Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-07
BOTH SIDES RESTING.
Balmaceda Waiting for Ships and the
Insurgents for Arms.
FORCE is THE CHILEAN MOTTO.
The President Is Misrepresented In Dis
patches Sent Abroad.
OUR INTERESTS IN SOUTH AMERICA
rooanrsroNpzNcn or rHu p1srArcH.1

gardlng the war In this unhappy country,
because during some weeks past nothing OF
account has been accomplished by either
side. The Presidents is awaiting the compile
tion of some wayships, which are being built
In France, to carry on the conflict by sea,
meantime remaining merely on the defen-
sive;while the rebels, resting upon the ques-
tionable laurels already won, are striving,
'by hook or by crook, " to secure more arms
| and ammunition, for want Of which they are
greatly hampersd in their work Of destruc-
| tion.
Happily-as all lovers of law and order
will agree-the Federal Government has
yet very much the best of the situation. The
greater portion of the country, including all
the territory between the desert of Atacama
and the Strait of Magellan, remains loyal to
Balmaceda; while the revolters have
possession only of those Northern provinces
that were recently wrested from Peru; hold
ing them por razon de fuerza, ("by right OF
force" the characteristic motto that is
stamped on the silver dollars of Chile),
from having bombarded into subsection the
cities Of that section and massacfed all the
opposing Inhabitants.
Not an Honorable Motive.
There is nothing heroic about this uhholy
conflict on the part of the rebels, since no
questions Of principle or national honor are
at stake, the motive being merely personal
aggrandizement and the vicious determine
tion of political faction to rule or ruin.
The disturbers of the country's peace, who
| do not deserve to be dignifed by
the name of revolutionists, called ii
''war" when they wantonly devasted pros
OFF mi
women and children by thousands, cut the
throats of wounded soldiers, and butchered
every officer of the Government forces who
fell into their hands-but impartial history
will commemorate their deeds by a less
name. The insurgents began the shooting
of captured officers; and latterly the Gov
ernment has retahated by serving in the
same manner the few rebel commanders
that have been taken prisoners. There Is
some show Of justice in the latter proceed
ing, especially in the case Of those who,
while IN the pay of the Government, turned
traitor and. misused their position % the
means of working greater harm.
A doleful cry has been raised by the in
surgents and their sympathizers over the
hanging of one Captain Velasoo--an officer
In whom Balmaceda reposed entire conf-
dence, and who, while in command at At
acama, betrayed that important post into
the hands Of the enemy.
The Bone and Sinew All Right.
Balmaceda's army numbers about $4,000
men, including the militia; and although
many of the so-called aristocrats are in
league with the belligents, the ''bone and
sinew" of the countryside middle and
laboring classes which comprise the most
useful part of the population-remain faith
full to the Constitutional Government. AS
-Tdfs, -TTtdifiss-the ChilesG aristocracy- as
arrogant, hot-b1ooded and unstable a set of
people as can easily be found, possessing
more vanity and pride than good grounds
for the same, and whose riches were in
herited, as well as the tendency to treachery
and rebellion which seems to belong to a
preponderance of Spanish blood.
The rebel troops do not number more than
5000 and their leaders have not arms and
ammunition enough to equip SO many,
though means both fair and foul are being
energetically employed to gain fresh sup
plies. It is stated on good authority that
emissaries have been dispatched to various
countries with instructions to buy, beg bor-
row or steal if need be, munitions wherewith
to continue this hopeless struggle; but to
carry out their instructions win doubtless
prove difficult matter, considering the un-
written code of honor that exists between
laws The Chilean insurgents have set up
what is practically a new government in the
Northern provinces, in opposition to that Of
Balmaceda, and have taken for their capital
what remains of conquered Iquique.
Locomotives as Battering Rams.
By the way, who ever heard of utilizing
locomotives and trains as battertng rams
and engines of war? At this point, when
the ammunition of the rebels ran low, they
adopted the shrewd scheme of making up
long line of cars, crowding on full head of
steam, and then-leaping off in time to save
their own precious heads-letting the loco
motive "run away" and 90 crashing into
the Government train on the track ahead,
with which they had been fighting. Rather
expensive warfare, both as regards life and
property, but for the moment effective. The
railroad was an important factor in the bat
ties of this section. Both armies used it
whenever they could, making new sort Of
gatling guns on fiat cars, and fighting as
long as possible from the train.
Having secured control Of all the ports
from which nitrate of soda is shipped, the
rebels do not lack for funds, as the export
duties on that valuable commodity are not
less than $40, ,000, 900 per annum. OF course
the public treasury is sadly crippled by
the loss of this sum; but there is still con-
siderable revenue from the custom houses
at Valparaiso and Talcahuano, and Balma-
ceda has met the present emergency by is
suing paper money to the amount Of S12, ,0o0-,
900, which is received by the people and
used to pay the army The regular cur
rency of Chile consists of notes issued and
guaranteed by the Government. When the
war began these notes were worth only
about 30 cents on the dollar, and have now
dropped to % cents.
The Stories of Banishment
A recent dispatch. which, it is needless
to say, was of rebel originals gone abroad
to the world stating that ''many leading
families have been forced to leave Santiago
and go into the Argentine Republic and
other countries, to escape persecution from
the dictator, Balmaceda. Does any reas-
enable person suppose that the harrassed
and hard-pushed President is going out of
his way in these trying times, when friends
are none too numerous to "persecute' re-
spectacle citizens? The truth is that Bal
maceda discovered among his closest asso-
ciates in the heart of the capital, number
of families called "leading" because of
official positions which he himself had be-
slowed upon them-who were secretly abet-
ting the rebellion while publicly enjoying
the pay and emoluments of the Federal
Government What course would any ruler
in similar case have taken with such double
died traitors? The "persecution" has con-
sisted in their being allowed to leave the
country unharmed, instead of being i'm
prisoned as they deserve, that they may dis
seminate evil reports about the too lenient
Balmaceda-
The most absurd statement have seen in