Sucre—Seat of the Government—Court of Justice and
Archbishopric—Cathedral—Image of “Our Lady of Guadalupe”—Plate
and pictures—Revolting character of the pictures—The clergy
of Bolivia—Palacio del Gobierno—Sala del Congreso—Deputies
and Debates—Treaty with Chili—Diplomatic body—Politics and
parties—Quintin Quevedo—Casimir Corral—Sack of his house in La
Paz—Rojos, or Ballivianistas—Hilarion Daza—Schemes for roads
to the river Paraguay—River Amazon _v._ river Paraguay—Remarks
upon the finances of Bolivia—Results to be expected from
the enterprise of the Madeira and Mamoré Railway—Closing of
Congress—The Bolivian flag—Revolution of 1874—Defeat of Quevedo
and Corral, and deposition of Frias by Daza.
The capital of Bolivia was formerly called “Chuquisaca,” which in the
Quichuan tongue is said to mean “River of Gold,” but at the establishment
of the independence of the republic, the town received the name of
“Sucre,” in honour of Bolivar’s celebrated coadjutor. If General Sucre
gained fame by the nomination, the town certainly lost a pretty name and
received a very commonplace one. Amongst the Indians and lower orders the
prettier title is preserved, but as amongst the educated classes the ugly
one prevails, I suppose one must, in writing of the town, follow the lead
of the upper ten.
Sucre owes its importance to its being theoretically the constitutional
seat of the government of the republic, but as, owing to the frequent
revolutions, the government is generally “en campaña,” or “on the war
path,” the other towns, such as La Paz, Oruro, and Cochabamba, have the
responsibility of housing the president and his ministers quite as often
as the capital. Both Cochabamba and La Paz possess larger populations
than the capital, which may be said to have about 25,000 people, who are
of very mixed races, ranging from the pure-blooded descendants of the
“Sangre Azul” of Old Castile, through the “cholo,” or half-breed, down to
the Quichuan and Aymará Indians.
There are no manufactures whatever carried on in the town, and but little
commerce, the merchants of the district being numerically far below those
of Cochabamba, La Paz, or even Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In former years
the Indians appear to have been well skilled in the art of inlaying in
mother-of-pearl and ivory. Many beautiful specimens of this work, in
cabinets, crucifixes, and ornaments, can be seen in Sucre, although they
are now becoming very scarce, as travellers have nearly exhausted the
stocks, and the art seems to have entirely died out. There are a few
well-stocked drapery stores, and a well-managed and completely equipped
“Botica Inglese,” or English chemist and druggist’s establishment, to
which is attached an American bar for soda ice-cream drinks and other
curiously compounded and consoling beverages, which receive a fair share
of the patronage of the young men about town.
It is said that Sucre owes its origin to the proximity of the famous
Silver Hill of Potosí, the wealthier miners of that place having chosen
it as a preferable place of residence to the cold and bleak slopes
of the mineral district of Potosí, from which it is distant about
twenty-five leagues. Universities and ecclesiastical establishments
were erected, and in the early part of the seventeenth century the town
became the seat of an archbishopric and of a supreme court of justice
for the Spanish acquisitions in South America, with the titles of “San
Arzobispado y Real Audencia de la Plata y Charcas,” and jurisdiction
from the river Plate up to Alto Peru, formerly the country of the
Charcas Indians, a race said to exist prior to the Incas. Most of the
universities have been allowed to decline, so that to-day there are
but two that have maintained any degree of repute. I did not have an
opportunity of becoming acquainted with the routine of academical life
in Sucre, but judging by the number of diploma’d men in the country, the
acquisition of the title of “Dr.” cannot be a very difficult task. In
Bolivia, as indeed in most South American countries, one is quite safe
in accosting a stranger or chance acquaintance as “Señor Doctor;” and if
this be not the right title, then one may try “Mi General,” or at least
“Mi Coronel.”
Churches and conventual establishments abound in the city, but none
of them are at all remarkable for their architecture, which is of the
plainest possible style, the simplicity being spoiled by a thick coat
of plaster. The largest of these edifices, the cathedral dedicated to
“Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe,” standing in one corner of the principal
square, is a spacious building, the interior of which, on account of
its extent, presents an imposing appearance on festival days, when it
is filled with a well-dressed congregation. This church must, in very
recent times, have been the receptacle of an enormous wealth of jewels
and precious metals, poured into its treasury by the successful miners
of Potosí. The principal object of value, and of interest to strangers,
is the image or picture of “Our Lady of Guadalupe,” from whom the church
takes its name. The figure is rather more than six feet in height, and
is formed in jewels of many kinds, set upon a plate of gold. All the
precious stones are of great size and of first-rate quality, but some
of the pearls are of especial beauty, advantage having been taken of
peculiarities of shape to fashion them into representations of animals
or birds, which adorn the virgin’s robe. Thus, a pearl about the size
of a pigeon’s egg, and with a peculiar shape, has, by the addition
of a golden head and legs, been made to represent a slender Italian
greyhound; another represents an ox, another a frog, whilst the whole
of the figure gleams resplendently with rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and
jewels of all kinds. Some authorities set down the value of the image at
2,000,000 dollars, but I think this must be an exaggerated estimate, as
probably, had the church been in the possession of such a large amount of
convertible treasure, not even the sanctity of the patron saint of Sucre
would have saved her from the rapacious hands of some of the adventurers
that have occupied the presidential chair. On high festivals the image
is carried round the principal squares of the town, under the escort of
a procession, including the president and his ministers, the archbishop
and his principal clergy, a battalion of infantry, bands of music, and
the most important merchants, lawyers, doctors, and gentry of the town.
