conversion law was adopted on the 31st of October 1899, which provided that the outstanding circulation should be redeemed at the rate of 44 centavos gold for each 100 centavos paper, the official rate for gold being 227-27. Provisions were also made for the creation of a special conversion fund in specie to guarantee the circulation, which fund reached a total of $100,000,000 in March 1906. These measures have served to give greater stability to the value of the circulating medium, and to prevent the ruinous losses caused by a constant fluctuation in value, but the rate established prevents the further appreciation of the currency. On the 18th of January 1906 the currency in circulation amounted to $502,420,485, which is more than $95 per capita. (A. J. L.)

HISTORY

The first Europeans who visited the river Plate were a party of Spanish explorers in search of a south-west passage to the East Indies. Their leader, Juan Diaz de Solis, landing incautiously in 1516 on the north coast with a few attendants to parley with a body of Charrua Indians, was suddenly attacked by them and was killed, together with a number of his followers. This untoward disaster led to the abandonment of the expedition, which forthwith returned to Spain, bringing with them the news of the discovery of a fresh-water sea. Four years later (1520) the Portuguese seaman, Ferdinand Magellan, entered the estuary in his celebrated voyage round the world, undertaken in the service of the king of Spain (Charles I., better known as the emperor Charles V.). Magellan, as soon as he had satisfied himself that there was no passage to the west, left the river without landing.

The first attempt to penetrate by way of the river Plate and its affluents inland, with a view to effecting settlements in the interior, was made in 1526 by Sebastian Cabot. This Cabot. great navigator had already won renown in the service of Henry VII. of England by his voyage to the coast of North America in company with his father, Giovanni Caboto or Cabot (see CABOT, JOHN). Sebastian Cabot had in 1519 deserted England for Spain, and had received from King Charles the post of pilot-major formerly held by Juan de Solis. In 1526 he was sent out in command of an expedition fitted out for the purpose of determining by astronomical observations the exact line of demarcation, under the treaty of Tordesillas, between the colonizing spheres of Spain and Portugal, and of conveying settlers to the Moluccas. Arrived in the river Plate in 1527, rumours reached Cabot of mineral wealth and a rich and civilized empire in the far interior, and he resolved to abandon surveying for exploration. He built a fort a short distance up the river Uruguay, and despatched one of his lieutenants, Juan Alvarez Ramón, with a separate party upon an expedition up stream. This expedition was assailed by the Charruas and forced to return on foot, their leader himself being killed. Cabot, with a large following, entered the Paraná and established a settlement just above the mouth of the river Carcarañal, to which he gave the name of San Espiritù, among the Timbú Indians, with whom he formed friendly relations. He continued the ascent of the Paraná as far as the rapids of Apipé, and finding his course barred in this direction, he afterwards explored the river Paraguay, which he mounted as far as the mouth of the affluent called by the Indians Lepeti, now the river Bermejo. His party was here fiercely attacked by the Agaces or Payaguá Indians, and suffered severely. Cabot in his voyage had seen many silver ornaments in the possession of the Timbú and Guarani Indians. Some specimens of these trinkets he sent back to Spain with a report of his discoveries. The arrival of these first-fruits of the mineral wealth of the southern continent gained for the estuary of the Paraná the name which it has since borne, that of Rio de la Plata, the silver river. As Cabot was descending the stream to his settlement of San Espiritù, he encountered an expedition which had been despatched from Spain for the express purpose of exploring the river discovered by Solis, under the command of Diego Garcia. Finding that he had been forestalled, Garcia resolved to return home. Cabot himself, after an absence of more than three years, came back in 1530, and applied to Charles V. for means to open up communications with Peru by way of the river Bermejo. The

emperor's resources were, however, absorbed by his struggle for European supremacy with Francis I. of France, and he was obliged to leave the enterprise of South American discoveries to his wealthy nobles. Cabot's colony at San Espiritù did not long survive his departure; an attempt of the chief of the Timbús to gain possession of one of the Spanish ladies of the settlement led to a treacherous massacre of the garrison.

