Though the constitution of February 24, 1891, nominally went into effect at once, as a matter of fact the government continued military. Deodoro was elected president, and Marshal Floriano Peixoto vice-president, and the dictatorship was effective, except so far as it was managed and controlled by a few leaders who had power in the army, navy, or financial world. The provisional government had conceded to banks in every important centre of the country the right to issue circulating notes. The markets were flooded with money; credit was easy; an extraordinary speculative boom set in; values rose tremendously. The last years of the empire had been prosperous and exchange had gone to par. Within three years after the empire was overthrown, the amount of paper money in circulation was more than tripled, but though exchange had fallen tremendously, no ill effects were yet apparent. The nation was drunk with suddenly acquired wealth. Companies of all sorts were granted government concessions--railroad companies, mining companies, harbour improvement companies, banks, factories, and even sugar and coffee plantation companies. The price of coffee and rubber was rising in gold, while the cost of production was falling with the depreciation of the currency. The flood of Italian immigration which had been going to the Argentine was largely diverted to Brazil. Rio, Para, and Sao Paulo were the centres of the prosperity. Business men from the provinces swarmed into these cities, and the fortunate owners of plantations emigrated to Paris to spend their easily acquired wealth.