and ample facilities allowed, even to the inconvenience of 
 free transit and commerce. 
 
 We reach now the subject of the electoral liberty, the idol raised 
 by the revolutionists to fascinate the incautious, and to throw gold- 
 dust in the eyes of those forgetful persons unacquainted with the 
 history of our public men. 
 
 Electoral liberty is a goddess which has received every kind of 
 incense and worship from the opposition side ; but whenever the 
 Government has tried to submit this adoration to a practical test, 
 the goddess has been trampled down in contempt. I do not mean 
 to say that during this administration the electoral liberty has 
 been secured. No. But it is a fact, admitted by the promoters 
 of the revolution, that the freest elections of all that ,have ever 
 been held in ^Chile have taken place under the present govern- 
 ment. The leader of the. conservative party, who, in his supreme 
 vanity, from his seat in the senate, called to an account all the 
 presidents of Chile, stated that the only free elections in our coun- 
 try had been held under the presidency of Sefior Lillo, Minister 
 
14 
 
 of the interior. Who was at the head of the government at that 
 time? His Excellency Sefior Balmaceda. Therefore the elec- 
 toral liberty has been the subject of exceptional considerations in 
 our political history. 
 
 The elections of 1888 were presided over by representatives of 
 the same political groups now engaged in the ranks of the revolu- 
 tion. "Whatever they say will work against them. 
 
 * When Jhe parliamentary majority thought of finding in a law 
 of autorwmmis wards the surest guaraSEee^ofa J free vote, the pres- 
 ident of J>he republicjiccep ted t he rule, in order to avoid conflicts 
 and show his spirit of forbearance, although convinced that the 
 prevailihg^electoral practice wpuhLjoj^ulfer t he least al terati on. 
 
 What else could be said in favor of so generous ideas ? The 
 electoral liberty will never be secured by means of speeches, nor 
 laws or regulations. It depends on the political education of the 
 people, on his relative aptitude to conduct public affairs, and on 
 his ability to appreciate the meaning and influence of the popular 
 suffrage in the welfare or misfortune of the country. To attain 
 this desirable end in Chile, I consider necessary the diffusion of 
 popular education and the industrial progress. The former se- 
 cures the independence of our spirits, the latter that of our per- ' 
 sons. 
 
 From what I have said of our administration in connection 
 with public works, political reforms, and respect to our rights, we 
 may safely come to the conclusion that there is not the slightest 
 reason for this abrupt interruption of half a century of constitu- 
 tional order and thirty years of domestic peace. 
 
 We have to look back elsewhere for the secret source of this 
 tragedy. 
 
 The causes of the revolution are either imaginary or real ; the 
 former intend to make progelites, among those who are apt to 
 judge by appearances without going to any depth in political sub- 
 jects — moved by the impression of the moment upon their nerves 
 or fancies [cheers] ; gilt images thrown to the people as the ideal 
 of hypocritical fancies. [Loud cheers.] 
 
 The other, the real and true causes, are thoroughly well known 
 to all of us, hayjsg -taken. sides in the^politicaLcontentions of the ' 
 last period. ... We have often sounded their consciences down to 
 bottom and felt bound to silence much of what we found out, in 
 
15 
 
 order to keep the parties in harmony, and not to widen any more 
 the existing wounds, and really because we never thought possible 
 this sad tragedy of blood, death, and shame, such as is being 
 enacted in Chile at present. [Cheers all around.] 
 
 We must talk plainly. It is time for all of us, who have taken 
 any part in the present affairs to show our souls and our con- 
 sciences as they are, and not as they ought to be. [Well, very 
 well.] • 
 
 Imaginary causes are the electoral liJaerty^already mentioned, 
 and the p arliame ntary li berty. Hearing what has been claimed by 
 the press and by all thecentres of opposition, in every possible 
 strain, that the parliamentary liberty had been assailed, persons 
 unacquainted with our affairs should take for granted that an 18 
 Brumaire has been reproduced in Chile, or that His Excellency, 
 Sefior Balmaceda, had attempted, before the 7th of January last, 
 anything against the representatives of the people or their free 
 deliberations. Nothing of the kind has happened. Freedom of 
 speech has been carried, during the sessions of Congress, to ex- 
 tremes never known before in parliamentary history. Just like a 
 sea without shores. From the chief of the nation down to the 
 'lowest public officer, everybody has been the subject of the vilest 
 and worst qualifications. 
 
 As their exists not an instance, before the 7th of January, of any 
 attempt against the persons of the representatives of the people 
 nor the liberty of speech, we have to look elsewhere for the mean- 
 ing of these alleged trespasses of the Chief Magistrate against 
 parliament. 
 
 The contention may be reduced to very few words : t he AL7 
 
 LEJ^EIlRJGiKOXELJG©NGR^&-^^ OF THE 
 
 Ministries of the Executiye JBqwer. 
 
