In 1889 public opinion, wiser than the Government, grew apprehensive, and the Civic Union was formed with the object of overthrowing the President and reforming the finances and administration. Roca and Mitre, sincerely anxious for the good of their country, were the leading spirits in the opposition, and in July, 1890, the Revolution began. Some fighting took place, but the spirit of faction was less ferocious than it had been a generation ago, and most men seemed to consider that the desperate financial condition needed radical measures. The resistance of the Government was half-hearted, and on July 30th Celman resigned. Pellegrini, the Vice-President, succeeded him, and it was time for the national affairs to be placed in more capable hands. The treasury was empty, and there was a great burden of debt. The whole financial and monetary system was in confusion, and in September Pellegrini was obliged to issue notes for $50,000,000. This step provided money for the immediate necessities of administration, but it helped to precipitate the crash which came in March, 1891. This vast monetary convulsion will be long remembered in England, and it has served as a salutary warning both to European investors and to speculators in the country itself, who now recognise that credit and the reputation for honesty is one of the chief factors in a country's prosperity. The Banco Nacional, in spite of all efforts on the part of the Government to save it, was submerged, and the same fate met every other bank except the London and River Plate. As a matter of course, political trouble followed industrial trouble, and in February while Roca was driving in a carriage he was fired at and slightly wounded. It was, however, to him and Mitre that the people looked to extricate them from their troubles, and the Porteños nominated Mitre as candidate for the Presidency amidst great enthusiasm, but the Cordoba section was indignant, and Mitre was induced to withdraw on condition that the new candidate should be non-party and that the election should be impartial. At the beginning of 1892 Saenz Peña, the candidate favoured by Mitre and Roca, was elected, and Alem, the leader of the new Radical party, known as the Civic Union, was banished. Pellegrini's term of office had disappointed his supporters and few regretted his retirement.