New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-31

6. odium Cf the Government Oi faiaguas' auu !.
,smains TO be seen what course that Uovefninent
"WiI take relative ~ INC eAoH@Ae0 Va
Thrss wefks later, on the 9Th Of November, 1854,
-. psce aos,n addres sod Mr.. Marcy, saying he
hsS ssn. Iieuf. Murdaugh to AscencIon with an an
meut Of bis authority to exchange the ratih'
cst;on Who brought back reply from the Secre-
tary Of State, returning the letter pecause IL was
,ry.,nn in English. Lieut.. Page contends thst nc
Ia 400 no obiehton TO correspond IN any other
in..,sco than his OVID, because his letters could
h.ya hoe, ea,ily translated. And he continues: -
O. bsd rcasops, apart from the consideration that
" President Lopez, 10 his presumPtuous exercise oi
sfsutbority. might conceive himself empowered 10
6. force me 10 correspond in bis own language, for
..,.,;.;,s in Fpoli,h." Then he admits that the
o,ly rersop associated with him who could translate
TnSl'.b into Spanish was his clerk, who had an
s.imperfect 9. knowledge Of the language
Listing the heroic virtues of our members OF
foopress. this officer thought it necessary roo, 10
edefns bis position, that the toregH popupti0h
ssnd the community generally snal uhoerStan tno
{. gr.unds ON which he stood IN the protection o
"Amer;cans." After long TRADE of abuse against
I,opez and his desposm, and other things quite
foreign TO the OCCASION Lieut.. Page says: " deem
0this return Of mn note al insult to the Govern
nment Of the United States, and indulge tne ncpe
"thst such mt0surcs will be adopted as VIII con-
"yince the President of Paraguay that tne onlteo
"his habit 10 bestow upon other Governments.
Our gallant officer was evidently as much moved 10
redress the wrongs Of mankind as his own. lie
expressed the hope 10 this letter that she Govern
meu1 could direct him TO proceed to Ascencion ln
the11kr Witch, with letter from the state De-
psrtment announcing his ml sion, and suggested, "a
a "surer means" of exchanging raticatlons tina
the Commodore of the Brazil squadron might b
Instructed to join him and go mp with the brig BAN
bridge in tow Mr. Marcy never Needed that ad
vice, aud dropped correspondence with the merry
lieutenant.
On the let Of February, 1855, Lieut.. Page dc
ta;ed Iieut LETTERS 10 take the Water WiIch,
make an exploration of the River Parana IN IT.
unner course. and to rectiy the chart OF tue
ryer nm 10 the mouth of the Paraguay. The Parana
foros tke boundary between COrrieDtes, one OF the
Provinces of the Argentine Confederation aau r"r-
aguay Pains were taken to apply to the Governor
o9 Coyr;eutes and to the Argentine Confederation,
for permission TO ascend the river, but Paraguay,
which had equal jurisdiction, was purposely ig'
nored. I'm a report made by Lieut.. JeieIs, he
ststes tbst after entering the Parana above the
month of the Paraguay, he Observed soule move,
netts at a Paraguayan fort, and " a boat was sent
" from the guardia observing our motions. Inre-
upon he " laid out kedge astern ana hauiea On 10
stIet 90 our anchor While the men were at DIN
Uper. he observed the Paraguayans getung theiI
"gur ready Then he cleared for action SHIFTED
"While weighing anchor, the Paraguayan Canoe
a very formidable vessel =" came alongslde, ald
Ga man offered me paper printed IN spanish,
(which declined to receive or the ground that 4
g. could not read it," In plain terms Lieut.. Jefers
imita. the exact example of President Lopez, which
constituted the gravamen OF Lieut.. Pages com.
plant. Then he stood up the rlver the crew al
- quarters On arriving within 800 yards OF ths
4" fort, was hailed by person Wno am lnlorIieo'
"was the Paroguayan Admiral, but did nol un-
"derstand the import of the hail. Two blank car
"tridpes were then fred from the fort IN qmck
"succession aud followed by shot" After some
sharp shooting in which the helmsman OF the W ater
Witch was killed. she backed down, and ended tho
engagement. 1t is manifest from this frank STATE
mert that every thing was done by the Paraguayah
authorities to prevent collision. First, they gave
notice. five months previously, that no - lore'gn
man-ofwar" should be allowed to ascend the river;
then they sent boat off with formal message
when the attempt was made; then they were haileu
by the Admiral, and then blank cartridges were
fred. Still the Water Witch persisted, under the
peremptory orders of Lieut.. Page
Now, it may be properly asked at this point, II
the Parspuayan or any other foreign Goyernment
had sent vessel war to survey the Hudson River
after it had been prohibited formally and publicly,
what would the commander OF Governors Island
have done Would he have parleyed with boat
and hail, and blank cartridge, or would he not
have h!szed away aud gloried III the act, Resent
ing national outrage
The letter of the Paraguay Secretary of State 70
Lieut. Page is brief and to the point. lie says,
81 return your letter dated October TO- In Corrl-
"entes written in English, without accompanying
81 IL with a translation signed wondering that YOU
sshould continue in your idea of mOrttying me-
MT Fitzpatrick was appointed as agent to ex-
change the ratification on the Both Of July, 1886
and on the 9Th of November following, Nicholas
Vasauez, Minister of Foreign Relations of Para
pusy addressed him acknowledging the receipt OF
note from Mr. Marcy conveying his credental
letter as Special Commissioner, and saying, " III Is
"reouisite, therefore, that you should be pleased
"to declare the objects of said Special C1mnisson,
in order that we may understand the halt IN the
amending questions in regard to the complaints OF
this Government against that OF the United
- States for the serious obences offered to II by the
a. 'scandalous hostlities of the commanding officers
81 of the Water Witch, a United States yessel.ot-
"war" He then goes on 10 suggest that
he is ignorant whether our Government wishes 10
" "nteTere in Il claim set up by Edward A. Hopkins,
can American citizen, against Paraguay when, at
I" his request he was allowed to depart freely, to-
"gether with all the members of what he called the
"'United States Navigation Company, abandoning
the little property of the Company, itself burdened
with debt Of $4,000, that it received from the
"Nstional Treasury at all annual interest OF y per
1" cent when no one would lend il dollar to pay its
"n,atured obligations, which had been deceptiyey
" contracted. The Cove rnment of Paraguay ordered
"tlis aid 20 be given, without bond or security of
any kind and only ON the obligation of said Com
''paly to save the honor OF Consul OF the United
States in this city-a favor which Hopkins has re-
'au;ted BY unheard.Of insOences, and by excesses
(which at last occasioned the Supreme decree, re-
"yoking the exeQuatur which had been accorded TO
his credentials MS Consul of the United States III
-" Paraguay" After further formal correspond
ence between Fitzpatrick aud NaSquez the latter
declined TO ratIfy the treaty, ON account OF yerbs