 The leaders of the opposition themselves admit that such a 
 power is not vested in congress by the constitution. They admit, 
 likewise, as they could riot well fail to do, that section 6j^Artf,cla, 
 73 of the Constitution enacts, among the other powers_of__the 
 President of the "republic, ""that "of a ppointing" aniTremoving at 
 will the "ministers" of'the government. As there is no possible 
 "ground for their assumption in the letter of the constitution, these 
 famous politicians/from the Mapocho river, have tried to draw 
 most sophistic conclusions from the plain spirit of our fundamental 
 
16 
 
 law, in order to give an imperative character to practices and to 
 customs of very doubtful existence, that could only be enforced 
 according to the rules of our jurisprudence. 
 
 I am conversant with the archives of our political history, as I 
 am bound, as a professor on this branch, to examine thoroughly 
 the history of the constitution of Chile, and I have found incon- 
 testable reasons in documents, sufficient to measure the real 
 value of the interpretations of the revolutionists, claiming the 
 necessary interference of congress in the organizations of cabinets, 
 and in the policy they are bound to adopt. In one wor d, th e 
 error comes from the mistaken idea that. our. constituent congress 
 meant to establish with us the English" parliamentary system. 
 The chief of the nation, always ready on his part to accept every 
 possible way of preserving a good harmony among the funda- 
 mental powers, has held that it is his privilege to appoint his own 
 ministers, and that the constitution allows no direct interference 
 of parliament or anyone else, which would in any way impair, the 
 free exercise of his functions, as"presidentof -tbe-repuMic. 
 
 Who is right, the president or the old parliamentary majority? 
 
 Before finding the above-mentioned documents, I had been 
 paralogized, when I published one of my first works on political 
 science. 
 
 When the grand constituent convention was called to enact 
 our fundamental charter, in one of the first sessions held, a com- 
 mittee was appointed with the especial object of presenting a draft 
 of the constitution to be submitted as a basis of further debates. 
 
 Among the members of that committee the illustrious patrician, 
 Don Mariano Egafia, was very prominent. He had been brought 
 up and imbued with political English theories, which he wished, 
 at all events, to implant in Chile, such as the parliamentary sys- 
 tem existing for so many years in England. All his endeavors 
 failed in the committee, and, as a sequel, .two different drafts were 
 submitted to the convention — one from the committee proper, 
 and the other contained in vote of Don Mariano Egafia in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 Not discouraged by defeat in the committee,. Senor Egaria in- 
 sisted in the adoption of the English system, and he continued 
 making preparations to secure his success in the grand conven- 
 tion. He met with disappointment, and his basis of parliamen- 
 
17 
 tarism were one after the other expressly and emphatically re- 
 
 My honorable colleagues are all well aware that the cardinal 
 bases of the parliamentary system are, 1st, the right of the sover- 
 eign to close the popular branch, as the only means to settle the 
 conflicts between the executive and legislative powers ; 2d, the 
 irresponsibility of the head of the nation ; 3d, a parliament com- 
 posed of two houses, of which one must be of members appointed 
 by the people and the other of permanent members for life and 
 hereditary ; 4th, the express power of parliament to inquire into 
 the official conduct of all public functionaries. 
 
 Sefior Egana, as a leading and sound statesman, presented his 
 system with every one of its characteristic features. The legisla- 
 tive power was to be composed of a popular honsp T such as that 
 of the Commons in England, and of a senate, as the House o f 
 Lords, but only composed of fourteen members, ele cted indirectly 
 by restricted votes, and composed of a chief- justice, the ex-presi- 
 dents of the republic, the arch-bishops and bishops, the older 
 councillors of state, and the superintendents of public instruction. 
 
 The convention rejected that kind of organization. 
 
 Sefior Egana proposed, as one of the powers of the president 
 of the republic, " to dissolve the house of representatives, whenever 
 very grave circumstances so demanded it, in the judgment of the 
 council of state by the vote of two-thirds of its members. 
 
 The convention rejected the attribution. 
 
 Sefior Egana proposed, moreover, with a view to strengthen the 
 powers of congress by article 61 of his draft, that " the senate and 
 house of representatives may at any time — 
 
 '• 1st. Show the president of the republic their desire to adjust 
 the peace. 2d. Ask him to examine the conduct of any public 
 functionary, who does not properly discharge his duties, and to 
 dismiss or suspend him, so as to have him tried and punished 
 according to law." 
 
 This proposition was L also rejected by_the_ convention. 
 
 Sefior Egafia, with a view to strengthen the supervising powers 
 of congress, proposed that the senate ought to appoint yearly two 
 of its members " to visit the provinces of the republic and to ex- 
 amine in their visit — 
 
 " 3d. The observance of the laws. 
 
