Chargé Cresson to the Secretary of State.
Lima, February 22, 1910.
Sir: I have the honor to report, continuing the observations made in my dispatch No. 3221 that while public opinion here remains generally undisturbed as regards the outcome of the Spanish arbitration of the frontier questions pending between Peru and Ecuador, at the same time active preparations by the Peruvian Government are becoming daily more evident with a view to meeting any possible hostile move on the part of the other Government interested.
I attribute the markedly calm and judicious attitude of the the Peruvian press, and indeed the tone of the public in general, to the growing conviction that the rumored line of the Spanish award, as reported from Madrid, and published in the newspapers of both countries, is very nearly—if not exactly—the delineation already chosen by the King of Spain. Such a decision would be eminently favorable to Peruvian pretensions, and a distinct gain of territory as compared with the provisions of the Garcia-Herrera treaty.
I also annex1 with the above a curiously exaggerated version of the same conditions published in Ecuador and reproduced here as tending to show the manner in which public opinion in Ecuador is being aroused against such a verdict as the one expected.
I would remind the department that the line of the Garcia-Herrera treaty, adopted under especially favorable conditions in 1890 (under the terms of the Bonifaz-Espinoza Convention of 1887), is a line of demarcation which was intended as a compromise between the pretensions of the two countries. This treaty was ratified in 1891 by the Ecuadorian Congress, but the Peruvian Congress, following the report of a diplomatic commission, introduced several important modifications. The executive branch of the Government, declaring this act to be unconstitutional, the matter remained in abeyance till 1893 when the decision of the legislative branch to maintain its pretensions very nearly brought about a conflict with the Ecuadorian Government.
[Page 439]It will be remembered that the Peruvian minister for foreign affairs during his term of office called the attention of the Peruvian Congress to the fact that on the 10th of August, 1905, a secret treaty was signed between Colombia and Ecuador, mutually guaranteeing the integrity of the territory of both countries. It would seem evident in case of a serious difference with a third party over territory so intimately affecting both Republics, that such a treaty might be called upon to play a considerable rôle.
In spite of the somewhat apathetic state of public opinion noted above, in view of the warlike preparations daily reported from Ecuador, the Peruvian Government is unquestionably making extraordinary preparations to meet any emergency.
I have, etc.,