Two years after the return of Cabot, the news of Francisco Pizarro's marvellous conquest of Peru reached Europe (1532), and stirred many an adventurous spirit to strive to Mendoza. emulate his good fortune. Among these was Pedro de Mendoza, a Basque nobleman. He obtained from Charles V. a grant (asiento) of two hundred leagues of the coast from the boundary of the Portuguese possessions southward towards the Straits of Magellan, and the inland country which lay behind it. Mendoza undertook to conquer and settle the territory at his own charges, certain profits being reserved to the crown. In August 1534 the adelantado, or governor, sailed from San Lucar, at the head of the largest and wealthiest expedition that had ever left Europe for the New World. In January 1535 he entered the river Plate, where he followed the northern shore to the island of San Gabriel, and then crossing over he landed by a little stream, still called Riachuelo. The name of Buenos Aires was given to the country by Sancho del Aires. Campo, brother-in-law of the adelantado, who first stepped ashore. Here, on the 2nd of February, Mendoza laid the foundations of a settlement which in honour of the day he named Santa Maria de Buenos Aires. Mendoza, after some fierce encounters with the Indians, now proceeded up the Paraná, and built a fort, which he called Corpus Christi, near the site of Cabot's former settlement of San Espiritù. The expedition, which originally numbered 2500 men, was reduced by deaths at the hands of the Indians, by disease and privation, within a year to less than 500 men. From Corpus Christi, Mendoza sent out various bodies to explore the interior in the direction of Peru, but without much success, and at length, thoroughly discouraged and broken in health, he abandoned his enterprise, and returned to Spain in 1537.

Buenos

A portion of one of the expeditions he despatched, under Juan de Ayolas, pushing up the Paraguay, is said to have reached the south-east districts of Peru, but while returning laden with booty, was attacked by the Payaguá Indians, and every man perished. The other portion, which had stayed behind as a reserve under Domingos Iralá, had better fortunes. Finding their comrades did not return, Iralá and his companions determined to descend the river, and on their downward journey opposite the mouth of the river Pilcomayo, finding Asunción. a suitable site for colonizing, they founded (1536) what proved to be the first permanent Spanish settlement in the interior of South America, the future city of Asunción (15th August 1536).

In the meantime the colony at Buenos Aires had been dragging on a miserable existence, and after terrible sufferings from famine and from the ceaseless attacks of the Indians, the remaining settlers abandoned the place and made their way up the river first to Corpus Christi, then to Asunción. Here, by the emperor's orders, the assembled Spaniards proceeded to the election of a captain-general, and their choice fell almost unanimously on Domingos Martinez de Iralá, who was proclaimed captain-general of the Rio de la Plata (August 1538). In 1542 the settlement of Buenos Aires was re-established by an expedition sent for the purpose from Spain, under a tried adelantado, Cabeza de Vaca. This able leader, eager to reach Asunción as quickly as possible, sent on his ships to the river Plate, but himself with a small following marched overland from Santa Catherina on the coast of Brazil to join Iralá. His doings at Asunción belong, however, not to the history of Argentina, but of Paraguay. Suffice it to say that differences with Iralá eventually led to his arrest, and to his being sent back to Spain to answer to the charges brought against him for maladministration. The second settlement made by his expedition at Buenos Aires was even less successful and

1543

Juan de Garay.

Jong-lived than the first. Exposed to the incessant attacks of the savages, the piace was a second time abandoned, February Forty years were now to elapse before any further efforts were made by the Spaniards to colonize any part of the territory of the river Plate and lower Paraná. In 1573 Juan de Garay, at the head of an expedition despatched from Asunción, founded the city of Santa Fé near the abandoned settlements of San Espiritù and Corpus Christi. Seven years later (1580), when the new colony had been firmly established, Juan de Garay proceeded southwards, and made the third attempt to build a city on the site of Buenos Aires; and despite the determined hostility of the Querendi Indians he succeeded in finally gaining a complete mastery over them. In a desperate battle, the natives were defeated with great slaughter, and the territory surrounding the town was divided into ranches, in which the conquered natives had to labour. The new town received from Garay the name of Ciudad de la Santissima Trinidad, while its port retained the old appellation of Santa Maria de Buenos Aires. It was endowed by its founder with a cabildo (corporation) and full Spanish municipal privileges. Garay, when on his way to Santa Fé, was unfortunately murdered by a party of Indians, Minuas (Mimas), three years later, while incautiously sleeping on the river bank near the ruins of San Espiritù. The new settlement, however, continued to prosper, and the cattle and horses brought from Europe multiplied and spread over the plains of the Pampas.

