PROGRESS UNDER THE REPUBLIC
Amid the joyous acclaims of a grateful people, who heralded him
as the “Father of the Republic” and its “Protector,” Bolivar was
inaugurated first President of Bolivia in the month of November, 1825,
the young republic thus enjoying the prestige of having at the head
of its government the hero whom all the world delighted to honor, the
victorious chief of the army that had crushed the last remnant of
Spanish power in South America, the invincible “Liberator,” the “George
Washington of South American independence.”
[Illustration: GENERAL JOSÉ MANUEL PANDO, PRESIDENT,
1900–1904.]
With characteristic energy and execution, President Bolivar essayed
to guide the first steps of his _hija predilecta_ in the path of
national progress and development. But military genius is not always
associated with the qualities most desirable in the executive chief of
a nation, and Bolivar was the brilliant soldier rather than the keen
statesman. His administration was marked by an effort to accomplish
more than could possibly be done with deliberation. Although he
remained only a few months in the country to which he had been called
as president for life, relinquishing the high office in January, 1826,
to return to Lima, Peru, he instituted innumerable political and
administrative reforms in that short time, as the national historian
remarks, “with marked precipitation.” From Lima he sent a draft of the
constitution, which was adopted by Congress. The limits of the new
republic, as fixed by Bolivar, left much to be desired, and seemed
a scant recognition of the noble part played by this brave people
in the great war which had begun and ended on its patriotic soil;
and although the country owes a debt of gratitude to the heroic but
capricious soldier and legislator whose name it bears, it also owes
him a great and apparently irreparable misfortune, which from the
beginning has hindered its progress and which has been the cause of
a series of disasters requiring the most devoted patriotism and the
best statesmanship to avert dire consequences. The inadequate and
seemingly unjust allotment of seaboard to the new republic may be held
responsible for many of the evils which assailed it in the beginning,
and of which the effects are only now being permanently overcome.
Northward, Bolivian territory reaches twelve degrees south latitude,
where it touches the eastern frontier of Peru at seventy-one degrees
west longitude, according to Bolivian claims; the line following that
boundary only reached the coast at twenty-two degrees south latitude,
and at twenty-five degrees the Chilean boundary began. Later, as is
well known, Bolivia lost even this small strip of seaboard. The history
of this demarcation is an interesting one. In accepting the offer
of the Bolivian Congress, Bolivar had promised not only to preside
over the future destinies of the republic, but to use his influence
with Peru to obtain the concession of the seaboard from the port of
Arica, latitude eighteen degrees, southward to the limit of twenty-two
degrees. This concession would have given Bolivia the two good ports
of Arica and Iquique, and it would have endowed the country with the
immense riches, then undiscovered, of the nitrate regions. The two
ports left to Bolivia by Bolivar’s settlement of the limits, Cobija
and Antofagasta, were very inferior, had no water or vegetation, and
communication with the interior through them was difficult and costly.
General Santa Cruz, who at that time was provisional President of
Peru, opposed the concession to Bolivia of the limits asked for, and
converted Bolivar to his opinion, though Santa Cruz was a Bolivian
and later the president of his country. It has been suggested by some
authorities on the history of these early days of the republic, that
Bolivar, who had imbibed the pseudo-classical ideas of the French
revolutionists, wished to make Bolivia an ideal country, a new Arcadia
in the Western world. Whatever may have been the purpose of the great
liberator, there can be no doubt that the industrial and commercial
development of Bolivia was retarded and international relations were
practically prevented by her lack of a good seaboard with excellent
ports. But Bolivar does not appear to have given much thought to the
future of his “best-beloved daughter.” The boundaries of the republic
of Bolivia followed in general the limits that had been fixed for Alto
Peru under the régime of the Audiencia of Charcas.
Before leaving, Bolivar recommended for the presidency of Bolivia
his great general, José Antonio de Sucre, to whose efforts had been
due the first organization of the government after the withdrawal
of the Spanish authorities. Although a Venezuelan by birth, General
Sucre had already proved himself a friend of the new republic, and
his election was a unanimous expression of the will of the people.
The second Congress, which met in Sucre on May 25, 1826, and remained
in session until January 11, 1827, was chiefly occupied in undoing
much of what President Bolivar had so hastily done, and in making
efforts to establish the government upon a firm basis. The French
system of political division into departments, provinces, cantons, and
vice-cantons was adopted; and the constitution was modified in some
of its more objectionable features, which included “life tenure” and
“irresponsibility” of the president. Education was encouraged by the
institution of primary and secondary schools and universities, the
University of the capital, henceforth called Sucre, obtaining some
distinction. Hospitals were founded, jails built, freedom of the press
was guaranteed, the financial system was perfected, and the national
debt recognized. The payment of a million dollars was guaranteed
to the Colombian and Peruvian soldiers who had fought at Junin and
Ayacucho. The Indians have always been regarded rather as protégés of
the government than as independent citizens, and they were not allowed
a vote for Congress; they remained subject to the poll tax, and, up to
the present day, they have shown little inclination to take part in
political affairs, outside of municipal government.
[Illustration: GENERAL ANDRÉS SANTA CRUZ, PRESIDENT,
1829–1839.]
