ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

CHAPTER XXVI.

LIBERAL INSTITUTIONS RESTORED.

1855-1856.

PRESIDENT ÁLVAREZ' ADMINISTRATION-REFORMS INITIATED-Ley Juarez -DIFFERENCES IN THE LIBERAL PARTY-ÁLVAREZ RETIRES-IGNACIO COMONFORT, THE SUBSTITUTE PRESIDENT-HIS CONCILIATORY POLICYDIFFICULTIES WITH THE CLERGY AND MILITARY-SEDITIOUS MOVEMENTS -PUEBLA CAMPAIGN-DECREES AGAINST THE Clergy-ConGRESSIONAL WORK-RAOUSSET'S AND WALKER'S INVASIONS-RESIGNATION OF ÁLVAREZ-DISSENSIONS BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND CONGRESS-ESTATUTO ORGÁNICO ADOPTION OF LIBERAL PRINCIPLES.

JUAN ÁLVAREZ, who now took the oath before the representatives and assumed the reins of government, was born on the 27th of January, 1780, in the old town of Santa María de la Concepcion de Atoyac, later ciudad Álvarez, his father being a native of Galicia, in Spain, and his mother of Acapulco. He was educated in Mexico, and was one of the first men to take up arms in the cause of independence.1 After the establishment of the federal republic, he affiliated with the moderate republican party, and afterward took an active part in the affairs of that eventful political period, particularly in the campaigns in southern Mexico. Santa Anna in 1841 promoted

'He joined Morelos at Coyuca Nov. 17, 1810, as a private in the ranks. His promotions were so rapid that within a year he was made a colonel. Severely wounded in both legs at Acapulco, he was saved by a soldier, also wounded, who carried him away on his back. Álvarez took part in many actions of war, and having been signally defeated at Pié de la Cuesta, sought refuge in the woods, pursued like a wild beast by the royalists, who nicknamed him El Gallego. His fortune of upwards of $35,000 was confiscated. He joined the trigarante army in 1821 and captured Acapulco. He aided Bravo and Guerrero to overthrow Iturbide's empire. Rivera, Gob. de Méx., ii. 477-8.

[blocks in formation]

him to general of division. During the war with the United States, Santa Anna accused him of shirking his duty; but afterward, as comandante general of Puebla, he tried to harass the foreign invader. To the efforts of Álvarez was greatly due the erection of Guerrero into a state, whose first governor he became, and when the legislature assembled it declared him a 'benemérito del estado en grado heróico.' He opposed the plan of Jalisco that brought Santa Anna back to Mexico in 1853, and finally, associated with others, overthrew the dictatorship, as we have seen.

The president at as early a day as possible formed his cabinet, with the following ministers, namely, Ignacio Comonfort, of war; Melchor Ocampo, of relations; Guillermo Prieto, of the treasury; Benito Juarez, of justice and ecclesiastical affairs; Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, of fomento2-all of whom had shown themselves to be uncompromising enemies of tyranny.

The first measure of the administration was the framing of the estatuto orgánico, it being impossible to provide a constitution at an early day. Alvarez' mission was a difficult one; indeed, beyond his ability. He had to strengthen the bond of national union, which of late had become much loosened; to bring uniformity into the government of the states; to limit the powers of the governors; to bring light out of chaos in the treasury; and to regulate the administration of justice.

The president decreed that in the event of a vacancy in the executive office, it should be filled by the council of state. He also suppressed the order of Guadalupe, and on the 15th of October granted an amnesty to deserters from the army, of whom there were many, owing to the improper course pursued by the dictator Santa Anna. The ministers actively

3

2 Méx., Legisl. Mej., 1855, 455-6; Méx. Mem. Hacienda, 1870, 1052. He had solemnly promised that the ranks should be filled by conscription, and not by levy, and yet most of the men in the army had been taken by the press-gang. He exempted the Indians from the draft, exacting from them a

devoted themselves to their tasks; but very soon differences cropped out, resulting from Comonfort's acts in Mexico, whither he had been despatched with extraordinary powers, which created embarrassments, as several of his measures clashed with others adopted in Cuernavaca.

The men of the revolution, as stated before, were bitterly hostile to the regular army, and the idea of dissolving it began to gain ground. Ocampo and Juarez were for doing so, but Comonfort decidedly opposed the scheme; he continued its existence, resolving that the military class should be reformed, but not destroyed. Comonfort also prevailed on Vidaurri to accept the arrangements made at Lagos. That chief had been demanding the punishment of the army. This army question greatly fanned the flame of division in the liberal party; it had already broken out with the election of Alvarez, which had been a victory of the radical wing over the moderate liberals and a large portion of the clergy who preferred Comonfort, and like the whole upper class of society at the capital and throughout the republic, looked on the southern chief as wholly unfit to be president.

