administration of President Balmaceda, and the political situation became grave, and at times threatened to involve the country in civil war. According to usage and custom in Chile at the time, a ministry (the set of ministers) did not remain in office unless supported by a majority in the chambers. Balmaceda now found himself in the impossible position of being unable to appoint ministers that would be supported by a majority in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies and at the same time be in accordance with his policies. At this juncture the President assumed that the constitution gave him the power of nominating and maintaining in office any ministers he might consider fitting persons for the purpose, and that Congress had no right of interference in the matter. The chambers were now only waiting for a suitable opportunity to assert their authority. In 1890 it was stated that President Balmaceda had determined to nominate and cause to be elected as his successor in 1891 one of his own personal friends. This question of the election of another President brought matters to a head, and Congress refused to vote any funds to carry on the government. To avoid trouble Balmaceda entered into a compromise with Congress, and agreed to nominate a ministry to their liking on condition that the supplies for 1890 were voted. This cabinet, however, was of short duration, and resigned when the ministers understood the full amount of friction between the President and Congress. Balmaceda then nominated a ministry not in accord with the views of Congress, under Claudio Vicuña, whom it was no secret that Balmaceda intended to be his successor in the presidential chair. To prevent any expression of opinion upon his conduct in the matter, he refrained from summoning an extraordinary session of the legislature for discussion of the estimates of revenue and expenditure for 1891. Civil war When January 1, 1891 arrived, the president published a decree in the to the effect that the budget of 1890 would be considered the official budget for 1891. This act was illegal and exceeded the authority of executive power. In response to the action of President Balmaceda, the vice-president of the Senate, Waldo Silva, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Ramón Barros Luco, issued a proclamation appointing Captain Jorge Montt as commander of the Navy, and stating that the Navy could not recognize the