Although virtually the head of the government from the flight of Morazan, in 1839, he was not formally chosen president until 1844. The clerical party called him “Son of God” and “Our Lord,” and hailed him as their saviour. A few years later he resigned because of trouble, but did not entirely give up his power, and in 1852 was made president for life and occupied that position until his death on the 14th of April, 1865, just about the time of the death of President Lincoln. He was even able through legislative enactment to name his successor. Congress had declared him a hero and the preserver of the republic and ordered his bust engraved on all coins. Guatemala had finally declared her independence the 21st day of March, 1847, as the Republic of Guatemala instead of a state within the confederation, by which designation it had formerly been known, although the confederation had been practically dissolved many years before.
His successor, Vicente Cerna, was a man of very ordinary ability and a religious fanatic. He was a warm friend of the Jesuits and his greatest recommendation was that he went to confession once each week as regularly and conscientiously as he took his meals. He could not control the discordant elements and insurrections soon sprang up on every hand, even though he had the united support of the church party. New and powerful leaders of the opposition came into prominence. The most influential opponent of the government at this time was Serapio Cruz, who was ably supported by Granados and J. Rufino Barrios, hitherto a refugee in Chiapas. Cruz invaded Guatemala from Chiapas in 1869 with only twenty-five men. His numbers gradually swelled as he proceeded across the country, although only a small portion were supplied with firearms. Some carried machetes, while many more were entirely unarmed. He was finally defeated in an engagement with the government forces near the capital and his head was carried into the city as a ghastly trophy and a warning to other revolutionists. Granados and Barrios kept up the struggle with varying success for many months. They finally gathered up a couple of small armies and marched toward Guatemala City. Their journey was almost a triumphal procession and they entered that city as victors as Cerna fled.
H. H. Bancroft, the able and painstaking historian of Spanish North America, says that the result of thirty years of conservative rule in Guatemala was two hundred lazy and stupid monks, two hundred almost useless nuns, one archbishop, two bishops, fifteen vicars and canons, a foreign debt of five million dollars. There were no schools, roads, bridges, or telegraphs. The postal facilities were inadequate, and immense tracts of unproductive land owned by the church brought no revenue for the support of the government. This is a terrific arraignment of that party and explains in a great measure why that country has lagged behind so far in the onward march of progress. And yet its history down to that time is not much worse than that of Mexico for the same period.
Granados was first made president after the flight of Cerna, but he was soon after, in 1872, succeeded by General Barrios, who ruled the country with an iron hand for more than a dozen years and was practically dictator during that time. Opinions differ a great deal concerning this man, but the passing years show the farsightedness of his policies. I talked with a great many people who knew him at the American Club in Guatemala City. All admit that he was a greater man than any of his successors, and that he was a better one is nearly as generally conceded. He was resourceful and iron-willed, but progressive; he drove his political opponents out of the country mercilessly and made many bitter enemies as a result; his friends were few because he never confided his plans to them in advance, although he would do anything for them that lay within his power and did not conflict with his purposes. One writer, who met him, has analyzed his character as follows: “In disposition he was sympathetic and affectionate; when he liked a man he showered favours upon him; when he distrusted, he was cold and repellent; and when he hated, his vengeance was swift and sure. He did everything with a nervous impetuosity, thought rapidly and acted instantly.”
Guatemala began to make progress from the very beginning of the rule—and I say rule, not administration, advisedly—of Barrios. A new constitution was adopted by the national assembly convened for that purpose, and he was re-elected president in 1880 by popular suffrage, which was really the only constitutional election ever held in the country up to that time. With all the energy of his nature he fostered education and endeavoured to uplift the masses by improving their condition and cultivating their understanding. Following the example of the other Spanish-American republics the Jesuits were banished, and much of the church property was confiscated and appropriated to the cause of education and for other public uses. He gave liberal concessions to railroads, constructed cart roads, erected telegraph lines and greatly improved the finances of the country by a new system of taxation. He even persuaded the Presbyterian Church of the United States to send a missionary to the country, paying all of his travelling expenses and providing him and his family with accommodations. The missionary opened a Sunday school in the capital, to which the President sent his own children and urged his officials to do the same. Thus, for a time at least, the Protestant Mission was very popular and fashionable. He enforced the observance of the Sabbath and made everyone send their children to the public schools or pay for the privilege of sending them to private schools.
J. RUFINO BARRIOS.
Although the government established by him was not of the people nor by the people, he fully intended it to be for the people. His failure probably was due to his lack of that conciliation and diplomacy which Porfirio Diaz used so successfully during the first few years of his presidency in Mexico, by which means he united the discordant elements. In view of the radical measures undertaken by Barrios it is not surprising that powerful enemies were made who on numerous occasions attempted his life. One plot was made in a woman’s house, similar to that of Mrs. Surratt’s, where the plot to kill Lincoln was formed, but the woman revealed it, and seventeen of the leaders were executed on the main plaza in the capital.
One evening President Barrios and a couple of friends were walking in the little garden surrounding the theatre where they were going to attend a performance. Suddenly there was a streak of flame through the night air and with a thud a bomb fell almost at the feet of Barrios. The fuse sizzled and flashed as it burned, but the man for whom it was intended was as cool and unperturbed as if the deadly bomb was nothing more than a toy firecracker. Coolly picking it up, he put out the fuse with his hand and, turning to his companions, said in an unconcerned way: “The rascals don’t know how to kill me.” The President displayed magnanimity toward these plotters by pardoning all those concerned except the leader, who was sent into exile.
In 1881, President Barrios visited the United States and was received with the highest consideration by the government in Washington and by the authorities in many other cities. He came to invite this government to mediate the boundary difficulties between Guatemala and Mexico, which was done. The following year he visited Europe and again crossed the United States on his return. In this way he endeavoured to get new ideas for the betterment of his country, and went back home with a renewed determination to establish a great nation in Central America.