Upon these occasions “Sucre” is _en fête_, fine weather being almost
always to be relied upon; the streets are full of people of all ranks and
conditions, the gay colourings of the ponchos, shawls, and petticoats of
the lower orders affording a lively contrast to the black coats and silk
dresses of civilized society.
Besides the rich image of the virgin, the cathedral contains a very
valuable collection of vestments and plate, and it is said that a few
years ago it possessed twenty-four massive silver candelabra; but
President Melgarejo, being pressed for silver to continue the coinage of
his bad money (“Moneda de dos Caras”), melted down all these magnificent
candlesticks except two, which alone remain to testify of the splendour
of the church in former days, and of the ruthless vandalism of a
Bolivian in power. The two remaining are about seven feet in height, and
appear to be of solid silver. There are also several fine paintings,
some of which have been attributed to Velasquez and Murillo; they may
be worthy specimens of the masters, but the taste displayed in the
exhibition of these pictures in a church is, to say the least, peculiar,
as the subjects portrayed are of the most revolting character. One is
a representation of the flaying alive of a saint (St. Bartolomeo, I
think): a dreadful picture, with full life-size figures, representing
an executioner tearing the skin from the saint’s body, while he holds
between his teeth the knife which he has been using during his ghastly
work. The horridly cool and unconcerned look of the wretch, who goes
about his business as steadily as though he were skinning the hide from
a dead bullock, is most marvellously painted; whilst the suffering, yet
resolute look of the saint, can be more easily imagined than described.
Another of these pictures depicts the martyrdom of a saint in a cauldron
of boiling oil, another a saint being impaled, and each one of these
pictures perpetuates the memory of a dreadful crime that has, at some
period of the church’s history, either been committed or imagined. The
policy of accustoming unreasoning Indians to such scenes seems to be a
very unwise one.
The whole of Bolivia may be said to be priest-ridden, but Sucre, perhaps,
suffers more than any other place in the republic from the incubus of
a numerous and not over scrupulous clergy. Travellers in South America
will scarcely need to be told that the Roman Catholic clergy include men
of all shades of character; but though I have met many worthy pastors in
other countries of the continent, I must unwillingly say, that I cannot
recollect having met with any very striking excellence of character
amongst the priesthood of Bolivia. Open violation of the vow of celibacy,
insobriety, passion for jewellery, fine horses, and other worldly gear,
are amongst the most venial of the charges that might be brought against
many members of the clergy; so that one is tempted to think that the
first reform the country requires is a reform amongst its pastors and
teachers.
The streets and squares of the town are broad, and fairly well paved,
and the town has altogether a rather imposing appearance, although it
is to be regretted that the sanitary arrangements of the municipality
should in Sucre, as well as in the other principal towns of Bolivia,
be remarkable and conspicuous solely from the utter absence of care or
attention to the commonest requirements of our times. The description
that I have given of the state of Cochabamba will apply equally to
Sucre, and need not, therefore, be repeated. For this reason it is,
that small-pox hangs for such long periods of time about these cities,
and kills yearly large numbers of the Indian population, who, averse
to vaccination in ignorance of its benefits, fall easy victims to this
terrible scourge of South American cities. Whilst I was in Sucre this
plague was rife, my own servant-boy, the Cruzeño who accompanied me from
Exaltacion, falling a victim thereto.
Two sides of the principal square of the town are occupied by the
Government House, the Hall of Congress, the Municipal Buildings, and a
Barrack. The first, dignified with the name of “Palacio del Gobierno,”
is a very plainly-built edifice, with interior and fittings of the
simplest possible style. Here the president has a suite of apartments,
and the several ministers have offices. The “Sala del Congreso,” or House
of Commons, is arranged after the usual South American fashion, with
a “barra,” or outer bar, to which the public are admitted without any
restriction, except on occasions when the house itself votes a secret
sitting. A president of congress, and two secretaries, are elected by
ballot from amongst the deputies every month, the president’s duties
being to preserve order, whilst the secretaries regulate the proceedings
and edit the reports of the speeches; but, as these reports seldom leave
the printer’s hands until some months have elapsed, they cannot be said
to be of any very great value, either to the deputies themselves or to
the country. The barra divides the hall into two equal parts, so that
when a debate of interest takes place, the public present far outnumbers
the deputies, and does not fail to make its presence felt by frequently
interrupting the speakers with approving hurrahs for a popular sentiment,
or groans, cat-calls, hisses, and other lively expressions of disgust,
for one that does not coincide with the mob’s whim of the moment. The
members of the house generally speak from their seats, but at times the
public shout for them to ascend the tribune, as a small pulpit placed
at one side of the hall is grandiloquently termed. Two soldiers, armed
with rifle and bayonet, standing at the centre of the barra, curb, in
some measure, the fury of the mob that at times fills the hall, and
protect unpopular deputies from actual violence. During my stay in
Sucre, a treaty of boundaries with Chili, which, being very adverse to
Bolivia in its terms, was naturally much disliked by a decided majority
of all classes, came on for discussion, and at several sittings I fully
expected to see a free fight in the Congress Hall. Popular deputies would
harangue the crowd at the barra, which would loudly cheer the sentences
that sympathized with its patriotic notions, whilst those members who
dared to differ from the opinions of the mobocracy were scarcely allowed
a hearing. Republican institutions may be acceptable dispensations of
Providence to well-settled countries, but probably a European, visiting
the Congress of Bolivia at a stormy sitting, will carry away with him the
belief that the advent of a thoroughgoing despot would be about the best
event that could happen to the country. The Bolivian House of Commons
