Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress
Mr. Asboth to Mr. Seward
Sir: * * * * * * * *
In enclosure D you will moreover be pleased to find, for your information, my daily memoranda of political events from 11th April to 8th May.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Daily memoranda of political events in the River Plata from April 11 to May 8, 1868.
April 11.—An official despatch of General Paunero has been published to-day, giving the account of an engagement with the rebel forces at San Ignacio, province of San Luis, on the 2d instant, which resulted in a victory for the national arms. It appears that General [Page 172] Paunero, despairing of inducing the insurgents to engage him as long as he kept his forces united, detached a column of 1,600 men under Colonel Arredondo, with the object of enticing them to fight. The manœuvre was successful. The insurgent army, 3,500 strong, commanded by the brothers Saá, Colonel Videla, and Rodriguez, trusting to their numerical superiority, attacked Colonel Arredondo’s division, and after a short but sanguinary combat were completely defeated. Besides a great number of killed on both sides, the rebels lost 80 prisoners, several stands of arms, and all their artillery, consisting of eight pieces of cannon.
April 12.—The local daily press is full to-day of the late battle of San Ignacio, of which further details are published, fully confirming the valor displayed by the national forces. The moral effect of this action is even greater than the actual results, and will render the final pacification of the interior an easy matter.
The Cisne, from Corrientes, brings alarming news of the prevalence of cholera in that city.
April 13.—The circular from the Argentine minister for foreign affairs to the diplomatic agents of the republic, forwarded in my report No. 21, dated yesterday, is published in all the local papers.
The Arno mail packet arrived here to-day, and brings news of serious disturbances in Brazil on account of recruiting for the army in Paraguay. The national guards in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco refuse to march out of the country, and in the latter place disastrous riots are reported to have taken place.
Several cases of real Asiatic cholera morbus are said to have occurred here, and great alarm prevails. From Corrientes the mortality in the hospitals is reported as truly fearful, and a cholera panic has seized its inhabitants, the greater portion of whom have abandoned the city and left it almost deserted.
April 14.—The alarm about cholera in Buenos Ayres is on the increase, and the mortality is undoubtedly much greater than usual; many people, however, insist that it is owing to an epidemic somewhat similar to cholera morbus, but very different from it in reality.
April 15.—The municipal return of deaths for yesterday and to-day shows a marked increase, and the epidemic in town among the poorer classes is making great havoc. One of the most distinguished medical practitioners of the city, Dr. Fust, who had been sent by the government to San Nicolas as a member of a commission charged with reporting upon the nature of the prevailing epidemic, came back to Buenos Ayres the day before yesterday and died the same day of the effects of this disease, which nobody now denies being Asiatic cholera.
April 16.—In a letter of the English consul in Rosario, Dr. Hutchinson, published in today’s Standard, he states: “The cholera which we have here is for the most part the spontaneous species, but we have had lately, also, a few cases of what may be styled malignant cholera.”
April 17.—The mortality in this city is increasing at a fearful rate, and people are beginning to fly to the country. The archbishop has ordered a devout novena (special public prayers that last for nine consecutive days) to begin on Saturday evening next, the 20th instant, to implore the sovereign mercy on behalf of this city, and save it from a further visitation of the prevailing disease.
The following proclamation of General Paunero is published in to-day’s papers:
THE WAR IN THE ANDES—PAUNERO’S PROCLAMATION.
The national commissioner and commander-in-chief of the army interior to the province of San Luis:
Fellow-citizens: The national banner again waves over your capital, while the bloody flag of treason and anarchy lies trampled in the mud.
Fellow-citizens, you are now freed from the insults, oppression, and outrages of the rebels, to which you have been so long the victims. The national arms have saved you, the same victorious arms which have wrenched from the bloody grasp the entire province of Cuyo.
