into office again did he feel himself strong enough
to uproot altogether the radicalism and disunion which had flourished
since 1860. Ignoring the national Legislature, he called a Congress
of his own, which in 1886 framed a constitution that converted the
"sovereign states" into "departments," or mere administrative
districts, to be ruled as the national Government saw fit. Further, the
presidential term was lengthened from two years to six, and the name of
the country was changed, finally, to "Republic of Colombia." Two years
later the power of the Church was strengthened by a concordat with the
Pope.

Venezuela on its part had undergone changes no less marked. A liberal
constitution promulgated in 1864 had provided for the reorganization
of the country on a federal basis. The name chosen for the republic was
"United States of Venezuela." More than that, it had anticipated Mexico
and Guatemala in being the first of the Hispanic nations to witness
the establishment of a presidential autocracy of the continuous and
enlightened type.

Antonio Guzman Blanco was the man who imposed upon Venezuela for about
nineteen years a regime of obedience to law, and, to some extent, of
modern ideas of administration such as the country had never known
before. A person of much versatility, he had studied medicine and law
before he became a soldier and a politician. Later he displayed another
kind of versatility by letting henchmen hold the presidential office
while he remained the power behind the throne. Endowed with a masterful
will and a pronounced taste for minute supervision, he had exactly the
ability necessary to rule Venezuela wisely and well.

Amid considerable opposition he began, in 1870, the first of his
three periods of administration--the Septennium, as it was termed. The
"sovereign" states he governed through "sovereign" officials of his
own selection. He stopped the plundering of farms and the dragging
of laborers off to military service. He established in Venezuela an
excellent monetary system. Great sums were expended in the erection
of public and private buildings and in the embellishment of Caracas.
European capital and immigration were encouraged to venture into a
country hitherto so torn by chronic disorder as to deprive both labor
and property of all guarantees. Roads, railways, and telegraph lines
were constructed. The ministers of the Church were rendered submissive
to the civil power. Primary education beca