may, however, in one respect, be considered an improvement upon our
English one, for the presence of ladies is not supposed to be a hindrance
to the proper discharge of the functions of a deputy. The ladies of
Sucre, instead of having to hide behind a grating, are accommodated in
an open gallery, occupying a prominent position at one end of the hall,
so that a susceptible deputy may be animated to oratorical effect by
the smiles and approbation of his fair countrywomen. During the debate
on the Chilian question, several very excellent speeches were made, and
though I was much impressed with the eloquence displayed by many of the
deputies, I could not help especially remarking the speech of a youthful
deputy from Cochabamba, who, apparently scarcely of age (although he must
have been, or he could not have been elected), spoke for about three
hours, in a style that showed he had thoroughly mastered his subject;
but doubtless the presence in the gallery of a young lady to whom he was
paying his addresses, and who was one of the prettiest girls of the city,
gave him courage to offer his opinions at length to his fellow-deputies,
the majority of whom had, in age at least, a better right to the title
of “patres conscripti.” This question of settlement of boundaries with
Chili occupied the attention of the Congress for nearly a whole month,
being argued with much warmth by the opponents and supporters of the
treaty which the government had made with the Chilian minister, Señor
Carlos Walker-Martinez. The final modifications, as agreed to by the
Congress, defined the twenty-fourth degree of latitude as the northern
Chilian boundary, from the Pacific coast to the highest points of the
Andean range, excepting towns already under Bolivian government, such as
Antofogasta—not to be confounded with the town of the same name on the
coast. This treaty, therefore, reduced the Bolivian coast-line to even
less than that afforded by the miserably small slip given to the republic
at the time of the partition of the Spanish empire of South America.
A sort of private box is apportioned to the members of the diplomatic
body, from which, for some years past, a representative of Great Britain
has been missing, Brazil, Peru, Chili, and the Argentine Confederation
only, maintaining resident ministers. As long as there was any chance of
raising a loan on the London market, the presidents of Bolivia managed
to accredit ministers to England, but as soon as it became evident that
there was very little prospect of launching further loans, the envoy
invariably found that the state of his private finances necessitated his
departure from the court of St. James, for the poverty of the treasury
of Bolivia is, apparently, so great, that the country is unable to
maintain any paid representatives abroad. A misunderstanding seems to
have occurred between the last English minister to Bolivia and one of the
numerous presidents that have, during the past few years, successively
usurped the powers of government, the president going so far as to
send the minister his passport; since when, the English government has
declined to accredit any one to the republic. As this happened some
years ago, it might now be an assistance to a struggling country, if the
recognition of European governments were afforded by the presence of
ministers or consuls.
Politics in Bolivia are best described as purely personal, for the
different political parties seem to spring up, change, and die out
according as some ambitious leader comes to the front, and soon gives
place to a newer man. During my stay in the republic I tried to discover
whether there was any difference in the policy of the parties, but,
to my perhaps limited vision, they all seemed embued with the same
creed, namely, either to turn or keep your adversary out of place and
power. One party, called “Rojos,” or “Reds,” may perhaps be deemed
“Liberals,” whilst another, “Los Oligarcas,” may be supposed to be the
“Conservatives”; but it was difficult to see that either of them had
any other platform than the ruling maxim just mentioned. The political
division was, however, at the time to which I refer, a threefold
one—Quevedistas (Oligarchs), Corralistas (Liberal Oligarchs), and
Ballivianistas (Rojos, or Radicals). The party once led by General
Melgarejo, a former president, had then for its chief General Quintin
Quevedo, and its supporters were therefore termed Quevedistas. They were
decidedly in a minority, but their activity and good organization, aided
by the unpopular course of action taken in the disputes with Chili by the
party in power, enabled them to commence a revolution which very nearly
succeeded in placing General Quevedo at the head of the country. However,
the old adage of “many a slip, etc.,” is very applicable to the fortunes
of revolutionists; and the final result of Quevedo’s enterprise was that
he had to seek a refuge in Puno, where, I regret to hear, he has since
died. There are rumours that he was poisoned, and it is quite probable
that this means of breaking up the party may have been resorted to, for
by Quevedo’s death only could it have been entirely defeated, all his
followers being greatly attached to him. He was universally looked up to
as the future president, and his career seems to have been singularly
free from the faults that have, with few exceptions, been recorded of the
rulers of Bolivia.
[Illustration: GENERAL QUEVEDO.
(_From a photograph taken at Cochabamba._)]
The “Corralistas” were led by Dr. Casimiro Corral, minister of home
government and foreign affairs under the presidency of General Morales,
and seemed to me to embrace the most talented men of the country. This
party was, however, singularly unfortunate, not being popular with the
lower orders. Its leader had to expatriate himself to the town of Puno,
which, together with Tacna, seems to be the refuge of disappointed
Bolivian revolutionists. The government of the day did not, however,
come out of the dispute with Dr. Corral with any great _éclat_, as
they gained a very bloodless victory over the gallant doctor and some
of his adherents, who, to the number of about twenty, were holding a
conference in the doctor’s house at La Paz on a certain evening in
September, 1874. The meeting probably was a political one, but there was
no immediate danger of a disturbance of the public peace from the fact
that politics were being discussed. However, the government determined
that the assembling of a caucus opposed to their own _régime_ was a
movement that must at once be suppressed _vi et armis_, so they sent a
general in command of a company of infantry, with a field-gun, which they
loaded with grape shot and laid point blank on Dr. Corral’s front door.
