The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-10-11
The War Cloud in south America.

| 10 nave touched IIe verge OF wal. L ne At
tempt to settle the question at Issue has
iniscarried, and the Congress at Buet'Cl
Ayres has passed some spirited resolutions
! pledging their support 90 the Executive IN
| vigorous aggressive policy. What are the
! grounds and scope Of Il dispute which seems
not unlikely to culm.natc Ia u wasteful AMI
fratricidGl contest between the most on
lishtenel and progressive uf South Amerl-
can republics
The controversy between the two States
| relates 70 the ownership OF the vast region
known as Patagonia. over which neither
nation has ever exercised a complete ant
effective control. Even now when the ques-
tion OF sovereignty j. 90 yehemently dis
cussed, documents are wanting t. fix with
anything like precision the northern boun-
dairy Of the Patagonan waste. Docs the
debatable tract stretch ON the north as far
as the Rio Negro on the forty-second degree
Of south latitude or only u the Rio Dia-
mantle. on the forty-seventh parallel. the
ancen; Limit Of the Congo provinces undor
Spanish regime After determining this
point. fundamental inquiry would remain.
namely; has Chill right to any portion Of
the Patagoniau territory east OF the Cor
dilleras In other words. IS the crest OF the
Andes her boundary line in law, as It seems
to bc in nature;
The FIRST step taken by Chill toward the
occupation o; land east Of the mountains
and toward the command oS the Straits Of
Magellan. was the foundation ~ a colony in
1877 at Punta Arenas in the Brunswick pc
ninsula. Now at this epoch. and for a quar-
ter OF a century afterwatd. the most sorth h
afI chrfaflfe Of bs Ar
! lie on the Atlantic coast wore Carmen de
Patagonos, on the banks Of the Rio Negro.
and n small colony ~ Wcshmen on the
Chubut river Nevertheless the GILLIAN set
Element was considered at Bucnpa Ayrcs an
encroachment on ground technically belong
Ing to the Confederation. and 4 lively dis
cussion was closed in 1855 by "a treaty de-
ielIing agreement upon the question OF
Sovereignty. aad providing that each ma
ton might. for the present, control
what It possessed In 1910. Neither
party at this time supposed Patagonia
TO We worth O quarrel. ami accord
nsly no more difficulties were raised
no to ls6s. Gradually, however. the sue
cesses OF the Ars ,ntine troops over the
Pampas Indians pushed the frontier o.
Buenos Ayres southwark. aad revealed the
great pastoral and agricultural value Of
Patagonia. !, began 10 lool. as II this neg
l~cted region stood IN mprh the same lela-
ton to Argentine development. as its north
west territory had once stood " the United
States. The discovery. too Of important
guano deposits prompted the reassertion
and exercise ofrghts supposed to he inher-
ent in the successor q the vice-royalty Of
La Plata Accordingly. the Argentine Gov
eminent made various GllOtments Of land
Beyond the Rio Negro. and authorized the
extraction o. guano at points south OF The
santa Cruz. Call protested against these
acts as violations 81 the status quo
established in 1875, and set up claims
a, first vague and modest enough,
but which grew .arger and moIe
definite as The relations IT Ruenos Ayres to
Brazil became more threatening. Thus. in
1872. the CHILEAN Minister declared he had no
/ intention 81 opposing tho Argentine jursdlc-
| tQn on the coast Of the Atlantic, but merely
( assumed u control the extraction of guanO
along the shores 81 the Straits OF Magellan.
! By 1875, however, when the disposition 10 be
iuldo uf Paraguay seemed certain to entail a
rupture between the allied States in the late
war. the claims advanced al Santiago went
much further, affecting not only the Mage-
I ianic lands. but the whole OF the great Pc
ninsula loosely described as Patagonia. On
/ the other hand, the Argentine Republic re-
/ fused even 10 renounce jurisdiction over the
eastern entrance to .he Straits. although II
offered to insure the free navigation OF that
passage 10 the commerce O. the world.
/ Finally Chill announced that she would es-
team Il cdsus beW II Signor FRIAs, who
/ had vigorously cOmbated the Gillian view.
! should be named Minister Of Foreign A.
fairs. or If any further grants Of land should
hc made by the Argentine authorities in the
disputed territory. To this threat the Con-
gress VI Buenos Ayres replied by forthwith
performing both Of the inhibited acts.
Such was the state of things three years
ago, when war seemed more inevitable than
IL does now. But it happened that negotia-
ti,ns with Brazil took such turn that Chill
could no longer count on an alliance with
that power. An attempt was then made 10
settle the questions in dispute by treaty,
and finally Commissioners were appointed,
with full powers it was supposed, 10 bind
each party. Quite recently an agreement
was reached. hut its terms were SO favorable
To Bucuos Ayres that the action of the
! Gillian Commissioner was repudiated at
! santiago. Inns COURSE Wbulu u'i ulliiNl-
urally be regarded by the Argentine Con-
gress as "a casus beU and. according
to the latest advices, was SO pro-
nounced in series Of resolutions, which
authorized immediate steps 10 vndicate
Argentine jurisdiction in Patagonia. should
conflict actually occur, the chances OF
success are with Buenos Ayres, although it
is expected that Chill would have the sup
port Of the Peruvian ironclads But the
riders Of the Pampas are conceded to make
tine best troops in South America, and II Ia
by 10 means certain that the exploit OF Gen.
SAN MAnrlS might not be repeated, and
that an Argentine army might not again
force q way across the Andes to the gates Of
Santiago.
A Partisan Judge.
Mr.. THOMAS HARLAND's conduct In re-
ing some account books from a room