Part 18 (1/2)
Castilla was a man of strong and progressive views, and commerce began to flourish under his guidance. He was followed by President Echenique, but returned to public life, and succeeded the latter as President after a lapse of ten years, in the course of which considerable official corruption had been shown.
In 1864 occurred the first collision with Spain since the conclusion of the war of liberation. In that year Spain sent out Admiral Pinzon to the Pacific coast in command of three war vessels. The objects of the expedition were avowedly scientific, but it met with a suspicious reception from the first on the Pacific coast. The conduct of Admiral Pinzon decidedly did not tend to allay any anxiety on the part of the Republicans. Both Peru and Chile felt that their independence was endangered, and prepared to resist.
On April 14, 1864, the Spanish vessels gave the signal for war by seizing the Chincha Islands. Hostilities, however, were staved off for a while by the action of the Spanish authorities, who stated that Admiral Pinzon had exceeded his instructions. In the meanwhile the capture of one of his smaller vessels by the Chileans had so preyed upon the Admiral's mind that he committed suicide. He was succeeded in his command by Admiral Pareja.
At the beginning of 1866 war with Spain was officially declared. The Spanish fleet had now been strongly reinforced, and some naval engagements took place between the Spaniards and the allied Peruvians and Chileans, in the course of which the Spanish squadron was repulsed.
On April 25 the Spanish vessels, having already attacked Valparaiso, appeared before Callao, and a week later they began vigorously to bombard the town, which returned the fire. In this engagement both land and sea forces suffered considerably. After this the Spanish fleet sailed back to Europe, and the war came to an end. Peace, however, was not declared for two years afterwards.
General Prado now became President of Peru, and proved himself an able statesman. Nevertheless, the political disturbances continued, and after a while the rival parties became too strong to permit him to remain in office, and, resigning, he took refuge in Chile. The period which follows is one of great unrest. At the same time, notwithstanding the political disturbances, the commercial and industrial status of Peru was advancing rapidly. The next President who was destined to remain for some while in his seat was Manuel Pardo. He was elected in 1872, and although various revolutions occurred during the tenure of his office, these were successfully crushed by his authority. Indeed, he actually completed his term of office--an exceedingly rare occurrence for a President just at that period. Pardo was succeeded by General Prado, who had returned from Chile for the purpose of the election, and proved the popular candidate.
So complicated were the internal affairs of the nations at this time that it would be impossible to follow them adequately without devoting various chapters to this purpose alone. One of the blackest events of the period was the a.s.sa.s.sination of the ex-President Prado, who had proved himself a high-minded and efficient leader. This, as a matter of fact, was the act of a dissatisfied non-commissioned officer, and not of any political party.
During Prado's Presidency war broke out between Chile and Peru over the question of the nitrate fields, which were claimed by both countries.
Prado being both the President and General-in-Chief, took command of the Peruvian army. Although a man of personal courage, he appears to have been utterly hopeless of victory from the start; and in December, 1879, when various disasters had overtaken the Peruvian arms, he abandoned the country, and, taking s.h.i.+p at Callao, sailed for Europe.
The resistance to Chile was continued by Nicolas de Pierola, who, rising in armed rebellion against the const.i.tuted authority of Peru, caused himself to be declared President. His efforts, however, did not succeed in stemming the Chilean advance, and the end of the war saw Peru deprived of the nitrate provinces which she had claimed. Bolivia, who had been a.s.sociated with her as her ally in the struggle, was now reduced to the position of an inland State, her strip of coast-line having been taken away by the victorious Chileans.
The history of Peru following on the disastrous war with Chile is one of internal strife, when a host of would-be leaders, each with a following of greater or lesser importance, came into conflict and prevented any settled political action. In 1886 President Andreas Caceres came into power, and, seeing that the populace of the Republic was now exhausted by the continuous state of conflict, he was permitted to rule unchecked until 1890. Caceres established a species of military dictators.h.i.+p, and remained the power behind the throne until 1894, when, the acting President having died, he found it necessary to come to the front again, and after some confusion and fighting he was proclaimed President for the second time.
In 1895 a revolution occurred, headed by the same Pierola who had distinguished himself in the war against Chile. After some severe fighting the party of Caceres was defeated, and Pierola, declared President, began to govern in a const.i.tutional fas.h.i.+on. His advent to power marked the end of the political turbulence which had been so prominent a feature of Peruvian history during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Although the revolutionary movement continued, it had lost its fierce and almost continuous character. Since that period it has become merely intermittent, and thus of secondary consideration; for, following the example of the neighbouring and progressive Republics of South America, the political strife in Peru has, to a large extent, given way to the practical considerations of industrial and commercial progress.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY
We have seen how Paraguay, having in the early days of the war of liberation compelled the retirement of the Argentine army commanded by General Belgrano, was left to its own resources. It is said by some that Belgrano, during the intercourse he maintained with the Paraguayans subsequent to the defeat of his force and previous to his definite retreat, contrived to inculcate some ideas of independence into the heads of the officials of the inland province. These seeds of liberty may or may not have borne fruit, but in any case it is certain that public opinion in Paraguay rapidly veered round in favour of independence, and as early as 1811 the Spanish Government was replaced by a Junta, which consisted of a President, two a.s.sessors, and a Secretary. The person appointed to the latter office was Don Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, whose name was destined to become dreaded throughout the length of the Republic which was now to establish itself.