In spite of the best efforts of Sucre to establish law and order in the
new republic, and to govern in accordance with the high ideals which
ruled all his actions, winning for him the title of the “philosopher
soldier,” difficulties arose which finally resulted in his resignation
from the presidency and his withdrawal from the country. It was not
entirely the fault of the Bolivians that Sucre was so ruthlessly
sacrificed. The neighboring republics plotted to accomplish his
overthrow on the pretext that the Colombian troops who remained in
the country were a menace to its freedom, and that the president had
retained them because of his monarchical aspirations, which threatened
the liberty not only of Bolivia, but of the neighboring republics.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Colombian troops, which had become
insubordinate, were banished at the point of the sword, Sucre was
accused, with Bolivar, of having designs to establish a monarchy, and
a secret party was formed to depose him. In 1828 the garrison of the
capital mutinied, killing the officer on guard; Sucre, who hurried
to the scene, was attacked and had his right arm broken. Colonel
Lopez arrived from Potosí at the head of a small battalion in time
to witness the cruel onslaught upon the president, and to crush the
mutiny, but not in time to save the life of the brave General José
Miguel Lanza, the illustrious _guerrillero_, who was killed while
defending his beloved chief. Had Sucre really held the ideas attributed
to him by his enemies, he might have made himself a dictator, which
would, perhaps, have been a blessing for the country in that period
of political confusion. But he quietly resigned his office and left
Bolivia, delegating his authority to a cabinet council, and leaving in
supreme command General José Maria Pérez de Urdininea, the president
of the council. The story of Sucre’s life is brief and glorious. Born
in Cumaná, Venezuela, on February 3, 1795, he was “a child of the
revolution” from his tender youth. Consecrated to the cause of American
liberty, and excelling in genius, he rapidly scaled the heights of fame
until at the age of thirty he was one of the most eminent personalities
of the independence, as the hero of Ayacucho. After his withdrawal
from Bolivia in 1828 he returned to his native land, where two years
later he was assassinated, at the age of thirty-five. His memory is
everywhere revered in Bolivia, and many handsome monuments have been
erected in his honor.
[Illustration: GENERAL JOSÉ BALLIVIAN, THE HERO OF INGAVI,
PRESIDENT, 1843–1847.]
Meantime, Bolivar had tried to impose his _Constitucion Boliviano_
on the Peruvians, who promptly rebelled, refusing to accept what they
considered an effort to establish absolute authority. The constitution
not only declared the presidency to be an office for life, but gave
the president almost unlimited power. A strong party overthrew the
constitution and the authority of Bolivar, and proclaiming its
intention to save Bolivia also from the foreign power of Colombia, or
as the party leader expressed it “to place itself between the victim
and the assassins,” sent an army under the command of General Gamarra
to take possession of the country. The mutiny at Sucre afforded the
necessary pretext for an invasion and Gamarra marched on La Paz,
Cochabamba, and Potosí, receiving everywhere a welcome from the
disaffected politicians who looked upon the opponent of Bolivar’s party
as an ally rather than an invader. After the departure of General
Sucre, Congress elected as his successor General Andrés Santa Cruz,
president. As General Santa Cruz was in Chile, Vice-president General
José Miguel de Velasco governed in his absence. Disturbances were
general during the period that followed General Sucre’s withdrawal.
Anarchy threatened the young republic when suddenly deprived of the
guidance of that master spirit, the statesman above reproach, who, in
refusing to govern except according to the constitution, had found
himself unable to govern at all. General Pedro Blanco declared his
sympathy with the cause of Gamarra, and Colonel Ramon Loaiza, at
Gamarra’s instigation, stirred up a revolt in the department of La Paz,
which declared for autonomy under the name of Alto Peru; the uprising
was quelled, as was also an invasion in eastern Bolivia led by the
royalist Aguilera. General Blanco secured a following and succeeded in
being elected president, with Colonel Loaiza as vice-president, but his
term of office lasted only a week, when he was seized, imprisoned, and
assassinated.
General Santa Cruz arrived in La Paz in May, 1829, where he inaugurated
his administration, taking the oath of office at the hands of General
José Ballivian, Prefect of La Paz, on the 24th of the same month. He
set out almost immediately for Sucre, arriving there on the 29th of
May. The administration of General Santa Cruz was one of the most
important in the history of the republic. He was an able ruler, and
possessed the combined qualities of soldier and statesman in a
remarkable degree. His army was the best organized and equipped in
South America. By the promulgation of the Santa Cruz Code, he gave to
Bolivia the first legislative system perfected in a South American
republic. His rule was despotic, but effective, the very character
necessary for the establishment of order out of the chaos in which
the government had been involved after Sucre’s withdrawal. His first
act was to grant a general amnesty, but he retained the death penalty
for sedition and executed it upon several occasions. In 1831 he
convoked the fifth Congress in La Paz, it being the first time that
the national legislature had met in that city since the proclamation
of the republic. A second national constitution was promulgated, which
remains in effect to the present day with few modifications, and a
treaty of peace was signed with Peru. The national revenues, which had
fallen from two million dollars under the viceroyalty to practically
nothing, were regulated, and the new finance minister, Don José M.
Lara, was able to show a revenue of one million five hundred thousand
dollars, the chief sources of which were the customs duties, the sale
of Jesuit landed property, the export taxes on ores,--then fixed at
eight and one-half per cent ad valorem,--the production of the mint
of Potosí, and the Indian poll tax. Reforms were made in education,
and the universities of La Paz and Cochabamba were established, as
well as a school of arts in the latter city. The province of Tarija
was made a department, and a census of the republic was taken, showing
a population of one million one hundred thousand inhabitants. The
issuing of a debased coinage was one of the errors of Santa Cruz’s
administration, resulting, as it did, in the discredit of the country
financially, a condition of affairs which lasted for nearly thirty
years, until, under the administration of President Achá, the present
coinage system was introduced. Another mistake of the great statesman,
or what is regarded as such by many Bolivians, was his refusal to
consider a proposal from the government of Peru, through Gamarra,--who,
although not president, was the ruling power in its politics,--that
Bolivia should give up to Peru all Lake Titicaca, half of which came
within Bolivian limits, and the peninsula of Copacabaña upon which is
located a sacred shrine of the Virgin, in return for the cession by
Peru of the department of Tarapacá with its excellent coast line and
harbors. It is generally believed that, in the rejection of this offer,
Santa Cruz had a motive that looked toward the carrying out of a much
more ambitious plan of “expansion.”
