The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-08-13
The LObOS Islands.


ship Of the Lobos Islands, the deposi,aries Of
an immense quantity Of this valuable manure
Exclusive possession is claimed by Peru, which
imposes the payment of onerous duties as 8
condition Of removal by the ships Of other ma
tons This pretension of Peru is sanctioned
by the British government, portion Of whose
subjects are interested, as the holders of Peru
Wan bonds, in the maintenance Of claim
which would provide for the ultimate lquda.
tion If their otherwise valueless securities
American merchants dispute the Peruvian
title, and insist upon the right of all
countries to a common interest in a territory
that has never had more civilized occupants
than the Penguins, the manufacturers Of the
article which has suddenly acquired it's present
enormous value. To ascertain the views of
the United States Government upon the sub
ject, New York shipmaster recently address
ed an inquiry to MIR. WEBSTER, whose reply
is published in the New York journals of Wed
nesday. We Subjoin copy, from which it
will be seen that MIR. WEBSTER does not con
cur in the claim advanced by Peru:
DEpARTMENr OF STATE,
| WAsHINoroN, June 5, 1852.
| Str: have to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter OF the I'd instant, inquiring whether citi-
zens Of the United States can take guano from
the Lobos Islands, which situated near the
coast Of Peru, without infringing upon the rights
of the citizena subjects or government of any
other nation.
Ia reply, have to inform you that if those island
should be within ths distance OF a marine league
from the continent, or it, being further than that
distance, should have been discovered and occupied
| by Spain or Peru, the Peruvian government would
have right to exclude therefrom the vessels and
citizens OF other nations, except upon such cond.
| tions as it may think proper to prescribe. There
can be doubt that the title Of Peru to the Chin
cha Islands, whence guano is chiefly taken,
| Ia founded upon the basis Of discovery and occu.
| pancy That article was taken from those islands,
and used asa manure by the Peruvians, anterior to
the conquest Of Peru by Spain. 1t continued to be
SO taken and used throughout the Spanish domin-
ion in that country, and this practice has been
kept up to the present day. Although those islands
are unnhabitable, the custom of resortng to them
from the neighborng continent for the purpose Of
procuring guano. may be said TO have constituted
such an occupancy of them as to give the sovereign
| Of the continent right Of dominion them I'm
der the law OF nations.
This Department, however, is not aware that tt, ,
| by Spain by Peru, or that the guano on them
has been used for manure Gu the adjacent
coast elsewhere. 1t is certain that their distance
from the continent ia five or six times greater than
| s necessary to make them a dependency thereof
pursuant TO public law. On the other hand, it ia
quite probable that Ben amin Morrell, jr who,
master Of the schooner Wasp. of New York, visited
those islands in September, 1923, may justly claim
| to have been their discoverer. He gives full ac-
| count of them in his narrative published at New
York in 1892 Under these circumstances it may
| be considered the duty Of this Government to pro-
| tect citizens of the United States who may visit
| the Lobos Islands for the purpose of Obtaining
| guano. This duty will be the more apparent when
| it is considered that hev consumers of Chincha
| Island guano in this country might probably OBJ.
tain it for half the price they pay, it not
| for the charges of the Peruvian government
shall consequently communicates copy of this let
Ter to the Secretary of the Navy, and suggest that
| vessel Of be ordered TO repair 10 the Lobos
Islands, for the purpose of protecting from noes-
| tation any of our citizens no may wish to Ia ke
| guano from them.
am, sir, very respectfully, your obi serv't,
| DANIEL WEBSTER
! To JAMES e. JEwErT,
| Master of the barque PhiloInela New York
Encouraged by Mr.: WEpsrER's assurances,
eastern merchants and shipowners have. since
the opening Of summer, despatched a large
number of vessels, of from 800 to 100 tons
burden, some of them, it is SAID. equipped
alike for service and defence, and others carry
ing machinery sufficient for the requirements
Of large export trade. On the part Of the
Government. the irlgate Rartan was some
time since ordered to the Iobos Islands, and is
now probably there, to protect American YES
sells in loading and removing guano.
The papers called for by the Senate will no
doubt inform the country more fully Of the po-
si,ion Of the question, which may be expected
to form the subject of early negotiation with
the Peruvian government.
| "Thc Union n Witness against General
| Pierce.
"A friend has called our attention to the fact
that, as late as the 9th of June last the Wash
ington Union published report uf speech
New Hampshire. in the course of which he
asked:
"rpho did not drplore slavery? But what sound
thinking mind regarded that the only evil which
could rest upon the land? The man ,oko ,coud dis.
soiue the Union did not hafs dep1ore SLAVERY more
! than he did,"
The speech in which this declaration was
made was embudied in an elaborate biography
of General PIERCE prepared by the Boston
Post Immediately after his nomination. and re
published in the Union Of June 81, with this
editorial accompaniment;
"We assign to-day large space in our columns
TO a very nble and well-written notice of General
Pierce, which we copy from the Boston Post, where
1t appears as editorial, and which we commend to
the attention of our readers"
The Boston Post prefaees the speech with
the remark that the Manchester meeting at
which it was delivered-held on November
20, lS5O-"was one of the most interesting
and important political meetings ever held in