In the meantime the Spaniards had penetrated into the interior of what is now the Argentine Republic, and established themselves on the eastern slopes of the Andes. In 1553 an expedition from Peru made their way through the mountain region and founded the city of Santiago del Estero, that of Tucumán in 1565, and that of Córdoba in 1573. Another expedition from Chile, under Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, crossed the Cordillera in 1559, and having defeated the Araucanian Indians, made a settlement which from the name of the leader was called Mendoza. In 1620 Buenos Aires was separated from the authority of the government established at Asunción, and was made the seat of a government extending over Mendoza, Santa Fé, Entre Rios and Corrientes, but at the same time remained like the government of Paraguay at Asunción, and that of the province of Tucumán, which had Córdoba as its capital, subject to the authority of the viceroyalty of Peru.

Evils of Spanish colonial system.

Thus at the opening of the 17th century, after many adventurous efforts, and the expenditure of many lives and much treasure, the Spaniards found themselves securely established on the river Plate, and had planted a number of centres of trade and colonization in the interior. Unfortunately, in no part of the Spanish oversea possessions did the restrictive legislation of the home government operate more harshly or disadvantageously to the interests of the colony; it was a more effective hindrance to the development of its resources and the spread of civilization over the country, than the hostility of the Indians. Cabot had urged the feasibility of opening an easier channel for trade with the interior of Peru through the river Plate and its tributaries, than that by way of the West Indies and Panama; and now that his views were able to be realized, the interests of the merchants of Seville and of Lima, who had secured a monopoly of the trade by the route of the isthmus, were allowed to destroy the threatened rivalry of that by the river Plate. Never in the history of colonization has a mother country pursued so relentlessly a policy more selfish and short-sighted. Spanish legislation was not satisfied with endeavouring to exclude all Europcan nations except Spain from trading with the West Indies, but it sought to limit all commerce to one particular route, and it forbade any trade being transacted by way of the river Plate, thus enacting the most flagrant injustice towards the people it had encouraged to settle in the latter country. The strongest protests were raised, but the utmost they could effect was that, in 1618, permission was granted to export from Buenos Aires two shiploads of produce a year. But the Spanish government

Asiento, question.

was not content with the prohibition of sea-borne commerce. To prevent internal trade with Peru a custom-house was set up at Córdoba to levy a duty of 50 % on everything in transit to and from the river Plate. In 1665 the relaxation of this system was brought about by the continual remonstrances of the people, but for more than a century afterwards (until 1776) the policy of exclusion was enforced. This naturally led to a contraband trade of considerable dimensions. The English, after the treaty of Utrecht (1715) held the contract (asiento) for supplying the Spanish-American colonies with negro slaves. Among other places the slave ships regularly visited Buenos Aircs, and despite the efforts of the Spanish authorities, contrived both to smuggle in and carry away a quantity of goods. This illicit commerce went on steadily till 1739, when it led to an outbreak of war between England and Spain, which put an end to the asiento. The Portuguese were even worse offenders, for in 1680 they made a settlement on the north of the river Plate, right opposite to Buenos Aires, named Colonia, which with one or two short intervals, remained in their hands till 1777. From this port foreign merchandise found its way duty free into the Spanish provinces of Buenos Aires, Tucumán and Paraguay, and even into the interior of Peru. The continual encroachments of the Portuguese at length led the Spanish government to take the important step of making Buenos Aires the seat of a viceroyalty with jurisdiction over the territories of the present republics of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Argentine Confederation (1776). At the same time all this country was opened to Spanish trade even with Peru, and the development of its resources, so long thwarted, was allowed comparatively free play. Pedro de Zeballos, the first viceroy, took with him from Spain a large military force with which he finally expelled the Portuguese from the banks of the river Plate.

Effects of French war.