[Illustration: GENERAL MANUEL ISIDORO BELZU, PRESIDENT,
1849–1855.]
The controlling desire of Santa Cruz’s life was to accomplish the union
of Bolivia and Peru in a confederation, of which he was to be the
executive and administrative chief. Taking advantage of the quarrels
which at this time were going on in Peru between President Orbegoso
on the one hand and Gamarra and Salaverry on the other, and under the
pretext of lending aid to Orbegoso, General Santa Cruz marched into
Peru in 1835 with his splendid army, leaving the government affairs of
Bolivia in the hands of Vice-President Velasco. Gamarra and Salaverry
were defeated, Salaverry was killed, and Santa Cruz assumed the
Protectorate. Congresses met at Sicuani and at Huaura and decreed the
division of Peru into two states, North Peru and South Peru, to which
Bolivia was united by the decree of an extraordinary Congress held in
Tapacarí, Bolivia, in 1836, which approved all that had been done and
authorized the establishment of the Peru-Bolivian confederation. Santa
Cruz appointed General Orbegoso president of North Peru, General Pio
Tristan president of South Peru, and General Velasco president of the
Bolivian state. Representatives from the three states met in Tacna, May
1, 1837, and signed the pact of the confederation.
[Illustration: DR. JOSÉ MARIA LINARES, THE PRESIDENT,
1857–1861.]
It did not require extraordinary foresight on the part of the more
patriotic Bolivians to judge of the probable outcome of such an
arrangement; and the secondary position which Santa Cruz appeared
disposed to give his own country raised a storm of protest in the
capital, where Mariano Calvo had taken Velasco’s place at the head
of the government. Congress met at Sucre, and the pact was rejected
with the firm declaration that “it would never be considered!” In the
meantime, the Peru-Bolivian confederation was regarded by the remaining
republics of South America as a menace to the balance of power, and
Chile and Argentina offered their aid to Gamarra to overthrow it.
Chile sent two armed expeditions, the first of which was defeated,
the second achieving complete victory under the brilliant command of
General Manuel Bulnes, who overthrew the army of the Confederation
at Yungay, January 20, 1839. Defeated at Yungay and receiving news
at the same moment that a popular revolution, under the leadership
of General José Ballivian and General Velasco of the “Restoration
Party,” had been organized against his authority in Bolivia, General
Santa Cruz resigned the Protectorate and embarked for Guayaquil. Here
he made several ineffectual efforts to regain prestige in Bolivia,
but, finding his position hopeless, he finally left South America for
France. His subsequent career was uneventful, though he became a friend
and counsellor of Louis Napoleon; and, in 1849, was appointed Bolivian
minister in Paris. He died in 1865.
General Santa Cruz was one of the greatest presidents Bolivia ever
had. He worked for immigration, recognizing the necessity for a larger
population to develop the vast natural resources of the country,
without which all efforts toward progress and prosperity must be slow
and comparatively fruitless. He gave attention to its agricultural,
commercial, and social interests; and, during the few years of peace
that followed his inauguration, he rendered invaluable services to the
republic. Had he been a devoted patriot like General Porfirio Diaz,
of Mexico, his dictatorship might have permanently advanced Bolivia
politically and socially beyond any other South American republic.
But his thirst for conquest led him into expensive wars that cost
the country more than was gained, and left it a heritage of military
despotism which made it a prey to all kinds of political abuses. The
destiny of the republic, through frequent subsequent administrations,
rested in the hands of a military autocrat who imposed his absolute
will upon the nation for good or evil, until some rival leader was
able to wrest the supreme power from him. The progress of the country
depended upon the character of its executive, and, although many of
the presidents who succeeded Santa Cruz were patriotic and capable
leaders, there were a few, as is the case in every republic, whose
administrations are records of caprice and folly. In nearly all of the
South American republics the success of the struggle for independence
had brought in its train the evils that often accompany military
prestige. The soldiers who had won glory on the battlefield could not
be contented with the humdrum life of organized politics. This was
particularly true in Bolivia, in consequence of the continued successes
of its armies under Santa Cruz, when defeat had come so seldom that the
idea of laying down their arms was thoroughly repugnant. When there was
no longer a common enemy against whom to turn their practised weapons,
they found cause for rebellion among themselves, the haughty spirit of
the soldier,--Spain’s particular legacy to her offspring,--being with
difficulty subdued; so that few of the presidents who came immediately
after Santa Cruz completed their term of office, and many died in exile.
After the defeat and departure of Santa Cruz, General Velasco
became provisional president, and, in 1839, Congress elected him
constitutional president. This Congress adopted a fourth constitution,
more liberal than any that had preceded it. Opposing the government of
Velasco, who had committed some political indiscretions and had given
offence by congratulating Chile on the victory of Yungay, in which
so many Bolivians were killed, General José Ballivian led a campaign
against the president, and, though it was unsuccessful, Velasco’s term
of office was cut short a year later when friends of Ballivian, who in
the meantime had been exiled to Peru, secured his recall and election
to the presidency in 1841. Velasco, who, after his deposition had fled
to Argentina, returned with an army to fight Ballivian, but the news
that Gamarra was again invading the country with the determination to
conquer and annex it to Peru so fired his patriotism that he gave up
his troops to Ballivian to fight in the common cause. It was a noble
act, which reconquered for him the hearts of the whole people.