18 
 
 " 4th. The official conduct of the public functionaries. 
 
 " 7th. The inversion of the public and municipal revenues. 
 
 " Art. 70. The visiting senators will follow the instructions of 
 the senate, but without any other power than that of taking no- 
 tice and advice and request the action of the proper authorities. 
 
 "Art. 71. The senate will meet on the first day of May for the 
 sole purpose of receiving and examing the reports of the visiting 
 senators." 
 
 This plan was likewise rejected by the convention. 
 
 In Senor Egana's draft nothing is stated in a direct manner 
 about the responsibility of the president. 
 
 The great convention, on their part, made it explicit and in a 
 direct way in article 71 of our fundamental law. 
 
 What do all these historic documents and these incontrovert- 
 ible evidences show ? 
 
 Who is right according to them ? Where is the power or the 
 right of the parliamentary majority to launch the country into a 
 revolution, under the pretext that the president of the republic 
 does not acknowledge in congress a power, not given by the letter 
 of our constitution, and that the history of the same shows it was 
 expressly refused by the constituent convention of 1833 ? 
 
 How could our future generations justify a revolution based 
 upon false interpretations of the constitution ? 
 
 After these antecedents, it will not be to anticipate the verdict of 
 history to hold that history will consider a crime of treason to 
 the country the attempt of the majority of congress. [Cheers.] 
 If the founders of our constitutional regimen should rise 
 from their tombs, we are sure they would contemplate with pain- 
 ful feelings of regret, that their work, intended to strengthen the 
 principle of authority in the executive power, had become a 
 standard of anarchy and disorder, through serious equivocations 
 and misinterpretations. 
 
 Who is not aware of the fact that, according to the constitution 
 of 1833, there is only one public power, well-armed and well- 
 constituted ? 
 sj Who does not know that the same constitution of 1833 made 
 of the executive power almost an omnipotent dictatorship ? 
 
 And who does not know that the programs of all political par- 
 ties, during the last thirty years, intend particularly to limit the 
 powers of the president of the republic ? 
 
19 
 
 And, if that is all true, how is it possible that the parliamentary 
 majority may have held at the last hour, when there has been no 
 change of the constitution, and as pretext for the revolution, that 
 the system of the constitutional government of Chile had given 
 to congress the total sum of the public power, and converted the 
 chief of the nation into a figure-head, only fit to sign acts and 
 resolutions, planned, dictated and inspired by others? 
 
 When I maintain the authority and powers granted by the 
 constitution and the principles of political science to the chief of 
 the nation, especially so in an elective and democratic republic, I 
 am far from believing that congress ought not to have also ample, 
 powers for the exercise of its sovereign functions. 
 
 I do not wish any personal nor collective despotisms for my 
 country. I want a government adjusted to the principles of po- 
 litical science and to common-sense. I want a government exer- 
 cised by the high political powers, clearly and distinctly defined, 
 witli functions, privileges, rights, and duties characteristic and 
 unmistakable. Here is what constitutes the representative system 
 properly, and what I pursue to be the fairest aim of my aspirations. 
 
 What the opposition has wanted in Chile, in making a revolu- , 
 tion under the standard of parliamentary liberty, is to plagiarize 
 the conduct of the English parliament, when, in the face of an 
 undisguised tyranny, that paid no respect to any rights or personal / 
 guarantees, carried their energy and patriotism to wage a war ^ 
 without quarter against John Lackland, succeeded by the execu- * 
 tion of Charles the First and the dethronement of James the 
 Second. But t he oppositu on^pMtxtoggMJhat^when the English 
 people, more than the parliamen t, ro se, to a man against those 
 monarchy, it was ta„def end their innate rights, their most precious 
 guarantees, and_not on ac count of legal interpreta tions, contrary 
 to history, and to-. the letter- and- spirit -&f tie-xiilesJjalpmnT; 
 
 To stimulate public imagination and to assume a justification, 
 not in the least in existence, it has been necessary to invent in this 
 peaceful country a new John Lackland, a Charles the First, and a 
 James the Second. 
 
 The scheme might produce only fits of laughter in normal times 
 but it brings us now real sorrow and deep pain. [Cheers.] 
 
 After what has been stated, we may weigh exactly the nature of 
 the serious crime of the majority of the late congress, when, in 
 
20 
 
 order to impose their unconstitutional theories, carried their 
 impudence to omit the appropriation laws in such a manner and 
 to an extent without parallel in the history of the world from the 
 very origin of the representative system. 
 
 I do not consider the present occasion fit to examine the reach , 
 intent, and scope of all these acts, their legality or justice, inas- 
 much as the subject has been thoroughly elucidated before. But 
 after this reminiscence of the past I may be permitted to recall a 
 fact which will fully confute the theories of the late congress, 
 luckily for Chile, out of existence now. 
 