The wars of the French Revolution, in which Spain was allied with France against Great Britain, interrupted the growing prosperity of Buenos Aires. On the 17th of June 1806 General William Beresford landed with a body of troops from a British fleet under the command of Sir Home Popham, and obtained possession of Buenos Aires. But a French officer, Jacques de Liniers, gathered together a large force with which he enclosed the British within the walls, and finally, on the 12th of August, by a successful assault, forced Beresford and his troops to surrender. In July 1807 another British force of eight thousand men under General Whitelock endeavoured to regain possession of Buenos Aires, but strenuous preparations had been made for resistance, and after fierce street fighting the invading army, after suffering severe losses, was compelled to capitulate. The colonists, who had achieved their two great successes without any aid from the home government, were naturally elated, and began to feel a new sense of self-reliance and confidence in their own resources. The successful defence of Buenos Aires accentuated the growing feeling of dissatisfaction with the Spanish connexion, which was soon to lead to open insurrection. The establishment of the Napoleonic dynasty at Madrid was the actual cause which brought about the disturbances which were to end in separation. Liniers was viceroy on the arrival of the news of the crowning of Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain, but as a Frenchman he was distrusted and was deposed by the adherents of Ferdinand VII. The central junta at Seville, acting in the name of Ferdinand, appointed Balthasar de Cisneros to be viceroy in his place. He entered upon the duties of his office on the 19th of July 1809, and at first he gained popularity by acceding to the urgent appeals of the people and throwing open the trade of the country to all nations. But his measures speedily gave dissatisfaction to the Argentine or Creole party, who had long chafed under the disabilities of Spanish rule, and who now felt themselves no longer bound by ties of loyalty to a country which was in the possession of the French armies.

On the 25th of May 1810 a great armed assembly met at Buenos Aires and a provisional junta was formed to supersede the authority of the viceroy and carry on the government. The acts of the new government ran in the name of Ferdinand VII,,

for Inde

but the step taken was a revolutionary one, and the 25th of May has ever since been regarded as the birthday of Argentine independence. The most prominent leader of Struggle the junta was its secretary Mariano Moreno (1778pendence. 1811), who with a number of other active supporters of the patriot cause succeeded in raising a considerable force of Buenos Aireans to maintain, arms in hand, their nationalist and anti-Spanish doctrines. An attempt of the Spanish party to make Balthasar de Cisneros president of the junta failed, and the ex-viceroy retired to Montevideo. A sanguinary struggle between the party of independence and the adherents of Spain spread over the whole country, and was carried on with varying fortune. Foremost among the leaders of the revolutionary armies were Manuel Belgrano, and after March 1812 General José de San Martin, an officer who had gained experience against the French in the Peninsular War. A state of disorder, almost of anarchy, reigned in the provinces, but on the 25th of March 1816 a congress of deputies was assembled at Tucumán, who named Don Martin Pueyrredón supreme director, and on the 9th of July the separation of the united provinces of the Rio de la Plata was formally proclaimed, and comparative order was re-established in the country; Buenos Aires was declared the seat of the government. The jealousy of the provinces, however, against the capital led to a series of disturbances, and for many years continual civil war devastated every part of the country. Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay rose in armed revolt, and finally established themselves as separate republics, whilst the city of Buenos Aires itself was torn with faction and the scene of many a sanguinary fight.

From 1816, however, the independence of the Argentine Republic was assured, and success attended the South Americans in their contest with the royal armies. The combined Republic forces of Buenos Aires and Chile defeated the Spaniards established. at Chacabuco in 1817, and at Maipú in 1818; and from Chile the victorious general José de San Martin led his troops into Peru, where on the 9th of July 1821, he made a triumphal entry into Lima, which had been the chief stronghold of the Spanish power, having from the time of its foundation by Pizarro been the seat of government of a viceroyalty which at one time extended to the river Plate. A general congress was assembled at Buenos Aires on the 1st of March 1822, of representatives from all the liberated provinces, and a general amnesty was decreed, though the war was not over until the 9th of December 1824, when the republican forces gained the final victory of Ayacucho, in the Peruvian border-land. The Spanish government did not, however, formally acknowledge the independence of the country until the year 1842. On the 23rd of January 1825, a national constitution for the federal states, which formed the Argentine Republic, was decreed; and on the 2nd of February of the same year Sir Woodbine Parish, acting under the instructions of George Canning, signed a commercial treaty in Buenos Aires, by which the British government acknowledged the independence of the country. It had already been recognized by the United States of America two years previously.

and Federal

Ists.