[Illustration: COLONEL ADOLFO BALLIVIAN, PRESIDENT, 1873.
DIED, 1874.]
The history of the celebrated battle of Ingavi, which was one of the
most glorious in the annals of the republic, reflects great honor on
the arms of Bolivia, as it was won against heavy odds, the Peruvians
having six thousand troops in the field while the Bolivians had only
four thousand. But General Ballivian was a genius in command, and
he prepared his troops for a precipitate attack on the enemy, the
trained _guerrilleros_ making their “rush” in such an impetuous
onslaught that the Peruvian ranks were broken; victory was assured,
General Gamarra fell dead, pierced by two bullets; and General
Castilla, one of the leaders, afterward President of Peru, was taken
prisoner. At Puno, whither Ballivian pursued the retreating army, a
treaty of peace was signed which stipulated that everything should be
reciprocally condoned, without demands of any character on the part
of either. With the victory of Ingavi, Bolivia closed the last scene
in the struggle for independence, remaining henceforth secure in the
right to govern the territory allotted by the liberator, unmolested
by invaders. Ballivian was the hero of the hour, and his memory is
enshrined in the patriotic hearts of his countrymen, who have forgiven
the follies that grew out of his ambitious and despotic nature, and
remember only that he was a true and loyal patriot, and the chief
instrument of his country’s salvation in a great crisis. But though
it is easy to forgive the faults of Ballivian after a lapse of half
a century or more, his people found it impossible to support them at
the time when they were in full activity. One of the first acts of
Ballivian’s Congress was to repeal the liberal constitution of 1839
and to proclaim the constitution of 1843, which gave the greatest
power in the government to the chief executive. This constitution was
nicknamed the “Military Ordinance,” which its opponents said, “should
be read only in the glitter of the sword of Ingavi.” It revealed the
military spirit of the president in every line, and was one of the
strongest influences in creating opposition to his power. On the other
hand, the same dominating character that dictated a system of rigid
discipline was strong to overcome the difficulties in the way of the
country’s development, and new roads were built, exploring expeditions
were sent to the Beni and to the Chaco, and the department of the Beni
was created. An office of statistics was established, and a new census
was taken, which gave Bolivia a population of more than two million.
The military code was promulgated, and a military school instituted;
the bishopric of Cochabamba was created. A new educational system was
established, due to the efforts of Ballivian’s minister Don Tomás
Frias, who was afterward one of Bolivia’s most distinguished presidents.
[Illustration: SEÑOR DON TOMÁS FRIAS, PRESIDENT, 1874–1877.]
Ballivian was a man of letters and a friend of philosophers and poets.
During his administration Bolivia enjoyed great prestige among other
nations, and France, England, the United States, as well as the South
American powers, sent diplomatic representatives to Sucre. At this
time Bolivia was the only South American republic whose independence
had not been recognized by Spain, and the government took advantage of
the residence in Europe of Dr. José Maria Linares, one of Bolivia’s
cleverest statesmen and a descendant of a noble family of Spain, to
accredit him to the court of Madrid as its diplomatic representative,
with power to negotiate the recognition of the young republic by the
mother country, and to effect a treaty of peace and friendship. Dr.
Linares secured the desired recognition and treaty in 1848, though
the final ratification did not take place until some years later.
The rigorous military discipline of Ballivian brought about his
downfall. The final stroke occurred when one of his chief officers,
Colonel, afterward General, Manuel Isidoro Belzu, was punished for
insubordination by being reduced to the rank of a common soldier to
serve in the little garrison of Obrajes. In strong resentment of this
indignity Belzu roused the soldiers to revolt. Though the mutiny was
quelled, the spirit of revolution had been spreading for some time
among the partisans of Velasco, and they took advantage of the moment
to break out in open insurrection; the populace rose in La Paz, and in
the face of a general rebellion, north and south, Ballivian preferred
resigning the presidency and leaving the country to plunging the nation
in the horrors of a civil war. One of the revolutionary leaders,
Eusebio Guilarte, was proclaimed president, but after ten days’ stormy
experience in that uncertain post of honor, the mutiny of his soldiers
forced him to flee, and he, too, left the country. Belzu was the
idol of the soldiers and of the common people, and they demanded his
election to the supreme office. But he deferred to Velasco, who, for
the fourth time, became president of Bolivia, assuming the dictatorship
until Congress should meet to confirm the choice of the people, which
took place on August 6, 1848. Belzu was appointed war minister, and
Don Casimiro Olañeta, “the silver-tongued orator” of the Independence,
was also a member of the Cabinet. A continued conflict between these
two leaders demoralized the politics of the government and opened the
way for another revolution, which resulted in Belzu’s elevation to
the supreme power. When Velasco found it necessary to take up arms in
defence of his government he left, in his place, the president of the
Congress, Dr. José Maria Linares, who, however, was forced to flee from
the country soon after, in consequence of the victory of Belzu’s troops
over those of Velasco in the battle of Yamparaez. After this defeat,
Velasco retired to private life. Linares joined Ballivian in Chile, and
they planned an attempt to defeat the “Belcistas,” as Belzu’s followers
were called. An invasion was made from the south, but all efforts were
futile to overcome the enormous popularity of Belzu, who represented
the democratic spirit, as opposed to the aristocratic, for which
Ballivian and Linares stood. Finding their position hopeless, Ballivian
again left the country and went to Brazil, where he died of yellow
fever two years afterward. Linares prepared his forces for the campaign
which later gained for him the dictatorship of Bolivia, when he became
one of the few admirable autocrats of South American history.
