it make to us that the ranks of those aiming at authority will thin out, that confusion will result from inability to find presidents, confusion which will definitely disorganize the country?
To accomplish our plan, we will engineer the election of presidents whose past record contains some hidden scandal, some “Panama”—then they will be faithful executors of our orders from fear of exposure, and from the natural desire of every man who has reached authority to retain the privileges, advantages, and dignity connected with the position of president. The Chamber of Deputies will elect, protect, and screen presidents, but we will deprive it of the right of initiating laws or of amending them, for this right will be granted by us to the responsible president, a puppet in our hands. Of course then the power of the president will become the target of numerous attacks, but we will give him the means of self-protection by giving him the right of directly applying to the people, for their decision, over the heads of their representatives. In other words, he will turn to the same blind slave—to the majority of the mob. Moreover, we will empower the president to proclaim martial law. We will justify this prerogative under the pretext that the president, as chief of the national army, must control it in order to protect the new republican constitution, which he, as a responsible representative of this constitution, is bound to defend.
It is obvious that under such conditions the keys to the shrine will be in our hands, and nobody except ourselves will be able to guide the legislative power.
We will also take away from the Chamber, with the introduction of the new republican constitution, the right of interpellation in regard to governmental measures, under the pretext that political secrets must be preserved. With the aid of this new constitution we will reduce the number of representatives to the minimum, thus also reducing to the same extent