In 1826 Bernardo Rivadavia was elected president of the confederation. His policy was to establish a strong central Unitarians government, and he became the head of a party known as Unitarians in contradistinction to their opponents, who were styled Federalists, their aim being to maintain to the utmost the local autonomy of the various provinces. Under the government of Rivadavia the people of Buenos Aires became involved, practically single-handed, in a war with Brazil in defence of the Banda Oriental, which had been seized by the imperial forces (see URUGUAY). The Brazilians were defeated, notably at Ituzaingo, and in 1827 the war issued in the independence of Uruguay. Rivadavia's term of office was likewise memorable for the constitution of the 24th of December 1826, passed by the constituent congress of all the provinces, by which the bonds which united the confederated states of the Argentine Republic were strengthened. This project of closer union met, however, with much opposition both at Buenos Aires and the provinces. Rivadavia resigned, and Vicente Lopez,

a Federalist, was elected to succeed him, but was speedily displaced by Manuel Dorrego (1827), another representative of the same party. The carrying out of Federalist principles led, however, to the formation in the republic of a number of quasiindependent military states, and Dorrego only ruled in Buenos Aires. After the conclusion of the peace with Brazil, the Unitarians placed themselves under the leadership of General Juan de Lavalle, the victor of Ituzaingo. Lavalle, at the head of a division of troops, drove Dorrego from Buenos Aires, pursued him into the interior, and captured him. He was shot (December 9, 1828), by the order of Lavalle, and during the year 1828 the country was given up to the horrors of civil war.

dictator.

On the death of Dorrego, a remarkable man, Juan Manuel de Rosas, became the Federalist chief. In 1829 he defeated Lavalle, made himself master of Buenos Aires, and in the course Rosas of the next three years made his authority recognized after much fighting throughout the provinces. The Unitarians were relentlessly hunted down and a veritable reign of terror ensued. Rosas gradually concentrated all power in his own hands, and was hailed by the populace as a saviour of the state. In 1835, with the title of governor and captaingeneral, he acquired dictatorial powers, and all public authority passed into his hands. This dictatorship of Rosas continued until 1852. In every department of administration and of government he was supreme. He was exceedingly jealous of foreign interference, and quarrelled with France on questions connected with the rights of foreign residents. Buenos Aires was in 1838 blockaded by a French fleet; but Rosas stood firm. A formidable revolt took place in 1839 under General Lavalle, who had returned to the country accompanied by a number of banished Unitarians. In 1840 he invaded Buenos Aires at the head of troops raised chiefly in the province of Entre Rios; but he was defeated at Santa Fé, then at Luján, and finally was captured in Jujuy and shot, 1841. The rule of Rosas was now one of tyranny and almost incessant bloodshed in Buenos Aires, while his partisans, foremost amongst whom was General Ignacio Oribe, endeavoured to exterminate the Unitarians throughout the provinces. The scene of slaughter was extended to the Banda Oriental by the attempt of Oribe, with the support of Rosas, and of Justo José de Urquiza, governor of Entre Rios, to establish himself as president of that republic (see URUguay), where the existing government was hostile to Rosas and sheltered all political refugees from the country under his despotic rule. The siege of Montevideo led to a joint intervention of England and France. Buenos Aires was blockaded by the combined English and French fleets, September 1845, which landed a force to open the passage up the Paraná to Paraguay, which had been declared closed to foreigners by Rosas. A convention was signed in 1849, which secured the free navigation of the Paraná and the independence of the Banda Oriental. The downfall of Rosas was at last brought about by the instrumentality of Justo José de Urquiza, who as governor of Entre Rios, had for many years been one of his strongest supporters. The breach between the two men which led to open collision took place in 1846. The first efforts of Urquiza to rouse the country against the oppressor were unsuccessful, but in 1851 he concluded an alliance with Brazil, to which Uruguay afterwards adhered. A large army of twenty-four thousand men was collected at Montevideo, and on the 8th of January 1852 the allied forces crossed the Paraná and the road to Buenos Aires lay open before them. Rosas met the allies at the head of a body of troops fully equal in numbers to their own, but was crushingly routed, February 3rd, at Monte Caseros, about 10 m. from the capital. The dictator fled for refuge to the British legation, from whence he was conveyed on board H.B.M.S. "Locust," which carried him into exile. A provisional government was formed under Urquiza, and the Brazilian and Uruguayan troops withdrew. He summoned all the provincial governors at San Nicolás in the province of Buenos Aires, and on the 31st of May they pro- president. claimed a new constitution, with Urquiza as provisional director of the Argentine nation. A constituent congress, in which each province had equal representation, was duly

