No. 464.
Mr. Buck to Mr.
Bayard.
Legation of
the United States,
Lima,
Peru, October 2, 1885. (Received
October 24.)
No. 36.]Sir: On October 1, I cabled you to the effect that
Cáceres states that protection will not be granted to the subjects of such
Governments as refuse to recognize him as a belligerent, but that he will
subject them to duties as Peruvians. That the presence of two or more United
States vessels on the coast would be desirable on the presumption of a
refusal on the part of foreign Governments to recognize Cáceres, who is in
no way stronger.
The mail on the Isthmus is delayed, and instructions are awaited from the
Department.
The telegram was based upon a communication, a newspaper copy, which,
substantially correct, I inclose. They were sent to members of the
diplomatic corps generally, and I presume are all about the same thing, if
not facsimiles. I have not time before closing of mail to comment upon it at
such length as I might desire. Of course, however, I do not conceive it
would be proper for me to make any reply to such a communication from
General Cáceres’s so-called minister of foreign relations; still this threat
makes the position of foreign residents in the interior very uncomfortable,
as within his lines General Cáceres virtually renounces all treaty and
civilized obligations towards foreigners whose Governments decline or ignore
his demand to be recognized as a belligerent. Fortunately there are not many
Americans in the interior.
I do not think any Government represented here is apt to concede anything to
General Cáceres in his present status. He seems no stronger. Indeed, from
what appears, I think his situation is less promising for him than it was
some time ago. Still he may at any time run in upon sea-ports, and, since he
assumes the role of a freebooter and proposes to consider foreigners as
Peruvians, may levy contributions on such Americans as he can find, or
subject them to military service or other outrages, as he pleases.
Perhaps this is all a ridiculous threat of his. Still it seems to me it would
be well, if not more urgently required elsewhere, that an adequate naval
force should be kept along this coast to protect Americans and American
interests against outrages, when the Government cannot or will not do so. I
should think, if they can be spared for the service, three or even four
ships would not be too many for the Peruvian coast, and placed under such
special instructions as in view of the facts seems to the administration
best. Hence I telegraph as indicated.
As I have previously advised you, I think the Government is well disposed to
Americans; but the country is vast, its forces small, and
[Page 621]
the Government weak and perhaps unable to give
protection against its revolutionists.
A dispatch from Casma, of September 29, states, after a fight, with losses
(not stated) on both sides, Pedro Cochachas, the noted Indian revolutionist,
was taken prisoner.
A telegram signed by Ramon Barrantes, governor, dated Casma, October 1,
states that the subprefect claims he has occupied Puillo, and the Indians
have surrendered unconditionally, and that he has sent in pursuit of the
rebels.
The President’s brother, Lorenzo Iglesias, left here on September 28 to take
command of the army which left, as stated in my No. 35, of September 26, to
operate against General Cáceres. This force is variously estimated, as I
have before advised you, but it was exceedingly well armed and equipped.
I have, &c.,
[Translation.]
Circular to the foreign diplomatic corps resident in
Lima.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Tarma, September 15,
1885.
Sir: In the dispatch which, with date 22d June
last year, I directed to your excellency from this city, I had the honor
to manifest that his Excellency General Andrés A. Cáceres, ceding to the
desires of the majority of the population, had assumed the supreme
command of the Republic with the object to re-establish in the country
the constitutional system and to procure the establishment of a
Government which should be the true expression of the national
opinion.
With this motive, I had also the occasion to manifest that the foreign
war having terminated, the nation had not made use of its sovereignty to
designate the authority which should direct its destinies; that in the
countries where the representative system rules, the only legal source
of the Governments is the consent of the population expressed by its
obedience; that the Government of General Iglesias wants this
fundamental title; and, lastly, the greater majority of the country
favors with its adhesion, sympathy, and obedience the Government of his
Excellency General Cáceres.
More than a year has passed since the date of my dispatch referred to,
and the successes that have taken place during this long space of time
have only corroborated the propositions enunciated. The Government of
General Iglesias, although it comprises comparatively strong material
elements, has been impotent to impose its authority on the nation; in
the mean while the authority of his Excellency General Cáceres has
extended and invigorated with the decided and effective co-operation of
the majority of the Republic. The refusal of the towns to obey the
Government of General Iglesias has not been a passing fickleness, but
the fruit of a profound and deeply-seated conviction, which they have,
that this government is not by any means the representative of their
interests, nor of their aspirations.
This uniformity of opinion has allowed the Government of his Excellency
General Cáceres to constitute and organize itself in a solid manner and
it actually exercises effective jurisdiction in the greater part of the
national territory, which regulates the public administration in all of
its branches, and lastly has a strong army, well organized, to carry out
the work committed to it by the said towns; thus the Government of his
Excellency General Cáceres unites all the features of a real national
Government.
Notwithstanding these titles, which assist and prove the legitimacy of
the authority exercised by his Excellency General Cáceres, he has
manifested at different times the desire that an appeal should be made
to the people, so that they, by their vote, might name the executive who
shall wield the supreme power, and with this object he has proposed
different ways of arriving at an agreement, which would have given a
pacific conclusion to the civil war and allowed the constitution of a
Government that would be the free and true expression of the wishes of
the country. Unfortunately these elevated purposes have been stubbornly
and constantly refused by the belligerent, and his Excellency General
Cáceres sees, much against his wishes, the painful necessity of arriving
at the solution of this conflict by the continuation of hostilities.
The situation thus created, which may last for an indeterminate time,
must affect not only the natives of the country, but also the
foreigners, resident in it.
[Page 622]
My Government, desiring to avoid as much as possible the harm which the
prolongation of the civil war may cause to foreign commerce and to the
interests of neutrals, and with this end thinks it advisable to have
understood the condition of the foreigners that reside in the territory
under its commands.
In the civil war now being carried on in the Republic the only way to
obtain this result, and, on the other hand, consult the perfect
neutrality of the different states that maintain relations with Peru,
would be the recognition of my Government as a belligerent, which in
truth would only be the recognition of an actual and indubitable fact
evidenced by the existing state of war.
According to the opinion of Wheaton, Bello, Halleck, Calvo, Bluntschli,
Lawrence, and othet eminent authors of treatises on international law
whom it would be too numerous to name, “the civil wars, properly
so-called, give to each of the parties engaged in same all the rights of
war; that is to say, the character and the rights of belligerents, not
only as concerns the enemy, but also in respect to all the states which
desire to remain neutral.” “If, after a reasonable time, there is little
probability of the conflict ending, the recognizing of the two parties
as belligerents appears to be justifiable.” “In this case, the
legitimacy of the Government of neither one or the other is recognized,
but only the existing state of war, and allows of treating with those
that direct the war, without anything that is prejudicial to the
legitimacy of the rights of either of the two contending parties.”
The recognition of the principals in respect to my Government would
oblige it to recognize on its part all the rights, exclusions, and
privileges which the respective treaties give to foreigners.
I leave it to the elevated criticism of your excellency, and to that of
your Government which you so ably represent, to decide this point, which
I think is more in harmony with the interests of your subjects, the
principles of international law, and with your private judgment formed
in view of the interior situation of Peru, only having to declare in the
name of my Government that in case the Government of your excellency
does not think it convenient to make the declaration to which I refer,
its subjects will remain subject to the same rights and obligations as
Peruvian citizens.
I take advantage of this opportunity to repeat to your excellency my
sentiments of high consideration and esteem with which I have the honor
to write myself.
Your very attentive and obedient servant,
FRANCISCO FLORES CHINARRO.
