Adolfo Alsina to the Honorable Legislative Assembly, May 23, 1867
Message of the provincial governor of Buenos Ayres to the Honorable Legislative Assembly.
Honorable Senators and Representatives:
In pursuance of article 93 of the constitution, the executive now begs to lay before you the political and administrative condition of the province. In doing so the government has judged expedient to depart from the established custom of previous administrations, and confine itself to the leading topics, leaving the ministers, in their respective memorials, to give all necessary details, with the proper documents annexed, and to specify reforms already executed or calling for attention, while an appendix to the whole will comprise the reports of the various municipalities and other interesting public returns.
In this manner we lighten the ceremony of opening the chambers, and afford the zealous-legislature abundant matter for study—to devise necessary reforms, to remedy the evils that afflict our campagna, and to do their duty towards their countrymen, by introducing wise and improving laws, based on sound theories.
The entente cordiale between the national and provincial governments has not been in the least disturbed during the past year. In spite of the difficulties now and then arising from the exceptional state of things caused by the law of provisional capital, the executive can truthfully say, it has been faithful to its duties and engagements in this respect. The only noteworthy circumstance has been the surrender of the municipality of the city to the provincial jurisdiction, as ratified by your chambers. The idea was initiated in a memorial of the minister of the interior, and framed as a bill by one of the chambers of congress. These facts are an additional proof that the temporary jurisdiction ceded to the national government by the law of capital, far from being necessary for a free exercise of the national authority, was rather a hindrance, and tended to distract the cabinet from the great questions and necessities of the republic.
Our relations with the governments of the sister provinces continue on a most fraternal footing. The executive trusts they shall never be disturbed so long as we cherish the common bond of union and make a sentiment of mutual respect the basis of our dealings. As it is already a matter of public notoriety that outbreaks have occurred in various provinces, overturning the lawful governments, the executive has only to deplore that the constitutional authorities in those places have soprecarious a tenure.
The executive regrets profoundly that it is unable to congratulate you on the termination of the war that was forced on us by the Paraguayan government; it still drags its weary length along, and month by month and year by year turns to ridicule the brightest hopes of the country. Let us, however, hope that President Mitre, the generalissimo of the allies, will understand that the republic cannot prolong indefinitely this state of things; that the present sufferings must be brought to a close; that the gaping wounds of the nation must be bound up; and that his excellency will restore to us that which alone we want, to live happy and respected—peace, with honor.
The mediation offered by the American government was, as you are aware, rejected; and we must suppose the refusal of the national government was on the double ground that the mediation would procure us neither reparation for the past injuries nor a guarantee of peace for the future, which are, in effect, the primary objects of all wars in civilized countries. Happily, those barbarous times are past when war was waged for conquest or extermination.
The executive being convinced that the honor of Buenos Ayres, as one of the Argentine provinces, was compromised in the crusade against Paraguay, it has continued lending the national government every moral and material assistance, strengthening by example the sentiment of duty under such pressing circumstances, sending recruits to fill the gaps in the various battalions, and coming forward with funds to meet the emergencies of the time.
After the disaster of Curupaiti, when our heroic troops threw themselves so bravely, yet so fruitlessly, against the Paraguayan lines, the national government called for a new contingent of blood from the province (or rather the campagna) of Buenos Ayres. The executive considered that it would be unjust to make a new levy on the national guards, who, had already five battalions of infantry and a regiment of cavalry at the seat of war; but offered, instead, a contingent of 4,000 troops of the line. This number was made up of condemned criminals, of offenders sent in by the camp justice of peace, and of several enlisted for the purpose; and thus we saved the campagna from the terrible effects of alarm and flight of the inhabitants, which always attend the cruel operation of assembling contingents for military service. The notes exchanged on this head with the national government will be found in an appendix to the memorials; and the executive trusts that, in view of so laudable an object, you will in due form sanction the expenses caused by raising said contingent.