Urquiza

Mitre

elected, and in order to provide against the predominance of Buenos Aires, it was determined that Sante Fé should be the place of session. But this did not suit the porteños, as the people of Buenos Aires were called, and the province refused to take any part in the congressional proceedings. But Urquiza was a man of different temperament from Rosas, and Buenos Aires when he found that Buenos Aires refused to submit and the to his authority, he declined to use force. The conprovinces. gress had (May 1, 1853) appointed Urquiza president of the confederation, and he established the seat of government at Paraná. The province of Buenos Aires was recognized as an independent state, and under the enlightened administration of Doctor Obligado made rapid strides in commercial prosperity. The two sections of the Argentine nation contrived to exist as separate governments without an open breach of the peace until 1859, when the long-continued tension led to the outbreak of hostilities. The army of the porteños, commanded by Colonel Bartolomé Mitre, was defeated at Cepeda by the confederate forces under Urquiza, and Buenos Aires agreed to re-enter the confederation (November 11, 1859). Urquiza at this juncture resigned the presidency, and Doctor Santiago Derqui was elected president of the fourteen provinces with the seat of government at Paraná; while Urquiza became once more governor of Entre Rios, and Mitre was appointed governor of Buenos Aires. The struggle for supremacy between Buenos Aires and the provinces had, however, to be fought out, and hostilities once more broke out in 1861. The armies of the opposing president. parties, under Generals Mitre and Urquiza respectively, met at Pavón in the province of Santa Fé (September 17). The battle ended in the disastrous defeat of the provincial forces; General Mitre used his victory in a spirit of moderation and sincere patriotism. He was elected president of the Argentine confederation and did his utmost to settle the questions which had led to so many civil wars, on a permanent and sound basis. The constitution of 1853 was maintained, but Buenos Aires became the seat of federal government without ceasing to be a provincial capital. Causes of friction still remained, but they did not develop into open quarrels, for Mitre was content to leave Urquiza in his province of Entre Rios, and the other administrators (caudillos) in their several governments, a large measure of autonomy, trusting that the position and growing commercial importance of Buenos Aires would inevitably tend to make the federal capital the real centre of power of the republic. In 1865 the Argentines were forced into war with Paraguay through the overbearing attitude of the president Francisco Solano Lopez. The dictator of Paraguay had quarrelled with Brazil for its intervention in the internal affairs of Uruguay, and he demanded free passage for his troops across Paraguay the Argentine province of Corrientes. This Mitre refused, and alliance was formed between Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, for joint action against Lopez. General Mitre became commander-in-chief of the combined armies for the invasion of Paraguay and was absent for several years in the field. The struggle was severe and attended by heavy losses, and it was not until 1870 that the Paraguayans were conquered, Lopez killed, and peace concluded (see PARAGUAY). Meanwhile, disturbances had broken out in the interior of Argentina (1867), which compelled Mitre to relinquish his command in Paraguay, and to call back a large part of the Argentine forces to suppress the insurrection. The rebels had hoped for assistance from Urquiza, but the powerful governor of Entre Rios maintained the peace in his province, which under his firm and beneficent rule had greatly prospered, and the revolutionary movement was quickly subdued.

war.

In 1868 the term of General Mitre came to an end, and Doctor Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a native of San Juan, was quietly elected to succeed him. His conduct of affairs was Sarmiento broad-minded and upright, and was characterized president. by earnest efforts to promote education and to develop the resources of the country. His period of office was marked by the rapid advance of Buenos Aires in population and prosperity, and by an expansion of trade that was unfortunately

accompanied by financial extravagance. The war with Paraguay left a legacy of disputes concerning boundaries which almost led to war between the two victorious allies, Argentina and Brazil, but by the exertions of Mitre, who was sent at the close of 1872 as special envoy to Rio, a settlement was arrived at and friendly relations restored. The month of April 1870 saw an insurrection in Entre Rios headed by the caudillo, Lopez Jordan. Urquiza was assassinated, and the provincial legislature, through fear, at once proclaimed Lopez Jordan governor. The federal government refused to acknowledge the new governor, and troops were despatched by Sarmiento against Entre Rios. The contest lasted with varying success for more than a year, but finally Lopez Jordan was completely defeated and driven into exile.

