Viera was re-elected Deputy in 1901, and during his second term, as noted by one study, he took "a prominent position in furthering important measures afterwards converted into laws which met with the approval of the Press of all parties."

[3] He was a member of the Colorado Party and closely identified with the liberal former president José Batlle y Ordóñez, who long dominated Uruguay's political life, being a Batllista before 1903.

Now was a bad time to raise assessments; ranchers were already fearful of war; drought and plagues had ravaged the interior; the government did not need more taxes."

[11] He was, according to one study, "a Colorado of tradition and a committed batllista, a man of complete confidence of Don Pepe, who could be sure that if he became president, he would carry out the party's projects and objectives."

[2] This had been assured since 1913, as noted by one study, "by the proclamation of the National Commission of the Colorado Party and the formal commitment of seventy-two legislators of that same political affiliation.

At the session of March 1, 1915, in which the election was to take place, the nationalists and some of the senators who were opposed to the formula of the Collegiate Executive Power abstained from attending.

[14] Viera’s candidacy, as noted by one study, “was supported by the Batllista majority of the Colorado Party.”[15] A letter was read out that had been written by Domingo Arena, a close Batlle ally who was recovering from an auto accident.

[18] Pedro Manini Ríos, Batlle's political protégé,[19] wrote positively of Viera, stating that I had accustomed myself to see Batlle's natural successor in Viera and looked forward to it, because El Indio, as we call him familiarly, in spite of the prejudices against him, in spite of his negative qualities, is loyal, calm, honest, and straightforward as a statesman, and I am sure that should he occupy the presidency, he would surround himself with good ministers, to whom he would give great freedom of administrative action while he reserved politics for himself, something he would know how to do, directly, nobly, and with fairness.

It is true that in the intervening time it is not possible to expect a radical change in the political program of the street sweepers and civil guards, and this is, without a doubt, the determining cause of the assurances that the P.E.

Uruguay was more closely identified with the Allied cause in World War I than was neighbouring Argentina, cutting diplomatic relations with the German Empire in late 1917.

[23] In October 1917, Viera delivered a speech reaffirming Uruguay's sympathy with the Belgian cause and its solidarity with (as noted by one journal) "the countries which are fighting for the cause of justice and right.

"[24] In January 1918 Viera sent a New Year's greeting to the U.S., proclaiming that "Bound, as it is, to my country by the triple bond of a similar republican ideal, by harmonious aspiration for international justice and an equal desire for extended and fraternal Pan-Americanism, both had to meet on the same side in this definite struggle for liberty.

In a 1915 speech addressed to deputies and senators during his first year as president, stated that "I will especially ask Your Honor for the sanction of laws that you are already studying, some that ensure and improve the situation of the worker and others that prevent conflicts between capital and the proletariat whose harmony we must seek as fertile sources of peace and progress.

The Colorado Party has the advantage over Socialism that it is in a position to carry out with practical efficiency the humanitarian principles which are nothing more than generous but platonic utopias in the latter.

Upon hearing the results, Viera stated "Well, gentlemen, we won't advance any more in the area of social and economic legislation; we should reconcile capital with labor.

By this law, according to one study, "the State recognized its responsibility to provide a minimum of subsistence for the indigent aged and totally incapacitated.

For instance, the Maternity Pavilion and shelter for pregnant women were inaugurated, "which includes the solution of the problem of defense and protection of helpless mothers, abandoned or temporarily unable to attend to their care and subsistence.

[41] Decrees of 25 June 1915 made specific provision "for the safety of railway employees and those engaged in factories, mines and quarries using explosive substances."

With the installation of these dispensaries, which are already fully operational, the task of defending against that disease, a social evil that tends to become more widespread every day, making its destructive action felt in the individual and their offspring.

"[53] According to a presidential message from 1918, "The project of the Director of Public Assistance has begun to be executed, by which the number of polyclinics is increased, services that provide so much good to the needy classes, and that have the advantage of accustoming families to frequenting the doctor, distancing them of the healer, and allowing at the same time that diseases can be attacked in their first signs, giving notions of hygiene and general prophylaxis that, transmitted to the home, prevented the development of many diseases."

However, the eight-hour day and successive strikes "forced the office to enrol a larger number of men, with a consequent spreading of work so broadly that earnings declined.

This credit "was a form of current account for the cattleman who could pay off the loan as he sold the property on which it was based; it was intended to prevent forced liquidation at ruinous prices when the market was heavily depressed.

"[61] Rules and regulations promulgated by the President of the Republic for the prevention of accidents to workmen prescribed, among other things, "that motors and dynamos used by industrial companies shall be inclosed by railings or bars, and persons not connected with the service are forbidden entry to such inclosures."

Under the same decree "automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles for motor transportation in the service of public works are also insured against all loss, risk, and liability for damages.

As noted by one study, while serving as President of the Comisión Nacional Colorada Batlle presented a controversial motion that triggered a new conflict and a new party split within Batllismo.

Among their interventions was that of the renowned jurist Dr. Justino Jiménez de Aréchaga, who argued against the proposal, expressing the opinion that it "restricted the free action of the national government" and provoked "the distortion of the representative system".

Batlle's proposal was rejected by the National Red Committee, where there was a majority of leaders close to Viera, who founded a newspaper ("La Defensa") and a new faction (the "Partido Colorado Radical").

As noted by one study In the 1926 election Batlle y Ordóñez presented himself as a candidate for the presidency of the National Administration Council and won the victory, accompanied by the radical colorado Luis C. Caviglia (1874-1955).

Independently of this, Batlle y Ordóñez pointed out that only in this distribution of positions (a riverista to the Presidency of the Republic and a radical accompanying him in the council) would allow the sure triumph of the Party.

Some foreign researcher called Vierismo "an administrative party", alluding to the fact that in all sections of the public administration there was some Vierista occupying some leadership or important position, which made it a decisive factor, especially in the 1920s, when the Differences in votes between whites and reds were so small that a minimal loss or a minimal transfer in some section could decide the electoral victory.