Page:The History of San Martin (1893).djvu/141

Rh year 1813, and the Cabildo instructed the new Government to call at once a National Congress elected by universal suffrage. The men of Mendoza applauded the deposition of Alvear, and declared that they would not, in future, recognise any National authority save one based upon the will of the entire people. In logical pursuance of which declaration they decreed that the nomination of their Governor by the central power was null and void, and by acclamation named San Martin as the Governor elected by themselves. The Cabildes of San Luis and San Juan confirmed this declaration and decree, so that the Province of Cuyo became for the time an independent State, ruled by a Governor of its own selection.

The problem now before San Martin was one of extreme difficulty. From this small society he proposed to raise an army and to replenish an empty treasury without exhausting the sources of production and without waste, by innoculating all with his own ideas, and so leading them, each man in his own station, and according to his capacity, to work zealously together for one end. He turned the whole Province of Cuyo into an association of workers and fighters, whose co-operation should result in the reconquest of Chile.

He commenced by the invocation of the war-spirit among them, organizing their militia, and forming even the children into regiments, doing military exercise and carrying their own flags. He invited foreign residents to enlist, among whom the most forward were the English, who raised at their own cost a free company of light infantry, having the right to name their own officers. But the nucleus of his army, he formed of well-disciplined troops. This spirit he kept alive by exaggerated reports of the strength of the enemy in Chile, and by alarms of an imminent invasion. The people seconded his efforts by voluntary contributions for the public service. They lent mules, horses, and harness, whenever they were required, sure of receiving them back when the need had passed