The new

The presidential election of 1874 resolved itself, as so often before, into a struggle between the provincials and the porteños (Buenos Aires). The candidate of the former, Dr Avellaneda Nicolas Avellaneda, triumphed over General Mitre, president. not without suspicions of tampering with the returns; and the unsuccessful party appealed to arms. president, however, who was installed in office on the 12th of October, took active steps to suppress the revolution, which never assumed a really serious character. The government troops gained two decisive victories over the insurgents under Generals Mitre and Arredondo, and they were compelled to surrender at discretion. But though peace was for a time restored, the old causes of soreness and dissension remained unappeased, and as the time for the next presidential election began to draw near, it became more and more evident that a critical struggle was at hand, and that the people of Buenos Aires, supported by the province of Corrientes, were determined to bring to an issue the question as to what position Buenos Aires was to hold for the future with regard to the remaining provinces of the confederation. It was evident that the president intended to use all the influence which the party in power could exercise, to secure the return of General Julio Roca, who had distinguished himself in 1878 by a successful campaign against the warlike Indian tribes bordering on the Andes. The porteños on their part were determined to resist this policy to the utmost. Mass meetings were held, and a committee was appointed for the purpose of considering what action should be taken to defeat the ambitious designs of the provincials. Under the direction of this committee, the association known The Tiro as the "Tiro Nacional " was formed, with the avowed Nacional. object of training the able-bodied citizens of Buenos Aires in military exercises and creating a volunteer army, ready for service if called upon, to withstand by force the pretensions of their opponents. The establishment of the Tiro Nacional was enthusiastically received by all classes in Buenos Aires, the men turning out regularly to drill, and the women aiding the movement by collecting subscriptions for the purpose of armament and other necessaries. On the 13th of February 1880, the minister of war, Dr Carlos Pellegrini, summoned the principal officers connected with the Tiro Nacional, General Bartolome Mitre, his brother Emilio, Colonel Julio Campos, Colonel Hilario Lagos and others, and warned them that as officers of the national army they owed obedience to the national government, and would be severely punished if concerned in any revolutionary outbreak against the constituted authorities. The reply to this threat was the immediate resignation of their commissions by all the officers connected with the Tiro Nacional. Two days later, the national government occupied, with a strong force of infantry and artillery, the parade ground at Palermo used by the Buenos Aires volunteers for drill purposes. A great meeting of citizens was then called and marched through the streets. President Avellaneda was frightened at the results of his action, and to avoid a collision ordered the troops to be withdrawn Negotiations were now opened by the government with the provincial authorities for the disarmament of the city and province of Buenos Aires, but they led to nothing. Matters became still further strained on account of the outrages com. mitted by the national troops, and such was the bitterness of

arms.

In the month of June 1880, President Avellaneda and his ministers left Buenos Aires, and this act was considered by the porteño leaders equivalent to a declaration of war. Appeal to The national government and the twelve provinces forming the Córdoba League, were ranged on one side; the city and province of Buenos Aires and the province of Corrientes on the other. The national troops were well armed with Remington rifles, provided with abundant ammunition, equipped with artillery and supported by the fleet. In the city and province of Buenos Aires, plenty of volunteers offered their services, and an army of some twenty-five thousand men was quickly raised, but they were armed with old-fashioned weapons and there was only a limited supply of ammunition. Feverish attempts were made to remedy the lack of warlike stores, but difficulty was experienced on account of the fleet blockading the entrance to the river. After several skirmishes, the national army commanded by General Roca, containing many troops seasoned in Indian campaigns, assaulted the porteños posted before Buenos Aires, and after two days' hard fighting Fail of (20th and 21st July) forced its way into the town. Buenos On 23rd July the surrender of the city was demanded Aires. and obtained. The terms of the surrender were that all the leaders of the revolution should be removed from positions of authority, all government employees implicated in the movement dismissed, and the force in the province and city of Buenos Aires at once disarmed and disbanded. The power of Buenos Aires was thus completely broken and at the mercy of the Córdoba League. The porteños were no longer in a position to nominate a candidate in opposition to General Julio Roca, who was duly elected. He assumed office in October 1880. Hitherto General Roca had been regarded only in his capacity as a soldier, and not from the point of view of an administrator. In the campaigns against the Indians in the southRoca west of the province of Buenos Aires and the valley of president. the Rio Negro he had gained much prestige; the victory | over Buenos Aires added to his fame, and secured his authority in the outlying provincial centres. One of the first notable acts of the Roca administration was to declare the city of Buenos Aires the property of the national government. This separation of the city from the province, and its federalization had been one of the chief aims of the Córdoba League, and was the natural consequence of the crushing defeat inflicted on the porteños. As a sequel to this step, in 1884 the town of La Plata was declared to be the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, and the provincial administration was moved to that place. This federalization of the capital has proved to be a most important factor in binding together the different parts of the confederation, and in promoting the evolution of an Argentine nation out of a loosely cemented union of a number of semi-independent states. Considering the circumstances in which General Roca assumed office, it must be admitted that he showed great moderation and used the practically absolute power that he possessed to establish a strong central government, and to initiate a national policy, which aimed at furthering the prosperity and development of the whole country. He was able by the influence he exerted to keep down the internal dissensions and insurrectionary outbreaks which had so greatly impeded for many years the development of the vast natural resources of the republic. With this object he had promoted the extension of railways so as to link the provinces with the great port of Buenos Aires, and to provide at the same time facilities for the rapid despatch | of military forces to disturbed districts. Unfortunately the last two years of Roca's term of office were marked by two grave errors, which subsequently caused widespread suffering and distress throughout the country. The first of these mistakes was a measure making (January 1885) the currency inconvertible for a period of two years. This act, which was only decided upon after much hesitation, had a most deleterious effect upon the national credit. The second was the nomination of Dr Miguel Juarez Celman for the presidential term commencing in October