[Illustration: GENERAL NARCISO CAMPERO, PRESIDENT, 1880–1884.]
The government of Belzu, seized by force of arms, had to be maintained
by continuous warfare. The various party chiefs kept up a series of
revolts, and on one occasion Belzu was shot in the Alameda of Sucre.
After his recovery, he convoked a Congress which confirmed him in the
presidency. In the brief period of peace with which his term of office
was blessed, he erected many handsome public buildings, revised the
statutes, and promoted some important reforms. A clever orator, Don
Evaristo Valle, achieved distinction during Belzu’s administration
through his fiery philippics, in which he scored the “democratic
despot” with brilliant emphasis and effect. But if the president’s
enemies were bitter and unrelenting, his followers were devoted to him
to the end, and the Belcistas, as his party was called, have always
had representation in subsequent politics. In 1855, General Belzu,
declaring himself tired of the struggle, resigned office in favor of
his son-in-law, General Jorge Córdova. He retired at once to Europe.
The presidency of Córdova was brief and stormy, and two years after his
inauguration, a revolution, carefully planned by Linares, drove him
from power and from Bolivia.
The dictator Linares, as he is known to posterity, in distinction
from many presidents of his country whose government was more
despotic, though less frankly declared, assumed the reins of power
constitutionally in 1857, and as dictator next year, with the avowed
intention of making a “clean sweep” of existing evils and reforming the
whole political system. His keen intellect and sincerity of purpose
made him respected, even by his enemies, and his patriotic principles
were above question. Perhaps he was over-zealous. It is difficult to
set the proper pace when a desire to effect numerous reforms impels
the eager disciplinarian onward in the path of power. Linares began
by creating a Council of State, with whom he conferred upon all
matters relating to the administration. He decreed a reduction of the
president’s salary and those of his advisers; he reformed the army; he
changed the electoral divisions of the country, which he distributed
in thirty-two _jefaturas_, or political districts, whose chiefs
were directly responsible to the central government; he created or
restored the municipalities, making them as independent as possible of
the central power; he systematized the public accounts, introducing
economies which improved the national credit; he reorganized the
judicial system and established a new criminal code; and he ordered the
founding in every diocese of seminaries for educational purposes, and
the reform of the clergy.
Naturally, so many reforms raised up a host of enemies; even some
of the dictator’s friends protested against the severity of his
discipline, and the signs grew more ominous with each new evidence
of despotism. He was unrelenting in the punishment of conspirators
and insubordinate officials, and throttled the press with an iron
censorship. The murmurs grew louder as the pressure became heavier;
and when a _coup d’état_, under the leadership of his ministers
José Maria de Achá and Ruperto Fernandez, aided by the commander Manuel
Antonio Sanchez, suddenly divested the dictator of his power on January
14, 1861, and these persons constituted themselves a Junta de Gobierno,
the popular voice was as ready to sanction his exile as it had been to
welcome his accession to power. With a broken spirit. Dr. Linares left
his country, and a few months later he died in poverty in Valparaiso.
The scent of the battlefield was still too sweet in the nostrils of the
_guerrilleros_ and their descendants to make a civil government
permanent, under whatever form it might be established; and though
the Congress, which was called together by the Junta de Gobierno
a few weeks after the _coup d’état_, proclaimed as president
General José Maria de Achá, who governed constitutionally and with a
leniency quite the reverse of Linares’s strict discipline, he had to
contend with mutiny and insurrection all through the period of his
administration. President Achá was as earnest in the laborious task
of governing his people as his predecessor had been, and, until the
last unfortunate step of his official career, he seems to have shown
greater tact. He introduced for the first time the use of postage
stamps, created the engineers’ corps to superintend the opening of
roads and building of bridges, established the first coach road
between Cochabamba and the cities along the neighboring valleys, sent
explorations to the Chaco, and perfected the monetary system. The
mistake which closed his administration and drove him into exile was an
effort to have General Agreda elected his successor. This was regarded
by sensitive supporters of the constitution as a breach of prerogative,
and, as one historian says, “it was resolved to break down by force the
impositions of power.”
[Illustration: SEÑOR DON GREGORIO PACHECO, PRESIDENT,
1884–1888.]
