Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1873

No. 252.
Mr. De Long to Mr. Fish.

United States Legation,
Yokohama, Japan, January 22, 1873. (Received Feb. 25.)

No. 340.]

Sir: The publication by the press of this city of reports of such a nature as the one I forward, (inclosure No. 1,) stating that the Peruvian government have fitted out and intend sending forward to Japan an armed expedition, charged with the business of demanding explanations from this government relative to the Maria Luz matter, and also indemnity, has created considerable excitement here in official circles. At an interview which I held with the minister for foreign affairs on yesterday he asked me if I believed these reports. I replied that I did not; that certainly I had not received any information to that effect either from my own Government or from that of Peru. He then asked me if the correspondence which had taken place between the Peruvian minister and yourself relative to the objects of the mission, and which being transmitted to me I had, under instructions, transmitted to him, could not be considered as conclusive upon this point. I advised him that I feared not, as upon examination of the dates I found that that note was written probably before the news of the Maria Luz affair had reached either Washington or Lima, but that I felt sure no government, after having thus formally announced an intention and invoked the aid of a friendly power to announce its mission and declare its intentions, would be liable hastily or for slight reasons to change its course. He then asked me if I had any objections to his having the correspondence that had passed between us upon this subject published, in order to allay any excitement upon the subject. I replied that he might publish the letter of Mr. Freyre to yourself, (the inclosure with your No. 146;) also my note to him and his reply to me, (the same that I transmit to you by this mail as inclosures with my No. 338,) but that for certain reasons it was advisable not to publish your No. 146. This he was much pleased with, and advised me of his intention to publish the same in the Japanese newspapers. He then inquired of me what course I should pursue if this mission should come charged with hostile intent. I replied that my Government had instructed me to lend my good offices to assist the Peruvian mission in its objects as declared in its letter, but it was equally well known to Peru and Japan that the United States representatives in every land were instructed in the strongest terms to do everything in their power, not only to prevent the growth and spread of the coolie traffic, but to completely prohibit it in the future; that Japan, in arraying itself against this business, had and would enjoy the fullest sympathy of the United States; that upon the arrival of this embassy I would at once make known to it what I had done in its behalf, and seek to learn its objects and intentions; that if I found it disposed to make trouble, on account of the course Japan had pursued about the Maria Luz, or to enter into negotiations to establish privileges in favor of the coolie-trade, that I should at once put forth every effort in my power to dissuade it from such a course, at the same time frankly avowing the opposition of my Government thereto; that by the relations I already held with this mission I hoped to be able to do much to avert danger from this empire, if any was threatened, but that, in the event I should discover this mission to be resolved in the prosecution of such purposes as those that were feared, no other course would be left open to me, compatible with the views of my Government and my own feelings, than to at once terminate my relations with the mission, which I would do, and notify the Japanese government thereof.

With this expression, the minister expressed his unqualified satisfaction, at the same time assuring me that his government reposed complete confidence in my declarations, and looked forward with the most complete assurance to the avoidance of any misunderstanding with the government of Peru, while the mission it sent forward should counsel with the representatives of the United States.

Trusting that I have understood and followed the wishes you expressed in your No. 146,

I have, &c.,

C. E. DE LONG.

[Inclosure 1.—Extracts.]

the maria luz.

Lima, November 12, 1872.

The Peruvian mind is very seriously exercised over the news recently received from Japan relative to the treatment of the captain of the coolie-ship Maria Luz. The facts of the case are simply these:

The vessel, with her live cargo, left Macao for Calao direct, but, having encountered heavy gales and stormy weather, put into a Japanese port in distress for repairs. While these repairs were being effected one of the coolies escaped, reached the shore and made a complaint to the Japanese authorities of cruelty at the hands of the captain, alleging, at the same time, that he was being conveyed to Peru against his consent. Assuming the story of the Chinaman to be correct, the authorities proceeded to act.

All the coolies on board were brought, by force, to land and were declared free. The captain, on protesting, was sentenced to either one hundred lashes or to one hundred days’ imprisonment, as he might prefer; and here the story ends, as the steamer bringing the news left the scene of conflict at this point.

The Peruvian government is more than indignant. The coolies were all engaged by contract in Macao, the papers were pronounced legal by the governor and consul at that place, and the coolies themselves had signed the necessary documents and received the customary advance. The traffic, commonly called the coolie-trade, while denounced by foreign nations, is permitted by the Portuguese holding the port of departure and by the Peruvians receiving the immigrants. The vessel carried the Peruvian flag, and only entered the Japanese harbor to repair the damage she had suffered during the gale. The captain is an officer of the regular Peruvian navy, temporarily employed in command of the Maria Luz.

The contract was entered into in a foreign country between parties in no way amenable to the regulations of Japan, and the vessel being in Japanese waters purely through fortuitous circumstances, was entitled to the protection and consideration afforded by international regulations. Had the coolies been taken from the empire of Japan, the case would assume, say the Peruvians, a totally different aspect. But Japan, taking to herself the province of an arbitrator in an affair foreign to her rights, or even interest, places herself in an unenviable light. The consuls resident in Yokohama, protested energetically against the proceedings of the Japanese tribunals, the English chargé d’affaires, Mr. Watson, alone upholding the action of Japan.

The Peruvian government, having no representative at the scene of the occurrence, has taken as evidence the relation published in the Japan Herald of the 7th of September last, and is now having the account translated into Spanish for the information of the public.

But in the meantime other steps are being taken. The embassy to be dispatched by Peru to China and Japan leaves here on the 18th instant, and Captain Garcia y Garcia, the chief of the mission, a brother of the former minister from Peru to the United States, Dr. José Antonio Garcia y Garcia, will be fully instructed as to the course he must pursue. The Japanese government will be requested to make the necessary explanations and reparation for the damage caused by its conduct.

Captain Garcia will sail in the Independencia, a formidable iron-clad frigate, mounting sixteen heavy guns, and constructed by Samuda on the Thames in 1865. We are here unaware of the force of the Japanese navy; but, should the matter prove serious, it is said that the intrepid “Japs” will find a tough antagonist in the frigate.

It is sincerely hoped here that the affair can be satisfactorily settled by Captain Garcia without recourse to gunpowder, but the offense admits of no arrangement without a “change of base” on the part of His Majesty the Mikado.

It is understood that through the efforts of the British legation the action of the Japanese government was hastened and strengthened.