Mr. Egan to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Santiago, January 19, 1892.
(Received March 2.)
No. 265.]
Sir: On the 11th instant, in consequence of the
receipt of your telegram of the 8th instant, I had an interview with the
minister of foreign relations, in which was discussed the question of
safe-conduct for the remaining refugees in this legation. I now beg to hand
(inclosure No. 1) a memorandum of what transpired at that interview. I also
send a memorandum of an interview with the undersecretary of foreign
relations on the 12th instant (inclosure No. 2), in which I informed him of
my intention to accompany the refugees to Valparaiso on that night to place
them on board the Yorktown; that the refugees from
the Spanish legation would also come accompanied by the Spanish minister;
and that we would also be accompanied by the Italian minister.
On the 13th instant I telegraphed you from Valparaiso to say that I had just
placed in safety on board the U. S. S. Yorktown all
of the refugees.
Upon my return to Santiago I was requested to call upon the minister on the
15th instant, which I did. He expressed annoyance at the fact that the
Spanish and Italian ministers and I had accompanied the refugees to
Valparaiso, and also at the fact that Capt. Evans, of the Yorktown, had given to the Spanish minister the customary salute
of fifteen guns, saying that these circumstances gave to the going out of
the refugees too much publicity. I replied that in the course of my previous
interview, when I mentioned that I was going to accompany the refugees and
that the Spanish and Italian ministers were coming, no objection was made. I
also maintained that the journey to Valparaiso had been conducted in the
most discreet manner and without any publicity, which was the fact, and that
the salute of the Yorktown to the Spanish minister
was intended wholly and entirely as a compliment to the representative of a
friendly power.
I send herewith memorandum in full of what passed in said interview
(inclosure No. 3).
On the 17th instant I sent you from Valparaiso a telegram giving particulars
of the situation and on same day a second telegram transmitting quotation
from an article in La Union, of Valparaiso, in which the refugees are
described as “fastened onto the Yorktown like oysters
to a rock.”
On yesterday, in an interview with the minister for foreign affairs, I
referred to the remark made by him in the last interview in reference to the
salute of fifteen guns given by the Yorktown to the
Spanish minister, and, as requested by Capt. Evans, I stated that the
captain considered himself accountable only to the Secretary of the Navy of
the United States for any courtesies which he felt called upon to pay to the
representative of a foreign power friendly to the United States, and that he
could not accept any commentary or criticism from any other quarter in
reference to his action in such matters.
I learn by telegraph from Valparaiso that the Yorktown
sails to-day for Callao with six of the refugees from this legation on
board, viz: Gen. José F. Gana, Señor Don Juan E. MacKenna, Don Ricardo
Vicuña, Don Adolfo Ibañez, Don Guillermo MacKenna, and Don Acario Cotapos,
and from the Spanish legation two refugees, Señor Don Bal-domero Friaz
Callao, and Don G. Cerda y Qssa.
I have, etc.,
[Page 305]
[Inclosure 1 in No. 265].
Memorandum of interview between Mr. Egan and Señor
Pereira.
Monday, January 11,
1892.
Inconsequence of the receipt of a telegram from Mr. Blaine, I waited
to-day upon the minister of foreign relations to ascertain if the
Government was willing to withdraw the parts of telegram of Minister
Matta of December 11, which are personally offensive to the President
and other officers of the United States and whether the Government would
consent to give safe-conduct to the remaining refugees in my
legation.
The minister, Don Luis Pereira, received me most cordially, and stated,
with regard to the latter question, that, owing to the delicate
relations between the various political parties represented in the
Government, it would not be possible for’ him to give formal
safe-conducts; but he said he could give me the strongest personal
assurance that the refugees could go out of the country, whenever they
pleased, without molestation or inconvenience.
I stated that some of the refugees, especially those who desired to go
north, might be afraid to travel by ordinary passenger steamers without
written safe-conducts, lest they might be interfered with by the local
authorities at the ports at which the vessels should touch. He assured
me he would take measures to avoid any annoyance or molestation of any
kind, and that they could travel by whatever way they desired. I then
agreed, for the sake of harmony and with a view to facilitating the
arrangement of other questions pending, to waive the claim for written
safe-conducts and to accept the proposition of the minister.
In reference to the first question, the minister said that, in the
absence of the President, who was in Valparaiso, he could not give any
answer, but promised to reply as early as possible.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 265.]
Memorandum of interview between Mr. Egan and the
subsecretary of foreign relations.
