Mr. Egan to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Santiago, November 19, 1891.
(Received December 26.)
No. 234.]
Sir: My attention having been called to a number of
entirely untruthful and indecent attacks made upon me through the press of
the United States, and especially one in the New York Sun of September 30 by
a Mr. Julio Foster, who pretended to speak as a representative or mouthpiece
of the Chilean Government, I deemed it my duty to bring the matter to the
knowledge of the minister of foreign relations, which I did in a note dated
18th instant, of which I send copy herewith (inclosure No. 1). To-day I
received the reply of the minister, of which I inclose a translation
(inclosure No. 2), stating that his department had no knowledge of Mr.
Foster having ever received any special commission or authority whatsoever
to warrant him in assuming the role which, in the name of Chile, he has
pretended to discharge.
In this connection I take leave to inclose, as an indication of how my
attitude is appreciated here in Chile, copy of a letter (inclosure No. 3)
received a few days ago from Don Adolfo Eastman, ex-president of the Senate,
son of English parents, and educated in England, and one of the most highly
esteemed and respected men in Chile, even by his political opponents.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 234.]
Mr. Egan to Señor
Matta.
Legation of the United States,
Santiago, November 18,
1891.
Sir: As appears from the newpaper cutting which
I have the honor to send herewith, from the Sun of New York, of 30th
September, a serious and widely circulated journal, Mr. Julio Foster, in
this case as in many other publications which he has made in the United
States, as well as in interviews given by him in the Chilean legation in
Washington to newspaper correspondents, has presented himself as an
official delegate or mouthpiece of the Government of Chile.
As this has been very frequently repeated, and in order to communicate to
my Government the position which this gentleman fills, and the degree of
veracity and importance which are to be attached to his assertions, 1
beg of your excellency to be good enough to inform me if, in reality,
Mr. Foster has any commission or especial character which would permit
him to assume the role, which in the name of the Government of Chile, he
pretends to discharge.
Renewing the assurances of my high consideration,
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure.]
Extract from New York Sun, September 30,
1891.
Washington, September 29.—Mr. Julio Foster,
who has been acting all summer as the secretary of the delegates
from the Chilean Congress party, and who is posing as the mouthpiece
of the new Government, talks with remarkable freedom regarding the
present situation. He said to-day that he did not believe there was
any serious trouble between the United States and Chile. He said
that had anything serious arisen the Junta would have communicated
at once with Señor Montt. He believed that Mr. Egan had exaggerated
the whole matter so as to get the Administration to
[Page 231]
take up his cause and relieve him from
the embarrassment consequent upon the attitude he had assumed as a
friend of Balmaceda. Mr. Foster said that the people of Chile knew
Mr. Egan and had no confidence in him nor respect for him. They felt
that he was largely responsible for the war, because as a friend of
Balmaceda he had encouraged him to acts of hostility and assured him
of the sympathy of the United States.
Mr. Egan, he said, had excited the displeasure of the people of Chile
by his extraordinary course, and if there was a rupture between the
two countries, it will be entirely his fault. Mr. Egan had aided and
abetted Balmaceda, Mr. Foster said, and had enlisted his Yankee
followers in Balmaceda’s cause as spies and in other capacities. His
whole conduct had been such as to arouse national indignation, and
some of the men he was protecting from punishment for violation of
the law were, Mr. Foster said, charged with being spies and
assassins. Mr. Foster expressed the opinion that Mr. Egan was trying
to retrieve the fortunes of himself and others whom he had induced
to take up the cause of Balmaceda by kicking up a disturbance. He
said he had just received a letter from his son saying that Mr.
Egan’s son had filed a power of attorney as representative of the
parties who were charged with a fraudulent railroad transaction.
“Mr. Egan should have been recalled long ago,” he said. “Had another
man been sent to Chile as soon as it was discovered Mr. Egan was
meddling with Chilean affairs, there would be no sort of trouble
between the two countries. I can not understand why the
Administration keeps him there to affront our people. You may depend
upon it that Chile will respect law and order, and not do anything
which is not warranted by the circumstances, but she will not be
bluffed by any peremptory demand made by the United States upon
misrepresentations by Mr. Egan.”
[Inclosure 2 in No.
234.—Translation.]
Señor Matta to Mr.
Egan.
Ministry of Foreign Relations,
Santiago, November 19,
1891.
Sir: I have just received the note of your
excellency, dated yesterday, in which you ask me if Mr. Julio Foster,
now in Washington, is invested with any authority or special commission
from Chile, inclosing, in order to justify the inquiry, a cutting from a
journal called the Sun, which is published in New York.
In hastening to reply to the honorable minister extraordinary, and being
surprised that the question should be directed here instead of to
Washington, where Chile has now an envoy extraordinary accredited and
received, I have to say that there is no evidence in this department
that Mr. Julio Foster has ever received any special commission or
authority whatsoever.
With which, reiterating to the honorable minister plenipotentiary the
expression of my consideration, I remain
His obedient servant,
[Inclosure 3 in No. 234.]
Mr. Eastman to Mr.
Egan.
Cerro
Allegre,
Valparaiso, November 11,
1891.
My Dear Sir: My wife and myself will leave for
Santiago on Friday or Saturday, and you will naturally suppose we should
much like to see our near relative Guillermo MacKenna, who, in company
of his worthy cousin, Don Juan, you have nobly covered under the folds
of one of the banners that represents most generously the sentiments of
civilization and humanity. May God bless you and yours for all your
goodness shown invariably to all Chileans during the hard and difficult
times that your diplomatic mission in Chile has had to encounter; but if
you have been unfortunate enough to meet with some in this country who
have not had the good sense nor the spirit of justice to recognize the
exquisite tact observed by you throughout our unfortunate conflict, you
will always have in your favor the satisfaction of having nobly complied
with your duty to your country and to your own conscience, thus linking
the sentiments of the official man with those of the gentlemen.
[Page 232]
Wherever destiny may carry us, during the more or less short years we may
have to live, you may rest assured that our blessings and our gratitude
will accompany you wherever you go, and God, from whom nothing is
hidden, will bless you and yours.
As I shall only be two or three days in Santiago, you will kindly advise
me on my arrival (Hotel Oddo) if my wife and self can conveniently visit
Guillermo at your house, as we would not on any account wish to put you
to the slightest inconvenience.
With our united and best wishes to yourself and yours, believe me, my
dear sir,
Most faithfully yours,
