manifesto., February 13, 1880.

manifesto.

Fellow Citizens: I much regret that I am compelled on this occasion to address you; but I feel bound to make an appeal to your sense of that duty which enjoins obedience to the laws, to that honor which forbids personal interests compromising the public weal, and to that patriotism which calls you to guard well the inheritance of the past and check any movement that, under insiduous titles, would take us back to the blackest periods of our history.

On all sides I hear the threats of civil war; but what, task, are those fatal or irrevocable questions which admit of no solution save the battle-field? No opposing principles are at issue; no antagonistic geographical interests divide the country, and the-miserable cry of those who seek to create disorder should never find echo or response in the hearts of true Argentines.

The only question at issue is the electoral one—a mere question of candidates, which is periodically supported and decided without bloodshed in every republican and constitutional country. Has it come to this, that we can have no change of government without a revolution, and that we proclaim to the world our incapacity for those very institutions which we ourselves have framed?

In all constitutional countries an election is a well-settled question; the law surrounds it with proper limits and establishes in Congress its proper arbitrator. Why, therefore, not await its decision? It is the same Congress that all Argentines obey, and whose laws are the supreme laws of the land and of the nation. Or is it to be supposed that Congress, which was legitimate yesterday, is to-day illegal?

Thoughtlessly, no doubt, many have exclaimed, Let us await the decision of Congress, but with arms in our hand.” But I answer “No”! and as long as there is a spark of liberty and honor left, no other arms should surround Congress save those which Congress can itself increase, diminish, or suppress by its vote.

The meeting of Congress is at present far off, nevertheless political clubs are arming, not privately, as on former occasions, but publicly, and in battalions that march through the streets with shouldered muskets and carrying the national flag. Who has placed this flag in their hands? It belongs at the moment to the three millions of men and four generations of Argentines have passed to their graves beneath its shadow! A national flag is, more than the very soil itself, the property of a nation, and nations only in trust that flag to the governments that represent them.

Let us reflect on what is passing.

Every nation maintains an army to guarantee order; but an army would be the greatest of dangers had not the foresight of all anticipated it. Whoever bears arms publicly, under an organization that makes him s; ill more powerful, is indeed in possession of a terrible might; and societies were only enabled to live by preventing the abuse of this power. No other than the soldier may bear arms under a public organization, and the life of the soldier is the barracks, his will gives way to obedience, the rule of his conduct; his tribunal is a court-martial with summary verdicts, and his code is the terrible law that claims his death for an error, an omission.

Even the national guard is mobilized—it carries arms publicly, not otherwise than the soldier, and obeys the same law.

This is the universal system followed by nations, lest they should fall victims to this power. Who will explain the presence of armed battalions in our cities, that display themselves in military reviews, the formation of which no public? authority superintends? There live with us thousands of men who come from all countries in the world, and we may ask them if there is one place on earth where an organized community exists allowing the massing of armed forces without law, without discipline, without obedience, and without commanders, with a public trust, responsible and recognized?

We must abandon this course. It is not true that we have adopted the institutions, of the most civilized countries to counteract them subsequently with practices which are incompatible with modern principles and place us as an isolated example in the world.

The error has been general; we have all committed it; some have remained silent through mistaken prudence whilst others carried the same into effect; but if this error should continue to exist, a country could hardly introduce a better element of destruction.

Let the liberty of arming individuals collectively, of forming battalions and raising an army be decreed, and a government of violence will be proclaimed. Every electoral struggle will be in future a bloody strife, and civil war will be harbored amongst the common rights. Why should a meeting to-morrow, protesting against a government measure affecting many and great interests, he pacific when the right exists to arm and enforce the claims demanded? It is not an arbitrary or distant hypothesis; it is a direct application of the doctrines proclaimed.

Meantime the evil is spreading in all directions, and strife will far more easily arise from these violent and irregular proceedings than from the rivalry of the candidates disputing in the electoral arena. No foreign enemy threatens us, no internal commotion disturbs our peace, yet the clash of arms is heard all over the republic; every Argentine city is preparing and massing new legions, which are, in reality, national guards under surreptitious names defrauding the law. I hope that in future the law will be obeyed to to the letter, and then at least we will enter a situation which will excite no alarms.

Citizens, I ask for the sake of patriotism, and I command in the name of the law, that your arms be laid aside. Let them be thrown aside that the voice of reason may be heard and calm the excited feelings; let public opinion rise and inclose the electoral struggle within its lawful limits. Ten thousand Argentines in one of our cities, peacefully addressing their countrymen in the name of common interest, can deeply move public opinion and create a new situation. Ten thousand shoulders, armed with ten thousand Remingtons, will produce a contrary effect. Valor is an Argentine virtue; if Santa Fe and Buenos Ayres boast of it, Jujuy also lays claims to it.

Citizens, I have made solemn declarations, and I uphold them before all systematic and false imputations. The jurisdiction of the government departments is purely administrative, and the constant attendance and care for all national interests eloquently prove it.

The elections throughout the republic have just been effected, and the intrusion in the electoral committees of a single agent, with irregular means of influence on the part of the national government, has not been alleged.

Two provinces are under intervention; in one no election took place, in the other both parties claim the victory loudly. These are facts, and behind these bulwarks I can quietly await more impartial verdicts.

The government will take no part in this election question. I will be the first to look for the name of my successor in the law that proclaims him, and deliver up the reins of power in peace.

This is my programme, and I affirm that I rely upon the will, the intelligence, and; physical support of the great majority of the Argentine people to carry it out.

Our country is struggling between two contrary currents of opinion—one trying at every moment to escape the grasp of law and supplant it by violence and a capricious constitution, and the other seeking a remedy for these evils by patient and secure means.

I am not with the violent party. I belong to the peaceful. It is this magnanimous patience which supports disasters bravely, and with time and Truman reason has laid the basis of free institutions, great nations, and permanent governments.

Citizens, I ask you to obey the laws, maintain order, and respect the rights of all, that we may have free elections and suppress weapons at the electoral urns.