Then, after a flourish of bugles, the general summoned the doctor and
his friends, mostly young men, to surrender, and upon their declining to
open the said front door, the cannon was discharged, and a way made for
the entrance of the soldiers. Then, whilst part of the troop fired from
the street at the closed windows, the remainder entered, firing upwards
through the floor, so that the gallant doctor and his adherents were
exposed to a curious style of cross-fire. Of course, resistance was out
of the question, and Dr. Corral, with about half a dozen of his friends,
after being well buffeted by the soldiery, and after witnessing the sack
and destruction of the contents of the house, were marched off to the
military prison, where they remained until they could raise sufficient
funds to pay their jailers for conniving at their escape. Occurrences
such as these are very frequent in Bolivia, notwithstanding that it is
supposed to enjoy the free liberty of republican institutions.
The third party in Bolivia has been in power for about three years,
and therefore has had a long term of office, although it has hard
work to keep its place. The terms “Rojos,” or “Reds,” and “El partido
Ballivian” are somewhat indiscriminately applied to this section of
public opinion, which includes many independent members, as well as many
of the supporters and co-political religionists of the lately deceased
President Don Adolfo Ballivian. At the time I write of, it was nominally
headed by Dr. Tomas Frias, who was apparently far too old to be at the
head of a turbulent republic, and he was evidently only a puppet in the
hands of his able minister of “all work,” Dr. Mariano Baptista, one of
the cleverest men Bolivia has ever produced. However, Dr. Frias and his
“alter ego,” Dr. Baptista, have lately been jockeyed out of the reins of
government, and exiled from the country by an unprincipled adventurer,
one General Hilarion Daza, whose advent to power must universally be
allowed to be the greatest misfortune that could possibly have happened
to the republic. He commenced life, I have been credibly informed, as a
“mozo,” or waiting-boy, in the house of an Englishman in Sucre. He was
then a tailor for a short time, after which he became fired with military
ardour, and, joining the army, his audacity and unscrupulousness made
him so useful to his first patron, General Melgarejo, that he passed
rapidly from the appointment of “full private” to that of “general of
division.” Arrived at this position, he took the earliest opportunity
of deserting his benefactor, and selling himself and his battalion to
General Morales, after whose death by the hand of his son-in-law, Daza
became generalissimo of the army, and subsequently minister of war to
President Frias. Being thus practically in command of the republic,
he soon usurped the supreme power, for notwithstanding that at the
commencement of the last Quevedistic movement he voluntarily took an oath
to support the civil power of the state, exemplified in the person of
Dr. Frias, he so manipulated matters that poor old Dr. Frias was driven
into exile, and the quondam “mozo” installed himself at the head of
the republic. Of all the adventurous careers recorded in the annals of
South American republics, Daza’s, when written on history’s page, will
perhaps stand out as the most glaring instance of successful perfidy and
audacity. The secret of his success is, however, easily discovered, and
proves how little suited are republican institutions to countries which,
like Bolivia, contain such a mixture of races that adventurers are never
at a loss to find elements of discord ready to be set in action against
the respectable portion of the community. Daza, throughout his career,
made it his study to keep one battalion of soldiers, well clothed, fed,
and paid; the result being, that whilst the soldiers talked loudly of
their “country,” they really served their chief, who thus had unlimited
power at his command. The finances of Bolivia have generally had to be
balanced by means of forced loans or contributions; but whether the
treasury had or had not the wherewithal to pay the salaries of the
ministers and the employés of the various departments, it had, somehow
or other, to find pay for the first battalion; and on the shoulders of
this battalion, composed entirely of uneducated Indians, Daza has ridden
to the presidential palace. Installed in power, he seems, however, to
be endeavouring to conduct himself in somewhat more civilized fashion
than when he was a simple general of division, for one of his principal
supporters (an Englishman) tells me that he rules his countrymen
excellently well, and that, as to his moral character, whereas he was
formerly drunk _every evening_, he now only allows himself to be thus
overcome on _three nights in the week_. Let us hope, therefore, that
he will go on improving in respectability until, if he stays in office
long enough, he becomes a model for South American presidents. But to
what a pitch of degradation must the country have sunk, when a man of
Daza’s antecedents and character is elevated to the seat once honoured
by occupants such as the great liberator, Simon Bolivar, and his famous
coadjutor and friend, General Sucre.
A great deal of the time of the Congress, which, I believe, only sits
for two or three months in the year, is always taken up in considering
new schemes, which speculators are continually bringing forward with the
object of breaking up Bolivia’s isolation from the civilized world. Not
that I would by this be understood as saying that I consider the republic
to be outside the pale of civilization but, hemmed in, as she is, by
the Andes and her neighbours, Peru and Chili, on the west, and by the
impenetrable swamps and morasses of the yet unexplored Gran Chaco on the
east, she may with truth be said to be so secluded as almost to form a
small world of her own, and will continue to do so until the magnificent
route of the Amazonian watershed is accepted as the natural inlet and
outlet of trade. In the Congress of 1874 most of the schemes for which
new concessions or renewal of old ones were being sought, were connected
with the opening up of the eastern side of Bolivia. On the Pacific side,
the only enterprises are connected with the silver mines and nitrate
deposits of the desert of Atacama—a district so rich in minerals, that
alone it should be sufficient to form the basis of the well-being of its
fortunate owners, the Bolivian nation. From La Paz many efforts have been
made to conduct the trade of Bolivia, by the lake of Titicaca and Puno,
to the Peruvian seaboard, but up to the present time little has been
done except the granting of concessions for projected railways, although
a couple of steamers have with great trouble been carried up to and
launched on the lake.
