The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1858-01-28
OUR DlrficuLrY Writ PARAGUAY

I" III" difficulties r",linp hr,wrrn ihi. pnyc,n.
m"n, aud ,lra, m Paraguay. We have ~, r
lore seen s'a'"mcr, "f thu rn,,S, Of H." unIirud
Iy feeling at TINT government tuwnrI rurs W.
therefore transfer tho fnllowing from thr " Wu.h.
ingt"n STATES, which will be rcu,l with interest:
! The President, IN his annual mc..nrc, inG,t,n,
Congress that the government Of Paraguay had
refused to rntify tho treaty between the United
States and that stnir, ns amended by the SENATE.
lhs treaty was negotiated by our Minister io
Chill. John >. r"n,llcton, aud signed on the llh
| March. 1855. The amendments by the Scnntc
were not essential and the refusal of ratification
/ appears, from til" correspondence which has just
/ appeared To hnvo been founded on Il very un-
! friendly disposition to this country
! The United States Government deemed il
very desirable to ascertain the fitness of the river
| I.nPlata and it's tributaries for navigation by
steam nn,l sent the United States steamer Water
| Witch ihithcr for that purpose in 1853 The
survey WAS prosecuted with success until Feb
| rnary, 1893, when whilst peacefully prosecuting
her voyage up the Parana river the steamer wa,
fired upon by Il Paraguan fort. This appears to
! put an end to the expedition.
The facts concerning the affair appear in full
i'll the document just published.
Lieut. Page, who had command of the Wafer.
Witch, was entrusted with the exchange of raliti
cations of the treaty. lie communicated with
the G"vrrnincnt of Paraguay on the subject
Meanwhile, the WatcrWiic under his cum
'nand had taken part in relieving and PROTECTING
American citizens, whose residence in that con
try had become sub jcctcd 10 restrictions nmos t
amounting I" persecution. 1t was for this rra
son, probably, that President Lopez, through
hIs Secretary of State, NJ. Falcon, declined the
reception oil Tile communication from Lieut. Page.
Lieut. Page says in his letter to Mr.. Marcv:-
1t will be perceived that the Government of
Paraguay aims to Le insulting, even i'll the forms
and ceremonies Of official notes"
Lieut.. Page gives us the following information n
conserving President Lopez:
neg leave OF the department to indulge me
III The expression Of my opinion touching tn C
sutJec1 of tins communication. The pride of
President Lopez has been wounded by my pre-
s'ln''ng I" remove from under his yrannical rule
Americans whom he determined TO persecute
some time longer. His hostility to Americans
is 4 fact too well established to he hid under his
professions Of II sincere desire for the Inaintc
nance nt friendly relations. lie desires much
! that faraeuavans, in their beniyhtcd state,
should acquire from Americans some ideas of
the arts; but he apprehcnls that at the same
time they acquire these, they may imhibe some
notions of liberty aud free government"
Mr.. Page recommends that th. "Commodore
OF the Brazil station be instructed to proceed to
Asuncion, on board the Water. Witch, with the
Bainbridye in tow" Such Il course, he felt coll
fdcnt, would result in exchange Of ra,Itica-
tions. There are some governments with
which Peaceablc and friendly relations, it is well
known can be maintained only by al exhibition
OF sufficient force. und determination to sub
mil to II" ndgn,y." THIS experiment was not
tried, and The treaty has never been ratified
In February, 1885, unprov0krd and ,las-
tardly attack was made on the Water. Witch.
while she was in the pcaceable aud rghul dis
charge of duty. Lieut.. Jcifers was in command
and under orders to ascend the P;rana river M
he Iiul,t Il .
supposed, would bc less than Two hundred miles
IL" had moi gone more than three miles when
the Water Witch was fired into from n fort on
the Paraguay side.
Lieut.. Page says, in his report of the trausac-
ton:
The Water-Witch was in the act of explor-
ing river which is the common boundary he
tween these two countries. The right of each
To navigate this river up to tho limit of the pro-
vince OF CorrIrntcs has never been questioned
by either, and had never heard that Paraguay
presumed to exercise the power Of preventing its
navigation.
"To the exploration of this portion of the
farana, had not only obtained the permission
"f The Argentine Confederation, and especially
OF the province of Corriemtcs, but expression Of
earnest solicitude on the part of both the Prcsi
dent OF the Confederation and the Governor of
Corrcntrs had be made, that | should establish
The Fact That the river is manageable to a mucl,
bttdter extent IMAM t,IaL to which IL Is now
known to be; OF which they had some hope, but
not the means Of proving"
Mr. Jeff.rs gives detailed account of the nc
ton The fist shot fiom the enemy carried
away the wheel of the Water Witch, cut the
ropes, and mortalIy wounded Samuel Clancy,
the hcinsmnn. The Water Witch returned thc
fire. having but one or two guns and twenty
eight men. Unfortunately the Water.Witch was
Of such inferior force that she could not meet the
Paraguayan steamer, Taquari, which fired
up. und prepared for an attack.
Upon this state of facts, the President recon-
mends in his Message that he he authorized to
demand and enforce redress Congress will. it is
hoped altered the means.