812 



UNITED STATES. 



conduct, but I trust that you will not deem that I am 

 going beyond that duty in impressing upon the Gov- 

 ernment that the present position of the United States 

 is an embarrassment to all belligerents, and that it 

 should be terminated as promptly as possible. There 

 is another conviction which it is clearly my duty to 

 express. I believe that, whenever the United States 

 formally withdraws from further intervention, Peru 

 will apply to the European powers., and that a joint 

 intervention of two or more is probable. 



BENJAMIN H. BREW8TER, ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 



[Born in New Jersey, October 16,1816 ; graduated at Prince- 

 ton College in 1834; admitted to the bar in 183T ; Attor- 

 ney-General of Pennsylvania from 1867 to 1869. His ap- 

 pointment as a member of President Arthur's Cabinet was 

 confirmed by the Senate December 19, 1881.] 



Subsequently Mr. James K. Partridge was 

 sent as Minister to Peru, but apparently under 

 instructions which left him little or no discre- 

 tion for dealing with the complications exist- 

 ing between that country and its conqueror. 

 The only official information made public on 

 the subject is contained in the following re- 

 sponse 'of the Secretary of State to an inquiry 

 from the Senate : 



DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 

 WASHINGTON, February 27, 1S83. 



The_ Secretary of State, to whom was referred the 

 following resolution of the Senate 



Resolved, That the President be respectfully requested, if 

 not in his judgment incompatible with the public interest, to 

 communicate to the Senate any information in his possession 

 touching an alleged joint agreement between the Ministers ot 

 the United States, of Great Britain, of France, and Italy, now 

 serving at Lima or Peru, to make a joint effort to bring about 

 peace between Chili and Peru, and to inform the Senate 

 whether the Minister of the United States has been in- 

 structed to invite or accept the mediation of European 

 powers in the settlement of a purely American question- 

 has the honor to report that he received a dispatch 

 from Mr. Partridge, who stated that, for reasons there- 

 in given, the representatives of Great Britain, France. 

 Italy, and the United States (Germany declining to 

 take any part) were led to consider, at an informal 

 meeting at Mr. Partridge's house, by what mode a 

 solution of the existing difficulties mi'orht be reached. 

 Mr. Partridge and his colleagues accordingly agreed 

 on a memorandum which was to be sent b,y each of 

 the > Ministers to his own Government, as setting forth 

 their views and hopes. The Ministers state in sub- 

 stance that they are unanimously of the opinion that 

 each should doclare to his Government that they be- 

 lieve the only possible means of bringing about a ces- 



^ Peru from complete de- 

 struction, and of arresting the ruin of neutrals, would 

 be an agreement between the Governments to address 

 representations to the Chilian Government, and cause 

 it to understand that their wish is to see peace made 

 on the basis of a cession of Tarapaca, reserving all 

 further conditions for further negotiation. The Min- 

 isters further declare that they consider it a duty to 

 invite their respective Governments to agree among 

 themselves to take the step indicated at once as an ur- 

 gent necessity. Upon the receipt of this dispatch Mr. 

 Partridge was telegraphed by the Secretary of State, in 

 substance, that the leave of absence which he had re- 

 quested was granted, and that he was expected to re- 

 turn to the L'nited States by the first steamer. He 

 was further informed that the action set forth in his 

 dispatch, having been taken by him without authori- 

 ty, was disapproved, and he was directed to so inform 

 those of his colleagues who had acted with him. A 

 telegram was at the same time sent to the Ministers of 

 the United States in London, Paris, and Kome, in- 

 forming them that Mr. Partridge had joined with the 

 representatives of Great Britain, France, and Italy in 

 in a recommendation to their respective Governments 

 to intervene in the Chili-Peru difficulties, and in- 

 structing them to inform the Governments to which 

 they are respectively accredited that this action was 

 taken by Mr. Partridge without authority, and has 

 not been approved. Mr. Lowell has answered that 

 this instruction has been complied with. In answer 

 to the inquiry of the Senate, the Secretary of State 

 has the honor to say that the Minister of the United 

 States has not been instructed to invite or accept the 

 mediation of European powers in the settlement of the 

 difficulties there existing. Eespectfully submitted, 

 FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN. 

 To the President. 



There was an extended investigation during 

 the summer, made by order of the House of 

 Representatives, and conducted by its Commit- 

 tee on Foreign Affairs, into charges that the 

 negotiations of the United States Government 

 in 1881, in Peru, had been made subservient 

 in some measure to the interests of certain 

 claims upon the Peruvian Government, arising 

 out of guano discoveries. The principal in- 

 quiry was, " Whether one or more Ministers 

 Plenipotentiary of the United States were per- 

 sonally interested in or improperly connected 

 with the business transactions in which the in- 

 tervention of the Government was requested 

 or expected in the affairs of Chili and Peru. 

 The discussion of this branch of the inquiry 

 was divided under three heads: 1. The con- 

 dition of affairs in Chili and Peru which gave 

 rise to the correspondence and business trans- 

 actions referred to in the resolutions. 2. The 

 history and claims of the parties who re- 

 quested the intervention of the United States 

 in the affairs of Chili and Peru. 3. Investi- 

 gation as to the connection between Ministers 

 Plenipotentiary of the United States and these 

 parties, or any business transaction in which 

 they requested or expected the intervention of 

 the^United States." After rehearsing the con- 

 dition of the South American states and the 

 differences which led to the war between Chili 

 and Peru, the report continues: "It is alleged 

 that from the beginning Chili was largely un- 

 der English influence. Be that as it may, there 

 can be little doubt that, as the fortunes of war 

 steadily set against Peru, her people looked to 



