No. 560.
Mr. Christiancy to Mr. Blaine.
Lima, Peru, June 21, 1881. (Received July 18.)
(Confidential.)
Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 319, I have the honor to inform you of the result of the diplomatic meeting therein referred to. I found it to be the opinion of the corps, 1st, that the provisional government (so called) is supported by the weight of character and political influence of Peru; 2d, that the purpose of that government is to restore constitutional government in Peru; 3d, that it seeks to restore internal order; 4th, that it wishes to make peace with Chili; but, 5th, that this provisional government (so called) cannot, under present circumstances, be considered a government de facto, so as to warrant its recognition on that ground.
I am inclined to concur with the corps in all the above points, though I still have some doubts upon the first, and am not without some suspicions as to the second, third, and fourth.
This might seem, at first view, to bring the case within the principles of your dispatch No. 143, and to authorize (though it does not instruct) me to recognize what is called the Calderon or provisional government. But your dispatch, when carefully considered, may, and perhaps must, be construed as having been written with the understanding that the Calderon government was a government de facto of at least a large part of Peru.
The fact is that it is not a government de facto, or in the exercise of the functions of government anywhere, except so far as the Chilian authorities choose to allow it to exercise any powers of the kind, and these are confined within very narrow limits. It has been allowed to exercise, thus far, full powers only in the little hamlet of Magdalena, and has been allowed to send a few hundred men to Huaray and a still smaller force to the department of Junin to drive out the prefects who had been appointed by Piérola and to get the members of congress from those places to come here. It has also prefects friendly to it in most of the western slope of the Andes, except in the south.
But the courts of justice have not been restored anywhere, not even in Lima, and the whole country, except what is held by Piérola, is subject to such martial law as the Chilian authorities see fit to impose. In short, the Calderon government has thus far been used only as the instrument of Chili to carry out her own purposes, and there are not wanting many intelligent Peruvians and neutrals here who believe that it is the purpose of the Calderon government to aid Chili in keeping Peru permanently under the control of Chili as a permanent conquest.
It is well known here that many men of wealth among the Peruvians prefer that the Chilians should govern the country, as they think it would establish a more permanent government than Peru is likely to, and that their property would be more safe, but even those would prefer a protectorate of or annexation to the United States.
Señor F. Garcia Calderon is a wealthy man, and the representative of the Goyeneches, the wealthiest family in Peru. I am inclined, nevertheless, to believe that he is acting in good faith to Peru, with the hope of establishing peace, but I do not feel certain of it. If he is acting in good faith, I am satisfied the Chilians are deceiving him.
[Page 918]Now, on looking carefully at your dispatch No. 143, I see clearly that; one of your objects in recognizing the Calderon government is to bring about peace with Chili, which implies your desire for the continued national existence of Peru, and does not admit the idea of its permanent conquest by Chili.
But I am now fully satisfied that Chili does not intend to make peace with Peru at all unless driven to do so by outside pressure. For the grounds of this opinion I refer you to my last dispatch, No. 319, and wish now to say further, that on Sunday last (19th instant) Mr. Godoy, the political representative of Chili here, called upon me at the legation, and we had a free and general conversation upon the whole situation. I remarked to him (as I had before) that I had received instructions from my government under which I might feel authorized to recognize the Calderon government, which I had supposed and believed my government had supposed would be looked upon by Chili as rather friendly than hostile to Chili, inasmuch as the Calderon government had been encouraged by Chili. He again repeated that Chili had not yet recognized it. I said substantially that if the Calderon government should succeed in obtaining a quorum of congress it would be strong evidence that it represented the nation. To this he seemed to assent.
I further remarked, that while my government preserved its strict neutrality, it was anxious for peace between the belligerents at the earliest practicable period; and I thought this might be brought about if a quorum of congress should be obtained, or at least as soon as the government should be able to get back fully to a constitutional government. To this he replied, “It will be a very long time before a peace can be settled.”
He did not know that I knew he and the Chilian authorities had been coquetting with the friends and commissioners of Piérola. But I could readily see, from this as well as the conversation referred to in my dispatch No. 319, that they did not wish any encouragement or prestige to be given to the Calderon government, except what they might choose to give; and I could not but infer they were playing off the Calderon government against that of Piérola, for the purpose of furnishing a plausible pretext for holding the whole of Peru, or so much of it as they could.
From this statement it will be readily seen that a literal compliance with the permission given in your dispatch to recognize the Calderon government would be likely to violate its spirit and intent; and, before departing from the safe and generally approved rule of recognizing a new government, that it should appear to be a government de facto, I think I ought to wait, at least until the arrival of another mail (there having been no connection last week at the isthmus), as in the mean time you will have received other dispatches from me which may enable you to give instructions more applicable to the present state of facts. I have thought it best to wait, at least till the arrival of the next mail, before acting, and as my successor, who will come with the latest instructions, may wish to have a clear field, I may wait till he arrives before making a final decision.
In coming to these conclusions I have done what I think you would have done, in view of all the circumstances, had you been in my place and acting under the like instructions.
No other foreign minister here is willing yet to recognize this Calderon government, and I think I see an anxiety on the part of some of them to see the United States depart from the generally received doctrine [Page 919] of recognizing new governments only when they have become governments de facto.
Whatever support the “Calderon government” may appear to have, it is the settled and unanimous opinion of all intelligent men here, that it would not last a day after the Chilian forces should leave the country. And my own opinion is, that, if the United States should recognize it to-day, the Chilian authorities would take good care that any prestige it might gain from such recognition should be more than counterbalanced by the more stringent limitations it would impose upon any exercise of governmental powers.
I have, &c.,