To-day I called at the ministry of foreign relations at 3 o’clock p.m. I
met the subsecretary, Señor Don A. Bascuñan M., and informed him that I
had made all arrangements to proceed to Valparaiso to-night, by special
railroad car, with the live refugees from my legation, to place them on
board the U. S. S. Yorktown; that I would be
accompanied by the Spanish minister, Count Bruneti, with two refugees
from the Spanish legation; and that the Italian minister, Signor
Castelli, had also offered to accompany us. I requested that the
necessary steps should be taken for our protection at the railroad
stations at Santiago and Valparaiso, as well as on the journey, which
the subsecretary promised would be duly attended to.
[Inclosure 3 in No. 265.]
Memorandum of interview between Mr. Egan and Señor
Pereira.
I called to-day upon the minister for foreign affairs, when he expressed
considerable annoyance at the fact that the refugees from the United
States and Spanish legations had been accompanied on the journey to
Valparaiso and on board the Yorktown by the
Spanish and Italian ministers and by me, and complained that the matter
had been conducted with too much publicity, and instanced as proof of
this the fact that Capt. Evans, of the Yorktown,
had given to the Spanish minister the customary salute of fifteen guns.
This latter, the minister said, had been interpreted by many people more
as a jubilation at the arrival of the refugees on board than as a
compliment to the Spanish minister. I replied that in our previous
interviews no objection whatever was made to the fact, intimated by me,
that the Spanish and Italian ministers and I were about to accompany the
refugees, and that, inasmuch as the refugees in my legation were under
the protection of the flag of the United States, I felt bound, as a
matter of duty, to accompany them until I had placed them in safety on
board
[Page 306]
the Yorktown. I further assured the minister that the journey had
been conducted with the very utmost discretion, so much so that only a
very few members of the immediate families of the refugees knew anything
about the matter until we had arrived aboard the Yorktown, when, of course, it was no longer possible to keep
it secret; and with regard to the salute to the Spanish minister, I
assured the minister of foreign relations that Capt. Evans had no other
intention than to pay the customary honor to the representative of a
friendly power.
The minister further added that he had given no official permission, and,
in fact, no permission, to the refugees to go out; but had only acted
with vista gorda, or with closed eyes, and that
if the refugees chose to go north or south by ordinary passenger
steamers they must do so at the risk of being taken prisoners by the
local authorities at any of the Chilean ports at which the vessels might
touch. I expressed regret that I had consented to waive my request for a
written safe-conduct, and stated that I had accepted the other
arrangement solely in order to avoid further complications. I further
said that three of the refugees had now secured their passage for
Montevideo with their families, and two others, with their families, for
Callao, all by the English passenger steamers, and that if they should
be captured on passage it would be a matter of very serious import to my
Government. The minister then requested me to confer with Capt. Evans,
of the Yorktown, and endeavor, if possible, to
avoid the threatened difficulties. I promised to go to Valparaiso
to-night for that purpose, as the refugees have all made arrangements to
start on their voyage to-morrow.
In relation to the withdrawal of the offensive parts of the telegram of
Minister for Foreign Affairs Matta, of the 11th of December, Señor
Pereira stated to me that Don Pedro Montt, Chilean minister in
Washington, had had considerable negotiation on this question with Mr.
Blaine, and that they were practically agreed upon the basis of
withdrawal; in fact, that the basis had been suggested by Mr. Blaine
himself. In compliance with this understanding, he made to me the
following proposition: “In view of the indications of Mr. Blaine, and of
the views expressed by his predecessors in the office of Secretary of
State, Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Webster, that a message of a President of
the United States to Congress is purely a document of internal import
and could not be permitted to be made the basis of diplomatic
representations or controversy by the representatives of any foreign
power, the Chilean Government has no inconvenience in withdrawing those
parts of the telegram of the minister for foreign affairs, addressed to
the Chilean minister in Washington, which may be considered disagreeable
to the Government of the United States.” The minister very strongly
pressed upon me the acceptance of the withdrawal of the telegram in the
foregoing terms, saying that their representative in Washington assured
them that these terms were entirely acceptable to Mr. Blaine and to the
Government of the United States.
I replied that I thought there must be some mistake on the part of the
Chilean legation in Washington, as I felt sure my Government, while most
anxious to bring this question to a friendly solution, would require, in
addition to the foregoing, a suitable expression of regret for those
parts of the telegram which it considers offensive to the President and
other officers of the United States. The minister assured me, in reply
to this, that Señor Montt had already received instructions to express
regret for all matters of a disagreeable nature that had occurred
between the two Governments, which, he assured me, was considered
sufficient by Mr. Blaine; and, in view of this, he again pressed me to
accept the before-mentioned proposition. I stated in reply that I could
only undertake, under all the circumstances, to submit the proposition
by telegraph to my Government and await its further instructions, which
he requested me to do.
