Mr. Perry to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have again had a very satisfactory interview with Mr. Bermudez de Castro on the subject of Spanish relations with Chili to-day, at his department, and have obtained as a result the extension of the time mentioned in my despatch No. 218, of 11th instant, written from San Sebastian. Mr. Bermudez de Castro trusts that the Chilian government will be persuaded to salute the Spanish flag, and promises that a salute shall be immediately returned by the Spanish fleet, and he will instantly commission a new minister to represent Spain at Santiago, withdrawing the Spanish forces from the Pacific. In the hope that the good offices of the United States will be exerted to convince Chili that it is her duty to accept these terms of arrangement under the circumstances, and they to preserve the peace which Spain is not desirous to break, Mr. Bermudez de Castro, at my personal instance and on my representations, writes again immediately to Admiral Pareja to prolong the period set for commencing active hostilities one month—-that is to say, two weeks in addition to “the fifteen or twenty days” already ordered in accordance with our understanding at San Sebastian, as heretofore reported, that being the language of the instruction already sent to Admiral Pareja, and which I am informed by Mr. Bermudez de Castro will go out in the English mail-steamship to sail from Southampton to-morrow, 17th instant. I begged Mr. Bermudez to send the additional fifteen days to Southampton by telegraph for the same ship. The written instruction for the additional fifteen days will go out in the next succeeding steamer a fortnight later, and ought to arrive before the expiration of the “fifteen or twenty days” mentioned in the first. The chief thing to be apprehended is, that Admiral Pareja may have already commenced the active warlike operations contemplated in his original instructions before the first instruction for their suspension arrived. For this contingency there is no remedy here. Under the circumstances, I have not thought it proper to offer the mediation of the government of the United States in this affair. Your instruction of August 22 does not, in its terms, make it my duty to take that step, though I may assure you I would not have hesitated to take it under the general tenor of that despatch, if that measure had recommended itself to my own judgment as in any way necessary or useful to prevent the war now threatening between Spain and Chili, and if the nature of the war had threatened to be more directly interesting to the United States.
In the actual state of the business I have preferred to give my intervention a wholly informal character and have addressed nothing officially in writing to the Spanish government; but I am certain nothing more could bave been done here than what has been done.
War may have already begun in the Pacific ocean, though I cherish the hope that, contemporaneously with your instructions to me, you will also have addressed others to our minister in Chili which will have enabled him to aid the contending parties to arrive at a satisfactory settlement.
If war has unfortunately begun, you are at least fully assured as to its character and object on the part of Spain, and these assurances may be relied on.
This government will not permanently occupy a foot of the soil of Chili, nor seek to set up any change in her government, nor to abase in any manner permanently the sovereignty and independence of Chili, nor of any other of the South American states. These assurances have been renewed to me to-day by Mr. Bermudez de Castro.
If war has not been declared, I trust that the delay now obtained, and the reduction of the Spanish pretensions to the terms of settlement I have had the [Page 558] honor to report, will make it easy to procure from Chili, on her side, such con cessions as will prevent the recurrence to hostilities.
And in thus reporting my action, under your instruction of August 22, I trust the course adopted will meet with the approval of the President.
With the highest respect, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretar y of State, Washington,