 The committee which prepared the draft of the constitution, to 
 be discussed in the great convention, embraced the appropriation 
 and revenue laws, authorizing the collection of taxes and fixing the 
 naval and land forces among the exclusive powers op congeess. 
 
 The honorable house knows that in these exclusive powers of 
 congress the president of the republic has nothing to do ; cannot 
 interpose his Veto, and the resolutions are carried out without any 
 further requisites. The great convention eliminated these con- 
 stitutional laws from the exclusive powers of congress, and intro- 
 duced them among those in common with the other laws in which 
 the president of the republic intervenes in concurrence with the 
 legislative power. As that is so. what was the right of the ma- 
 jority of the senate and house of representatives to put off these 
 vital laws, alleging that they were of the exclusive and direct 
 power of congress ? Why did they oppose to the very foundations 
 of the constitution, its legal history, and the truth upon which it 
 rests ? 
 
 From the analysis I have made, Mr. President, it is evident that 
 the imaginary causes of the revolution are unconstitutional, or 
 founded on false assumptions and simple pretexts to cover veiled 
 purposes to work on the fancies of those Chileans who may be 
 found to be carried by superficial visions of vivid imaginations. 
 [Cheers.] 
 
 Let us abandon the field of appearances for that of realities ; 
 let us give up the world of illusions and deal with the miseries 
 crowding fast around us. 
 
 Since the imaginary causes of the revolution have not stood the 
 test of a fair logic and reasoning, let us deal now with the 
 true causes. They are only two : ambition of power in some 
 
21 
 
 and eersonai. interests in others. That is the bare truth. That 
 is what remains of the illuminated divinity, when we take off the 
 mask which covers the human frailties. 
 
 Ambition and personal interest. 
 
 It is sad to say so, but it is the truth. 
 
 To show, beyond dispute, that the secret motive of many of the 
 revolutionists is their ambition for power, it will be enough to 
 sketch very superficially the causes which have produced the fqr- 
 mation_and_fallof_tha seven ministries which, as magic sha des, 
 have succeeded each other, during the term of the present admin- 
 istration. 
 
 I have stated that when His Excellency Sep or Balmaceda came 
 to power he hoisted the white flag, symbol of peace, before the 
 tents of all the political combatants. 
 
 To make practical his plan of government, in spite of the des- 
 perate efforts of the circles, which carried him to the presidential 
 chair, he placed at the head of his first cabinet Don Ensebio Lillo, 
 a political gentleman without enemies, respected and loved by all 
 parties, free from ambitious views .With other peace liberals there 
 were two natio?ialists in this cabinet. 
 
 When congress opened the extra sessions of 1886, the liberal 
 dissenters and thejgojrej^mentliberals joined inji_coalition with 
 the conservatives, in order to pass an indirect vote of censure 
 against the cabinet. The standard hoisted, at that time, by the 
 dissenters was the alleged need of checking the preponderance of 
 the nationalists. The latter rose to power, and the former, the 
 liberals, fell. The evil had to be stopped. Chile was sinking. 
 
 These and many other allegations were brought forward through 
 the press, congress, and political rings. 
 
 His Excellency Senor Balmaceda, following his policy of paci- 
 fication of the liberal ranks, without breaking from the groups 
 which helped his election, organized th'e ministry of Senor An- 
 tunez, composed of peaceful men free from political hatred. 
 
 The struggle between liberal dissenters and conservatives against 
 nationalists did not stop for an instant. While the former went 
 against the government party in order to break it, the latter kept 
 strengthening more and more the relations with the liberals in 
 sympathy with the administration, so as to gain strength and to be 
 enabled to resist the combat. 
 
22 
 
 While the political circles kept their wrangles, the chief of the 
 nation followed, with wonderful perseverance, his plan of, union 
 of the liberal party. As the contending parties wanted the help 
 of the president to reach their ends, they kept flattering him with 
 professions of attachment and admiration. Any other head, less 
 conversant with the human heart, might have been turned. 
 
 A moment came when His Excellency President Balmaceda 
 thought that it was the right time to accomplish his favorite work 
 of reconciliation. To that end he organized the Zanartu minis- 
 try, composed of important members of the three leading politi- 
 cal groups, viz., government liberals, liberal dissenters, and na- 
 tionalists. 
 
 It was publicly admitted that this cabinet was a portent of re- 
 ciprocal kindness, fidelity, and abnegation. It might have an- 
 swered for that famous penalty applied to parricides by the Ro- 
 man law. [Laughter.] 
 
 This union lasted until the benefit of government's ascendance 
 could be utilized for the electoral campaign of 1888. Then the 
 rupture came, for want of accord in the cabinet, for the appoint- 
 ment of a successor to one of the ministers, who resigned for rea- 
 sons unconnected with politics. 
 
