Page:A history of Chile.djvu/409

 THE CIVIL WAR OF i8gi 367 took charge of the government and fixed October i8th, as election day, and November the i8th, for the time of meeting of electors to select a new president. The notes issued by President Balmaceda to the amount of J27, 000,000, were legalized. A tribunal of justice be- gan a searching investigation of Balmacedist officials, and whenever they were shown to have used public moneys for their own use, confiscations were ordered. The junta del gobierno ruled the country not unsatis- factorily until November, when Captain Jorge Montt, son of Manuel Montt, president of Chile from 1851 to 1861, was chosen president, and from head of the junta became the head of the republic. Senor Claudio Vicuna, the constitutional president of Chile, who came within one day of taking his seat, escaped to the United States, and then went to Paris. In an interview at the latter place in November, he said: "After every one of these popular revolutions, a scapegoat must succumb to allay the passions aroused, and Balmaceda's blood must have sufficed for the ven- geance of those who opposed him, if, indeed, they had vengeance at heart." This is a philosophical view of the situation from the man who was execrated next to Balmaceda, and who lost a million piastres in the riots. At the close of the civil struggle in Chile, feeling against the United States government in certain quar- ters was quite pronounced. Under Balmaceda's gov- ernment, prompt and energetic steps were always taken to see that the persons and property of citizens of the United States were protected. Cordial feelings existed between the governments, and it is reasonable to sup- pose that the United States minister in Chile, and United States citizens generally, felt no prejudice against Balmaceda. People of the United States were