No. 97.
Mr. Osborn
to Mr. Blaine.
Santiago, Chili, June 07, 1881. (Received July 18.)
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a copy of the message of President Pinto, delivered to Congress at the opening, on the 1st instant, as also an English translation thereof.
You will observe that the President has seen fit to maintain silence touching the matter of the negotiations now being attempted with the belligerents on the north.
The boundary dispute with the Argentine Republic, of which the President makes brief mention, has continued to remain a source of much anxiety to the more thoughtful citizens of the republic. On more than one occasion the two countries have been on the point of going to war, and it has appeared of late that unless the controversy should be brought to a close, hostilities could not long be postponed.
Appreciating the desires of our government for an amicable arrangement fo this question, I have labored for several months, in concert with my colleague in Buenos Ayres, to find a basis which would seem to offer a solution of the difficulty, and I am now happy to be able to inform you that, as a result, the two cabinets are so nearly in accord that there can be but little doubt of a speedy and amicable settlement of the vexatious question. But of this I will write you in full hereafter.
I have, &c.,