90 



CHILI. 



nance, Enrique Mclver; Minister of Justice and 

 Public Instruction, Maximo del Campo; Min- 

 ister of Public Works, Vicente Davila ; Minister 

 of War, Gen. Rodriguez Rosas. 



Difficulties with the United States. The 

 strained relations between Chili and the United 

 States were much intensified by a note sent by 

 the Chilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Matta, 

 to the Chilian ministers at foreign courts and to 

 Minister Pedro Montt at Washington, giving the 

 latter authority to give it the widest publicity. 

 The note was a sort of vindication of the Chilian 

 Government, and was meant to counteract the 

 charges made in President Harrison's annual 

 message to the United States Congress. In this 

 document the minister alleges that the informa- 

 tion upon which Secretary Tracy's report and 

 President Harrison's message to Congress were 

 based was erroneous or deliberately incorrect ; 

 that the refugees in the American legation were 

 never threatened with cruelty, nor their removal 

 ever contemplated, nor had the house or person 

 of any of the foreign ministers been molested ; 

 that there was a want of frankness and exactness 

 in the statements made in Washington relative 

 to the " Baltimore " affair, which occurred in a 

 bad quarter of the city ; that, despite the fact 

 that interested parties might try to make their 

 conduct appear honest, they dodged the issue by 

 erroneous accounts; that Secretary Tracy and 

 President Harrison had been led into error con- 

 cerning the Chilian people and Government ; 

 and that their instructions to the United States 

 representatives, that impartiality and amity 

 should be observed, were not complied with. 



Mr. Egan, United States minister at Santiago, 

 complained to the Chilian Government that the 

 legation was constantly being watched by the 

 police and private detectives ; that persons pass- 

 ing in and out were insulted, and several Ameri- 

 cans had been arrested on leaving the legation, 

 among them members of Mr. Egan's family. 

 The reply sent to this complaint stated that, in- 

 asmuch as the refugees at the legation had rela- 

 tives and connections in the city, the mainte- 

 nance of the watch was deemed necessary to pro- 

 tect the Chilian Government against conspiracies 

 which might be carried on from the legation. 

 Mr. Egan called the attention of the Argentine 

 minister to this surveillance, who, as doyen of 

 the diplomatic corps, protested against the breach 

 of diplomatic courtesy. 



The investigation of the " Baltimore " affair 

 before the court of inquiry at Valparaiso lasted 

 nearly three months, and the evidence was then 

 submitted to the Procurator-Fiscal, who arrived 

 at the following conclusions : 



1. That the unfortunate incident of Oct. 16, 1891, 

 originated in a brawl between intoxicated sailors of 

 both nations, and that the riot was aggravated on ac- 

 count of the special ward in which it occurred being 

 full of houses of bad reputation. 



2. That the policemen from the first did all that 

 they were directed to do to suppress the riot ; that the 

 correctness of the course adopted by the police had 

 been acknowledged by every one of the witnesses, 

 and all American sailors except two. 



3. That the isolated shot wound was caused by a 

 revolver, whereas the police carried carbines. 



The Procurator-Fiscal found further that 

 Rodriguez, Gomez, and Azumada, three of the 



rioters, were guilty of stabbing American sailors, 

 but that the evidence was not strong enough to 

 show that the wounds inflicted by the prisoners 

 caused the death of the men Riggin and Turn- 

 bull. He further found that Davidson, a sailor 

 of the " Baltimore," was guilty of assaulting a 

 Chilian sailor, and declared that it was impos- 

 sible to determine the person who fired the shot 

 that killed Riggin. He then directed Judge 

 Foster, at Valparaiso, to sentence the three above- 

 named Chilian rioters to penal servitude for 

 using knives. 



This report was communicated to the United 

 States Government on Jan. 8 by Gen. Pereira, 

 Chilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had 

 succeeded Seiior Matta. The, United States Gov- 

 ernment was by no means satisfied with the 

 communication, as there was not a word of apolo- 

 gy or regret in the note. On Jan. 20 the Chil- 

 ian minister at Washington, Pedro Montt, pre- 

 sented a note from his Government to the effect 

 that Mr. Egan, minister of the United States in 

 Santiago, was not persona grata to his Govern- 

 ment, which would have much pleasure in re- 

 ceiving another representative of the United 

 States, and that the motive for taking this step 

 was the desire of the Chilian Government to 

 draw closer its relations with the Government of 

 the United States. 



No further action having been reported in re- 

 gard to the punishment of the three men on 

 trial, and no apology or expressions of regret 

 having been received, President Harrison pre- 

 sented to the Chilian Government a note which 

 declared that the United States Government, 

 after a full consideration of all the evidence and 

 every suggestion affecting this matter, adhered 

 to the following conclusions : 



1 The assault was not relieved of the aspect which 

 the early information concerning the event gave it, 

 namely, that of an attack upon the uniform of the 

 United States navy, having its origin and motive in a 

 feeling of hostility to the Government of the United 

 States, and not in any act of the sailors. 



2. The public authorities of Valparaiso flagrantly 

 failed in their duty to protect the men ; even some 

 police and some Chilian soldiers and sailors were 

 themselves guilty of unprovoked assaults upon the 

 United States sailors before and after the arrest; and 

 the preponderance of evidence and the inherent prob- 

 abilities led him to the conclusion that the man 

 Riggin was killed by the police or the soldiers. 



3. He was compelled to bring the case back to the 

 position taken by the United States Government in 

 the note of Mr. Wharton of Oct. 23, 1891, and to ask 

 for suitable apologies and some adequate reparation 

 for the injury done to the Government of the United 

 States. He called the attention of the Chilian Govern- 

 ment to the offensive character of the note addressed 

 by Senor Matta, its Minister of Foreign Affairs, to 

 Senor Montt, its minister at Washington, on Dec. 11. 

 This dispatch was not officially communicated to the 

 United States Government ; but as Minister Montt 

 was directed to translate it and give it to the press of 

 this country it could not pass without official notice. 

 The Chilian Government was notified that, unless 

 this note was at once withdrawn and an apology 

 tendered as public as the offense, diplomatic rela- 

 tions would be terminated. The request for the recall 

 of Mr. Egan, on the ground that he is not persona 

 grata, was unaccompanied by any suggestion thst 

 could properly he used in support of it. It must be 

 inferred that the request was based upon the official 

 acts of Mr. Egan, which had the approval of the 

 United States Government ; but, however that might 



