Mr. Tillman to Mr. Olney.
Quito, September 1, 1895. (Received Sept. 24.)
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that since my Nos. 16, 17, and 25 on the political conditions, I have made no further reports—first, because there was nothing of a definite or decided character for me to report; and second, the State Department, by means of ocean cable and steamers, could have, and no doubt had, knowledge of the movements of Alfaro much earlier than I had, being separated from him by two armies and 100 miles of mountain roads without the means of telegraphing. I now report that on the 13th and 14th of August General Savasti, minister of war, in command of the Government forces near Riobamba, was defeated and his army, composed mainly of conscripts, was completely disorganized, and went, some to Alfaro, many to their homes, and a few returned to the capital, where, after a week of unsuccessful efforts to reorganize and increase the fighting force, the struggle was given up and the chief actor for the Government, minister of foreign affairs, Señor A. Rivadeneira, left for Colombia with his family on the morning of the 19th, carrying with him, it is said, about 100,000 sucres, which had been raised by the priests a few days previously for the purpose of organizing a force and preparing for the resistance of Alfaro at the gates of or within the city. The vice-president, the minister of finance, and other members of the cabinet remain in the city, some of them being in foreign legations and others at their own homes. The wife and daughters of General Savasti came to the house occupied by me on the night of the 17th of August, and are still here with my consent. General Savasti came on the following night, and remains here quite ill.
During the month preceding the flight of Mr. Rivadeneira, I refused all applications for an asylum, from the humble mechanic seeking to shun military duty to the richest merchant who was under suspicion of the Government. But since the flight of Mr. Rivadeneira and the abandonment of the public offices by other members of the cabinet, all the legations have been filled with women and children, boxes and trunks, especially during the 18th and 19th of August, when there was no Government—either municipal, provincial, or national—and when the streets were filled with men and boys firing the abandoned rifles of the dispersed troops of the Government.
Good order has prevailed since the 20th, under the municipal management of a friend of Alfaro—Señor Alban Mestanza, who has been named by the people as governor of the province of Pinchincha. General Savast’s defeat and retreat was hardly known before he was [Page 245] charged with treason and with selling the battle to Alfaro, but his associates in the administration did not make the charge, and no well-informed man, native or foreigner, believed that he could win with the army under his command. General Alfaro is still at Ambarto, but it is expected that a portion of his command will reach here to-morrow, and he will follow in a few days.
I beg leave to ask for such instructions as you may think proper to give me.
I am, etc.,