In the month of February last there was discovered in this city a revolutionary plot to overturn thenational and provincial governments. This case is still before the federal tribunals. The executive, having neither violated the constitution nor attempted a tyrannical system—which are the only cases that can justify a revolution—is still at a loss to know under what pretext some of the citizens took up arms in rebellion. Nevertheless, there is a circumstance peculiarly worthy of attention, as being both new and significant, and fit matter for congratulation. While the focus of sedition existed in the city, the rural districts remained quiet and orderly, paying no heed to the exciting harangues of a portion of the press, and indignantly spurning the overtures of emissaries sent from town to stir up disorder. This is an irrefragable proof that the campagna of Buenos Ayres has ceased to be a field for the designs of factionaries; that the inhabitants are wearied of broils, and only require tranquillity; and that what was a few years ago a constant menace to our institutions and government is now the firmest support of public order.
Happily for the institutions of the republic and the honor of the nation the federal arms have succeeded in quelling the rebellion of the interior provinces. This rebellion was criminal for the programme it upheld, treacherous for the occasion chosen, disheartening to all who had faith in the moral weight of the constitution; and, perhaps, fatal in its consequences, by obliging President Mitre to weaken the army in Paraguay, and thereby retard the denouement of the war that is consuming our energies.
In the month of August last year a vote of the deputies of congress, dictated more by prejudice than any true sentiment of respect for established custom, put the patriotism of the people and the government of this province to the test by excluding the deputies from the house from which they were duly, and without even opposition, elected; oblivious in toto, or at least appearing to be so, that no shadow of excuse could be offered for such an injustice, and that the rejected deputies were duly elected by the free expression of the voters. The elections have again been held, and it is to be hoped that now at least the doors of congress will be freely opened to the deputies of Buenos Ayres. To entertain any other idea would be to regard Buenos Ayreans as the pariahs of the Argentine Republic, ostracised from all representation, save on the battle-field, where our sons are decimated by grape and canister.
As you are already aware the national convention at Santa Fé reformed the 67th article of the constitution, as far as it limited the power of congress to the imposition of export duties to the year 1866. The Buenos Ayres members of the convention patriotically discharged the trust reposed in them by unanimously vetoing the proposed reform, and, I regret to say, that motives of convenience induced the Argentine deputies to ratify a reform calculated to produce permanent results hostile to the true spirit of the federal union, and which rob the provinces of the hope of ever emancipating themselves from the tutelage which rules them, and the poverty which afflicts them.
The plague which for more than a month desolated the capital of the province and some of the country towns, has happily vanished. The sudden appearance of this pest goes to prove that neither the ocean nor the proverbial salubrity of our climate are a safeguard; and furthermore it goes to prove that, like the government and the people, all are bound to lend assistance towards the realization of public works calculated to promote public salubrity, and which have been already adopted in countries that we can afford to take as models. Let us not, therefore, deceive ourselves into false security, but let us proceed in those measures as if the plague has temporarily left our shores, and under this impression let us all toil until we see these most necessary works realized. It is grateful to remark that the prompt disappearance of the plague is in a measure due to the unceasing efforts of the provisional governor, aided by the municipality.
Immediately on the restoration of municipality to provincial jurisdiction a note was directed to that body calling their attention to the urgent necessity of supplying the city with clean water, and offering the board every assistance on the part of the government. A few days subsequently a joint stock project by native capitalists was presented to the board. Them unicipality, however, considered that it would be impolitic to conclude such a contract with a private company. The executive thought then, and still is, of a contrary opinion, and that this was the only sound mode to obtain the desired result. The government, possibly, might have disputed with the municipality the right to adjudicate in the question which that body assumed, but it thought it more prudent to avoid such a dispute, trusting that the corporation, which displayed such jealousy about its rights, would prove its competence to supply the want by its own resources, since it would not allow others to do so. Heaven grant that the government be mistaken in this matter, and that the people of Buenos Ayres be not defrauded of so necessary a measure.
The executive regrets to be obliged to admit that the administration of justice falls far short of the onward march of progress of the country, even though, when compared with that of some fourteen years past, it shows some improvement.
