Mr. Asboth to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that a modification of considerable significance has taken place in the personnel of the Argentine cabinet in consequence of the resignations tendered by Señor de Elizalde of the office of minister for foreign affairs and by Señor Corte of that of minister for justice, religion and education. The vice-president has appointed Dr. Don MarcelinoUgarte as minister for foreign affairs and SeñorUnburn as minister for justice, religion, and education. In enclosure A you will please find a copy of Dr. Ugarte’s official announcement of his having assumed the charge of the department for foreign affairs as well as a copy of the respective government decree. Dr. Ugarte’s note of yesterday reads in English as follows:
Office of Foreign Relations, Buenos Ayres, September 9, 1867.
The undersigned has the honor to address to your excellency the enclosed certified copy of the decree issued by the vice-president of the republic in charge of the national executive power by which he is appointed minister secretary of state in the department of foreign relations in lieu of Dr. Don Rufino de Elizalde, whose resignation has been accepted.
At the same time the undersigned takes pleasure in offering to the minister resident of the United States of America, General Alexander Asboth, the assurances of his distinguished consideration.
MARCELINO UGARTE
His Excellency General Alexander Asboth, Minister Resident of the United States of America.
I have to-day replied to this note in the following terms, viz:
No. 21.]
Legation of the United States, Buenos Ayres, September 10, 1867.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s note dated yesterday, with a certified copy of the decree issued by his excellency the vice-president of the republic in charge of the national executive power appointing your excellency to fill the office of minister for foreign affairs in lieu of Señor Dr. Don Rufino de Elizalde, resigned.
[Page 226]I seize this opportunity to offer my sincere congratulations not only to your excellency on your elevation to so important a trust, but also to the country at large on having obtained the benefit of your excellency’s able and patriotic services, which, I feel assured, will happily contribute to secure the best interests and promote the prosperity and happiness of the Argentine Republic.
I beg leave at the same time to tender to your excellency the assurance of the high and distinguished consideration with which I have the honor to be your excellency’s obedient servant,
A. ASBOTH.
His Excellency Señor Dr. Don Marcelino Ugarte, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
In order to account for these changes in the cabinet, I must allude to an incident which occurred some days ago. On the 26th of last month the vice-president, in pursuance of his determination to modify the general direction of the affairs of the country, resolved to suspend the monthly subsidy paid by government to the Nacion Argentina newspaper, the organ of Señor de Elizalde. The editors of that paper having privately received timely warning of the intended decree before it was issued, published in their number of the 27th, in conspicuous type, a notice, stating that, having been informed that the vice-president, Dr. Don Marcos Paz, had been speculating in lands in Rosario whilst he was taking advantage of his high position to influence the deliberations of the senate on the capital question, they had resolved to refuse henceforward the government subsidy. The vice-president, in consequence of so outrageous a proceeding, which, to say nothing of its malignant spirit and bad taste, threw so gratuitous a slur upon him, resolved to accuse before the bar of congress the principal editor of the Nacion Argentina, Señor Don José Maria Gutierrez, the intimate political partisan of Dr. de Elizalde and Señor Corte. This resolution, coupled with other circumstances which betrayed the vice-president’s determination to impress a new character on the policy of his administration, led to the withdrawal of Dr. de Elizalde and Señor Corte, whose views were never in accordance with those of Dr. Don Marcos Paz.
Dr. Ugarte, the new minister for foreign affairs, is a member of congress and a lawyer of distinguished abilities, whose reputation is moreover characterized by a strict and generally acknowledged integrity. His appointment, as well as that of SeñorUribura, who was elected president of the senate on the assumption by Vice-President Paz of the reins of the executive power consequent upon the return of President Mitre to the seat of war, has been hailed with general satisfaction, and it is confidently anticipated that the infusion of these new elements into the administration will be beneficial to the general interests of the Argentine republic in its present critical situation.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D.C.