It was not long before the strong personality of Francia dominated the Junta. The history of Paraguay at this period differs widely from those of the more progressive nations surrounding it. In Paraguay a certain _opera bouffe_ element, together with a series of grimly farcical incidents, continually mingled themselves with some of the darkest tragedies that have been known in any age. From the very start something of the kind had become evident. The members of the Junta, for instance, finding their own means insufficient to support the pomp and state which was suddenly thrust upon them, and which they had grown to love, began to adopt some extraordinary measures in order to maintain their position. Any portable national a.s.sets were sold without the least compunction for this purpose, and they even went to the length of compelling State prisoners to purchase their liberty--an idea which undoubtedly ranks as one of the most extraordinary schemes for raising money ever employed. Measures such as this const.i.tuted a sufficiently ominous beginning; they provided, indeed, an only too true augury of what was to come and from what species of wrongs the unfortunate country was doomed to suffer for generations.
In justice to Francia himself it must be said that he took no part in these first minor acts of oppression. His grim and proud nature cared but little for mere matters of pomp and ceremony. Money and possessions, curiously enough, affected him little. Messrs. Rengger and Longchamps vouch for it that, having once discovered that he was the possessor of 800 piastres, he thought this sum a great deal too much for a single person, and he spent it. A remedy such as this seems simple enough for an unusual complaint!
By the year 1813 all but the most powerful elements of the Junta had been weeded out. The power was now confined to the two remaining members--Dr. Francia and his colleague, Fulgencio Yegros. These were now endowed with the t.i.tles of Consul. Two curule chairs were specially manufactured for them. These cla.s.sical seats were covered with leather.
On one was the name of Caesar, on the other that of Pompey. It is possible that Francia had some faint smattering of Latin and of Roman history; at all events, he is said to have pounced on the first and eagerly to have taken possession of it. The two Consuls began their reign by employing a vast amount of ceremony and form in order to accomplish a few quite arbitrary acts. The majority of these were directed against the Spaniards, who, suffering now from the swing of the pendulum of fate, were as much oppressed as they had formerly oppressed.
Indeed, the situation of those Spaniards who still remained in Paraguay was now pitiable in the extreme. Persecuted on all sides by the high officials, they could expect, in the face of an example such as this, scant consideration from the populace.
In the year 1814 Francia determined that the time had come when he could dispense with the services of his colleague, Yegros. By means of a _coup d'etat_ he packed the Congress, and succeeded in intimidating his adversaries. As a result, he was named Dictator of Paraguay for a period of three years, notwithstanding a counter-move on the part of the military followers of Yegros. This was calmed by Yegros himself. In a moment of considerable generosity this latter pacified the officers and the troops, and thus left the way clear for Dr. Francia.
At this period the new Dictator again gave evidence of his curiously complex character. Congress, anxious to please the new ruler, whose power of domination had already become so evident, had allotted to His Excellency the Dictator an annual allowance of 9,000 piastres. Francia definitely refused to accept more than one-third of this, and, moreover, continued firm in his refusal, alleging that the State was far more in need of money than he. On paper, never was the start of a Chief-of-State's career more fraught with promise than that of Francia's. He had given evidence of despotism, but also of an earnest spirit. No sooner had the reins of absolute power fallen to his lot than he altered entirely the mode of his life. From a comparative libertine he became a man of austere habits, displaying a most extraordinary industry in his attention to the matters of State. His manner, moreover, was affable to poor and rich alike, and the claims of the humblest met with a courteous consideration rare in any State at any time, but doubly amazing in a period of chaos such as was reigning throughout the Continent at the time.
In 1817 his period of Dictators.h.i.+p expired. It was then that Francia made his supreme effort. Intrigues, persuasions, and veiled threats strengthened the position which his cautious and cleverly conceived conduct had created for him. Numbers of his creatures now came forward with suggestions. Congress fell into the trap, and Francia was appointed Dictator of Paraguay for life. This was the moment for which Francia had waited so patiently and so long. With the last obstacle to his full power now removed, the change in the Dictator's conduct was as complete as it was sudden. Had he sat at the right hand of Nero his refinements of tyranny could not have been more successful. In a very short while his methods had terrorized Asuncion.
When Dr. Francia and his hussar escort rode abroad, the streets through which the cavalcade pa.s.sed resembled a desert, for anyone who had the misfortune to find himself anywhere near the line of route was set upon and beaten with the flat of their swords by the hussars for the mere fact of daring to be in the neighbourhood of the Dictator in a public place. At the outset there were some who protested. The fate of every one of these was, at the lightest, to be flung into dungeons and loaded with ma.s.sive and torturing chains.
Following the inevitable progress of tyranny, as time went on Francia's vigilance and cruelty increased, while as the discontent of the populace became evident his suspicions grew more and more on the alert.
Conceiving the possibility of an a.s.sa.s.sin lurking behind one of the orange-trees with which the streets of the capital were so liberally and beautifully planted, Francia cut them down, and it is said that when his horse once s.h.i.+ed at the sight of a barrel before a door, the owner of the cask was made to suffer severely on account of the nerves of the Dictator's steed!
Paraguay gradually became more and more a hermit State under the rule of this despot. It was difficult in the extreme to enter the country, but, having once pa.s.sed its frontiers, it was harder still to return. Forts were established along the borders, and the rivers were strictly policed. A strict watch was kept on all travellers, and none might move from spot to spot without being in possession of a pa.s.sport especially granted by the Dictator. Some there were who attempted to make their way from the now dreaded country through the vast swamps of the Chaco, but death at the hands of the Indians or the teeth of the wild beasts was the usual result.