The administration of justice is too tedious, and attended with such heavy expenses to suitors as to be almost fabulous; these two undeniable facts afford sufficient proof to show the urgent necessity of a sweeping legislative reform. The mission of the bench is high, and the interests sacred which come before it. Both life and honor are within its jurisdiction, and only appealable to the Almighty. Let us labor, therefore, to surround with guarantees the judgments; to make the trials more summary and less expensive. To realize ail this the government is of opinion that a general court reform is essential, and a thorough revision of the codes; the executive will send in a project for that purpose for your consideration. One of the subjects most demanding your attention is primary education in the camp. Theorists have attempted to introduce quick methods and novel systems, for no other reason than that they have proved successful in other countries; but this is a deplorable error, because our social conditions, moral and topographical, are peculiar, and can follow no precedent established by other countries. Doubtless we have improved greatly since the fall of Rosas, when public instruction was a crime, but it is equally true that we have made slow progress in this respect, having to contend with distances; the scarcity of country towns; the repugnance of parents who as yet cannot see the advantage of education; the poverty of the families, which requires from early childhood the services of children; the war and the frontier service, which disturb the domestic hearth; also the scarcity of suitable teachers, and the want of a constant and active inspection of the public schools. But public education in the towns, notwithstanding the expense, is giving suitable results, although, unfortunately, it does not reach the very class most needed, that is to say the estancias and puertos, where it is required as a powerful restraint on the temptations which surround childhood, which too often demoralize youth, and by constant familiarity with bloody spectacles render the heart insensible to the noblest instincts. There are but two ways to work a reform in this matter: first, the establishment of town schools for boarders, making the attendance of the children compulsory; and secondly, the establishment of day schools in the different cuarteles in the camp.
Nothing further can at present be attempted, as the treasury has to disemburse all the expenses of either of the primary systems, and the revenue would be insufficient for further expenses. It is essential that the chief support of the schools should come from the neighbors, and that the assistance of the government be merely regarded as secondary. The country districts possess sufficient elements for this purpose; the difficulty lies in the absence of individuals to call together the neighbors and show the inestimable benefits derivable from association.
There is another great want felt in the camp, and which calls for urgent attention, namely, administrative reform; although, the truth be told, what is more required is measures to organize a proper administration, for in truth that which at present exists in the camp is so gross and old-fashioned that it does not even merit the name of administration; and if this reform be initiated let it not be forgotten that it will entail considerable expense, because the offices created should have a becoming salary if we are to look for good results from such reforms, viz:
The better protection of civil rights; that the protection of life be a fact, not an illusion; to make the various authorities answer for all their acts; that there be no irresponsible authorities; that the powers and jurisdictions of the municipalities be enlarged so as to render them independent; that government interference be more for the inspection of their accounts than meddling in their administration; the simplification and uniformity of all accounts rendered; the adoption of a code for the regulation and trial of all judicial abuses and their punishment. Such are a few of the reforms most needed, and which call for your immediate attention.
The executive is forced, however, to remark that in attempting this administrative reform, the most serious difficulties must be encountered, mainly springing from the difficulty of finding capable men willing to fill such subaltern positions, unpleasant for those who enter on them with a wish to overcome abuses, and fatiguing (no matter how well paid) for those who aim to discharge the duties with integrity. It is essential to bear in mind that too often the very best institutions fail, when the parties chosen to act are incapable for the position, and they even become obnoxious when private interests triumph over public duty, because the public do not stop to judge the intrinsic merit of such institutions, but rather the results which a bad administration produces.
The executive regrets to observe that the national guards continue to do service on the frontier, although this is both unconstitutional and unjust. The unlooked-for prolongation of the Paraguayan war has rendered it impossible to abolish so unjust a service; nevertheless government is so fully persuaded that the inhabitants of the camp can no longer live under the terrible threat of having to serve on the frontier, that, whether the war terminates or not, the abuse must be abolished by the end of the year, cost what it may. And for this end no half measures will suffice; it is useless to talk about favoritism or the prevention of partiality in the conscription; such a measure, even if carried, would not deduct an iota from the unjustness of such service. There is no personal service obligatory, says article 17 of the national constitution, except in virtue of law; but, asks the executive, what law is there to justify the enrolment of the inhabitants of the camp for frontier service? None. The service of the national guards on the frontier cannot be regarded otherwise than as troops of the line. Meanwhile, according to law, none are bound save volunteers, infringers of the law of enrolment, or condemned criminals, to render military service. Neither do the national guards, who have been cited to march in the contingent, come under these headings. The laws of humanity and of the state alike suggest that the evil must be taken at the root, by suppressing the service. To pretend to reform it would be unconstitutional.
