The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-10-12

I.,y3s Derby and Malmesburv promise to
make Us shabby an exhibition of diplomacy
IT, iut zuaua Is they did in the fisheries affair.
Everything seems too large Tor their small
grasp. The cGaHo question is OF somewhat
greater Importance than might at first sight
apreag. and We therefore suhlolG a short &c
count ui II.
Alorz the whole coast Of Peru, down TO a
certain latitude, II never rains, any more than
i does N Egypt; 4 phenomenon as vet unex-
planned ~ philosophers. The coast itself.
aherasc. rocky and bold, and the is cts which
skirt il, are the abode Of innumerable sea
i8Hi: am jhCi uuLg never washed away, but
accommodating for ages, is The guano commerce.
The ordinary depth OF the bed Of this matter
is about 90 ieeE but Mr.. Charles Darwin. the
emineu; traveller, naturalist, and philosopher,
teIls Us that the accumulation is in some cases
tnU feet and IN few even 1900 in depth. The
supply, therefore, may vlftu.liy he considered
"a Ine3hauSlibie as al that Of the coalfelds of
England or Auerlca. The formation of the
gu2n0 appears To he very slow; for in the period
OF near 3-3 years since the discovery, the ac-
cGmulatou has been reckoned not to have ex-
ceeGed q le" lines in thickness, a fact which If
correct r.r!ies the creation of the sea fowl tina,
iOfncC ii 10 an antiquity which overpowers the
iniag gIuatton, and makes man in comparison
with 24uuct a creature OF yesterday.
GuaHo Is found on all the rocky sno es and
rocky !H.ci- O.! the coast of Peru within the
limits o. tie region of perpetual drought to
which hagr alluded. But the most pre-
GucliYe deposits are on Two clusters of rocky
lsiels ca..ed by the Spaniurds Lobos de terra
and L0los de Utuera, or The landward and sea
ward Lohos. The word lobo means Il wolf,
bur with mar or the sea" joined to it. sea
woh' IL l. in shnri a species OF seal, an ami
mai which ficqNented the shores Of these rocks
and Wn!ch, anti guanO came into use, gave
them the. only value.
The nearest q the Lobos Islands are distant
from The shore Of the mainland of Peru about
twenty FIVE miles. ard the farIhest about twice
t5a, distance. Destitute OF soil and of water,
mere bare sterile rocks, they have never been
occupied or inhabited; indeed they are by ma
ture not hubitGbe. These are the places of
which the sovereignty has been claimed by
tne Republic oi Peru, from the time they be
gan 10 export guauo; and claimed only for the
avo"ed purpose OF enabling that shabby re-
pubic 10 tax the foreign consumers of guano,
and thus saddle cyIlised nations with the pay
ment OF lis own debts.
The proofs of Peruvian sovereignty amount
only to the assertion oft. The right OF soyer-
eignty, says the Republic, has never been dis
puted. Aiccd0, the celebrated geOgrapher, has
enumerated tire LObOs Islands as part Of the
possessions Of thr Crown Of Spain, say the Pc
ruyians That may have been; but other Span
Iards have been found TO claim the Molucca
Islands IS belonging 10 Spain, and lying in
nearly the same parallels OF latitude, with
about the same Feasibility. 1t simOreoyer as
serted that na,iye Peruyians have sometimes
visited the Lobos Islands for guano. This
amounts TO nothlng II II were true; but most
probably IL Is not lrue, for the poor Peruvuns
have abundance of guano close at hand on the
shores ol the main land and on the islands
which skirt it, and are by no means likely to
have made voyages Of twenty-five TO fifty miles
for il III their canoes.
The arguments against Peruvian sovereign
ty seem TO US irretrag able. No public docu-
ment can be produced showing that Spain ever
claimed IT, sill less that her claim was admit
ted. Lord PalmeTston reminds the Peru
Wan Government that the Lobos Islands are
not included iii the Constitutional Act in which
its provinces and dependencies are enumera-
ted. For twelve years after the declaration
OF independence, Peru was silent about any
rights ot sovereignty; and when in S}3, il did
lay claim 10 islands on IFS coast, it did not
specify the I.ohos Islands as among them
Again, the LUbOs Islands are from eight TO six
teen times iha distance from the main land Of
Peru that pubic law prescribes as being with
IN The legitimate Iurisd diction of IL state; Finally
the Peruvian Government renuers no service
whatsoever, III return for the tax which il ex-
acts. Ii i4rniSHes neither wood, nor water
Asbt tbIiESA s-I lBDu' 1t supplies no IlSDI, no
pilots, no mOOrings. 1t simply embanasses
the commerce of other nations by an onerous
Inlpost. L. really appears TO US that the SOW
eIelgnty at Peru iii the Lobos Islands and
with II ths right 10 impose a tax on guano, has
Little more foundation than might be set up for
a claim OF sovereignty in the Pacific ocean,
because S"ain first discovered it, and With il
right 10 impose tax on the capture OF sperm
whales.
Notwithstanding all this, Lord Derby and
his lucnless minister, Alalmesbury, have hur
TleI 10 admit the nIischieyous claim Of the Pc
r9viuns. Tie proclaimed friends of the Brit
lsh farmers have allowed their manure TO be
taxed without resistance or inquiry. Lord
Pulmerslon was in no haste. He simply ad-
united prinaa tacie case from propiuquity,
but as already stuffed, he reminded the Peruv-
an Government that the Lobos Islands were
not named IL the Constitutional Act ofPeru.-
Mr. Webster indeed justly observes, on this
subject that down to the 10th of May, 1851,
the date OF Lord Pamerstons S last communi
cation, the question "was still open TO Eng
land" 1t Twas Lord Derby who rashiy shut
the door.
The American Government has by no means
welded 10 the rapacious and lmpudent claim
ot the Perugians, as the Derby Administration
has been eager to do. Ii tells the Peruvian
Government Ilat, for fifty years, the citizens
Of the Lobo5 Island, and pursued seals on their
rocks, without their right being once called in
to question by either Spain or Peru and it
adds, that II can see 10 difference as 10 right,
between catching seals and gathering birds
dung on the Lobos Rocks. La 1888 the Peru
wan Government did make a claim TO the
lsiets on It's coasts, without naming the Lohos
Islands. Lest il should have included them
the American Government then protested
against the claim, and the protest wa. never
answered, 50 that for near 90 years more the
Americans were left TO use the Lobos Islands
as they had done before.
Looking 10 the previous course of American
diplomacy IN all similar cases, il appears TO us
matter ot certainty that they will carry their
point IN tais. Let US see what will be the re-
suit. They Will supply themselves, and US,
and France. and any other nation, that foolish
iy admits the indecent claim of the Peruvians,
with cheap untaxed guano. Nay, were It's