 The. nationalists wanted the restoration of the old union, with- 
 out liberal dissenters or radicals. The latter, on their part, pre- 
 ferred the sacrifice of their representation in the government, at 
 expense of depriving their opponents of any influence in the 
 administration. 
 
 ,The president, unwilling to incline the balance one way or the 
 other, organized a cabinet exclusively with government liberals, 
 without giving any participation to the contestants. That was 
 the last of Troy. In public the liberal dissenters and the nation- 
 alists supported the government eloquently, but in the intimacy 
 of their party the nationalists sought an occasion to undermine 
 the ministry, relying on the support of a score of liberals, who 
 were in favor of the nationalists rather than for their own party. 
 The liberal dissenters, in their turn, kept fanning the fire of dis- 
 cord, so as to open a chasm between them and the nationals. 
 
 The bomb-shell exploded then, and in a party meeting vigorous 
 hostilities began between the cabinet of Senor Cu.-idra and the 
 nationalists and their converts. The struggle continued unabated 
 
23 
 
 and the question on examinations followed and brought down the 
 ministry. 
 
 His Excellency Senor Balmaceda, in such an emergency, antici- 
 pating the evils of the present discord, tried still to restore good- 
 will and harmony amongst the several political circles, and called 
 Senor Barros Luco to form a cabinet in order to facilitate the 
 restoration of peace. 
 
 Several members who accompanied Senor Barros Luco en- 
 deavored to bring back the nationalists to side with the cabinet. 
 Jealousies, however, sprang among the dissenters and they did not 
 hesitate to join hands in the senate with the nationalists, their 
 bitter enemies, and with the conservatives, in order to oppose a 
 barrier to the election of a president. The cabinet resigned. 
 
 The chief of the government was surprised to discover this 
 alliance, and there was no other way left him than trying his best 
 way for a fusion of liberals, radicals, and dissenters in a new 
 cabinet. 
 
 A memorable struggle followed between the new ministry and 
 the nationalists. During the ordinary session of 1889 there was 
 no law approved, nor anything else done, than adding fuel to the 
 .political discords. 
 
 This period coincides with the campaign opened by the liberals 
 within the cabinet, and the nationalists outside, against the candi- 
 dacy of the distinguished statesman Don Enrique S. Sanfuentes. 
 
 It will be useless to recall the incidents and changes produced 
 by this candidature, called official by its opponents, and an end- 
 less talk to enter into the details of the jealousies, combinations, 
 intrigues, and perfidious schemes displayed against Senor San- 
 fuentes. 
 
 There were at that time very comical incidents, like that of a 
 minister who, before taking the oath of office, went to the candi- 
 date to offer his unsolicited support, which was not accepted. And 
 this minister, who appears to-day among the political Vestals, who 
 have revolted the naval forces against the government under their 
 ardent zeal in favor of law and electoral liberty, changed of mind 
 very soon, and instead of supporting any one else's candidacy 
 proclaimed his own. 
 
 Taking as a pretext the candidature of the great patriot Senor 
 Sanfuentes, some of the ministers were found to be secret oppo- 
 
24 
 
 nents of their chief, going to the extent of employing unworthy 
 machinations, and hurting, indeed, the dignity of the president 
 of the republic. 
 
 That cabinet fell, and before a new one was organized we were 
 astonished to find out that a pact of union had been concluded 
 between the nationalists and their converts, on one side, and on 
 the other the liberal dissenters and the radicals, who only a few 
 hours before had been trying to do each other every harm pos- 
 sible. 
 
 This fact will be sufficient to estimate the standard of morals 
 existing among the several factions now engaged in the revolution. 
 
 Those events coincide with the formation of the sixth group 
 which left the rank of the government liberals, in order to oppose 
 the candidature of Sefior Sanfuentes. 
 
 The house will not find strange the sudden formation of sev- 
 eral parties, for I think it is difficult to find a parallel of what we 
 see now in Chile' in any other well-organized country with any 
 kind of political training. 
 
 In England, France, and the United States, Belgium, Italy, and 
 in every other well-organized country, parties are formed accord- 
 ing to the ideas and high social or economical interests, and re- 
 flecting national aspirations, or at least those of a considerable 
 portion of the people. 
 
 It was reserved to the majority of the last congress, this abnor- 
 mal formation of as many different parties as portfolios in the 
 administration. 
 
 In the presence of this parliamentary chaos, the president of 
 the republic, as the innocent victim of so many ambitious and op- 
 posite political interests, did not hesitate to form a new ministry, 
 in which all the political groups, surrounding the administration 
 like stormy clouds, would be represented. 
 
 The Donoso ministry sprung from this clash, and was converted 
 into a field of Agramonte, as could not be expected otherwise. It 
 fell under the masked and unmasked attacks and machinations of 
 all parties aspiring to exercise a direct influence in the next pres- 
 idential election. 
 