Whatever may be said in criticism of the Bolivian character as
displayed in the events of the first fifty years of the republic, it
must be admitted that there was plenty of vigor in the young nation;
the great difficulty in directing it seemed to be to strike the
medium between easy-going authority, which the military spirit of
the times quickly nullified, and uncompromising despotism, which was
never found strong enough to hold permanent sway over an independent
and liberty-loving people. General Achá, one of the best of the
presidents, came nearer to achieving the correct medium than many
of his colleagues. He was succeeded by the _ne plus ultra_ of
despots, General Mariano Melgarejo, a reckless soldier who had risen
from the ranks through sheer audacity, and who seemed to possess
in an extraordinary degree that gift of tyranny which has been a
picturesque attribute of autocrats in all ages. His absolute contempt
for the rights of his fellow men and his resolute fearlessness were
predominating traits. Once, during the six years of his rule, he was
driven out of the capital by Belzu, who had returned from Europe;
but, routed as he was, he returned to his palace, killed Belzu, and,
presenting himself to the multitude, exclaimed: “Belzu is dead!--Who
lives now?” The answering shout of the populace, _Viva Melgarejo!_
proved how much better than Linares the new despot understood the
rabble. In all parts of the republic, the news that Melgarejo had
seized the reins of power, abrogating the constitution of 1861, and
that he wished to impose upon the people the system of despotic
government which had been the cause of so much bloodshed and misery
in the past, roused up a spirit of revolt which threatened all the
horrors of civil war. Melgarejo had none of the scruples which had
led Ballivian to avoid plunging the nation into war by abdicating his
position. When they rebelled, he sacrificed them ruthlessly. One of
his decrees subjected to the death penalty not only those who took up
arms against him, but those who refused to give him their services. He
instituted a reign of terror, and his follies were as demoralizing to
the national politics as the episodes of his private life were to the
social well-being. Chile took advantage of the situation to secure,
through flattery of the despot’s vanity, a revision of the boundaries
and the final extension of her limits to twenty-four degrees south
latitude in a strip running back from the ocean to the Andes. Brazil
sent a clever representative, who bestowed on Melgarejo decorations
from the emperor in exchange for leagues of Bolivian land on both banks
of the Guaporé River, the principal tributary of the Madeira, thus
losing Bolivia the right of navigation on one of the chief branches
of the Amazon. The evils of Melgarejo’s government brought a train of
terrible consequences to the country, from which it required a long
time to recuperate. Not only was progress crippled at home, but the
national credit was compromised and a heavy foreign debt incurred
for the first time in the history of the republic. The coinage was
debased beyond precedent, the Indian lands were illegally seized and
sold, and there seemed no limit to the crimes perpetrated against the
constitution. By sheer audacity, Melgarejo maintained his position for
six years, until a revolution, headed by General Agustin Morales, of La
Paz, brought about his downfall and banishment in January, 1872. His
successor, General Morales, whose administration was an improvement on
that of Melgarejo, and who showed a disposition to amend the evils of
his predecessor, returning their lands to the Indians, and nullifying
many of Melgarejo’s decrees, was not the man needed to guide the
country through the stormy transition period of statehood. A far better
fortune awaited the people in the election of the successor to General
Morales, who was taken off by a pistol-shot during a quarrel between
the president and one of his officers.
Out of the darkness of the crisis in which Bolivia had been plunged
by the dictator Melgarejo, the light of a better day began to appear.
Morales was succeeded by a man of scrupulous integrity and patriotism.
Dr. Tomás Frias, as provisional president, which office he held only
until the president elected by Congress in extraordinary session in
1873, Colonel Adolfo Ballivian, could arrive from London, where he was
residing as financial agent of the Bolivian government. The election
of President Adolfo Ballivian was carried out without bribery, undue
influence, or martial pressure. It was the will of the whole people.
Colonel Ballivian, a son of the hero of Ingavi, was highly educated,
had travelled extensively, had a reputation for unsullied honor, and,
having made a special study of political and social science in Europe,
might be expected to bring political order out of his country’s chaos
and lead it into the paths of peace and prosperity. Colonel Ballivian
organized his ministry with some of the best statesmen of the republic,
the names of Baptista, Bustillo, Calvo, M. Ballivian, and, later, the
noted financier Dalence, being a guarantee of good government. But the
broken health of the president made it impossible for him to attend to
the affairs of state; and nine months after his inauguration, he died
in Sucre on February 18, 1874. The entire nation mourned the loss of
this beloved and distinguished son, whose death came as a blow to the
most sanguine hopes. Vice-president Frias succeeded Ballivian; but his
government was constantly disturbed by insurrections, until finally
his trusted war minister, General Daza, organized a _coup d’état_
and assumed the dictatorship, first imprisoning the president with his
ministers and then banishing him. Don Tomás Frias was a statesman of
unimpeachable honor and great simplicity of character. One biographer
says: “He was the only man, of those we have known, who reached the
greatest heights, the most important posts, without seeking them
and perhaps even against his desire. His brain was never turned by
exaltation, he was never intoxicated by adulation, and he never became
arrogant with power.” Like so many of Bolivia’s best men, he died in
exile, in Florence, Italy, in 1884. President Daza assumed the supreme
power in 1876. His wise choice of ministers gave to his administration
an importance which his own limited knowledge of statecraft would
never have gained. Notable reforms were made in civil and criminal
legislation and in the coinage; and a new constitution was framed,
containing the most advanced republican principles.
[Illustration: SEÑOR DON ANICETO ARCE, PRESIDENT, 1888–1892.]
[Illustration: SEÑOR DON MARIANO BAPTISTA, PRESIDENT,
1892–1896.]
The question of boundaries between Bolivia and Chile, which had been
a threatening evil for many years, reached the acute stage during
Daza’s administration. In 1876, Chile put pressure on Bolivia to make
her sign a treaty, giving the latter half shares in guano and minerals
to be discovered in the Bolivian maritime department. In consequence
of this, a dispute arose between a Bolivian tax collector and an
Anglo-Chilean nitrate company in Antofagasta about a small export
duty of ten centavos per quintal--about three cents gold--decreed
on nitrate, which the company declared Bolivia had no right to levy
under the terms of the treaty, and which it refused to pay. The
Bolivian government sent armed police to collect the money, the
company telegraphed the news to Santiago; and Chile, without awaiting
explanations or listening to proposals for arbitration, sent troops
to occupy the port of Antofagasta. Bolivia presented a particularly
favorable opportunity for Chilean “expansion” just at that time, as it
was visited by a terrible plague, which decimated the country, while
famine added to the horrors of the situation. In three weeks, over two
hundred deaths from starvation were reported in the very heart of the
agricultural region, and in other places the mortality was higher.
