No. 1.
Mr. Hanna to
Mr. Bayard.
Buenos Ayres, May 15, 1886. (Received June 23.)
Sir: The annual session of the Argentine Congress was formally opened on the 11th instant, with the President’s message, read by himself, to both houses of Congress, in the Chamber of Deputies.
President Roca, accompanied by his cabinet ministers, all under the escort of a number of battalions of the regular army, arrived at the chamber entrance promptly at the appointed hour, but immediately on alighting from his carriage was assaulted by Major Ignacio Monges, formerly an officer in the regular army, of the province of Corrientes, and a member of the President’s military escort, in a most brutual and deadly manner, and before he could be rescued received from his assailant several ugly cuts about his face and head, which greatly prostrated him. The excitement at once became widespread and appalling, and the great crowd which had gathered in the plaza in front of the House of Deputies, maddened with the spirit of vengeance, at once became wild and threatening. But the military force on the ground, skillfully manœuvered by the officers in command, mastered the situation and restored order. The assassin was overpowered almost instantly after the assault by Hon. Carlos Pellegrini, minister of war, who was at the side of the President, and an officer of the army, rushing upon the assailant with drawn saber, would have dispatched him instantly but for the humane interposition of the secretary, who, seconded by the President, said it must not be done. The maddened wretch was arrested and borne off to prison, where he still remains, awaiting trial. All the diplomatic corps was present in the House of Deputies at the time, where the excitement was beyond description. The President, however, was not long detained by the surgeons who dressed his wounds, and with bandaged head ascended to the seat of the speaker and delivered his message.
The message began with a short review of the past year, but soon extended to the past six years of the closing administration. The President congratulated the nation that during all that period it had not suffered from civil war or provincial rebellion anywhere, that public loans, as in the past, had not been wasted in suppressing internecine disorders of any kind, and that the frontier, hitherto so frequently threatened, had been wholly exempt from Indian disturbance. He claimed it was the first time in Argentine history when the people had enjoyed [Page 2] six consecutive years of peace, during which great public works and long lines of railroads had been constructed. During this period, also, he showed that the Government had taken possession of vast territories, hitherto under savage domination, both in the north and in the south, which had been fully explored, divided into nine territorial governments, which soon would join the nation as new States.
The imports and exports in 1880, when his administration was inaugurated, amounted only to $103,000,000; during the last year they increased to $189,000,000, the revenue of the Republic now being $39,000,000 as against $20,000,000 in 1880. He showed that the tonnage between entries and sailings is now 3,350,000, against 1,050,000 in 1880, and that the country now had 4,800,000 acres under tillage, against 2,700,000 in 1880. Immigration had increased from 32,000 to 108,000 persons.
He congratulated the city of Buenos Ayres on its wonderful advancement—its parks, its costly monuments, its sewerage, streets, and public school buildings, and embraced in this review La Plata, so near by, the marvel of South America, only three years old, with a population of 45,000 souls, vast public buildings, granite streets, electric lights, and a made harbor, where the largest ships now float inland, many miles from the shores of the Plata.
He said the assets of the banks in 1884 stood at about $200,000,000, and that since then they had increased 50 per cent., standing now at $300,000,000, and since 1880, 2,500 miles of railway had been constructed.
The President stated that the post-office returns show 35,500,000 letters and papers were carried by the mails during the last year, producing a revenue of $710,000, which was an increase of 15 per cent, over the receipts of two years ago. The telegraphs yielded a revenue of $271,000, an increase of 20 per cent, within the same period. The country now has 637 post-offices and 154 telegraph offices.
He dwelt at much length on the vast river and harbor improvements in progress of construction, and the structure of new lines of railroads, soon destined to traverse the Andes and touch the Pacific coast. He showed that the net receipts of the Central Northern line railway, constructed and operated by the Government last year, were $612,903, the gross receipts having reached $1,523,042; also that the portion of the Andine railway now opened has already earned a net profit of $478,910. In October, 1880, the Republic had 2,318 kilometers of railway; now it has 6,152, and those which are being worked produced a net profit of $6,489,704.
