take occasion to sound the Minister of Foreign Relations as to the desires of Chili concerning a new treaty with our government. I have some reason on which to base a belief that the Chilian officials will be found ready to meet us half-way in the establishment of regulations which shall have in view the mutual interest of both countries, commercially and otherwise. I have, &c., No. 70. THOMAS A. OSBORN. No. 34.] Mr. Osborn to Mr. Evarts. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Santiago, Chili, March 9, 1878. (Received May 3.) SIR: For many years the boundary line between Chili and the Argentine Republic has been, with those countries, a subject of diplomatic discussion. The controversy relates, in the main, to the exercise of jurisdiction in the Straits of Magellan and in the country contiguous to the mouth thereof on the Atlantic coast. Chili has for a long time been in actual possession of the Straits, and has likewise asserted her right of dominion to that portion of the Atlantic coast lying between the mouth of the Straits and the river Gallegos; while the Argentine Government maintains that this possession has been in violation of her rights, and that the claim in regard to the Atlantic coast is without merit. In the question is involved the dominion to a considerable part of Patagonia, but I judge that it is regarded with comparative indifference by the parties concerned, except in so far as it may affect jurisdiction to the Straits and the contiguous Atlantic coast. The controversy is as old as the republics engaged in it, and on more than one occasion it has seriously threatened the peace of the southern part of South America. It has, indeed, been a constant source of anxiety. Both governments have always professed to be desirous of settling their differences amicably, and for many years negotiations to that end have been pending, but from time to time they have been broken off and then again renewed, only to be interrupted again, until each government was led to regard the other with suspicion, if not with enmity. The dispute has latterly assumed a more threatening aspect than at any former time, and it has seemed to me, from the tone of public sentiment as it has manifested itself through the public prints, that unless the differences should soon be settled amicably, war must certainly follow. The danger seems to have been comprehended by both governments, and with a view of averting a war, for which neither of them is prepared, they have, during the past few months, labored assiduously, apparently, to arrive at an amicable arrangement. The negotiations have been conducted at Buenos Ayres. The information which we get here is not entirely satisfactory, but enough is known to warrant the statement that a basis for a peaceable settlement has been arrived at; that the protocol, which has been signed by the representatives of both governments, names the King of Belgium as arbitrator, to whom is to be referred the matters in dispute; and that pending the settlement, Chili is to retain jurisdiction of the Straits of Magellan to the Atlantic, and the Argentine Government is to exercise jurisdiction of the Atlantic coast to the mouth of the Straits. For some reason the government here is exceedingly reticent on the subject of the negotiation, and inquiries at the foreign office are universally answered that "negotiations are proceeding satisfactorily," but nothing further. My information is derived from Buenos Ayres, but I regard it as reliable. In an interview which I had yesterday with the diplomatic representative here of Belgium, he informed me that he had a short time since addressed the Minister of Foreign Relations on the subject, and expressed a desire, inasmuch as it was reported that the King of Belgium had been named as arbitrator, to be furnished with information for the use of his government in regard thereto. But he was informed by the Secretary that it was not deemed advisable at present to furnish any information on the subject. It is asserted that since the signing of the protocol an effort has been made by Chili to reopen the discussion with a view to a settlement without arbitration, and that to this is to be attributed the reticence of the authorities here. By others it is claimed that this reticence comes from the fact that the protocol cedes to the Argentine Government, pending the arbitration, jurisdiction of the Atlantic coast to the mouth of the Straits. It has always been the policy of Chili, they say, to insist upon its right to a part of that coast, and that the government is loath to meet the storm of indignation which would follow an authoritative promulgation of the terms of the protocol. With this latter class I do not agree. It does not stand to reason that the government would become a party to a contract the terms of which it knew to be absolutely obnoxious to the country. I am, however, inclined to believe that Chili is making another effort to settle the dispute without the aid of an arbitrator, and in this, it seems to me, she is to be commended. The peaceable solution of this dispute is to be attributed, in my judg ment, more than to any other cause, to the depleted state of the treasuries of both countries. Chili is quite as well prepared, I judge, to carry on a foreign war as any other government in South America, except, perhaps, Brazil, and I am confident that her Exchequer is not in such a condition as to warrant her in entering upon the extraordinary expenditures required in such an emergency. I can well understand why Chili should regard it as important that she should continue to exercise jurisdiction of the territory bordering upon the Straits of Magellan. Her commerce is almost entirely carried on by way of the Straits, and she might well regard with apprehension an effort upon the part of a neighboring government, having no such interest, to obtain control thereof. I have, &c., No. 71. THOMAS A. OSBORN. No. 25.] Mr. Evarts to Mr. Osborn. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 12, 1878. SIR: Your dispatch No. 33, of the 1st ultimo, has been received. It asks whether the termination by Chili of the treaty of 1832 with the United States, abrogated the clause of the tenth article, which guarantees to citizens of the parties the benefit of the laws of their respective countries. In reply I have to state that the termination of the treaty can only be regarded as a termination of all the special stipulations em braced in it, including the one adverted to. Even in the absence of a treaty, however, Chilians in this country would have the full protection of the law, and we should expect the same for citizens of the United States in that country. Although that instrument provided that those of its parts which related to peace and friendship were not repealable, as those parts are not specified, it would now be difficult to determine what were meant to be included in them. Similar difficulties have been experienced on other occasions. The treaty of 1828 with Brazil contained a clause like that in the one with Chili. Under the eleventh article of that treaty, equitable provision was made for disposing of the property of decedent citizens or subjects of the parties. It was long strenuously, but ineffectually, contended by this Department that the stipulation adverted to was one of those relating to peace and friendship, and should therefore be regarded as in force. Much inconvenience has been experienced by the refusal of the Brazilian Government to admit this construction. As no treaty exists with Brazil, the estates of our citizens who die there are administered according to the local law, which is tardy in its proceedings, and is supposed to absorb, by the expense attending them, an undue share of the property. You say that there is not on file in the legation any copy of the notice of the Chilian Government in regard to the termination of the treaty. A copy of Mr. Carvallo's note to Mr. Buchanan of the 19th of January, and of the reply of the latter of the 27th of February, 1849, on that subject, are consequently herewith transmitted. The question is referred to in the full and elaborate instructions of Mr. Clayton to Mr. Balie Peyton of the 10th of September, 1849, which it is supposed are on the files of the legation. The record of his dispatches to the Department will show you the steps he took toward a new treaty, and the reasons why negotiation upon the subject was abortive. Undoubtedly such an instrument, upon a fair basis, would be advantageous to the interests of the United States. You may consequently sound the minister for foreign affairs as to the disposition of his government upon the subject. If this should be favorable, a power will be forwarded to you, with such further instructions as the lapse of time since Mr. Peyton's mission, and the greater experience of the Department, may seem to render advisable. I am, &c., WM. M. EVARTS. No. 18.] [Inclosure 1 in No. 25.-Translation.] LEGATION OF CHILI, Washington, January 19, 1849. The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Chili, has the honor to communicate to his excellency, Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State of the United States, that in the exercise of the authority that by the Article 31 of the treaty of navigation and commerce concluded in Santiago on the 16th of May, 1832, is reserved to both governments, that of Chili desires to terminate the said treaty, which, agreeably to the said article, will take effect on the 20th day of January of the next ensuing year. The undersigned has also the honor to inform his excellency in the name of his government that he is ready to renew the treaty with certain modifications that time and experience have shown to be necessary, and which will redound to the benefit of both countries. The undersigned reiterates to his excellency the assurances of his very high consideration. M. CARVALLO. His Excellency JAMES BUCHANAN, Secretary of State of the United States. [Inclosure 2 in No. 25.] Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Carvallo. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 27, 1849. The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of Mr. Carvallo, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of Chili, of the 19th ultimo, giving notice, pursuant to the thirty-first article of the treaty of navigation and commerce concluded at Santiago on the 16th of May, 1832, that his government desires to terminate that treaty, and that, in conformity with the article referred to, the notice will take effect on the 20th of January next. The intimation which Mr. Carvallo also expresses, that the Chilian Government is disposed to renew the treaty with some modifications, shall be submitted to the consideration of the President. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to offer to Mr. Carvallo renewed assurances of his very distinguished consideration. Señor Don MANUEL CARVALLO, §e., &'c., &'c. JAMES BUCHANAN. No. 39.] No. 72. Mr. Osborn to Mr. Evarts. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Santiago, Chili, April 18, 1878. (Received June 3.) SIR: On my way down the Pacific coast in August last my curiosity was especially excited concerning the disastrous earthquake and tidal wave with which that section had been visited on the evening of the 9th of May preceding. A memorandum was made of the result of my inquiries, and I have thought that it might possess sufficient interest to warrant me in basing a dispatch upon it. The shock and the subsequent wave were experienced with more or less violence on the entire coast from Callao to Valparaiso, the center being near the southern boundary-line of Peru, in the neighborhood of the southern guano-deposits. At Callao the water rose several feet, but comparatively little damage resulted therefrom. In fact, I did not observe anything worthy of especial note, in view of the frequency with which this coast is visited with occurrences of this character, until my arrival at Arica, about 400 miles south of Callao. Here the shock was very violent. The sea, immediately after, rose to a great height, and rushed wildly in to finish the work which had been but begun by the quake. I did not go ashore at Arica, and was unable to learn of the exact rise in the water, but could plainly see from the ship some of the disastrous results. The fine iron mole which had been but a short time completed was almost entirely carried away. As evidence of the violence of the wave, I may state as a fact that the hull of the American war steamer Wateree, which had been thrown a mile or more inland by the great wave of 1868, was floated and deposited a considerable distance farther north and to the water's edge. At Iquique, some 150 miles farther south, the quake was felt at 8 o'clock, p. m., and the sea shortly afterwards rushed in upon the town, sweeping away the moles, and destroying the nitrate bodegas and the business houses which were situated near the sea. There was no loss of life, however, the people having fled to the hills. At this point the sea was very violently agitated, and during all the next day, at irregular in tervals, rose to an extraordinary height. There were many ships in the harbor, and, breaking from their moorings, they were recklessly tossed about on the waves, totally regardless of all efforts to control their movements. A German bark foundered, and a steamer, a schooner, and several lighters were thrown upon a small island in front of the town. Some 50 miles to the south of Iquique are the southern guano deposits. There are three towns in this section, named, respectively, Point Lobos, Haunillos, and Pabellon de Pica. At the last-named place, at a few minutes past eight was felt the first shock, preceded by a loud subterraneous rumbling; and almost immediately came the great quake, the strongest felt in Peru since that which worked such ruin on the coast in August, 1868. It lasted about three minutes, and the violent motion of the ground caused the kerosene lamps by which the place was lighted to be overthrown, originating a number of fires. Many persons, remembering the wave of 1868, ran for the hills by which the town is surrounded, while many labored to extinguish the fires, which were threatening the destruction of the little city. The sea soon rose to an enormous height, and rushing violently through a gully formed by a point of high rocks called "Chanavaya" and the mountains behind, swept at one blow the entire town into the sea. Two hundred persons were carried off by the wave. With those who escaped it was a run for life, and nothing whatever was saved by them except the clothing they were wearing at the time. By the light of the burning buildings a number of women were observed together round the church engaged in prayer. The wave rushed in, and in a moment all was darkness and death. The sea came and retired, during that awful night, five times, at intervals of about thirty minutes, and the marks show that the water rose about 60 feet above its ordinary level. Previous to the shock there was bright starlight, but this gave way to inky darkness, with a slight drizzle of rain. The poor shivering people on the high ground, many of whom had only their night-clothes, suffered indescribable horrors. The grinding together of the ships which were at anchor in the bay and the crashing of the rocks as they fell from the precipitous and lofty hills in the neighborhood betokened great destruction; yet even these, ominous as they were, but poorly prepared those who had been saved for the sight which daybreak presented to them. Not only was the entire town swept away, but even the form of the ground on which it had stood was greatly changed, and the busy place of the day before remained only in memory. But great as was the ruin of the town, it was equaled, if not eclipsed, by the wreck among the shipping. The ships, parting their moorings, with the eddies created by the waves, collided promiscuously with each other. They rushed in with the waves and out again with the reflux, sometimes at a speed of eight knots an hour; and all were mixed up in the most dire confusion, and many were abandoned by their crews. The American ship Alida, of Thomaston, Me., carried away with her masts the principal platform and chutes by which the guano was laden, and then went ashore, where she now lies a total wreck. Two Norwegian ships, both named Drot, the German bark E. F. Gabian, the Italian bark Silvia B. and Antoni, and the English bark Lady Bellew, foundered. Several ships were so seriously injured that they have been condemned and sold, while all the remaining ones then in the harbor have been compelled to go to Callao and Valparaiso, for repairs. All the lighters and small craft were either foundered, dashed to pieces on the rocks, or deposited high and dry at a considerable distance from the sea. |