Fellow-citizens, I am persuaded that the majority of the young men of San Luis have been induced by fear to join the traitors; never could I otherwise account for their alliance with the Indians to pillage, rob, and murder their own relatives. To these misguided youths I therefore offer the hand of friendship and good faith, earnestly inviting them, for their own and friends’ sake, to return. I come here not to chastise but to protect, and while fixed in my resolution to make no treaty with the ringleaders, I have a welcome for all who return.
Fellow-citizens, fear not; your lives and property are safe in the hands of your country’s defenders. We only ask in return that moral assistance which is the best safeguard of a tree people. You who have brothers, wives, husbands, or children, the state claims your co-operation for the re-establishment of order.
Your friend and countryman,
WENCESLAO PAUNERO.
San Luis, April 5, 1867.
April 18.—The government, in view of the state of things in town, has ordered a suspension of the customary holy week’s rules respecting the non-transit of horses, carts, or carriages [Page 173] in the streets during to-day and to-morrow. This is the first time such an innovation has been attempted, and the government order is highly approved.
Don Estevan Rams, well known for his praiseworthy devotion of his time and energies to the important undertaking of the navigation of the Rio Salado, and just as he was on the point of realizing his long-cherished project, has fallen a victim to the epidemic which at present afflicts this city.
April 19.—The following telegram has been received from Montevideo: “Cholera at Curuzu; average 150 deaths daily. Tuyuti as yet not infected. Corrientes devastated. Two cases of cholera occurred here on the 17th instant.”
April 20.—The mortality in Buenos Ayres yesterday reached the alarming number of 190. A storm broke over the city on the night of the 18th, and a refreshing pampero has set in, which it is hoped will purify the infected atmosphere.
April 21.—The sanitary condition of the town has apparently improved, owing to the change in the weather and the cold pampero wind which is still blowing. By the official returns of the railways, it appears that upwards of 50,000 people have fled the city within the last week. The municipal returns of mortality for yesterday show a marked diminution.
April 22.—In an official letter General Paunero announces to the minister of war that the heads of the rebellion, with some 200 soldiers, had abandoned the city of Mendoza on the evening of the 11th instant: a similar flight having been made by those who occupied San Juan. The vanguard division, under Colonel Arredondo, continued its forced march on Mendoza. From Rioja the news is that General A. Taboada fell in with a rebel force of 5,000 men under Varela, at a place called Bargas, on the 10th instant; the national troops numbering about 3,000. The battle lasted only for a short time, as the rebels retreated and Taboada took a large number of prisoners, with two pieces of artillery, several stands of arms, and a great number of horses, &c. It is reported that on account of the prevailing epidemic the government of Cordoba has placed a sanitary cordon on the frontier of the province, and all communication with Rosario and Buenos Ayres has been cut off.
April 23.—The government of Montevideo, by a decree dated yesterday, has closed all the ports of the republic to vessels coming from Buenos Ayres, or any other port of the Argentine Republic. This measure wall inflict incalculable injury on the general commerce of the river Plata.
By way of Montevideo we have news from the seat of war, which is truly awful. At Curuzu, on Palm Sunday, there were over 500 fatal cases of cholera, and on the following Monday almost an equal number, whereupon the Marquis de Caxias ordered all the troops to leave the fort, and encamp outside the ditches. At Itapiru some few cases of cholera have occurred, and it has also broken out on board the gunboats and iron-clads.
From the interior we hear that Colonel Arredondo had, by latest advices, occupied the town of Mendoza. The flight of all the rebel chiefs to Chili may lead to further political complications, as there seems to be a very bad feeling between the Chilian and Argentine governments.
The Brazilian minister in Peru has taken great offence at certain passages in the President’s message, and has handed in to the Peruvian government a formal protest. It seems that the Peruvian government openly espouses the Paraguayan cause.