The applications for concessions on the eastern side were four in
number, all having for their object the construction of roads across the
unknown territory which separates Bolivia from the river Paraguay. One
scheme which met with a good deal of favour in Sucre, was started by a
Señor Antonio Paradiz, who obtained the renewal of concessions granted so
long ago as 1853, for the construction of a cart-road from Santa Cruz,
_viâ_ Chiquitos, to a port on the Paraguay, to be called Port Vargas,
and to be situated about 180 miles below the Brazilian port of Curumbá.
The projector of the enterprise estimated that with about £60,000 he
could complete his track, establish a rural colony at the port, and
place two steamers, a schooner, and sundry lighters upon the river. He
secured the right to all duties that might be levied at the port, for a
period of eight years. But the scheme has doubtless fallen through, for
poor Señor Paradiz lost his life in his patriotic endeavour to open up a
new trade-route for his country, being killed by savages in 1875, while
ascending the river Paraguay, exploring for a good situation for his
proposed Port Vargas.
The second scheme was propounded by Señor Miguel Suarez Arana, a Bolivian
gentleman of good family. He proposed to construct two cart-roads, one
from Santa Cruz to an undefined port on the Paraguay, and the other from
a town called Lagunillas in the Cordillera to the same undefined port.
This _concessionnaire_ asked for two-thirds of the duties to be created
at the proposed port, for a period of forty years, together with tolls,
premiums, and other special advantages; but nothing was done in the
matter by the Congress, and doubtless the scheme remains on record as a
project only.
The next scheme was one brought forward by one Captain Greenleaf Cilley,
a retired commander of the United States navy, who had married in Buenos
Ayres a lady descended from one Oliden, who received a concession of
lands from Bolivia nearly fifty years ago, and whose name is still
recorded on all the maps of the republic. These lands are high and
well-suited for the cultivation of coffee or cocoa, and Captain Cilley
hoped to be able to attract emigration to them, if he could obtain
a concession for a railway and funds wherewith to construct it. He
therefore asked for a concession to construct a railway from Santa Cruz
to the territory of “Otuquis,” on the upper waters of the river of the
same name, an affluent of the river Paraguay, and in which the Oliden
lands are situated. The length of this proposed line would probably be
not less than 300 miles, and Captain Cilley, who estimated the cost of
construction at £8000 per mile, asked for a guarantee of seven per cent.
on the expenditure, and for two leagues of land on either side of the
line. But even Bolivia was not reckless enough to promise a guarantee on
such an enormous capital, and this scheme has also gone to the region of
cloudland.
The fourth and last scheme was “invented and arranged” by Dr. Reyes
Cardona, some time minister to the court of St. James, and to the
Brazilian court at Rio Janeiro. This enterprising statesman proposed a
colossal scheme of railroads, commencing at Bahia Negra on the Paraguay,
crossing the deserts of Izozo to Santa Cruz, and thence passing by Sucre
on to La Paz. The doctor wrote pamphlet after pamphlet and paper after
paper concerning the merits of this vague scheme, but the only settled
idea that he seemed to have was to seize the funds belonging to the
Madeira and Mamoré Railway. In what part of the grand scheme of internal
railways for Bolivia the fund was to be spent did not appear to be of
much consequence, so that it was handed over to the doctor, to be dealt
with as his much-vaunted “honor, talento, y patriotismo” should direct.
These numerous and spasmodic efforts to obtain an outlet for trade in an
eastern direction, made by Bolivians themselves, prove satisfactorily
that the proper route for the commerce of the country is acknowledged to
be one that shall lead to the Atlantic Ocean. Whether this route should
be down the Paraguay or the Amazon is, in my opinion, sufficiently well
determined in favour of the latter river, whose affluents spring from the
richest slopes of the republic, and flow through its most fertile plains.
Whatever opposition there is in Bolivia to the opening of an eastward
trade route, is kept up by a small minority of interested parties,
principally some of the leading merchants of La Paz and Tacna, who see
in the success of the eastward route a break-up of the monopoly of trade
that they have so long enjoyed, and a consequent probable diminution
of their profits. Another influence retarding the development of the
trade of Bolivia, is the jealousy that exists between the principal
towns, and which, instead of finding vent in a healthy competition of
trade, occupies itself with any sort of project calculated to hinder
the legitimate progress of one town or province above its neighbours.
The Paceños are, as a rule, very jealous of the growth of Cochabamba,
and of the importance that will accrue to that town from the opening
of an eastward route; and many of the deputies of the La Paz provinces
have systematically voted against enterprises whose realization would
improve the condition of the eastern provinces: but in the Congress
of 1874 three deputies, Dr. Belisario Salinas of La Paz, and Señores
Roman and Merisalde of the Yungas of La Paz, deserve to be mentioned as
having emancipated themselves from these narrow ideas, preferring to
assist in the general development and welfare of their country, rather
than restrain their efforts to the benefit only of their own immediate
provinces.