It was stated that during his administration $1,105,222 had been realized by the Government by sale of public lands, the average price being $2,019 per league of 6,400 acres. The Government has been granting concessions to colonies who would take up tracts of public lands and settle and develop them, but that this system of colonization has recently been suspended, and that the public lands are now all subject to sale or rent to private individuals.
The depression in the trade of foreign markets, he claims, had affected the prices of products here, but at the same time, he contended, the Government had, notwithstanding this fact, reached a healthful equilibrium in the balance of trade, imports declining and exports augmenting.
The returns show:
| 1884. | 1885. | |
| Imports | $94,056,000 | $95,895,000 |
| Exports | 68,030,000 | 91,191,000 |
There had been an increase of $3,945,000 in the export of wool, $2,300,000 in jerked beef, and $1,600,000 in linseed.
The revenue returns show:
| 1884 | $37,725,000 |
| 1885 | 39,185,000 |
The appropriations voted were $43,500,000, but the expenditures had been only $42,765,000.
The revenue of the first quarter of the current year has reached $11,650,000, and for the entire year will probably reach $46,000,000, which will be sufficient for present public needs and to cover the deficit of last year.
The consolidated public debt, on March 31, 1886, was reckoned as follows:
| Internal | $47,138. 000 |
| Foreign | 73,994,000 |
Since 1880 $45,500,000 had been expended in public improvements, chiefly in the structure of railroads. The state railways now represent a value reaching $40,000,000.
Allusion was made to paper money, at a discount, at a present, under the suspension of specie payments, but he claimed the outstanding issue, though large, did not exceed public and business needs. Cheap money, he thought, threatened no evil, as long as immigration increased and the industries of the people were prosperous.
The interests of education were then discussed at length. On this subject the President said:
Education is making rapid strides. The nation and the provinces expend large sums on this branch of administration, the expenditures last year amounting to $3,516,794. In America, the United States alone surpasses us in this respect. The number of Argentine public schools is 1,741. In addition to these, private schools number 711, snowing a total of 2,452 schools, directed by 4,736 professors, and attended by 168,078 pupils. The public schools are directed by professors who have taken out their diplomas in our normal schools. Numerous school buildings are now being completed in the capital, and forty such will soon be inaugurated.
The discussion of education was pursued at much length.
The strength and efficiency of the army and navy were then reviewed, and warmly commended for the part they had played in national progress.
Here the President put aside his manuscript, evidently much exhausted, and suffering great pain from his bruised head, and with a depth of feeling which manifestly touched every heart present, and which will doubtless give him a warm place in the sympathy of all his countrymen closed his message as follows:
I have laid before you a general statement of my six years in office. You can see in it the wish and aim always kept in view by my Government, and judge whether I have kept my word as to peace and administration. I also leave, behind me a well-founded respect for the national authority, without which no people can exist, and the absence of which caused so many of our troubles. Thanks to this, the transmission of power will, for the first time, he made in peace to the new President.
I may have made mistakes. The office of Chief Magistrate is no easy one; but all my acts, good or bad, had, I can assure you, solely in view the good of the country.
In descending from this elevated post of great honor, hut, also, of decided obligations and great responsibilities, where strife and fatigue are incessant and bitterness abounds, where the slightest carelessness may be a crime, and where one must bear the enmities of private interests without complaint, and receive complacently the poisoned darts of party passion, I do it with a tranquil conscience and serene mind, caressing the idea of retirement which democracies reserve to those who have served them whether well or ill, without hatred or ill-will for any one, even for the unfortunate man who has just attempted to assassinate me, and with a soul filled with [Page 4] gratitude for the counselors who have aided me in the Government, for you who have indicated to me, by wise and opportune laws, the course which I ought to follow, and for all those of my fellow-citizens who have encouraged me with marks of approbation and sympathy in critical moments, with boundless thanks to the Creator for His visible protection of the Argentine Republic, and earnestly praying that the moral and material conquests achieved in recent years may be preserved and enlarged, I leave you in charge of your high trusts.
The foregoing were the main points presented by the message, all of which are respectfully submitted.
I have, &c.