THE REVOLUTION IN BUENOS AYRES. T HE storm-cloud that for some
months past has been gathering over the Argentine Republic, broke last Saturday in the form of a revolution in the capital, Buenos Ayres. To understand what has taken place, it is necessary to review briefly the recent state of affairs in that country. Don Juarez Celman, who succeeded to the Presidency in 1886, was the first President who attained the supreme power without a revolutionary conflict. That he did so was mainly owing to his predecessor, Don Julio Roca, who forcibly kept the country down by the help of the Army during the critical period of the election. The new President was thus to a certain extent the nominee of the last, who himself was acting in concert with what was then the most powerful party, politically speaking, in the State, that which represented the interests of the Northern Provinces as opposed to the Province of Buenos Ayres. Dr. Colman was a man of little note, but he had the supreme merit of being unobjectionable to all parties in the Northern Provinces, who were by no means very united among themselves. The Province of Buenos Ayres remained quiet, but it has neither forgotten nor forgiven the history of that election. The financial policy that had been more or less inaugurated by Roca, and which had made his Presidency such a brilliant one, as far as the outward signs of progress were concerned, had already involved the country in a certain amount of pecuniary embarrassment. No irretrievable harm had yet been done, but it was generally agreed that the country had gone ahead too fast, and that the time had come for retrench- ments and a more sober system of finance. To this reform Dr. Celman pledged himself. Unfortunately, he was not his own master, although master of the country. It is useless to discuss here the truth of the stories as to the hopeless corruption of the Government. These facts are quite sufficient by themselves : that the reform promised was never attempted at all ; that the system of borrowing practised by General Roca was pur- sued with even greater recklessness by Dr. Celman ; that the leakage in the Government offices, of money never accounted for, assumed enormous proportions ; and that the financial position of the country to-day is such as would have seemed incredible three years ago. Whether personally the President has been to blame or not, there is not a shadow of doubt but that his government has been most disastrous to the country. Hardly an effort was made under his auspices towards reform. The Province of Buenos Ayres, under Governor Paz, set an excellent example to the other provinces, which was not followed. They at least tried honestly and strenuously to set their affairs in order. It must be remembered that to them, as representing the chief commercial interests of the country, its public credit is a matter of vital importance ; while to the other provinces, with the exception of Santa F4, it is a matter more or less of indifference. Early in April this year, the growing discontent and anger of the Opposition found its voice in the great demonstration that was organised by the present chiefs of the Union Civics,. Not only were the Sefiores Alem, Gl-oyena, and Lucio Lopez present. but General Mitre added the weight of his great name, and the presence of a prominent member of the Roca family gave hope of the support of that faction. It is to be noticed that throughout the last three years General Roca has contrived to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. The Government was so seriously alarmed at this manifestation of public feeling, that before the meeting had actually assembled, the Ministry resigned their posts, and a Presidential message was read, once more solemnly pledging the Govern- ment to reform. The meeting having won a peaceful victory, dispersed quietly; but the Union Civica from that day sprang into public life. The appointment of Seilor Uriburu as Minister of Finance gave great satisfaction. He did not hold his portfolio long ; he found that the Govern- ment had no intention whatever of making the promised changes in their administration, and he resigned. His resignation was the signal for further recklessness on the part of the Government, and the utter despair of the reform party. Possibly from that moment the Union Civica began to consider other than peaceful means for saving the situation. It is evident that only a spark was necessary to produce an explosion, for the arrest of General Campos was certainly insufficient by itself to cause what has followed. The revolution broke out with such sudden and complete fury, that it is hard to believe that either side had not been to some extent pre- pared for it, though the actual moment of the outburst may have been precipitated, and so far taken them by surprise. The varying fortunes of the desperate and bloody conflict that raged in the streets of Buenos Ayres have been so ably and graphically described by the tele- grams of the Times' correspondent, that little is left to be said. The Juaristas, or supporters of the President, numbered in their ranks the whole of the city police —no inconsiderable force—and some soldiers of the Line. The Union Civica had the support not only of the artillery, whose revolt gave the signal for the conflict, but the great bulk of the troops that were quartered at the capital, all the Navy that was afloat, and an increasing number of volunteers from among the citizens. The great mass of the foreign population kept aloof, but it is not difficult to understand that their sympathy was with the revolutionaries. In a few short hours the streets were turned into shambles ; the savage ferocity of the fighting, and the terrible carnage that seems to have taken place, may be accounted for when we remember that mere bloodshed and slaughter have no horror for the Spanish-American. For two days the most contradictory reports were spread in the city. The Presi- dent was said by some to have fled ; by others, to have left the town in order to bring up fresh troops from outside. The Minister of War was said to be killed ; and while the Juaristas maintained that they were hourly receiving rein- forcements, the other party asserted that the Government had been deserted by all but the handful of troops they then possessed in the city. This much at least appears certain, that Dr. Celman and his Ministers were the first to attempt to open negotiations with the other ,side. In the mean- time, the naval squadron took up its position opposite the Government House, and succeeded in shelling the Govern- ment head-quarters. The positions of the insurgents at Palermo and the Plaza Lavalle should have practically blocked all access to the town on the only side on which it was to be dreaded. Numerically, the insurgents were the strongest, and so far they had evidently had the best of the fighting. The enthusiasm and eagerness of their men seem to have been immense ; they appeared to have had the Government between two fires, and at their mercy; and yet we learn that the chiefs of the Union Civica„ at a moment when their triumph seemed assured, suddenly accepted the propositions of the Government, and began to disband,—the very propositions that they had just re- jected, and which were so unfavourable to their cause that they hardly even secure an amnesty for themselves. Want of ammunition is the cause alleged. They had counted on a. million rounds, and there were but a hundred thousand. Still, the collapse must have been incredible to their men, flushed with victory and eager for more fighting. A more likely cause was the want of combined purpose in the leaders. Alem, Del Valle, Romero, Lucio Lopez, and Goyena, are all of them distinguished citizens, and some of them most brilliant orators. Brilliant oratory is a good and useful quality for the preparation of a revolution, but not for carrying it through to a successful issue. Campos is a fine gentleman and a fine soldier, but neither he nor Arredondo can lay claim to being good Generals. It is probable that had General Mitre been in the country, either this re volution would not have broken out when it did, or that, having been begun, it would never have been allowed to come to so lame and impotent a conclusion. They have effected nothing. It is within the range of possibility that Dr. Celman may yet be induced to resign for his own sake ; his resigna- tion and the assumption of the government by the Vice- President, Dr. Pellegrini, would do much to allay the intense irritation that seems to exist. Should he refuse to do so, which is certainly more likely, there will be more trouble in Buenos Ayres. But as to the provinces, there is no serious reason to fear a civil war. As a rule, they do not concern themselves greatly with the corrupt practices or rotten finance of the national Government; and a revo- lution which has every appearance of being the outcome of the discontent of Buenos Ayres alone, is not likely to find many sympathisers in other parts of the Republic. Moreover, the old system of guerilla warfare that was practised in former revolutions, and that dragged on for months together with such disastrous results to the country at large, is hardly possible to-day in the altered condition of the country itself. The number of railways that have been made during the last ten years will enable the Government to move or mass its troops at any point that is desired, at a comparatively short notice ; while the wire-fencing that has been erected on the sheep and cattle farms, and which now intersects the country everywhere and at short intervals, will make operations impossible to the irregular troops of mounted men who formerly committed such terrible depredations in the neighbour- hood of the country towns.
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