One of the most talented ministers that the republic ever possessed,
Don Rafael Bustillo, writing to the Brazilian government in 1863,
described in forcible language the position of his country. “Bolivia,”
he wrote, “occupies a territory entirely central in the vast continent
of South America. She has but five degrees of latitude on the Pacific
Coast, and even this is disputed, in part, by the Republic of Chili.
(This five degrees has been reduced to two and a half by the treaty of
1874, and one almost certain result of the war now being carried on by
Bolivia and Peru against Chili, will be that Bolivia will lose all her
seaboard; for if Chili prove victorious, she will certainly annex the
whole of the desert of Atacama, whilst if Bolivia and Peru succeed in
their ill-advised enterprise, Bolivia will probably have to cede the same
much-coveted territory to Peru in payment for her assistance.) Bolivia
is seated upon the masses of silver of the double range of the Andes. She
has a territory fertile beyond measure, where the treasures of the most
opposite climates are grouped together. With all this, Bolivia perishes
from consumption for want of methods of communication which may carry
to the markets of the world her valuable productions, and stimulate
her sons to labour and industry.” These words, which forcibly depict
the condition and requirements of the republic, are almost household
words in the country; yet, although they are well known and thoroughly
appreciated, the interests of the monopolizing merchants of the Pacific
seaboard have hitherto been powerful enough to preserve the isolation of
Bolivia, which they have only allowed to be communicated with through
their narrow toll-gates of Arica, Tacna, and La Paz. The only certain
means of providing efficient modes of transport for the, at present,
useless riches of the country, lie on its eastern side, for nature has
declared that the route to Europe shall not be a western one; and the
navigation of the Madeira and Amazon Rivers, when the railway of the
rapids is completed, will offer a more speedy and economic transport than
can be afforded by any scheme having the river Paraguay for its basis.
In regard to time, the Madeira and Mamoré Railway can with ease despatch
its freights from the port of San Antonio to Europe in twenty-eight
days or possibly less, whilst the Paraguayan route from Bahia Negra to
Europe will occupy at least forty. In reference to cost, the Madeira and
Mamoré Railway offers to carry a ton of freight from the centres of
Bolivia to the markets of Europe for £15, whilst the lowest estimate by
the Paraguayan route was that of £26 per ton, proposed in 1858 for the
navigation of the Vermejo.
Another reason for the present deplorable condition of the country
may be found in the absolute non-existence of any financial talent,
or even ordinary knowledge of national account-keeping amongst the
ministers and officials in power of late years. This has been thoroughly
exposed in the matter of the loan raised in London in 1872; and if the
shortcomings of the officials of the finance department are not to be set
down to want of knowledge, they must be charged to want of candour or
straightforwardness. In the financial accounts for 1873 the debt appears
as 8,500,000 Bolivian dollars, or £1,700,000, the correct nominal amount
of the loan; and although no notice is taken of the operation of the
sinking fund, which by the end of 1873 had paid off a first drawing of
£34,000, there is in the estimated outgoings of the treasury a credit
taken for the service of a loan of £2,000,000.
The national receipts at the time the country gained its independence
amounted to 2,500,000 of hard dollars, and in 1873 were as nearly as
possible of similar amount, being 2,566,034 Bolivian dollars, or say
£513,207, showing clearly the state of stagnation in which the country
has vegetated during its fifty years of independence. In the same year
the minister of finance declared a required expenditure of 3,660,679
dollars, or say £732,135, thus showing a deficit of £218,928; and,
nevertheless, the minister did not propose to Congress any plan for
equalizing the national accounts; whilst it is a fact that in the
Congress of 1874 not one proposal, either financial or political, except
the treaty with Chili, emanated from the ministry. In the ministerial
statement of the national finances, or budget, for 1874 one sees at a
glance that there is no effort made to equalize income and expenditure,
for not much more than £20,000 per annum is got from the Bolivian people
by any kind of direct taxation.
Customs’ rentals cannot be expected to increase until the completion of
the Madeira and Mamoré Railway creates new entries on the eastern side
of the republic, for Peru only can benefit by any growth of commerce
on the western side, having stipulated with Bolivia that it shall only
pay her £81,000 per annum out of the receipts of the port of Arica. It
seems certain, therefore, that direct taxation must be resorted to,
and as there is no individual poverty visible in the country, there is
no reason why the government should not be able to show easily a fair
balance-sheet, which should meet the current wants of the nation, and
provide honourably for the service of the public debt.
It is not, perhaps, too much to say that the realization of the joint
enterprises of the Madeira and Mamoré Railway, and the National Bolivian
Navigation Company, will change the entire character, not only of
the eastern provinces of Bolivia, but also of the republic itself;
whilst, at the same time, the Brazilian provinces of Matto Grosso and
the Amazons will be most materially benefited. It may, in the case of
Bolivia, seem absurd to say that its mineral wealth can ever appreciably
decrease; and, certainly, such an assertion must, to any one that has
passed over the highly metalliferous districts of Potosí, Oruro, and
the whole central plain of the country, appear entirely groundless; but
the examples of California and Australia teach us, that though mineral
discoveries are the first cause of the creation and settlement of new
countries, it is the development of their agricultural and industrial
resources that causes them to take rank amongst the nations of the world:
and this it is that Colonel Church’s enterprises will do for Bolivia,
for there can be no doubt but that their realization will place Bolivia
in the foremost rank of the republics of South America. No scheme that
has for its object the opening-up of the country on any other sides than
its northern and eastern can effect this result; for there alone exist
immense plains and tracts of country suitable for any kind of agriculture
or cattle-rearing. On the western side, the barren and inaccessible
heights of the Andes forbid any attempts at settling, while the southern
and eastern territory of the Gran Chaco is a cheerless swamp, never
capable of affording a home to other than the irreclaimable savage, or
the wild animals of the fast-decreasing forests of the continent.
