No. 38.
Mr. Trescot
to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Special
Mission, United States,
January 13, 1882. (Received February
14.)
No. 2.]Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I reached
this capital on Saturday, 7th January. On Monday I informed Señor Balmaceda,
the secretary for foreign affairs, of my arrival, and was received in public
audience by the President this morning at 1 o’clock.
I inclose the brief speech which I made on presenting my credentials, and the
reply of his excellency the President. They will satisfy you that you need
feel no apprehension of any such issue as you suggested in your telegram,
which was received by me the day of my arrival at Valparaiso.
As the mail closes at 6 o’clock, I am compelled to be very brief, when the
condition of affairs really requires a very full explanation.
Postponing to next mail a careful appreciation of the very delicate and
difficult character of the question with which it has been made my duty to
deal, I can only say now that I found here a state of feeling excited far
beyond anything that I had anticipated. The popular impression was that I
was the bearer of a positive and imperious demand from the United States
that Chili should make an immediate peace upon such terms as my government
deemed just and proper. And while the Government of Chili did not share in
this exaggerated apprehension, there evidently existed in official circles
an uneasy uncertainty as to the purpose of the special mission.
[Page 59]
I have reason to believe that the remarks which I made at the reception this
morning have relieved all apprehension of this sort.
I am afraid that it will be more difficult to correct the extravagant hope
which exists in Peru of a prompt, and even forcible, intervention of the
United States to secure a peace without cession of Peruvian territory.
The opinion which I think I am justifled in forming even at so early a period
is that Chili really desires peace on what is believed to be fair and
necessary conditions, and that the government would gladly find a solution
which would relieve it from a prolonged occupation of Peru. But how far I
will be able to suggest a method which will conciliate rival interests and
susceptibilities I cannot now say. Chili needs peace, but the destruction of
the Calderon government and the arrest of Calderon himself have so
disorganized Peru that there is no government with which Chili can
treat.
I am satisfied that the more friendly are our relations with Chili the
greater will be our opportunity and ability to serve Peru. And I can very
well conceive that the present perplexed condition of the relations between
the two countries may render the friendly intervention of the United States
desirable to both.
After my reception this morning, I told Señor Balmaceda, the secretary for
foreign affairs, that if he would accept a suggestion I would propose that,
before opening any formal diplomatic correspondence, we should meet
informally and have a full and amicable conversation. As I had reason to
anticipate, he accepted the suggestion cordially, and I am to meet him at
his department on Monday at 12 o’clock.
I inclose also a correspondence between Señor Balmaceda and myself, which
will explain itself.
The matter was perhaps not very important, but under existing circumstances
there might have been an intention which it was my duty to notice, and I
trust that my action will meet your approval.
I ought, perhaps, to add that my reception here, both public and private, has
been,courteous and cordial.
As the administration removes from this place for the summer to Valparaiso
and the adjoining watering-place of Viña del Mar, I will, of course, be
obliged to transfer my residence there when they move, which they will
probably do some time next week. I have inferred from the telegram received
at Panama, informing me of Mr. Blaine’s appointment as chargé d’affaires at
Santiago, that it was not the intention of the department to modify its
original instructions, and that I would be still authorized, in case of
necessity, to charge him with instructions to Lima or La Paz.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 2.]
Address of Mr. Trescot to the President of
Chili.
Mr. President: I have the honor to present you
my credentials as special envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary from the President of the United States.
The frank and friendly communication with which I am charged will find, I
am sure, a ready response at your hands. If recent occurrences have
seemed to disturb that loyal confidence which has hitherto marked the
relations of the two governments, the President is persuaded that they
are due to some unfortunate misunderstanding which need only be clearly
stated in order to be satisfactorily corrected. The Government of Chili
will not fail to appreciate the natural and deep interest which is felt
by
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the United States in the
prompt and honorable termination of a war between kindred republics; and
I trust that your excellency will also feel assured that in no effort
which the Government of the United States may desire to make towards so
happy a consummation could there exist an intention to suggest any
solution which would compromise the honor, endanger the true interest,
or wound the susceptibilities of either of the belligerents.