 The president, finding it impossible to contimie his administra- 
 tion, while surrounded by so many heterogeneous elements, called 
 Sefior Ibanez to form a cabinet, expecting to avoid the impending 
 
25 
 
 conflicts between the executive and legislative powers. It was 
 useless ; the organs of the press of the several groups made a 
 violent and bitter simultaneous onslaught on the new cabinet in 
 terms derogatory indeed of our social culture and standing. 
 
 As the tempest did not subside, and the parties, far from com- 
 ing to terms, kept kindling the fire of civil discord, the chief of the 
 nation had to appeal to the well-known patriotism of Sefior San- 
 fuentes, who did not hesitate for a moment to withdraw his name 
 from the presidential election. In order to make more practical 
 his step, he accepted, towards the end of last May, the portfolio 
 of the Interior. 
 
 Inasmuch as this alleged official candidature was the only pre- 
 text of the opposition party, the president thought that the cause 
 once removed, everything had been settled — a painful deception. 
 As soon as Sefior Sanfuentes appeared in congress, a vote of cen- 
 sure was proposed without even hearing his ministerial program. 
 A poor reward for his most patriotic abnegation! 
 
 I believe there is not, in the parliamentary history of any civil- 
 ized country, a case of more disrespectful contempt against the 
 head of a government. 
 
 From that moment a conflict sprung between the congress and 
 the executive power and lasted for several months. I do not in- 
 tend to describe the sad sequel of antagonisms, violences, and 
 slanders offered by the parliamentary majority, since that time, 
 against the minority and the president of the republic. An im- 
 peachment of the cabinet on political grounds was talked over, as 
 the proper means to compel the chief of the executive to resign. 
 
 An hour later of common-sense brought about the conciliating 
 minority of Sefior Prats. It was, however, to no purpose in the 
 midst of the passions and distrust of their political supporters. 
 
 What will be the use of a mention of the Vicuna and the Godoy 
 cabinets ? The honorable house knows too well the meaning of 
 these, two last ministries, which have attended to the development 
 of the revolution, but if there* is any desire to know the purposes 
 of the political circles, towards the end of the Prats cabinet, I 
 may be permitted to say what is well known to all my honorable 
 colleagues. As soon as the meetings of the chief tax-payers had 
 been held, and the large majorities had appeared decidedly in 
 favor of the administration, the parliamentary majority fully 
 
26 
 
 anticipated their inevitable defeat in the next national elections. 
 In order to avoid it, they had no other way left than to seize the 
 power and, through the intendenles and governors of their afilia- 
 tion, to obtain a preponderance that they could not well secure by 
 any fair means. 
 
 It is hardly possible to trace to this political manoeuvre the 
 source of the present conflict. 
 
 A bare exposition of the ministerial changes will be more than 
 sufficient to show, that one of the two principal factors of the 
 revolution has been the ambition of political aspirants of all de- 
 nominations. 
 
 It is a humiliation, derogatory of the national dignity, to dis- 
 cover that every change of cabinet has been brought about by 
 political reforms, in the several programs of the parties, and not 
 by any real differences on the ground of economical or social 
 principles. They have all been influenced by petty passions. 
 
 The traditional" ideas represented by the political parties have 
 never been duly respected when effecting these several new com- 
 binations and alliances. How often we have seen confounded 
 and in close consortship Voltaire and St. Thomas ! How often 
 have we attended in the morning to the wedding of these political 
 groups and before the evening to the trial of their divorce. 
 
 The second and true source of the revolution, as I have insin- 
 uated before, is that of personal interests. 
 
 When our victorious army conquered, at the price of their 
 blood, the Tarapaca territory, who could have imagined for a 
 moment that the great wealth discovered there was to be, in a 
 short time, an incentive to disturb the traditional peace of Chile 
 and endanger oar credit and our national integrity? 
 
 I am, Mr. President, one of the persons cowardly assailed and 
 slandered -by political adversaries, in their vain endeavor to dis- 
 honor men who have been, during their whole lifetime, in the 
 service of the country, and who feel proud of their poverty. 
 
 I belong to the political party charged by the revolutionists, in 
 their incendiary publications, as being an anonymous copartner- 
 ship to profit by the use of the public moneys. 
 
 Who says so ? Those who appear to work under engagements 
 with the glittering producers of the Tarapaca staples. 
 
 What has been the influence of the Tarapaca nitrate kings in 
 
27 
 
 our parliamentary wrangliugs, and in our political affairs, for the 
 last five years ? 
 
 Is the president a victim, or not, of his energetic, straightfor- 
 ward conduct, displayed in defence of the interests of the north- 
 ern provinces of the country ? 
 
 I leave the answer to the consciences of my honorable colleagues 
 and to the sensible men of Chile. 
 