Few, perhaps, are the enterprises that can hope to create and unfold such
vast industries as those found in the districts to be benefited by the
opening of the Amazonian route to the interior of the continent; for as
the traveller descends, in an eastward journey, from the barren summits
of the Andean Mountains, he will find that the railway will prove the
outlet, not only for the mineral riches of Bolivia, her wools, hides,
and other animal products, the cinchona bark (cascarilla), and other
drugs, dyes, and commercial values of her unexplored forests, but also
for the agricultural riches that already exist in considerable scale on
the descending plateaux of her eastern plains. At altitudes of 12,000
feet, barley and potatoes are grown; at 9000 to 6000, corn, potatoes,
apples, pears, and all kinds of fruits; at 6000 to 2000, coffee, coca,
cocoa, and plantains; and from 2000 to the plains, cocoa, plantains,
sugar-cane, maize, mandioc, arrowroot, yams, tobacco, and other tropical
products. The republic, therefore, in addition to the speculative
allurements of mineral wealth, can hold forth substantial inducements to
the breeder of stock, or the tiller of the soil; and there is no doubt
that the character of the people will improve when, through facilities of
communication, remunerative work is afforded them, for Bolivians, whether
of Indian or Spanish extraction, are very industrious, differing greatly
in this respect from the inhabitants of many other countries of South
America.
Politically considered, the enterprise will be of vast benefit to
Bolivia, for her population will find employment in the impetus given to
commerce, and will consequently become less turbulent, as revolutions
will decrease commensurately with the interest that each one will find
in their increasing prosperity. A bond of unity will also be created for
Bolivia, with her powerful neighbour Brazil, whereby she will be rendered
more secure from the encroachments of the republics of the Pacific
seaboard.
The results, financially considered, will be, that a trade, equal, if
not superior, to that now carried on through the Peruvian towns of Tacna
and Arica, will be created on the eastern side of the republic; and
from the custom’s receipts of this trade, Bolivia would have far more
than sufficient to keep up the service of, and rapidly pay off, both
her internal and external debts. Taking the year 1873 as a guide, we
find that the imports through the port of Arica amounted to £1,422,369,
and the exports to £860,607. Of these figures, three-fourths of the
imports, or £1,066,766, and £842,345 of the exports, fairly belong to
Bolivia, making a total of £1,909,121 in value of Bolivian commerce that
passes through Peru. The duties arising from this trade may reasonably
be averaged at twenty per cent. of the gross value, so that Bolivia
annually affords Peru a rental of more than £381,000, out of which she
magnanimously grants Bolivia a subsidy of £81,000. That Bolivian commerce
is not decreasing is proved by the fact that the exports of Arica for
1874 exceeded those of 1873 by nearly a million hard dollars, or about
£200,000. These statistics sufficiently account for the opposition
offered by the parties interested in the above trade to the opening-up of
the Amazonian trade-route. (See Appendix, p. 400.)
Bolivia is generally supposed to have rather more than 2,750,000
inhabitants; the above figures give, therefore, an average trade of about
14_s._ per head per annum, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that a
similar amount of trade will soon be carried over the Madeira and Mamoré
Railway. The loan of 1872 demands an annual service for interest and
sinking fund of £136,000, and the gradual payment of the other debts of
the country would require about £120,000 more. This total requirement
of £256,000 would, in a very few years, be provided by the custom’s
duties collected on the eastern route, for the amount is not equal to
three-fourths of the duties shown to be received by Peru from Bolivian
commerce.
Bolivia would still have the Peruvian subsidy, the profits received from
sale of the nitrates and guano of the desert of Atacama and islands
near the Pacific coast. These sources of revenue, together with the
departmental rentals, would more than suffice for the general government
expenses and the improvement of her internal means of communication. It
is not, therefore, too much to say that the realization of the Madeira
and Mamoré Railway may be made the means of materially changing and
improving the present deplorable financial and political situation of
the republic. It is, however, hopeless to expect that the men in power
should have sufficient foresight or courage to enable them to foster such
an important and promising scheme of progress for their country. No,
the policy of the so-called _statesmen_ of Bolivia is the short-sighted
one of self-interest, and because the realization of Colonel Church’s
enterprises would not be attended by immediate pecuniary advantages to
themselves, they have of late years placed every possible impediment in
his way. Fortunately for the masses of the population, Colonel Church
has proved himself to be of sterner and honester metal than Bolivian
statesmen are made of, and has refused bribes innumerable, offered him
with the view of tempting him to abandon his enterprise, and leave the
Bolivian people to the mercies of their gaolers of the Pacific seaboard;
and so the country will, in spite of its leading men, probably receive
the immense benefit of communication with Europe by the Amazon River
within a reasonable time. I can only hope that Colonel Church may be
spared to a long life, during which he may reap the due reward of
his steadfastness of purpose and integrity of motives, by seeing the
development of the country, which will then hail him as its best and
truest friend since the days of the great liberator Simon Bolivar, who
may be said to have given it independence or birth, while Colonel Church
will have given it lungs, through which to breath the invigorating
stimulus of intercourse with the civilization of Europe.