A call had been issued on the 16th of October for a congress to assemble at Dolores Hidalgo on the 14th of February, 1856, to organize the nation under a republican, democratic, and representative form; a few modifications had been added to the oft-mentioned decree of 1841.5 The functions of the congress were limited by the 69th article of the decree to framing the constitution and organic laws, and to revising the acts

capitation tax in lieu of military service, and yet they were forced into the ranks. Archiro Mex., Col. Ley., i. 77-80. On the 29th of Oct. the government dismissed many officers from the service. Méx., Legisl. Mej., 1855,

521-3.

Promotions granted by former administrations from Jan. 20, 1853, to Aug. 9, 1855, were declared null on the 27th of Nov. Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., vii. 611-12.

5 The states and territories were to choose representatives on the basis of one for every 50,000 inhabitants, and also for a fraction exceeding 25,000. The clergy, both regular and secular, were excluded from voting or being voted for, which greatly vexed them. Mex., Legisl. Mej., 1855, 488-502.

[blocks in formation]

of the late and present governments. Those duties were to be performed and completed within one year from the date of assembling.

Comonfort's opposition to violent measures and Ocampo's preference for a radical policy brought on a ministerial crisis; but as the latter was the only one of the ministers who insisted on leaving the cabinet," his portfolio was given to Miguel María Arrioja who filled it till the 7th of December. Much concern was caused by the dissension in the ministry, the summoning of the congress to meet at Dolores, and the alarming report of the president's death, which had been imminent from the running-away of the mules of his carriage when he was occupying it. The clergy began to assail the reformers from the pulpit, and some correspondence passed thereupon between the civil and episcopal authorities. The condition of the republic was anything but safe; the danger came chiefly from the laxity originating in the plan of Ayutla; local authorities, the creation of local pronunciamientos, had assumed unlimited powers, recognizing no common centre; each governor was legislating on all matters, even such as were of the exclusive province of the supreme government; and the states had disposed of the revenues collected within their respective limits. Measures to put a stop to such abuses were necessary, and were accordingly provided.'

An emeute in San Juan de Ulúa, promptly quelled, and a letter of Anastasio Zerecero, assuring the people, in the name of Álvarez, that the president had never belonged to the puro party, caused much alarm among the liberals. Alvarez became convinced at

He felt that his position was precarious, being grounded only on the president's will, of which he could not be certain in the event of antagonism, especially after there had been a groundless contradiction on the part of Comonfort, whose superior claims to influence had to be acknowledged. Ocampo, Mis quince dias de ministro, 18-28.

An order of the 19th of Nov. required of the comandantes generales that they should not interfere in affairs of the treasury, and much less dispose of the funds in custom-houses, which were appropriated by diplomatic conventions to the payment of the foreign debt.

last that the seat of government should be in Mexico, and he entered therein on the 14th of November with an army of pintos. The filthiness and repeated acts of brutality of the pintos, who had quartered themselves in the central parts of the city, caused general disgust and alarm. This, together with reactionary intrigues, and the evident unfitness of Álvarez for the position he filled, led to the impression that ere long there would be a popular movement to place Comonfort in the executive chair.

General Uraga, who had presidential aspirations, was detected in a conspiracy at Guanajuato, and arrested; papers compromitting him and other prominent persons were found in his possession. Symptoms of sedition supposedly connected with this affair being discovered in Puebla and Querétaro, the comandantes generales of states were enjoined to the utmost vigilance, in a circular of November 21st,3 which led to the arrest of Colonel Osollo and others.

The government thus far had not accomplished much; but friendly relations were now restored with foreign powers, and the ministers of war and treasury busied themselves, the former in organizing the national guards and correcting abuses in the regular army, and the latter in arranging the affairs of the treasury. The first step taken in the direction of reform was by Minister Juarez in the law of November 23, 1855, on administration of justice and the organization of courts, which has since borne the name of ley Juarez. As by the articles 42 and 44 special courts were suppressed, the military and ecclesiastical being excluded from all cognizance of civil causes, the archbishop saw in it a direct attack against the rights of the church; and protesting against these articles and the regulation for the execution

[ocr errors]

It spoke of the government's resolve to carry out its regenerating mission at all hazards, surmounting all obstacles, even at the cost of heavy sacrifices. To accomplish this, subordinate authorities must prestijiarlo y defenderlo con repetidos actos de prudencia y enerjía.' El Pensamiento Nac., 1855, Nov. 22; Méx., Legisl. Mej., 1855, 347-9.

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »