Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1921, Volume I
723.2515/785
The Chilean Ambassador (Mathieu) to the Secretary of State
The Ambassador of Chile respectfully salutes His Excellency the Secretary of State and has the honor to send to him the text of the invitation extended by the Government of Chile to the Government of Peru referred to in Note No. 920 of the 13th instant from the Embassy of Chile.
The Ambassador of Chile avails himself of this opportunity to renew to His Excellency the Secretary of State the assurances of his most distinguished consideration.
The Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs (Barros Jarpa) to the Chilean Ambassador (Mathieu)
Following is complete text of the note addressed on the 12th instant to the Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru:
Mr. Minister: The direct negotiations concluded between our governments in the month of November, 1912, for the purpose of fixing the bases for the plebiscite that was to have determined the definitive sovereignty over the territories of Tacna and Arica were interrupted during the last phases for reasons well known and wholly outside of our intervention. In view of the fact that our two governments had on that date, for the first time during the long protracted and sterile discussions that had gone before, reached the point of fixing by common accord the terms of the additional protocol contemplated in Clause 3 of the Treaty of Ancon, nothing could be more lamentable than that [Page 250] the causes alluded to should have interrupted those negotiations, instituted as they had been to put a definitive end to the differences that separated, and still separate, our two nations. His Excellency the President of the Republic of Chile, who is firmly resolved to seek an early means of solving the Tacna and Arica problem, has instructed me to address myself to Your Excellency’s Government to the end that a solution of the pending difficulties may be reached as soon as possible. No more just and equitable scheme for the loyal and honorable fulfillment of the Treaty of 1883 could be found than the negotiations of the year 1912 to which I allude at the outset, for, as Your Excellency doubtless knows, they fully satisfied the aspirations of the Peruvian Government which was careful to seek a formula that would avoid conferring on the Chilean Government the initiation of that scheme; and thus it was that on the same date and in the same hour of the month of November, 1912, the Ministers of Foreign Relations of the two countries exchanged identic telegraphic communications, reciprocally extending invitations to resume cordial and stable relations looking to national prosperity and the satisfaction of high American interests. In these telegraphic dispatches, which were immediately ratified through the same medium, it was provided that the plebiscite referred to in the Ancon pact for the termination of the definitive sovereignty of Tacna and Arica were to be held on the following bases:
- 1st.
- The plebiscite shall be held at poles [polls] under the direction of a commission that shall proceed by majority vote and shall be composed of five delegates, to wit, two Chileans, to be appointed by Chile, two Peruvians, to be appointed by Peru, and the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile, who shall preside.
- 2d.
- Native born persons in Tacna and Arica, and Chileans and Peruvians who shall have resided three years in the territory, shall vote.
- 3d.
- All voters must be able to read and write.
Those simple rules, which, as we have stated, were immediately ratified by cable according to express agreement, removed the only difficulties that had presented themselves in the way of definitive fulfillment of Article 3d of the Ancon Treaty. That agreement having been adopted in terms so perfect and cordial, nothing should operate to cause their abandonment or to stand in the way of their realization. By that agreement the holding of the plebiscite was postponed until the year 1933; but such postponement would have the effect of keeping latent in America a cause for international conflict, possibly obliging Peru and Chile, and perhaps other countries, to bear excessive costs for military preparation in these times when the great transformation of war inviting [invites] the nations of this continent to dedicate their best efforts to the development and increase of their natural wealth.
The fact that our country is exercising sovereignty over Tacna and Arica, according to the express provisions of the Ancon Treaty, naturally makes the postponement of the plebiscite very advantageous for Chile, because of the natural increase of our interests year by year. Nevertheless, Chile, in deference to the lofty spirit of continental [Page 251] cordiality, is ready to accept an earlier date for the holding of the plebiscite than that fixed in the agreement of 1912 to which I have just referred. Inspired by these considerations, my Government invites the Government of Your Excellency to carry into effect without loss of time the agreements entered into in the month of November, 1912, for the holding of the plebiscite in Tacna and Arica that was stipulated for in Clause 3 of the Ancon Treaty. I rest in the confidence that Your Excellency’s Government will not withhold its acceptance of this invitation, for it is founded upon the very bases proposed by the Government of Peru and inspired by the same principles—which, be it said, are less favorable for the country that exercises sovereignty—that were established for the plebiscitary acts contemplated in the Treaty of Versailles, in which pact the Government of Your Excellency concurred by its signature. In extending this invitation, which has been prompted by a high spirit of international harmony, I can assure Your Excellency that my Government will gladly accede to any suggestions which Your Excellency’s Government may be pleased to make for the purpose of giving this act the highest measure of solemnity, and will join in guaranteeing, in the most absolute form, the free exercise of the wills of those who shall be called to decide the fate of those territories.
I avail myself of this opportunity to offer to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest and most distinguished consideration.
(Signed) Ernesto Barros J.