Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1873
No. 326.
Mr. Thomas to Mr. Fish.
Lima, Peru , December 13, 1872. (Rec’d Jan. 7, 1873.)
Sir: The Congress of Peru, being limited by the constitution to a session of one hundred (100) business days, failed to act on several subjects of importance. His Excellency Manuel Pardo, President of this republic, called an extra session of Congress, which convened on the 9th instant.
I was present with other members of the diplomatic corps, the cabinet of the President, and the judges of the courts of Peru, by invitation, to witness the opening of the session of Congress. President Pardo made an oral address on the occasion, which was well received, and a translation of which is herewith inclosed.
I have, &c.,
Speech of President Pardo on the opening of the extraordinary session of the Peruvian Congress
Honorable Representatives: The Congress of 1872 assembled under exceptional circumstances, which were unfavorable to the work to be done. The inauguration of the new government demanded from it the solution of very grave questions, in fact of nearly all the matters affecting the political and economic problems of the country. On account, however, of the violent and disastrous end of the last administration, whose province it was to give you an immediate account of public affairs, the Congress had to resign itself to be deprived, as in reality it has been, of the materials and documents so necessary for its labors. Notwithstanding this the Congress has been able and has preferred to devote its attention to those subjects in which they justly saw that the general interests of the nation were compromised, and always looking to the same end has afterward solemnly expressed its desire to dedicate an extraordinary session to the conclusions of these important subjects and all others which have already been submitted to its wise decision. This is an example which will always speak highly in favor of its elevated views and patriotic aspirations.
In complete conformity with this spirit, the government has made use of the constitutional attribute which gives it the privilege of convoking an extraordinary Congress, with the object of being enabled to carry out its wishes by shaping into laws the different projects which have been presented for deliberation either by the government or by the representatives; projects intended to meet the more or less imperious necessities of the public service, and the sanction of the greater part of which the government deems indispensable to the regularity of the administration. Without this, the expectant attitude which the government has had to assume for the past four months would be indefinitely prolonged, as the authorization of Congress of all the plans brought under its notice is absolutely indispensable, in order that the government may proceed legally, and give the necessary impulse to the different branches which are under its direction.
The executive is actually occupied in putting in practice two important laws already passed by Congress, the one concerning military conscription, and the other the national guard. The government is fully satisfied with the services and loyalty of the small army which it has been able to form after the catastrophe of last July, an army which is very inferior in numbers to the exigencies of the service, but which will make the best nucleus for that which may be formed by a just application of the first of those laws, purified as it is of the odious abuses which have always existed among us. In this and the national guard the country will find the most powerful supporters of order, and of the stability of our institutions, as well as an inexpugnable defense against the attempts of that portion of society which, being composed of professional conspirators, is a constant menace to peace and constitutionalism, to wealth, public and private, and to the interests of the masses, who exist by the proceeds of their industry.
The veritable foundations of the public power depending on these two laws, the new municipal bill, which has been so favorably received in the different towns, as tending to awaken them to another existence, as well as in the chamber to whose deliberation it has been submitted, will afterward help to fix more solid bases for our administration; it will, at the same time, relieve the public functionaries from attending to a thousand affairs of secondary importance, which at present clog their action, and will vitalize the real elements of the people’s progress.
I must now again call the attention of Congress to the projects which bear upon the economic future of the country. With the frankness which is due to the post confided to me by the nation, I have, on a former occasion, made patent to you the true state of the public exchequer, and, in short, though political or personal interests may have sought to disfigure it, the sole eloquence of the facts has been sufficient to form the national opinion on this point, so that now nobody wishes to deceive himself in the matter. The situation, as the Congress is aware, may be stated in two propositions. The proceeds of the guano, which, up to the present time, has sufficed for the internal administration of the country, will be swallowed up in attending to the foreign debt, when the new loan for the completion of the public works shall be realized; and the ordinary revenue of the state is barely sufficient to meet the half of the ordinary expenses. To permanently cover this deficit is, and always will be, the only serious mode of veritably and definitely solving the uncertainties of our economical situation, of supporting our credit in foreign countries, of promoting order and regularity in the public administration, and finally of giving a methodic impulse to commerce and industry, by freeing us from the disturbances which the unforeseen economic operations of the government have always produced; and although the revenues from the guano were not completely hypothecated by exterior considerations, it would always be one of the noblest patriotic tasks to endeavor that the state should draw its existence [Page 757] from natural sources; not only to avoid unprofitably consuming transitory riches, but principally to prevent conflicts, which, at certain moments, give rise to really ruinous complications. And, if this might occur under certain circumstances, it is hard to conceive what objection there can be not to consider the subject when we find ourselves abandoned to our own resources, and obliged to look for the means of existence among ourselves.