April 24.—The sanitary condition of the city of Buenos Ayres continues to improve, and the daily number of deaths is steadily decreasing. The rush, however, to the country still goes on, though in a milder form. Since the night before last the practice has been introduced of lighting innumerable bonfires in the principal streets, in which tar is copiously burned; and the lurid flames thus in every part of the city shooting up to heaven, produce an extraordinary effect. The move was a spontaneous one, and the authorities not only did not lend their aid, but were opposed to it. The advantages of this popular move have been two-fold, for the bonfires have contributed to purify the air, and have also occasioned the burning of all the rubbish and dirt collected in private houses, thus removing one of the principal causes of the epidemic.
April 25.—The steamer Proveedor, arrived yesterday from Corrientes, brings full confirmation of the awful mortality in Curuzu. Private letters state that the epidemic is also in Tuyuti, and such is the alarm in Corrientes that the Brazilians sent down 2,000 men to defend the hospitals, owing to some threats of General Caseres to destroy them. (General Caseres is a gaucho chieftain of considerable influence in the province of Corrientes.) Special meetings have been held in Corrientes to request the governor to turn the sick Brazilians out of town.
April 26.—The health of the town of Buenos Ayres shows a steady improvement. According to the testimony of several doctors it appears that the disease is going from east to west, while it is assuming a milder form. The bonfires last night in the streets exceeded all previous nights; every empty box and tar barrel in the city was burned up, and not only at the corners but in front of almost every door there was a blaze.
April 27.—News has arrived that Osorio is on the banks of the Uruguay. The cause of his delay, it seems, was the great desertion in his ranks. In Rio Grande the number of deserters is put down at from 7,000 to 8,000 men, and in the Banda Oriental it is stated there are no less than 3,000 Brazilian deserters.
[Page 174]The last mail from Brazil has brought news of several serious disturbances in consequence of the unwillingness of the national guards to come forward and furnish more contingents for the army in Paraguay.
The latest advices from Rosario are very satisfactory; the cholera is rapidly on the decline, and some of the affrighted citizens are beginning to return.
The provincial government of Buenos Ayres has, by a decree dated yesterday, ordered the compulsory closing of the saladeros, (establishments where cattle are killed for salting their flesh and hides,) from the prevalent though erroneous opinion that they are the focus of infection. This arbitrary measure is not only ruinous to the owners, but affects seriously rural industry and the shipping of this port, and will indirectly impair the commerce of the place in general.
April 28.—By last advices from Paraguay we hear that Marquis de Caxias has struck his tents and moved the whole allied camp from Tuyuti to the hill-tops which overlook the marshy trail known by the name of Estero Bellaco. The Curuzu division has deployed to the left and encamped in the open country on the river’s bank.
The national government has called Governor Luque to account for the extraordinary quarantine regulation adopted in Cordova.
April 29.—On the 25th instant took place the inauguration of the works of the first railway in the Banda Oriental, the Central Uuraguay railway. There were present on the occasion Dictator Flores, all his ministers, and a large concourse of the citizens of Montevideo. General Battle, the minister of war, turned the first sod, and General Flores wheeled the barrow along the platform. Several speeches were delivered by General Flores, his ministers, and others. The line is to go as far as Durazuo, and its estimated length is over one hundred miles. Capital, £1,000,000, in 20,000 shares of £50 each. The government subscribes for one-half of the whole stock.
April 30.—The French packet arrived here yesterday morning. It brings news that the riots in Brazil in consequence of the enlisting have been completely put down by the government, and troops are being embarked again at Rio de Janeiro in the transports Leopoldina, Taguaribe, and Equara.
The mails from Rosaria bring the news that the revolution has completely died out in the Cuyo provinces, and that cholera has almost disappeared from Rosario. Thus trade is reviving.
May 1.—An article in the Journal do Rio de Janeiro, pointing to Señor de Elizalde as the most proper of all the candidates for the presidency of the Argentine Republic, has given rise not only to a premature discussion of the merits of the several candidates, but to bitter recriminations by the Tribuna against Señor de Elizalde and an uncompromising defence of him by the Nacion Argentina.
