[Illustration: PASEO AL BOSQUE, LA PLATA (PROVINCIAL CAPITAL).]
The President is the outstanding feature of the Constitution. Important as the head of the State is in the North American Republic, in Argentina the President might almost say "L'État c'est moi," for the well-being of Argentina has practically been conditioned by the character of the Presidents. The wickedness of a Rosas or the folly of a Celman formerly made her a byword among nations, while the sagacity and patriotism of a Rivadavia or a Roca have turned imminent disaster into prosperity. The President and Vice-President are elected by Presidential electors who are chosen in each Province by the direct vote of the people, and who, as in the United States, are chosen for that purpose alone. The office of President is held for six years, and the holder of it is Commander-in-Chief and has all the State patronage, including the ecclesiastical. In him, of course, the executive power is embodied. He is assisted by eight Secretaries of State--the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance, War, Justice, Agriculture, Marine, and Public Works--but they are appointed by him and may be dismissed at pleasure, so it will be easily understood that his power is enormous.
The Legislature is of the familiar type. The upper house is the Senate with thirty members, two for each of the fourteen Provinces and two for the city of Buenos Aires, and their term of office is for nine years, but one third of them is renewed every three years. The provincial senators are elected by the Legislatures of the Provinces, the two for Buenos Aires by a special body of electors. The House of Deputies, which is the lower branch of the National Congress, consists of 120 members, elected by the people, and there is supposed to be one deputy for every 33,000 inhabitants. Each member of Congress receives the somewhat extravagant allowance of 12,000 dollars, or about £1,060. The Vice-President is Chairman of the Senate--and here it will be noticed how very closely the Argentines follow the northern practice--and it has also sometimes happened that the apparent sinecure of the Vice-Presidency has been the step to the great office. The President now in power, Dr. José Figueroa Alcorta,[60] was Vice-President till March, 1906, when he succeeded on the death of President Quintana. Like our House of Commons, the House of Deputies is the money chamber, and it has the right of impeaching guilty officials before the Senate.
