Panama to Patagonia

by Charles M. Pepper

Bolivia has only had one revolution in a quarter of a century, that is, since the Constitution of 1880 was adopted. The revolution took place in 1898, when General José M. Pando, the head of the army, superseded President Alonso. It was not a very serious affair, and the tranquillity of the country was not long disturbed. The foreign interests favored the change, for the one issue was whether the populous and progressive Department of La Paz should be held back by the unprogressive sections of the country. Since then the Pando policy has prevailed, and has been continued by President Ismael Montes, who was elected as the candidate of the Liberal party with many evidences of popular approval, and was inaugurated in August, 1904. Previous to that time he had been Secretary of War in Pando’s cabinet. He has made the policy of railway and industrial development the principal programme of his administration. Señor Villazon, the Vice-President, was formerly Minister of Foreign Relations, and his election was very satisfactory to the foreign interests. Señor Fernando Guachalla, former minister to Washington and one of the leaders of the Liberal party, is looked upon as a prospective president. He has had wide experience in European diplomacy and in conducting negotiations with neighboring South American Republics, and enjoys an international reputation. His success at some future election would be very satisfactory to the foreign interests.

Portrait of Ismael Montes, President of Bolivia

The president is elected by popular suffrage, or, in case there is no election by the voters, by the Congress. His term is for four years. A body of 35,000 electors substantially constitutes the political power of Bolivia. The vote for president in the last three or four elections has varied little from these figures. The Congress is composed of 16 senators and 72 deputies.

The country is divided into eight political divisions, called departments. These are La Paz, Oruro, Beni, Santa Cruz, Potosi, Chuquisaca, Tarija, and Cochabamba. There is also the national territory of Colonias, which is of lessened importance since the Acre district that was part of it has been yielded to Brazil. The departments are subdivided into provinces, and these in turn into cantons or counties. The administration is highly centralized. Each department is governed by a prefect, the provinces by sub-prefects, and the cantons by officials known as corregidores, or magistrates. There are also alcaldes in the municipal divisions known as the vice-cantons. Municipal councils are elective, but the administrative officials are named by the higher authorities.

The school system I thought, from observations in different places, a creditable one. The country has 700 schools, with more than a thousand teachers and with between 35,000 and 36,000 pupils. It has 15 institutions called colleges, the pupils of which number 2,200. There is also the national university. President Montes hopes to have an American school established as one of the measures of his administration, and has been assured by Washington officials of the coöperation of educators in the United States.

Bolivia now observes only one national holiday. This is the 6th of August, the anniversary of independence from Spain. The Church takes many days for its celebrations, and General Pando, when he was President, thinking that they formed sufficient rest and recreation for the population, abrogated various occasions which were celebrated as national holidays.

The Bolivian legislation with regard to foreigners is satisfactory. They enjoy all the civil rights of natives, and are not subject to military service. They may acquire political privileges and be naturalized after a year’s residence in the country. The recognition of the rights of non-citizens with reference to mining claims is quite specific in the revised mining code. Foreigners get along very well in Bolivia, even in the remote localities, when they choose to adapt themselves to their surroundings.

There is no prejudice against North Americans, who, in fact, are preferred to Europeans. For a while Englishmen were not welcome,—it was after one of the dictator presidents had set the English minister on a donkey, with his back to the animal’s ears, and sent him out of the country. Great Britain did not feel that she could afford to land forces and cross the Andes in order to secure reparation for the insult, but for many years thereafter she refrained from sending a minister. Diplomatic relations, however, never were suspended, because the interests of British citizens were looked after by the ministers of the United States. In 1903 Great Britain accredited Mr. Beauclerc, her minister to Ecuador and Peru, to Bolivia also. He presented his credentials and was warmly received. The aggregate of English investments in Bolivian mines is large. In 1905 Germany accredited a minister to Bolivia.

The national revenues are derived from internal taxes and from both export and import duties. The chief source of internal revenue is alcohol, which is farmed out to a private company as in Peru. Under this arrangement the government does much better than when it itself undertook to collect the alcohol duties. As the export taxes were on the minerals and on rubber, the low state to which they fell during the world-wide depression of silver and copper is not difficult to understand. The controversy with Brazil cut off almost completely the returns from the rubber district. Now that source of revenue is gone for good, yet there is enough rubber territory left for Bolivia to expect a fair return from the domestic impost and the export tax. With the revival of the mining industry, the country may expect that the financial condition will improve, because a small export tax on the various minerals will bring in a good revenue. The weakness of the Bolivian fiscal resources, however, comes from the nation’s isolated position without a seaport. Under its treaties with Peru and Chile, their products, both natural and manufactured, were admitted free of duty, but in 1905 Bolivia gave notice of her intention to terminate the commercial arrangement with Peru, this being a result of the convention with Chile for railroad construction.