history]
ARGENTINE
appealed for aid to the National Government. President Saenz Pena professed to doubt his authority to interfere in provincial affairs, and deliberated for many days before he took action in the matter. Eventually, the intervention of the National Government was decided upon, and troops were despatched to the scene of the disturbance; but there was no serious fighting. Negotiations were soon opened, and resulted in the resignation of Governor Costa and the dispersal of the armed insurrectionary forces. While these political disturbances were in progress in Buenos Ayres, another revolutionary rising took place in the province of Santa Fe. Dr Alem, preaching his gospel of a reform of the national Administration, induced a number of his co-religionists of the Union Civica to take up arms. Several military and naval officers joined the movement, and a gunboat and one or two torpedo boats were seized by the insurgents. The scene of the insurrection was the vicinity of Rosario, and this city was in possession of the insurgents for a few days. After a few skirmishes, the revolt was suppressed by the national authorities in September, 1893, and Dr Alem and the other conspirators were captured. He and his civilian friends were sentenced to banishment to Staten Island during the pleasure of the Federal Government, and were immediately transported to that isolated spot. Of the naval and military officers, some were condemned to be shot and the others to serve various terms of imprisonment. This severity on the part of the Court-martial brought about fresh troubles. President Saenz Pena was determined that the sentences should be carried out. Congress was equally decided that the death penalty should not be inflicted. The Ministry at first supported the President in a half-hearted manner and then deserted him as the opposition in the Chambers gathered strength. The struggle between Congress and the Executive continued for some weeks, the former refusing to vote the Budget or any supplies unless the President conformed to the desires of the Chambers in the matter of the officers implicated in the Santa Fe outbreak. On the 21st of January, 1895, the President found his position no longer tenable, and preferred to resign rather than act against his convictions. That the government of Dr Saenz Pena was weak and vacillating is not to be gainsaid; but he himself was honest in his intention of doing his duty in the trust confided to him, and the chief cause of his unpopularity was probably the fact that he belonged to no distinct political party and consequently commanded no following among the members of Congress. His resignation was at once accepted by the Chambers, and the Vice-President, Dr Uriburu, became President of the Republic for the remainder of the period of six years for which Dr Saenz Pena had been elected in 1892. President Uriburu was neither a politician nor a statesman ; he had spent the greater portion of his life abroad in the Argentine diplomatic service, and could count on no political following in his own country. It was, indeed, on account of his belonging to no political party that he had been elected Vice-President. During his term of office the boundary question with Chile was the subject which chiefly attracted public attention. Internal politics were dwarfed in comparison with this important issue. The strain on both Governments was extremely severe. On both sides, from time to time, the populace clamoured for an appeal to arms. The resources of both countries were squandered in military preparations, and the National Guards were called out and constantly drilled in order to be ready in case of an emergency. In August, 1898, matters reached a climax. The choice lay between war and arbitration. The tendency of both nations was to decide the dispute by force of arms, but wiser counsels finally prevailed and
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arbitration was agreed upon. The question of the Puna of Atacama was referred to a tribunal composed of the United States Minister to Argentina, one Argentine and one Chilian delegate; that of the southern territory in Patagonia was referred to the British Crown. The decision of the representative of the United States was given in April, 1899. Although the Chilians professed to be dissatisfied with the award, no active opposition was raised and the terms were duly notified. Up to the end of 1900 the decision of the xirbitration Commission appointed by the British Government had not been given. Further details regarding certain points were required, and, in order to obtain these, Argentine and Chilian expeditions were sent to Patagonia. In view of the occupation of Ultima Esperanza, part of the disputed territory, by Argentine colonists, the Governments of Chile and Argentina signed a protocol on 27th December agreeing to take no aggressive action, and to instruct the local authorities to maintain the previous position. No other boundary disputes can now arise, as the question with Brazil was settled by the award of President Cleveland in 1894, and subsequently accepted and ratified by the Argentine and Brazilian Governments. In 1898 there was again a presidential election. Public opinion, excited by the prospect of a war with Chile, naturally supported the candidature of General Roca, and he was elected without opposition (12th October, 1898). Before he had been many weeks in office he arranged to meet the President of the Chilian Republic in the Strait of Magellan, and held a conference with him which confirmed the amicable solution of the frontier question. In his Message to Congress on the 1st of May, 1899, General Roca spoke strongly of the immediate necessity of a reform in the methods of administering justice, the expediency of a revision of the electoral law, and the imperative need of a reconstruction of the Department of Public Instruction. Justice, he said, had come to so low a level as to be practically non-existent. Of the necessity of electoral reform the following may serve as an illustration :—In March, 1899, elections were held for Deputies for the Provincial Chamber of Buenos Ayres, and resulted in the return of a substantial majority opposed to the Governor. They were at once annulled, and at the new elections the supporters of the Governor had a decided majority. On 31st August of the same year, President Roca sent to Congress a series of proposals for dealing with the currency question and certain branches of finance connected with the national revenue and expenditure. The scheme included the conversion of the currency at the rate of 44 cents gold for each paper dollar. The President declared that he was determined to make every effort to reduce the national expenditure, adding that the object of fixing the rate of the relation of gold to currency was to do away with the violent fluctuations in the value of the paper dollar, which caused so much damage to commerce and all classes of industry. In spite of the adverse feeling which prevailed in many quarters, the Conversion Bills were passed by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and became law on 6th November. In 1900 considerable anxiety was caused in Argentina by what was regarded as the aggressive attitude of Chile towards Bolivia. Dr Campos Salles, the President of Brazil, paid a visit to Buenos Ayres in October and was very warmly received. The result of the conversations between the two Presidents was an understanding that instructions should be sent to all Argentine and Brazilian representatives abroad to lose no opportunity to advocate the maintenance of peace in South America, and to discountenance the idea of any South American Government acquiring an extension of territory by force of arms.