It seems there is reliable information from General Osorio, who crossed the river Uruguay on the 23d ultimo, and must be now near Parana. According to some accounts he has not over 4,000 men with him.
The national congress was, according to the provisions of the constitution, to have been opened to-day, but the absence from Buenos Ayres of almost all the deputies and senators from the provinces has rendered it impossible. The daily press in general comments very severely on the want of patriotism thus displayed by the representatives of the people, who allow fear of the cholera to prevent their fulfilling the duties they owe to their country, more particularly at a time when questions of the greatest importance are waiting to be discussed and settled by congress.
May 2.—Accounts of the ravages occasioned by cholera in the allied camp continue to be published in the daily papers. An English doctor, attached to the Brazilian hospitals in Corrientes, furnishes the following details to one of our leading daily papers:
“The city hospitals at present contain about 4,509, of which over the half are cholera cases. Cholera has, to a greater or less degree, spread over the whole allied camp, and a Paraguayan deserter who has just crossed over states that there is a very prevalent disease among his countrymen called carneal, but the mortality is not very great.”
The same individual states “that during the last fifteen months there have been buried in Corrientes alone some 17,000 people.”
The Standard of to-day says, “The stoppage of the Saladeros has cut right at the very root of the only trade we have at this period of the year, while the monstrous conduct of the Montevideo government in keeping their port still closed paralyzes the whole port and river business of Buenos Ayres.
May 3.—One of the first questions the congress will have to take like into consideration is where the capital of the republic is to be. Buenos Ayres was lent to the national government for five years, and this period is on the point of expiring. On one hand the province of Buenos Ayres is unwilling to continue this arrangement, and on the other the rest of the provinces are jealous of the preponderating influence of the city of Buenos Ayres, and of its daily increasing wealth and power. It is difficult to foresee what solution will be given to this very knotty question, though the probabilities are that in consequence of the war, the province of Buenos Ayres will consent to allow the present arrangement to be continued provisionally for another year, and then perhaps much will depend upon the result of the election of the President of the republic, which is to take place next year.
[Page 175]May 4.—A series of official documents are published to-day relative to the late events in the province of Cuyo, which confirm the news of the re-establishment of order, by the flight of all the revolutionary leaders and the reinstatement of the authorities overturned by the revolution. A Colonel Molino, who was the last appointed revolutionary governor of San Juan, and his chief of police, named Belomo, are the only leaders that have fallen into the hands of the victorious party, and were, in a very summary and unconstitutional manner, tried by a self-appointed court-martial, convicted, and executed in the same day. General Paunero, with the main body of his army, was close to Mendoza.
May 5.—The following table, showing the deaths in Buenos Ayres during last month, can be relied upon:
Deaths for the month of April, 1867, taken from the register of the North, South, and Protestant cemeteries.
| Cholera | 1,604 |
| Cholerina | 185 |
| Other disease | 661 |
| 2,450 |
Choleric in 28 days, average 57 8-28; cholerina and unknown in 30 days, 6 5-30; different diseases in 30 days, 22 1-30.
Deaths until May 3, 1867.
| 1st. | 2d. | 3d. | |
| Cholera | 14 | 19 | 16 |
| Cholerina and unknown | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Other diseases | 22 | 25 | 10 |
| 41 | 49 | 28 |
The sailing of the vessels Leopoldina and Iaguaribeis reported from Rio de Janeiro, with about 600 men, on the 23d ultimo, for Paraguay. On board the Iaguaribe are two brothers Allen, Americans, who have constructed three balloons for the Brazilian army and go to give their services to the Marquis de Caxias as æronauts.
May 6.—From Tuyuti some accounts state that the Brazilians, far from meditating any attack, are busy making mud houses for the winter.
General Paunero, who has entered Mendoza, is reported to have called upon the national government to cancel the exequatur of the Chilian consul in Mendoza, as he appears to have obtained evidence against this official tending to prove that he has been aiding and abetting the revolution.
