[XXI-19] Gregorio Solares, to whom the successes were chiefly due, entered the city quietly, receiving no share of the popular plaudits, which were all bestowed on Barrios as the victor.
[XXI-20] Sept. 9, 1876. It was revoked March 22, 1885, when Barrios undertook to establish the Cent. Am. republic by force. Costa R., Boletin Ofic., March 23, 1885.
[XXI-21] The sword was delivered him Sept. 15, 1877. Salv., Gaceta Ofic., Sept. 26, 1876; Feb. 25, March 21, Sept. 28, 1877; Pan. Star and Herald, Nov. 1, 1877.
[XXI-22] He would not go to the palace, but made the ministers come to his residence, and adopted measures without consultation with them. He was in fear of being poisoned. Uraga, J. L., Réplica, 18-20.
[XXI-23] It had been originally convoked Oct. 21, 1875, the date of meeting being left for future consideration. Its first meeting was Aug. 31st, when its officers were chosen. This was the seventh constituent assembly in 55 years of national existence. Guat., Recop. Ley., Gob. Democ., ii. 159-68; Salv., Gaceta Ofic., Sept. 9, 24, 1876.
[XXI-24] In the temporary absence of the president, the council of ministers was to take charge of the executive office. In case of his death or other inability, the council of state was to convoke an assembly. The president was called upon to appoint a council of state composed of competent and upright men, which he did. Id., Nov. 3, 9, Dec. 8, 1876.
[XXI-25] Samayoa gave way to J. M. Barrundia, and went to Europe; Alburez, min. of the treasury, was succeeded by J. A. Salazar; Lainfiesta in fomento by M. M. Herrera; Barberena was min. of the interior, and Macal of foreign affairs, who later was replaced by Lorenzo Montúfar.
[XXI-26] With the evidence obtained during the day and night of the 1st, several persons said to be implicated were arrested, and the judicial investigation was initiated. The plan of the sedition was ascertained from the acknowledgments and confessions of its promoters and others. The priest, Gabriel Aguilar, José Lara Pavon, Enrique Guzman, and others, as appeared in the testimony, had organized themselves as a society, recognizing one another by means of signs, to promote a revolt. The execution of their plan was left to A. Kopeski, commander of the artillery, and his second, Capt. Leon de Rodas, at whose quarters assembled in the night of the 1st a number of men who were then armed, to be ready for relieving the guards at the palace and comandancia general, after they had been narcotized with wine and morphine furnished by Aguilar. This part of the plot once accomplished, the commanders of other bodies of troops were to receive forged orders to bring their men, without arms, into the city, when others in the conspiracy stationed outside would seize the arms. One of these orders, ostensibly signed by Barrios, was sent Oct. 31st to the comandante at Palencia, who, not doubting its genuineness, was on the point of obeying it; but despatched an officer to inquire where he was to station his men, and the object of the call. The president at once telegraphed to other commanders, and was advised that they had similar orders. One man was arrested, and then another, until the plot was unravelled. A large portion of the criminal element, as well as of the lower classes, were mixed up in the affair. The president, his family, ministers, and friends were to be assassinated. Rich men would have to ransom their lives with sums ranging from $50,000 down to $10,000. Daggers, gags, and morphine were discovered. Barrios decreed, Nov. 5th, that the parties should be tried by court-martial. This decree was countersigned by all his ministers; namely, J. Barberena, José Ant. Salazar, Lorenzo Montúfar, and under sec. of war A. Ubico, then in charge of the portfolio. Foreigners as well as natives realized their narrow escape from a fearful catastrophe, and commended Barrios and his ministers for their action. The justice of the sentences was fully acknowledged. Barrios, in his message to the constituent assembly, in March 1879, alluding to the affair, said: 'La sociedad guatemalteca se vió por un momento al borde de un abismo de sangre y devastacion.' The reactionists, he added, unable to demand the abolition of the reforms which had so greatly improved the condition of the people, 'pedian al puñal y al veneno, á ese recurso traidor y alevoso, una hecatombe suprema, una montaña de cadáveres.' Barrios, Mensaje, March 15, 1879; Salv., Gaceta Ofic., Nov. 13, 18, 1877; Pan. Star and Herald, Dec. 1, 1877; La Voz de Méx., S. F., Feb. 23, 1878.
[XXI-27] In the preamble he alludes to the declaration of the last assembly on Oct. 23, 1876, adding that he accepted the dictatorship as a necessity, because of the unsettled condition of the country, though well aware that unrestricted powers are incompatible with republican principles. The election of deputies was to begin Jan. 10th, and all citizens were made eligible, excepting only such as held certain offices, as jefes políticos, revenue officials, judges, and military commandants, who could not be candidates in their official departments or districts. U. S. Gov. Doc., Cong. 46, Sess. 2, i. pt 1, 140; Salv., Diario Ofic., Nov. 22, 1878; Jan. 22, 1879; La Voz de Méx., May 6, 1879.
[XXI-28] He had endeavored, he said, to maintain friendly relations with the other Cent. Am. governments, and as for those with Salv., Hond., and Nic., 'jamás se han cultivado con el verdadero espíritu de fraternidad con que hoy se mantienen y fomentan.'