On the 2d instant a discussion took place in the Colombian senate on a
proposition being made to send a congratulatory reply to President Nuñez.
This was opposed by a number of senators who stated their disapproval to
President Nuñez’ insulting reference to foreign governments, and on the
motion of the president of the senate the proposition to send a
congratulatory reply was withdrawn.
On the 6th instant Dr. Nuñez went away, transferring the executive power to
Senor Doctor Cárlos Holguin, who had been elected by congress to that post
in the absence of Dr. Nuñez. Dr. Holguin was duly installed on the 7th, and
I have the honor to inclose his inaugural address. In it he makes graceful
and ample amends for the offensive words of President Nuñez.
I have, etc.
[Incloaure in No.
136.—Translation.]
dr. cárlos holguin’s inaugural
address.
Your Excellency. I consider that the
exceptional proof of confidence which the body over which you so
worthily preside has just given me, binds me almost as much as the oath
which in my capacity as a Christian magistrate I have just taken to act
as an honorable guardian and faithful executor of the constitution and
the laws. I do not remember any other occasion on which the unanimous
vote of the representatives of the nation has been obtained for so
important a post. Pardon me therefore if at the risk of appearing
egotistic I avail myself of so solemn a moment to express my gratitude
and offer it to the nation as a pledge of my fidelity and respect. For
it seems as if that august body had intended to supplement my lack of
ability and merit by its authority, and that the chosen of the people
had lent their crown of light and strength to my modest personality as
if to raise and render it fit for the position for which it is
destined.
[Page 428]
It is a universal custom, on occasions like the present, for those who
are assuming the chief command of a nation, to give some sketch of the
measures they propose to carry out during their period of
government.
Although from the fact that I am about to occupy the presidential chair
temporarily only I might consider myself exempted from this duty, I
think that both the congress and the nation would consider a few words
said by me, for the purpose of showing my opinions on the most essential
points of government, as a mark of deference.
With respect to foreign politics I shall continue to cultivate the good
relations of the Republic with friendly nations, religiously fulfilling
our treaties and endeavoring to present Colombia before their eyes more
worthy every day of their consideration and respect. This will be an
easy task, since we have no grave international question pending, since
the nations with whom we have common boundaries are ruled by just and
friendly governments, and since, so far as concerns foreign powers, the
well-chosen-members of the diplomatic corps which they have sent to
honor us by their presence here are a pledge of sympathy with us and of
peace and harmony in the future.
My line of conduct in internal politics is duly traced out by the
constitution. I do not intend to depart either from the constitution or
from those laws which have been or may be issued in the work of its
development. My own wish is that the government over which it is my duty
to preside shall be distinguished by a moderate, conciliatory,
honorable, and just but at the same time energetic and unvacillating
policy when public order and peace are at stake, that under its shelter
this exhausted people may seek repose; a government that may be looked
upon as a protector to all legitimate interests, but also as a bridle
upon all manifestations of disorder and a sword against all threats of
anarchy.
Promises of liberty would be superfluous. We are all her sons, nursed at
her breast, nourished with her spirit, accustomed to her conflicts. She
holds an empire of love in all our hearts, and we look forward to see
all the germs of welfare and progress spring up and develop under her
protecting shield, in this land of her conquest, on some day like this,
for the cause of civilization. This is the reason why men of the
political school to which I belong are little alarmed when we hear talk
of the dangers which some few and salutary constitutional checks are
supposed to cause to her. We reserve our anxieties for the time when it
is a question of carrying her to the public square, clad as a Bacchanal,
to preside over scandalous and revolutionary orgies.
Jealous of their honor and friends of truth, the conservative parties
everywhere disdain to seduce the multitude by attractive promises
impossible to realize and limit themselves to offering and granting in
their codes what they are legally and morally able to fulfill.
I shall try to give such support to the works of material progress
already begun, and to the new ones which we may initiate as the
condition of the resources of the country may justify.
Everything which tends to increase, open up, and rationally protect
commerce and industry, to consolidate the credit of the country, and to
facilitate transactions between private persons, demands in my judgment
especial attention on the part of the Government and very careful study.
I believe that we ought, as we have done hitherto, to pay the greatest
attention to the education of youth, taking care to multiply
institutions destined for such a noble object, but acting, at the same
time, with the prudence which your excellency recommends, that they
shall be always under the charge of men of good intentions and religious
spirit, who will form in the fear of God the hearts of the generations
called upon to replace us.
I will cause that discipline and morality to be maintained in the army
which have made it the safeguard of our institutions and the guaranty of
the integrity and honor of the country.
And, finally, I will protect the religion of our fathers, as the
constitution has ordered me to do, and will cultivate with special care
the relations so happily re-established between the head of the church
and this Catholic nation, accustomed always to seek from the blessings
of heaven the realization of its honorable hopes on earth.
These, in short, are the propositions which I have in my mind on taking
possession of the exalted position to which I have been called. I shall
be happy if I can, in any respect, fulfill the hopes you have shown of
me, founded, no doubt, on the opinions to the triumph of which I have
devoted the best years of my life. I know that the labor which awaits me
is arduous and the responsibility great, but be assured that I will
devote to the service of my country all my strength and every hour of my
life.
Besides, I have good will and full faith. The active help which I am sure
to find in this Congress, which abounds with patriotism, experience, and
talent, inspires me with faith. I trust that the political elements
which have fought together in parliaments, in the press, and in
battle-fields, until the final establishment of the new order of things
to-day existing in Colombia, will not be dissolved during my
administration; [Page 429] but, above
all, I trust in the good feelings of the nation, which has given so many
proofs that it well understands its own interests, which, in fact, are
the only ones which this Government will bear always in mind.
The task which awaits me is, I repeat, arduous; but when it is considered
whence we came and where we find ourselves now, one can not help feeling
encouraged to continue the march, sure of arriving happily at the end of
the journey. What remains to be done is very little compared to what has
already been done. To bring Colombia safely out of the difficulties with
which it has been struggling for a quarter of a century after a horrible
shipwreck; to reunite its dissevered members and give to them cohesion
so as to form a nationality with a life of its own; to give it
institutions, laws, administration of justice, an army; to put God above
all, restoring Him to His dominion and acknowledging His divine
authority—all this must be done in order to base liberty on justice and
security on order; and after this has been done what can turn us back or
appear to us beyond our power?
Well, then, in order to obtain these benefits the irresistible will of
one man (Nuñez) and the protection of Providence, of which we ought
always to take account, have sufficed. I for my part will pledge myself
to follow the luminous track which I find traced out, and I shall
descend with pride from this post if whilst I occupy it I so act that my
fellow-citizens judge me to be a worthy co-worker with the illustrious
chief chosen by God to carry out the greatest political transformation
of our history.
These are my aspirations, and there is one more: That not one drop of
blood, not one tear may be shed in Colombia through the fault of the
Government of which I to-day assume the Presidency.