The labours of a Bolivian Congress generally last about sixty days, and
for the rest of the year the president and his ministers reign supreme.
The closing of the house is celebrated by a procession of the ministers,
who, led by the president, and escorted by a body-guard of soldiers,
go from the Casa del Gobierno to the Sala del Congreso, where they are
received by the members, standing and uncovered. By the way, Bolivian
deputies, though representatives of a land of liberty, are not allowed,
as our members are, to wear their hats in the House, but have to leave
them in the lobby. The president, arrayed in a gorgeous uniform of dark
blue, embroidered heavily with gold lace, begirt with a tricoloured
scarf round his waist, with a tricoloured plume in his cocked hat, gives
the spectator a curious notion of republican simplicity. On every state
occasion the president is immediately preceded by the national flag,
which is, perhaps, the prettiest flag to be found (barring, of course,
our own Union-Jack). It is composed of three colours, yellow, red, and
green, arranged in three wide parallel bars; and I have heard it said,
that the three colours were adopted to typify the green earth, and the
rising and the setting sun, the founders of the republic wishing their
Indian population to believe that their country included the whole of the
world.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT FRIAS.
(_From a photograph taken at Cochabamba._)]
At the ceremony of closing Congress in November, 1874, Dr. Tomas Frias,
the reigning president, who was, I believe, upwards of eighty years
of age, carried himself right royally, and read his speech to the
deputies with quite as much _hauteur_ as a crowned monarch might be
expected to employ. He was answered by the President of the Congress,
who congratulated the members upon the termination of their labours,
which, as far as I could discover, had consisted mainly of squabbling
amongst themselves and vilifying the government. The result of their
labours soon proved to be disastrous in the extreme, for the country was
again in revolution within less than a fortnight after the closing of
the session. If the members could have agreed together upon a ministry
to replace the then existing, one, peace would have been preserved;
but though the majority worked well together in abusing all who were
then in office under Dr. Frias, they could not at all agree as to their
successors. Under these circumstances the government encouraged the
Congress in wasting time in fruitless recriminations and discussions
until the closing day came, when, as the deputies were anxious to return
to their respective districts before the rainy season should set in
and render the roads impassable, they easily succeeded in hurrying a
short bill through the house, giving them powers to raise a revenue
equal to that of the previous budget. The government were thus masters
of the field, but were not left in peaceable possession very long, for
as Daza’s battalion, which was then in Sucre, was the only one that
had received any pay for many months, the other battalions, termed the
second and third, then stationed near Cochabamba, took the opportunity
of the return of General Quevedo from Congress to revolt and declare him
president of the republic, vice Frias, to be deposed in due course. It
is quite possible that Quevedo thought the second and third battalions
were not strong enough to fight “Daza’s Own;” but, anyhow, he refused
to head the proposed revolution, and endeavoured to induce the revolted
troops to remain quietly in their barracks, promising to represent their
claims to the government at Sucre. But Daza, seeing an opportunity of
ridding himself of one of his probable rivals for the presidency, managed
to get the government to decree that Quevedo had incited the soldiery
to rebel. He then made a declaration of steadfast attachment to Frias,
and marched to Cochabamba to put down a revolution which would never
have existed but for his violence. This was his programme, but his real
object was to get Quevedo into his power, succeeding in which, he most
probably would have had him shot without any trial; indeed, it was
currently reported that he had said publicly that he would do so. This
threat coming to Quevedo’s knowledge, made him pause while on his return
to Sucre to lay the complaints of the soldiery before the government,
and obliged him to take measures to secure his own personal safety. His
partisans, in various parts of the republic, then very unwisely rose in
his favour, and attempted to take possession of Oruro and Cochabamba;
but, as they were very badly armed, totally undisciplined, and almost
entirely without leaders, they were soon beaten and dispersed. There was
a good deal of desultory fighting, and a number of the revolutionists,
under a Dr. Miguel Aguirre, entrenched themselves in Cochabamba, where
they were attacked by President Frias and General Daza. Daza’s star
was, however, in the ascendant, and though the besiegers were driven to
great straits for ammunition, so much so that if the Quevedistas had
attacked vigorously they must have been victorious, after about a week’s
fighting the revolutionists withdrew, and left the city in the hands of
Daza, who shortly after followed up his victory so rapidly, that near
La Paz, at the battle of Chacomo, the revolutionary party were utterly
defeated, their leader, Quevedo having to fly to Puno in Peru, the
usual sanctuary of losers in the political struggles of Bolivia. This
crushing defeat of the revolutionists, who included partisans both of
Quevedo and Corral, ought to have had the effect of firmly establishing
the civil power of the state, exemplified in the person of the venerable
President Frias; but Daza, who had probably fermented the rebellion even
while he combated it, would not be satisfied with a settlement that did
not fully realize his ambition. Revolution therefore again raised its
hydra-head; and Daza, making terms with a Dr. Oblitas of Cochabamba, one
of the most unscrupulous partisans of Quevedo, soon drove poor Dr. Frias
from the country, and reaching the summit of a Bolivian’s aspirations,
installed himself in the coveted presidential palace. Here we will leave
him, hoping that the reports which have reached England of his changed
demeanour now that he has obtained the supreme power, have some truth
in them, and that his country, as I fear it will, may not progress,
land-crab fashion, backwards to the miserable state of tyranny and
oppression under which it groaned and suffered in the times of Belzu and
Melgarejo.