744 



PERU, CHILI, AND THE UNITED STATES. 



by Chili to strengthen the Government of President 

 Calderon, giving to it the most jvrfeet freedom of ac- 

 tion considering the Chilian occmmtion ; thut uo ques- 

 tion of territorial annexation will be touched until a 

 constitutional government can be established in Peru, 

 acknowledged and iv>i'eeted l>y the people, with full 

 powers to enter into diplomat ie negotiations xor peace." 

 And it would only have been natural if you had asked, 

 for the information of your Government, if not for 

 your own, fur what rea>ons and by what means the 

 Culderon Government had, a.-* Senor Balmaseda in- 

 formed you, "come to an end." The President has 

 foamed, \N ith great regret, of the arrest and removal 

 of President Culderon ; but, in the present state of his 

 information, he will not undertake to measure its sig- 

 nificance, lie hopes that he will, when the facts are 

 better known, be relieved from the painful impression 

 that it was intended as a rebuke to the friendly dis- 

 position of the United States. . . . You will inform 

 the Chilian Government that a special envoy will be 

 immediately sent ; and you will assure that Govern- 

 ment that he will come in the spirit of impartial 

 friendship, anxious to learn that recent occurrences 

 have not been intended to disturb the long-continued 

 friendly relations existing between us : and instructed 

 by the President to lay before the Chilian Govern- 

 ment frankly, but with a scrupulous consideration 

 for the rights and interests of that Government, the 

 views which he holds upon tho deplorable condition 

 of affairs hi South America, a condition now fast 

 assuming proportions which make its settlement a 

 mutter of concern to all the republics of the conti- 

 nent. He sincerely hopes that no other action of that 

 Government will tend to further complicate existing 

 difficulties before the arrival of that special envoy. 

 JAMES G. ELAINE. 



It was on Sunday, November 6th, that 

 President Calderon was arrested by General 

 Lynch's orders, and taken on board the Chilian 

 frigate Cochran, in the harbor of Callao. A 

 few dajs later, while Vice-President Montevo 

 was actively asserting his claims to the su- 

 preme power, Minister Hurlbut issued the fol- 

 lowing declaration : 



To the Notables of Lima. 



GENTLEMEN : At your request I make the following 

 declaration : 



1. The United States of America are firmly in favor 

 of the cessation of hostilities between Chili and Peru, 

 and the prompt re-establishment of peace. 



2. The United States of America decidedly oppose 

 all dismemberment of Peru, except with the free and 

 full consent of the nation. 



3. They are of opinion that Chili has acquired ? as 

 the result of the war, the right to a war indemnity, 

 and that Peru can not refuse such payment. 



The Government of Chili knows that these are the 

 ideas of the United States ; but the divisions which 

 exist in Peru paralyze the good offices of the United 

 States, and give a pretext to Chili to elude the action 

 of the United States in conformity with our desires, 

 and to prolong the state of war and the military occu- 

 pation of Peru. Chili says, " We also desire peace, 

 but there is no one here competent to arrange it.'' 

 This declaration is, unfortunately, true. For this 

 state of affairs, the only remedv is to be found in 

 Peru itself. 



Union, under whomsoever may be elected, will de- 

 stroy the pretext of Chili, and give to the United 

 States an advantage which they require, and of which 

 they will know how to take advantage. 



In my opinion, nothing else will save the country 

 from an indefinite military occupation by Chili. 



Peru must save itself, by the sacrifice of personal 

 ambitions on the altar of the redemption of the coun- 

 try. S. A. HUELBUT. 



On the 26th day of January, 1882, the Presi- 

 dent sent to Congress the diplomatic corre- 

 spondence concerning Peru, Chili, and Bolivia, 

 for a period of several years. The following 

 are the more important dispatches. On De- 

 cember 1, 1881, Mr. Blaine wrote the follow- 

 ing instructions to Special Envoy Trescot, of 

 South Carolina, who sailed from New York 

 for Panama on December 3d, accompanied by 

 Mr. Walker Blaine : 



SIB: While the circumstances under which the 

 President has deemed it proper to charge you with a 

 special mission to the Republics of Chili, Peru, and 

 Bolivia render it necessary that very much must be 

 confided to your discretion, it is desirable that you 

 should be placed in full possession of his views as to 

 the general line of conduct which you will be expect- 

 ed to pursue. For this purpose it is not necessary at 

 present to go further back in the history of the un- 

 fortunate relations between Chili on the one hand and 

 Peru and Bolivia on the other than the time when the 

 defeat of General Pierola, his abandonment of the 

 capital and the coast, and their occupation by the 

 Chilian army, seem to have put an end to all respon- 

 sible native government in Peru. Lima, having 

 been surrendered January 19 ? 1881, Pierola driven 

 across the mountains, the Chilian military occupation 

 consolidated, and the Chilian Government refusing to 

 recognize Pierola as representing the Government ot 

 Peru, it became absolutely necessary that some gov- 

 ernment should be established if Peru was not to re- 

 main simply a military district of Chili. On Feb- 

 ruary 25, 1881, Mr. Christiaucy, the United States 

 Minister at Lima, wrote this department as follows : 



" A movement has therefore been initiated among 

 some of the leading citizens of Lima and Callao, and 

 encouraged by the Chilian authorities, to establish a 

 new government in opposition to that of Pierola 

 (who is still at Tacna or Yarija)." 



From this date, Mr. Christiancy kept the depart- 

 ment informed of the probabilities of the establish- 

 ment of the Calderon Government, so called from the 

 name of the eminent Peruvian statesman who had 

 been chosen as President. On May 9, 1881, instruc- 

 tions had been sent to him from the department, in 

 which he was told : 



"If the Calderon Government is supported by the 

 character and intelligence of Peru, and is really en- 

 deavoring to restore constitutional government, with 

 a view both to order within and negotiation with Chili 

 for peace, you may recogni2c it as the existing pro- 

 visional government and render what aid you can by 

 advice and good offices to that end." 



Acting under these instructions, although with 

 some expressed doubt as to the probable permanence 

 of ite existence, Mr. Christiancy, on June 26, 1881, 

 formally recognized the Calderon Government. It is 

 clear that this recognition was not an unfriendly in- 

 tervention as far as the wishes and interests of Chili 

 were concerned. 



In giving the support of recognition to the Calde- 

 ron Government, therefore, so far was this Govern- 

 ment from doing what could be considered an un- 

 friendly act to Chili, that it was, in fact, giving its aid 

 to the very policy which Chili avowed, and which, 

 in the opinion of competent judges, was the only 

 method of reasonable solution. And this conclusion 

 of the Government was strengthened and confirmed by 

 the information which was transmitted to the depart- 

 ment by General Kilpatrick, the United States Minis- 

 ter to Chili. General Kilpatrick was appointed after 

 the recognition of the Calderon Government, and was 

 furnished with the instructions to which 1 have al- 

 ready referred. In hi* dispatch, under date of August 

 15, 1881, he quotes the following as the final assur- 

 ances given to him by the Chilian Secretary of State : 

 ''You may say to your Government that every 