After so many projects, after so many efforts to fix the value of our currency, the establishment of the Oficina de Cambios happily succeeded in solving the problem. And although its results have proved most effectual, the executive well knows that the measures are far from being so; for this reason we have never tired, or never will tire, in our endeavors for its final settlement. Ours is the motto, that governments should only adopt temporary measures for momentary evils, or when they serve to prepare the way for more permanent reforms. There is no probability that either speculation, or the requirements of commerce, will drain the exchange office of the enormous specie reserves which have accumulated in its coffers; but that such a thing should be even possible, is sufficient to induce the executive to seek some means which would enable it to announce to the entire country with satisfaction, and even pride, that the fluctuations of the paper dollar, so ruinous to public trade and private credit, have ceased forever.
The executive has done all in its power to convince the public that the currency question is one of general interest, and even of patriotism. It has appealed to the country for assistance and protection, believing that the state of the money market could not be more propitious or favorable. It believes that with perseverance it will succeed, but if, unfortunately, it should be mistaken, it is prepared to draw on the provincial credit abroad, relying confidently on its reputation for solvency and good faith.
The fifth section of the western railway was opened to public traffic in last September. Government has done everything to improve the management of this line as well for public convenience as to render the working more profitable. But it is necessary that this line, so important for its length and the numerous towns through which it runs, should not stop at its present destination, Chivilcoy. It must, in obedience to the spirit of the age, push further still, penetrating into the heart of the province, and shooting forth its branches on all sides to bring to market our vast rural products.
It has been found so difficult to come to a satisfactory arrangement with subsidised railways, that the government could never think of again entering into such an engagement, were it not unfortunately convinced that for the present, at least, there is no other way of inducing capitalists to invest in enterprises of the kind; were it not for this, the executive would prefer a fixed amount on the acknowledged cost. But the want of railways in the province is so great that the public authorities should do all in their power to foster them.
What has been said of primary instruction in the camp, may be repeated with as much reason of railways. There are abundant elements for the construction of branch lines, especially as the government would lend assistance; but the inhabitants have little taste for joint-stock companies and cannot be got to regard such as a means of personal welfare at the same time that they invest in a lucrative enterprise for the advancement of their country.
The executive feels bound to call your attention to the difficult position of the provincial revenue for the coming year. The guarantee ceases this month, and since October the heavy disbursements for the metropolitan police and national guards have fallen entirely on the provincial treasury. From this moment, therefore, we must give our undivided attention to the creation of resources to meet the expenses of the administration. It would be foolish to pretend that we should look to economy for the required sum. The most that this could possibly produce would be very insignificant, and far below the desired amount. But in a country like this, which is making such vast strides on the road to progress and national greatness, where so many pressing necessities are actually felt, and so many reforms called for, it is idle to think of reducing the expenditure. It therefore comes to this, honorable senators and representatives, that either we remain as we are, at a stand-still, or else we must create new resources to meet the growing greatness of the country, and thus fulfil the glorious destiny of Buenos Ayres.
The wants and improvements which have just been enumerated, afford the legislature a vast field for the useful exercise of their attributes. Study them, honorable senators and representatives, and do not deceive the hopes of the public by sacrificing to indolence and negligence the highest prerogative of constitutional countries. As regards the executive, by virtue of the powers conceded by the constitution, it will lay before you several projects of general interests, and will feel it an honor to lend any assistance in its power to the end that your laws, inspired by a love for the people, may be worthy of the province of Buenos Ayres and of the present enlightened age.