Notwithstanding such tragic circumstances, Bolivia was obliged to
declare war. A few years previous a secret treaty of defensive alliance
had been made between Bolivia and Peru, during the administration of
Adolfo Ballivian, for the purpose of checking the aggressive spirit
of Chile, whose determination to get possession of the seaboard
provinces to the north of her limits had become more and more apparent,
especially since the discovery of the guano beds and the rich silver
mines of that region. Remembering this treaty, Peru hastened to offer
support to Bolivia; and Chile declared war on Peru and Bolivia on April
5, 1879. As soon as the Bolivian army could be organized, the order
was given to march to Peru, and General Daza, with eight thousand men,
arrived in Tacna early in May, having left the affairs of government
in the hands of a council of ministers. Chile had been increasing and
strengthening her navy for years, and her armies were well disciplined
and in splendid condition. General Daza showed himself in a bad light
from the beginning of the war, and the Bolivian soldiers, who performed
miracles of heroism, were justly indignant and embittered over the
apparent pusillanimity of their chief. He was replaced in the command
of the army by Colonel Eliodoro Camacho, a valiant soldier, and in the
government of his country by General Narciso Campero, a statesman of
ability and patriotism. But the allies were not prepared for combat.
The outcome of the war was a crushing defeat of their armies and the
seizure by Chile of the whole seaboard of Bolivia and part of the
Peruvian coast. In 1880 the government of the United States had offered
to mediate between the belligerents, and a conference was held on
board the United States gunboat _Lackawanna_, Señores Baptista
and Carrillo representing Bolivia. But Chile rejected all proposals
of mediation; and the war was renewed, with the well-known results.
According to one of Chile’s most prominent statesmen, the acquisition
of these northern provinces has been a curse rather than a blessing,
paralyzing the other industries of the country by concentrating all
labor in the development of its nitrate fields.
President Narciso Campero, assisted by his able finance minister, Dr.
Eliodoro Villazon, now vice-president of the republic, distinguished
himself by the honorable and efficient character of his administration.
He chose his ministers wisely, and associated with him in the
government were such statesmen as Don Nataniel Aguirre, who, as
president of the National Congress of 1880, framed the constitution
which now rules the republic; Don Antonio Quijarro, who had served
his country at home and abroad with credit; Don Fidel Aranibar, and
others of like distinction. Notwithstanding the depleted treasury,
President Campero built new roads, established telegraph lines, and
sent exploring expeditions to the Chaco. He reorganized the army, and
established army hospitals, and homes for the widows of soldiers who
had died in battle. He created a Supreme Council of Instruction, and
brought about many reforms.
The tendency of the times was toward a complete change from the
unsettled conditions which had so long played havoc with Bolivian
politics. After the war two political parties came to the front, the
Constitutional and the Liberal. Don Gregorio Pacheco, Don Aniceto Arce,
and Don Mariano Baptista were the leaders of the Constitutional party,
and Don Eliodoro Camacho was the chief representative of the Liberals.
When Pacheco was elected to succeed Campero in 1884, it is related that
one of the ardent followers of General Camacho, the defeated candidate,
exclaimed, in the frenzy of the moment: _A la revolucion!_ to
which Camacho sternly replied: _Mueran las revoluciones!_--“Let
revolutions die!” And from this period dates the installation of a new
order of things, in which the predominating effort of all parties has
been, as far as possible, to avoid revolutions. President Pacheco’s
administration was marked by profound peace; and the financial
condition improved, owing to the great wealth that poured out of the
Huanchaca, Colquechaca, and other silver mines.
Dr. Aniceto Arce was elected president to succeed Señor Pacheco in
1888. A clever statesman and politician, he did much for the country’s
progress. During his presidency the first railroad in Bolivia was
built, from Antofagasta to Uyuni, soon afterward continued to Oruro,
its present terminus. He ordered the improvement of coach roads and the
construction of bridges, the Puente Arce being one of the handsomest
monuments to his administrative enterprise. Telegraph lines were
extended, and other facilities granted. General Pando explored the
Territorio de Colonias. At the expiration of Arce’s government, Dr.
Mariano Baptista was elected, in 1892. Conditions were not so favorable
for progress under his administration, owing to the depreciation
of silver and the unsatisfactory state of the mining industry, the
chief source of the country’s revenue. But important expeditions
were sent out to explore the regions of the Beni and the Territorio
de Colonias. In July, 1893, the National Delegation of the Northwest
of the Republic was sent to the Beni, under the direction of Señores
Lisimaco Gutierrez, Manuel Vicente Ballivian, Román Paz, Colonel
Juan L. Muñoz, Lieutenant Rosendo Rojas, and Pastor Valdivieso. The
town called Villa de Riberalta was founded at the confluence of the
Madre de Dios and the Beni, and political and judicial authority was
established in these remote regions, where the rich rubber forests of
the Acre, or Aquiry, as it is more correctly written, are located. The
following year General Pando, the intrepid explorer of these regions,
to whose indefatigable energy the state owes most of the important
knowledge it has obtained regarding their wealth and territory, was
commissioned to mark the limits with Brazil, a work he carried out with
perfect satisfaction to his government. In 1897, during the succeeding
administration of President Fernandez Alonso, General Pando headed
another expedition to the rubber regions, making complete studies of
the Peruvian boundary question, and laying the foundation for vast
commercial development in that part of Bolivia.
