is a president who is elected for a term of five years and
is ineligible for the next succeeding term. He is chosen by electors,
who are elected by departments in the manner prescribed for deputies and
in the proportion of three electors for each deputy. These elections are
held on the 25th of June in the last year of a presidential term, the
electors cast their votes on the 25th of July, and the counting takes
place in a joint session of the two chambers of congress on the 30th of
August, congress in joint session having the power to complete the
election when no candidate has been duly chosen by the electors. The
formal installation of the president takes place on the 18th of
September, the anniversary of the declaration of national independence.
In addition to the prerogatives commonly invested in his office, the
president is authorized to supervise the judiciary, to nominate
candidates for the higher ecclesiastical offices, to intervene in the
enforcement of ecclesiastical decrees, papal bulls, &c., to exercise
supervisory police powers, and to appoint the intendants of provinces
and the governors of departments, who in turn appoint the sub-delegates
and inspectors of subordinate political divisions. The president, who is
paid L2250 per annum, must be native-born, not less than thirty years of
age, and eligible for election to the lower house. He is assisted and
advised by a cabinet of six ministers whose departments are: interior,
foreign affairs, worship and colonization, justice and public
instruction, war and marine, finance, industry and public works. In case
of a vacancy in the presidential office, the minister of interior
becomes the "vice-president of the republic" and discharges the duties
of the executive office until a successor can be legally elected. A
council of state of 12 members, consisting of the president, 6 members
appointed by congress and 5 by the president, has advisory functions,
and its approval is required in many executive acts and appointments.

The provinces are administered by _intendentes_, and the departments by
_gobernadores_, both appointees of the national executive. The
sub-delegacies are governed by _sub-delegados_ appointed by the
governors, and the districts by _inspectores_ appointed by the
sub-delegates. Directly and indirectly; therefore, the administration of
all these political divisions is in the hands of the president, who, in
like manner, makes and controls the appointm