 Every Chilian congress, from 1810 to 1888, may not have been 
 provided with a vast political stock of knowledge, may not have 
 been conversant with every principle of political science, and may 
 have opposed ideas truly beneficial ; but every one of those con- 
 gresses has a claim to national gratitude for two great virtues, of 
 which they must be proud, as being the secret of the Chilean 
 greatness : their honesty and thei,r 'patriotism. [Loud cheers.] 
 
 Could the members of the majority of the late congress boast 
 alike of the same virtues ? 
 
 What must be the shame of the nation, on ascertaining that the 
 same interests, which have contributed to throw us into a revolu- 
 tion, are, at the present time, knocking at every door in foreign 
 countries to bring us into discredit, and to dishonor our foreign 
 affairs. 
 
 Let us turn the page, Mr. President, out of self-respect. 
 
 Let us hypothetically accept that His Excellency Senor Balma- 
 ceda was guilty of the errors charged to him. Even in such an 
 event this revolution could find no plausible apology now or here- 
 after. 
 
 The Balmaceda administration will come to an end on the 18th 
 of next September, so that the civil war has commenced just 
 about the expiration of his term-, when ready to lay his conduct 
 before the country, and await their verdict and the judgment 
 of the high court designated, by the constitution, to pass sentence 
 in his case. 
 
 Let us lay it in the scales ; on one side the few months left to 
 the Balmaceda government, and on the other the endless ruin and 
 disasters of the revolution. 
 
 It is impossible, absolutely impossible, that the present or fu- 
 ture generations may justify the conduct of the authors of the 
 present revolution. 
 
 Under the best aspect of things, the revolutionists have no 
 
28 
 
 chance to escape an unqualified reprobation on all sides. 
 [Cheers.] 
 
 If, from the above inquiry into the origin of the disturbance, 
 we proceed to examine the advisibility of the revolution itself, we 
 will discover new reasons to condemn it. 
 
 What power has congress to authorize the revolt of the national 
 men-of-war? No word of the constitution could be found on this 
 subject. 
 
 The right of insurrection is denied by the majority of statesmen 
 and publicists, but I believe that there is such a right. 
 
 While the people is a victim of a tyrant, who tries to usurp 
 power and perpetuate himself in it, or of one who has obtained 
 the power through violence, and becomes an implacable despot, 
 the people has a perfect right to take the redress in h'is own hands, 
 and only then and there a man will be great and the Brutus of 
 a revolution. 
 
 This supreme right, however, for a people groaning under op- 
 pression, this last life-preserver of citizens under the yoke of a 
 usurper, is not to be delegated or vested in any of the constitu- 
 tional powers ; it is to be wielded only by those who assume their 
 original sovereignty — the national sovereignty. [Cheers.J 
 
 No publicist, nor any one possessing the least idea of political 
 science, will ever hold that the right of revolution may be delegated 
 by the people, and still less into any of the public powers, which, 
 by their own nature, are bound to perform functions of order only, 
 organized, as they are, to preserve order and prevent anarchy. 
 
 The majority of the late congress, however, not only has usurped 
 a pretended right entirely beyond its powers, but has delivered 
 the same into the hands of an institution which, according to the 
 notions of that same majority, became unconstitutional from the 
 first of January last. 
 
 It is no less astonishing the conduct observed by almost ihe 
 whole of the members composing the majority of the late con- 
 gress. Instead of facing the danger of the situation in the battle- 
 fields, they fly away and disperse themselves, when they do not 
 keep in close concealment, going to foreign countries to await the 
 result, and ready to return home in case of success, so as to take 
 their share in the spoils of the conquerors. [Loud cheers.] 
 
 Instead of making a show of mercy and tolerance, as was J 'to be 
 expected, they give a character of implacable ferocity to their 
 
29 
 
 war. They were the first to throw torpedoes on a defenceless 
 transport before it was fitted up for war ; they have pillaged and 
 set on fire populations, as their ways of hostilities. The towns of 
 Iquique and Tarapaca have been laid waste in part ; they have, 
 with stoical indifference, contemplated numerous families with 
 their children, dragging a wretched existence, on board launches to 
 escape their fury, and left unpunished the vile murder of Colonel 
 Eobles, who, after long hours of combat and being twice badly 
 wounded, went in quest of help to take refuge in an ambulance. 
 
 That is what they do while under arms. Outside the provinces, 
 under their rule, they keep bribing, stimulating treason by dint of. 
 gold, distributing proclamations in the military head-quarters, in- 
 citing the soldiers to murder their officers, and throwing explosive 
 bomb-shells to destroy a respectable and innocent family at home. 
 
 They think they are popular; so they say everywhere that the 
 country is with them. They are, on the contrary, bound to con- 
 quer, as strangers and enemies, every inch of the ground they 
 tread upon. The people remain perfectly indifferent, turning a 
 deaf ear to their entreaties and threats. 
 