President Alonso, who was elected in 1896, devoted especial attention
to public works and the completion of many handsome public buildings
was due to his energy. He is not regarded as a brilliant statesman,
but rather as a clever lawyer and an orator of distinction. His
administration was brought to an abrupt end through a dispute that
arose over the question of the permanent residence of the executive.
A bill was brought up demanding that Sucre be the permanent residence
of the president and his Cabinet. It was approved by both houses. A
request was then made for further discussion of the subject in an
extra Congress, to be held in the neutral city of Cochabamba; and
when this was denied, La Paz representatives protested and retired.
A movement for separation was initiated in La Paz by Señor Fernando
Guachalla, one of the most illustrious statesmen of the country, and
after unsatisfactory efforts to conciliate the government, the people
of La Paz declared for the Federation. A Junta de Gobierno was formed,
composed of Señores Guachalla, Serapio Reyes Ortiz, José Manuel Pando,
and Macario Pinilla; and as President Alonso advanced from Sucre at the
head of his troops, General Pando took command of the revolutionary
forces of La Paz, and the two armies met in several engagements, the
last of which, fought near Oruro, April 10, 1899, terminated the
revolution in a complete victory for General Pando’s army. The Junta de
Gobierno convoked the national assembly to meet in Oruro on October 20,
1899, when General Pando was elected president, with Don Lucio Velasco
and Don Anibal Capriles vice-presidents. The constitution of 1880 was
adopted.
President Pando represented the enterprising spirit of the day, and
in maintaining the claims of La Paz as a more suitable centre for
the political government, he probably did so from a conviction that
it is more accessible than Sucre, which has at present no railway
communication. General Pando planned for the extension of the railway
systems to all parts of the republic and, soon after his election,
the line was commenced from La Paz to Lake Titicaca, through which
transportation by rail and steamship was secured to the seaport of
Mollendo. He reorganized the army and the finances, initiated the
settlement of all boundary disputes by arbitration, and headed an
expedition to the Acre to stop the Brazilian advances into that
territory. A treaty was afterward negotiated at Rio de Janeiro, by
which Brazil paid Bolivia two million pounds sterling in consideration
of the cession of part of Bolivia’s territory.
The election of General Ismael Montes to the presidency in May,
1904, was one of the most popular in the history of the republic,
and signalizes the firm establishment of peace and progress in this
interesting country. President Montes is a son of General Clodomiro
Montes, who is the head of the army, and a soldier and tactician of
distinguished ability. One of the first acts of his government was the
settlement of the dispute with Chile regarding the seacoast privileges,
which had been going on ever since the close of the War of the Pacific.
While Chile concedes no port to Bolivia, freedom of import is granted,
an indemnity of three hundred thousand pounds sterling is paid, and
Chile agrees to spend two million pounds sterling in building railways
from her ports to the Bolivian interior.
Never in the history of the republic have conditions been more
favorable, politically and financially, for national development and
prosperity. Bolivia has no foreign debt. The only one which could
have been considered such was a balance of claims to the amount of
six million five hundred thousand dollars in gold, held principally
by Chileans as indemnities on account of the War of the Pacific, and
this was assumed by the government of Chile in agreement with the
terms of the treaty recently signed between the two countries. On
the other hand, Bolivia has at her disposal large credits in foreign
banks. Of the two million pounds sterling which Brazil paid within
the past two years as indemnity for the cession of a part of the Acre
territory, one million pounds sterling has been placed on deposit
with Rothschild and Sons in London, and one million pounds sterling
with the Comptoir National d’Escompte of Paris. Both of these sums
are reserved exclusively for the construction of projected railways,
which, it is calculated, will cost from four to five million pounds
sterling. In addition to these sums, Bolivia also has, in the Comptoir
National d’Escompte of Paris, one hundred and fifty thousand pounds
sterling, paid by Chile according to the terms of the treaty previously
mentioned. It is further agreed that Chile is to pay the same sum next
year, and also to guarantee the interest, at the rate of five per cent
per annum for thirty years, on capital invested in the construction
of the following Bolivian railways: Uyuni to Potosí; Oruro to La
Paz; Oruro to Cochabamba and Cochabamba to Santa Cruz; La Paz to the
region of the Beni; Potosí to Sucre, Lagunillas, and Santa Cruz; this
guarantee rests on the condition that the annual expenses of this
obligation do not surpass the sum of one hundred thousand pounds
sterling. Chile is also obliged by the treaty to build a railway from
the port of Arica on the Pacific coast to the Altos of La Paz. The
maximum of the obligations exacted by the payment of the above interest
and of the part of the railway to pass through Bolivian territory has
been estimated at one million seven hundred thousand pounds sterling.
The Bolivian section of the railway from Arica to La Paz will be ceded
to Bolivia after fifteen years from the date of its completion. From
this it will be seen that Bolivia, instead of being in debt to foreign
countries, as are other South American republics, has important credits
which have already attracted foreign capital, and must, in the future,
continue to invite increased investments from foreigners.
The administration of President Montes places Bolivia in line with
the countries which, at the beginning of the twentieth century, are
combining their forces to make this the Golden Age of the New World.
All eyes are turned now toward the Western Hemisphere, and although at
the present moment universal interest is more absorbed in the northern
than in the southern continent, the popular gaze is sure to be directed
soon, with the same attraction, to the great land south of the Isthmus,
and it may be expected to rest with especial concentration on the
twentieth century Bolivia.
[Illustration: GENERAL CLODOMIRO MONTES.]
[Illustration: CLOSING SESSIONS OF THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF
1905, LA PAZ.]