Celman

clique, and Roca lacked the moral courage to oppose the decision of this group, though he was well aware that Celman, who was his brother-in-law, was neither intellectually nor morally fitted for the post. No sooner had President Juarez Celman come into power towards the close of 1886, than the respectable portion of the community began to feel alarmed at the methods practised by the new president in his conduct of president. public affairs. At first it was hoped that the influence of General Roca would serve to check any serious extravagance on the part of Celman. This hope, however, was doomed to disappointment, and before many months had elapsed it was clear that the president would listen to no prudent counsels from Roca or from any one else. The men of the old Córdoba League became dominant in all branches of the government, and carpet-bagging politicians occupied every official post. In their hurry to obtain wealth, this crowd of office-mongers from the provinces lent themselves to all kinds of bribery and corruption. The public credit was pledged at home and abroad to fill the pockets of the adventurers, and the wildest excesses were committed under the guise of administrative acts. What followed in the second and third years of the Celman administration can only adequately be described as a debauchery of the national honour, of the national resources, of the rights of Argentines as citizens of the republic. Buenos Aires was still prostrate under the crushing blow of the misfortunes of 1880, and lacked strength and power of organization necessary to raise any effective protest against the proceedings of Celman and his friends when the true character of these proceedings was first understood. The conduct of public affairs, however, at length became so scandalous, that action on the part of the more soberminded and conservative sections was seen to be absolutely imperative if the country was to be saved from speedy and certain ruin. In 1889 the association of the "Union Civica " was founded, and the organization undertaken by Dr Leandro Alem, Dr Aristobulo del Valle, Dr Bernardo Irigoyen, Dr Vicente Lopez, Dr Lucio Lopez, Dr Oscar Lilliedale and other leading citizens. tiring energy and zeal of Leandro Alem fitted him for being the chief organizer of a movement into which he threw himself heart and soul. Mass meetings were held in Buenos Aires, and it fell specially to the lot of Dr del Valle, who was an able orator as well as a sincere patriot, to expose the irresponsible and corrupt character of the administration, and the terrible dangers that threatened the republic through its reckless extravagance and financial improvidence. Subsidiary clubs affiliated to the central administration were formed throughout the length and breadth of the country, and millions of leaflets and pamphlets were distributed broadcast to explain the importance of the movement. President Celman underrated the strength of the new opposition, and relied upon his armed forces promptly to suppress any signs of open hostility. No change was made in official methods, and the condition of affairs drifted from bad to worse, until the temper of the people, so long and so sorely tried, showed plainly that the situation had become insufferable. The Union Civica then decided to make a bold bid for freedom by attempting forcibly to eject Celman and his clique from office.

The Union Civica.

The un

On the night of the 26th of July 1890 the Union Civica called its members to arms. It was joined by some regiments of the regular army and received the support of the fleet. Barricades were thrown up in the principal streets, and the surrounding houses were occupied by the insurgents. Two days of desultory street fighting ensued, during which the fleet began to bombard the city, but was compelled to desist by the interference of foreign men-of-war, on the ground that the bombardment was causing unnecessary damage to the life and property of noncombatants. A suspension of hostilities then took place, and negotiations were opened between the contending parties. Celman, acting upon the advice of General Roca, who recognized the strength of public opinion in the outbreak, placed his resig nation in the hands of congress on the 31st of July A scene of