 From 1851 to 1859 every capital of a province, every centre or 
 town, rose in arms, and there was hardly a portion of the country 
 which did not take up arms. 
 
 To-day the conflict is limited to the places invaded by the fleet. 
 And it must ,be borne in mind that the Chileans, when touched in 
 their rights and liberties, know how to be irresistible in their de- 
 fence. t 
 
 If there were any doubts, before the last elections, about which 
 is the will of the majority of the people, there is no room for any 
 now. The so-called delegation of congress bears their precarious 
 existence only through force and by force. 
 
 The delegation has not escaped the consequences of their rash- 
 ness and want of knowledge of the human heart. 
 
 The chief of the revolutionary squadron initiated the revolt, as 
 a blind instrument in the hands of congress, and as an humble, 
 modest servant of one of the public powers of the nation. Times 
 and events went on, and very soon the delegates, who acted kings, 
 became the subjects now, and go around to do as directed by the 
 chief of the fleet, who seems to have acted the part of the Pope 
 Sixtus'the Fifth, very poorly dressed and humble, until he secured 
 the chair of Peter. 
 
30 
 
 The revolutionary press, having made a change of front, pre- 
 tends to justify the revolution, not on the former grounds of par- 
 liamentary rights, but on account of the measures of repression 
 adopted, after the beginning of the revolution, to oppose and de- 
 feat it, as well as to preserve order and prevent its spreading, and 
 to save the country from its sure ruin, if ever the principle of au- 
 thority were to succumb in Chile. 
 
 In blaming the government for these repressive measures, the 
 revolutionists lose sight of their own conduct with their prisoners 
 and the public functionaries who have fallen in their hands. Our 
 officers and superior public functionaries are held in the lower 
 holds of their vessels, and submitted to the severest kind of 
 durance. 
 
 The revolution with all its danger, and the intervention of the 
 majority of congress, a body called by our fundamental charter 
 to invest the executive with extraordinary powers, compelled the 
 president of the republic to assume the necessary authority to 
 save the country. 
 
 On the inauguration of the present constituent congress, their 
 first duty is to approve these acts, as dictated under the extra- 
 ordinary pressure of an armed revolution. 
 
 Extraordinary powers to preserve public order, when disturbed, 
 are granted by the constitution of every country. 
 
 It is to be regretted to have to delegate that amount of public 
 power ; but public order stands above every other consideration, 
 as the chief foundation of rational liberty and political and indi- 
 vidual guarantees. 
 
 I feel convinced that there is not one member in the govern- 
 ment, the constituent congress, or the administration, who is not 
 painfully afflicted at the condition of Chile since the 7th of last 
 January. 
 
 I am very sure my colleagues, like myself, while left to our own 
 thoughts and meditations, feel the weight and misery of this 
 calamity. 
 
 The country, from one end to the other, deplores a conflict which 
 throws a dense shade on our glorious past, and soils laurels of 
 victory dear to every Chilean. 
 
 In spite of every difficulty which may oppose us, we must lay 
 down the foundations of a system of government, making forever 
 
31 
 
 impossible the anarchy of errors, false interpretations, or omissions 
 in our constitution. Let us improve by the experience and lessons 
 of our present misfortunes, and that will be sufficient to make the 
 work of the constituent congress beneficial and lasting. 
 
 Chile, Mr. President, goes up the mountain, this time, with a 
 heavy cross on her shoulders. The distance to be made yet is 
 considerable. There is no lack of prophets portending endless 
 evils against our future greatness. They have visions only of the 
 tomb in contemplation, none of the resurrection. 
 
 That reminds me of Prometheus ; urged by his ambition, he tried 
 to scale the heavens and seize the secret of life. In punishment 
 he was enchained and placed on top of the Caucasus, while 
 hungry vultures kept forever devouring his entrails. 
 
 Chile, Mr. President, has perhaps anticipated her times, and, 
 inspired by the noble emulations of progress, has attempted sud- 
 den conquests that have required centuries of struggles, labor, and 
 vicissitudes among other nations ; and then destiny or fatality 
 stops her flight of eagle, and brings vultures to devour her proud 
 heart. 
 
 But, sir, the hero of the fable was at last saved by a Titan. 
 
 The present generation, or the next, I am sure — I think I per- 
 ceive it in the midst of this manly people — used as we are, all the 
 Chileans, to the school of misfortunes and to bear our former pov- 
 erty, will break the present chains all around and, without a 
 cross or internecine wars, Chile will reach her great destinies of 
 power, greatness, and glory. [Cheers. J 4 
 
 [The deputies rushed to the seat of the orator to offer their 
 congratulations. J 
 
Cornell University Library 
 F 3098.B21C5 
 
 The Chilean revolution and the Balmaceda 
 
 3 1924 005 892 124 
 
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