May 7.—The following is taken from to-day’s Standard:
“The war in the north—Arrival of the Oriental—Cholera declining—Continued bombardment.
“On Sunday the steamer Oriental, without mails, arrived in port, bringing dates to the 1st May. The war news is, as usual, of a most unimportant character. The Paraguayans are busy as ever in the trenches and night attacks, and the allies head and ears in business, landing maize and hay from Buenos Ayres, Rosario, and all the small ports along the Parana.
“The Argentine army has about 3,000 horses and the Brazilians 30,000, besides some 6,000 bought in Entre Rios. People can have some idea of the magnitude of the forage business, when they consider that the horses are rationed with as much regularity as soldiers. Each horse is fed on maize and hay. The maize costs, put at Itapiru, ten patacons the fanega. Each animal consumes half a cuartilla daily. The monthly cost for forage for the horses is over two millions of patacons. Chacreros along the river have risen from absolute poverty to greater independence than that of the sheep farmer. Cows are neglected, sheep are despised all along the banks of the Parana, and nothing is now thought of save raising corn and hay for, as they say, the Brazilians. The stupendous expenditure in forage alone gives an insight into the colossal cost of the present war.
“Contemporaries seem to despise the task of reflecting on the fearful consequences of this unprecedented expenditure upon Brazilian posterity. Indeed, it is difficult to say what Brazilian posterity will be composed of, for the mortality returns from wounds, sickness, and cholera, are also very severe, and some of the flower of the land sleep in untimely graves beneath the gloomy cypresses of Corrientes.
“Verily the war seems to be carried on as if the end of the world was to ensue on the fall of Lopez. Day follows day with the same unbroken monotony. Millions upon millions expended. The bone and sinew of the country dying off away from home and friends, thrown into the river or buried in a foreign soil. Does it require the prescience of the wizard to foretell the grand wind-up? If Brazil produced as much gold as coffee, or silver as tobacco, such tremendous extravagance must entail a debt which will make posterity bankrupt. Caxias has a fine army, a powerful navy, and yet, though time in the present case is more than money—it is life, credit, and existence—he strolls listlessly through the palm trees day after [Page 176] day, waiting mails from Rio and men and arms from Osorio. Time was when we were told, and even believed, that the real motive of this inactivity on the part of the allies was to exhaust Lopez; but we have survived that delusion. Rather is ii the other way: Lopez is trying to exhaust the Brazilians. Lopez pays nothing to his men; he is in his own country: everything that it yields is at his command. The crops this year have eclipsed all former seasons. The women of the country are the farmers, while their sons, husbands, and brothers are fighting at headquarters. The war over to-morrow, Paraguay suffers only in population; for, even supposing the conclusion of hostilities in the most favorable light for the allies, it is a dream, an illusion, and a madness to suppose that Paraguay can ever repay the allies the cost of the struggle.
“The bombardment at Curupaiti, the Troy of the river Plate, is now and then carried on—that is to say, a few random shots are fired each day before sundown. The Paraguayans sometimes reply.”
Latest advices from Rio Grande mention the death of General Canavarro from a kick from his horse. The local papers give a list of troops, summing up 26,000, furnished by Rio Grande for the Paraguayan war.
From the interior it is reported that the rebel General Saá, after the defeat by Arredondo, retreated towards Chili, accompanied by 500 men. When he arrived at the Andes he found the passes closed by some Argentine emigrants, who endeavored to force him back. A brisk engagement ensued, in which the emigrants were defeated, and Saá is said to be now in Chili.
May 8.—The late decree of the provincial government closing the saladeros has created quite a storm, and given rise to much and earnest remonstrance on the part of those interested. The government has appointed a committee to inspect and report upon these establishments, and it is supposed that as soon as this is done the very unwise and arbitrary measure respecting them will be rescinded.