Page:A history of Chile.djvu/371

THE CIVIL WAR OF iSgi 335 dictatorial powers of the president under control, and then the only check congress would have upon his almost unlimited power, would be the money check. They could refuse to vote him supplies. This is what happened in the case of Balmaceda in the first part of the year 1890. As before noted, he had been returned in 1886, by the liberal party, composed of at least four elements but loosely united. These may be designated as Liberals del Gobierno, who were out and out Balma- cedists; Nacionales, those who were opposed to making a wide distribution of the offices as unfair to them, who had been the old liberal party ; Sueltos, who were of all shades of political belief; Radicales, who were the extreme liberals and came at last to view Balma- ceda's administration as tending toward a conservative reaction. The conservatives were split into three di- visions : The Montt-Varistas, aristocrats believing in aristocratic government ; Clericales, who believed in a priestly influence in government ; Conservadores, who were the least extreme conservatives. Balmaceda, as we have seen, had been elected by the liberals, and for two years ruled not unsatisfactor- ily; but his pertinacious adherence to the strict letter of the constitution as against the parliamentary toler- ance practiced by his predecessors, his manner of dis- tributing the spoils, his zeal in erecting public build- ings, pushing public works and building schoolhouses, necessitating lavish expenditures, eventuall}' caused a split of his former supporters and all but the Liberals del Gobierno, interested in office, were finally arrayed against him, together with the three factions of the conservatives. Thus stood matters in January, 1890. Four cabinets had gone to pieces over the question of the erection of costly public works instead of providing for the re-