I venture to hope that when I am permitted to lay before your excellency
the views of the President you will find only an earnest desire for the
arrival of that time when the powers now at war will resume their
peaceful and prosperous progress; when strengthening themselves they
will strengthen each other for the preservation of that system of free,
strong, and independent republics which, founded in the traditions of
the past, is the glory of the present and the security of the future in
both Americas.
[Inclosure 2 in No.
2.—Translation.]
Reply of the President of
Chili to Mr. Trescot.
Mr. Minister: I receive the credentials which
you place in my hands with satisfaction, which accredit you as the
special envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United
States.
You may be assured that in the Chilian Government you will find a sincere
and friendly welcome, which will be a merited reply to the loyalty of
purpose and sentiments with which personally, and in obedience to your
instructions, you come animated.
I am fully confident that our friendly relations with the United States,
cultivated by both sides with the constant attention that is becoming to
two honorable governments, will be maintained unchanged.
I esteem as a special proof of the sympathy of the Government of the
United States, the natural interest that it manifests for the
termination of a war which, unprovoked by Chili, has been brought to a
final end by means of vigorous measures, and it is pleasing to me to
hear from you that any effort made by the President of the United States
for such a purpose, would never involve an intention to suggest any
solution that might compromise or endanger the interests, the honor, or
the susceptibilities of the belligerents.
Chili, an industrious people, that owes its welfare and its progress to
peace, and which, beneath its shade, has secured and developed the
democratic principles that constitute the immovable basis of the
republic, and assure it in the future, could not accept, after the war,
a peace that did not comport with its honor or fully secure its
rights.
I do not doubt but that your mission will fully correspond with the
elevated views of the President of the United States. It is also to be
expected, on account of your abilities, as well as of your honorable
antecedents. You will meet from this government every facility
desirable, and I do not doubt but that you will find a cordial and
pleasant welcome from Chilian society.
[Inclosure 3 in No. 2.]
Mr. Trescot to
Señor Balmaceda.
Gran
Hotel Yngles,
Santiago de
Chili, January 12,
1882.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your note of the 11th instant, informing me that his
excellency the President of the Republic of Chili has been pleased to
appoint Friday, 13th of the present month, at 1 o’clock p. m., as the
time of my public audience for the purpose of presenting the letters of
credence of which I am the bearer.
While thanking your excellency for this communication, I beg that you
will allow me to call your attention to an error in my official address,
which I am satisfied is only a clerical oversight, but which my
government would, I am sure, expect me to have corrected.
I am styled both in the superscription of the official envelope and in
the address of the note itself, “Enviado Extraordinario Especial y
Ministro Plenipotentiary de los Estados de Norte America.”
The style and title of the United States are “The United States of
America.”
Your excellency’s familiarity with diplomatic usage will, I am sure, lead
you to appreciate the propriety of the correction which I have the honor
to ask.
Renewing the assurance of my highest consideration,
I am, your excellency’s obedient servant,
[Page 61]
[Inclosure 4 in No. 2.]
Reply of Señor Balmaceda to Mr. Trescot.
Republic of Chili,
Office of the Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Colonization,
Santiago, January 12,
1882.
Sir: I have just received a note which your
excellency did me the honor to address me of this date, for the purpose
of asking me to change the address on communications that may be sent to
you, by placing “The United States of America” in place of the United
States of North America.
The official address which your excellency has seen on the dispatches
which I have had the pleasure of sending to you is the same as has
always been used by this office in its communications to the legation of
the United States. However, I hasten to make a note of your remarks,
which shall be attended to in future.
I take advantage of this occasion to reiterate to your excellency the
expression of my sentiments of high consideration, with which I remain
your excellency’s attentive and true servant,
