history]
ARGENTINE
the decentralization party had determined to leave no stone unturned to secure the election of General It oca, and so make sure that the provinces became the dominant element in the political situation, an agitation was immediately set on foot. Mass meetings were held and a committee was appointed for the purpose of considering what action should be taken to defeat the ambitious designs of the provincials. Under the direction of this committee, the association known as the “ Tiro ISTacional ” was formed, with the avowed object of training the able-bodied citizens of Buenos Ayres in military exercises and creating a volunteer army, ready for service, if called upon, to resist by force the pretensions of their opponents. The establishment of the Tiro Nacional was enthusiastically received by all classes in Buenos Ayres, the men turning out regularly to drill and the women aiding the movement by collecting subscriptions for the purpose of armament and other necessaries. On the 13th of February, 1880, the Minister of War, Dr Pellegrini, summoned the principal military officers connected with the Tiro ISTacional, and warned them that as officers of the national army they owed obedience to the National Government and would be severely punished if concerned in any revolutionary outbreak directed against the constituted authorities. The reply to this threat was the immediate resignation from the army of all the officers connected with the Tiro Nacional. Two days later, the National Government occupied with a strong force of infantry and artillery the parade ground at Palermo used by the Buenos Ayres volunteers for drill purposes. A great meeting of the citizens was then called and marched through the streets. President Avellaneda, finding his position insecure, made a compromise and ordered the troops to be withdrawn. Negotiations were now opened between the National Government and the provincial authorities for the disarmament of the city and province of Buenos Ayres, but without result. Matters became 'still further strained on account of outrages committed by the national troops, and the gradual development of the situation brought about such violent bitterness of feeling between the two factions that an appeal to arms became inevitable. In the month of March, 1880, President Avellaneda and his Ministers left Buenos Ayres, and this act was considered tantamount to a declaration of war. The National Government and the twelve provinces, forming the Cordova League, were on one side ; the province and city of Buenos Ayres and the province of Corrientes on the other. The National Government troops were well armed with Remington rifles, provided with abundant ammunition, equipped with artillery, and supported by the fleet. In the city and province of Buenos Ayres plenty of volunteers oflered their services, and an army of some 30,000 men was quickly raised, but they were armed with oldfashioned weapons and there was only a limited supply of ammunition. Feverish attempts were made to remedy the lack of warlike stores, but difficulty was experienced on account of the fleet blockading the entrance to the river. After several skirmishes, the contending armies met in force on the 20th of July, 1880, in the outskirts of Buenos Ayres, General Roca commanding the national troops. Two days’ fighting took place, and the Buenos Ayres forces were finally outmatched at all points. On the 23rd of July the surrender of the city was demanded and obtained. The terms of the surrender were that all the principal men of the revolution should be removed from positions of authority, all Government employes implicated in the movement dismissed, and the forces in the province and city of Buenos Ayres at once disarmed and disbanded. The power of Buenos Ayres was thus completely broken and at the mercy of the Cordova League,
REPUBLIC
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represented by their favourite candidate for the presidency, General Julio Roca. Buenos Ayres was no longer in a position to take any active part in the nomination of a successor to President Avellaneda, and the official candidate, General Roca, was declared to be duly elected without opposition. He assumed office in October, 1880. Hitherto, General Roca had been regarded only in his capacity of a soldier, and not from the point of view of an administrator. In the campaign against the Indians in the south-west of the province of Buenos Ayres and the valley of the Rio Negro and the Neuquen district, he had gained much prestige; the victory over the forces at Buenos Ayres added to his fame, and secured his authority in the outlying provincial centres. One of the first most notable acts of the Roca Administration was to declare the city of Buenos Ayres the property of the National Government, and no longer under the control of the provincial authorities. Some compensation was granted to the province in consideration of this change, but nothing that was given could adequately represent the political loss which it suffered. A further blow was dealt at its supremacy in 1884, when the town of La Plata was declared to be the provincial capital, and the Provincial Government was moved to that place. Considering the circumstances in which General Roca assumed office, it must be admitted that he showed great moderation, and that on the whole his administration was fairly successful. Public affairs were conducted quietly so far as the National Government was concerned, and the influence and prestige of Roca throughout the provinces acted as a deterrent to pronunciamientos and outbreaks against the provincial authorities. The danger of these internal dissensions was permanently lessened, though by no means entirely removed, by the extension of railways. Unfortunately, the last two years of Roca’s administration were characterized by two grave errors, which subsequently caused widespread suffering and distress throughout the country. The first of these mistakes was a measure making the currency inconvertible, which was adopted without any consideration as to its effect on the national credit. The second was the nomination of Dr Miguel Juarez Celman for the presidential term commencing in October, 1886. The nomination was brought about by the Cordova clique, and Roca lacked the moral courage to oppose the decision of this group, though he was well aware that Celman, who was his brother-in-law, was neither intellectually nor morally fitted for the post. No sooner had President Juarez Celman come into power, towards the close of 1886, than the respectable portion of the community began to feel alarmed at the methods practised by the new president in his conduct of public affairs. At first it was hoped that the influence of General i Roca would serve to check any serious extravagances on the part of Celman. This hope, however, was doomed to disappointment, and before many months had elapsed it was clear that the President would listen to no prudent counsels from Roca or any one else. The men of the old Cordova League became dominant in all branches of the Government, and carpet-bagging politicians occupied every official post. In their hurry to obtain wealth, this crowed of office-mongers from the provinces lent themselves to all kinds of bribery and corruption. The public credit was pledged at home and abroad to fill the pockets of the adventurers, and the wildest excesses were committed under the guise of administrative acts. What followed in the second and third years of the Celman Administration can only adequately be described as a debauchery of the national honour, of the national resources, of the rights of Argentines as citizens of the Republic. Buenos Ayres was still prostrate under the crushing blow of the misfortunes S. I. — 78