The government well knows that however palpable may be these truths, the subject will not the less serve as a pretext for the opposition which every administration is sure to meet; but if to conceal them would be dishonorable in private persons, how much more so on the part of a government which entertains profound convictions on the matter, and which is intimately persuaded that the problem which we are trying to solve to-day is not only the problem of the present, but also of the future. This resistance, far from detaining us on the road, should, on the contrary, make us redouble our efforts, as they show us that only by a firm intention to cement the public weal can we do anything worthy of the solemn circumstances under which the people intrusted to us this sacred deposit. If I, gentlemen, would but attend to my own tranquillity, and think less about the future of the country, I should calmly wait for the discussion of the last item of the budget, which would place you face to face with the deficit, that you might meet it by one of those blind authorizations to the executive power, which, in order to get over a momentary difficulty, compromise in a definite manner the permanent interests of the country. But the just expectations of the people, proceeding from the instinct of their own wants, can no longer be satisfied with this system of expediency; their aspirations, always in conformity with their real interests, make them hope from their representatives the definite solution of the principal problem of the future.
The adoption of the monetary measures, which have been proposed to the Congress by the government, will satisfy a double necessity, as not only are they intended to place our internal affairs on a better footing, but also to render possible the realization of extensive financial operations, without which our credit will be ruined and the execution of many important public works will be impossible. The emission of the last loan and the consolidation of the floating debt are measures whose urgency have become more imperious with the lapse of time since I first had the honor to call your attention to them. On these depends the continuance of the public works, and although many of them have been begun in complete forgetfulness of the fiscal situation of Peru, they cannot be abandoned at present without causing some grave inconvenience.
The sanction of the municipality laws, of the regulations to be observed in the elections, and in forming the civic register, will go far to satisfy the exigencies of the moment by correcting the abuses which signalize electioneering proceedings, and the various projects which are being discussed or which will be laid before you with reference to the administration of justice and public instruction, together with those of a financial character, are indispensable elements to enable the government to regulate the administrative labors of the period.
Among the other objects for which the Congress has been convoked, there are some to which I may be allowed to call its particular attention, and I shall begin with the treaties which Peru has lately celebrated with many friendly nations, and which have been presented to you for ratification. In making this recommendation, I have the pleasure to inform the Congress that the relations of Peru with foreign powers have never been better than at present, and that the new government, during the short time it has been in existence, has received the most unequivocal testimony of sympathy with the principles and policy it represents.
Coal-mining is about to be begun in Peru, favored at the same time by the greater consumption of combustible, by the high price which it fetches at present, and by the close proximity of the railways to the districts which contain this-precious material. To fix the lawful mode of its extraction, and so to avoid the confusion which at present exists in our mineral legislation respecting it, is to remove the principal obstacle to the employment of capital in this industry.
The home minister will solicit special credits from you in order to foment European immigration; this is a most important matter, and should receive our preferent attention, the more so if we reflect that its immediate solution is connected with our material, moral, and political progress, and how unfavorable is our geographical position with regard to the principal centers of European immigration.
Legislators, to conscientiously fulfill the duties which the constitution and the people impose on the public authorities, is the surest mode to guarantee peace, and to cement constitutional order. The governments who carry out their mission without boasting of omnipotence, and with the firm purpose of legally administering public affairs, are those whose policy is worthy of our institutions and of our time.
Legislators, with your enlightened aid, with the resolution of the people to sustain, at all hazards, the liberties they have regained, and in a permanent fashion, I can augur to the country the necessary tranquillity in order to carry out the pacific and [Page 758] progressive reform of our institutions, the re-establishment of an equilibrium in our economic situation, and that gradual growth of our riches under the shelter of peace, and of the laws by which we are ruled.
Reply of the president of the permanent commission of the legislature, Señor Miñoz, to the address of President Pardo.
Citizen President: The Congress has listened with the most lively attention, and with the greatest satisfaction, to the message you have just read, in order to inaugurate the extraordinary sessions to which it has been convoked by the executive power.
The representatives of the nation would have wished to discuss and resolve, in the term of their ordinary sessions, the questions which will occupy them during this new period of their labors; but, as you have well said, not having had the necessary facts and documents before them in time, they have preferred to devote their attention to those subjects where they saw the interests of the state were compromised.
The Congress cannot but felicitate itself that, in the two laws ultimately passed with regard to conscription and the national guard, the government has found the necessary guarantees to enable it to fulfill its duties. The national representation have the most unlimited confidence in the patriotic views of the government, and is convinced that it will know how to conserve unaltered the public order, institutions, and well-being; these are sacred interests, which have been intrusted to your zeal, and which I to-day again recommend to you, with the deepest interest, inspired by the misfortunes of our country.
The Congress is perfectly aware, as you have just reminded it, that the lamentable state of the exchequer should be attended to in preference, and should impose some sacrifices on the country; but, believe me, the difficulty will be overcome by confiding without reserve in the patriotism of the representatives of Peru, and in the abnegation of your fellow-citizens.
The Congress will take into consideration, with not less interest, the other subjects brought to its knowledge, and particularly of those which you have just recommended to its zeal.
You have concluded, sir, by giving a new proof of your civic virtues, and of your really republican sentiments.
You are not inspired by the bitter lessons of recent mournful events, which are the ruin of those governments who compound power with force, but by a profound conviction that the honorable and faithful fulfillment of duty is the surest pledge of peace, beneath whoso protection the Congress hopes you will be able to keep the liberty reconquered at the cost of so many sacrifices entire, and to carry out the statutory reforms which the country looks for from the high authorities in the state.