The southern argus., 1891-12-17
of the Central and South American

Z -
clllOrs and officers became at once fngi-
I tlves for their lives, and appealed to The
commanding officers of the foreign ma
! val vessels in the harbor of Valparaiso.
and to the resident foreign ministers al
Santiago for asylum. This asylum was
4 freely given. accOr ling to my informa
tion, by the naval vessels of several fue-
/ eign powers. aud by several leg atioas al
Santiago The American minister, as
well as his colleagues, acting under tile
impulses Of humanity. extended asylum
to political refugees whose lives were In
peril. I have not been willing to direct
the surrender OF such of these persons
/ as are still in the American legation
without suitable conditions.
1t is believed Sthat the government o
Chilli is not in a,position. in view Of the
precedents with which it mas '0cen con
nected, to broadly deny the right OF asy
! lum, and the correspondence has not
/ thus presented any such denial. The
treatment of our minister for a time was
such as to call for decided protest and
1t was very gratifying to observe that
unfricndly measures, which We're un-
! doubtedRy the result,Of the prevailing
excitement, were at once rescinded or
suitably relaxed.
On the 10th OF October an event oc-
Cured at Valparaiso so serious and
. tragic in its circumstances aa3d results
! as to very Justly excite the Indignation
OF our people, and to call for PROMPT and
decided action on the part of this gov
2 ernment. A considerable humber of the
sailors of the i. ). $. Baltimore, then
In the harDOr or Valparaiso, being upon
shore leave and unarmed, were assault
ed oy armed men nearly siml taneOuslv
IN different parts Of the city. One petty
officer was Killed outright, and seven or
eight Seamen seriously wounded. So
far as have oeen able to learn. no 9th
er explanation or this bloody work has
been suggested than thai it had It's ori-
gin In hostility 10 those men as sailors
OF the United States. wearing the uni
form OF their go 7ernment and not in
any individual act or personal animOsi-
ty.
The attention Of the Chilian govern
ment was at O9,e called 20 this affair.
and statement Of facts obtained by rhe
investigation we had conducted was
submitted, accompanied BY Il request to
be advised Of any other Or qualifying
facts in the possess on OF the Chiiian
government. The Chiliau government
was also advised thar if 81 ch qualifying
facts did not exist this government
would confidently expect prompt and
full reparatiOn.
It is to be regretted that the reply of
the secretary for foreign affairs of the
provisional government was cOuchcd in
an offensive tone, To this no response
has been made, This government is
now awaiting the result of an investiga-
tion which has been conducted by the
criminal court ut Valparaiso. IT is re-
ported unofieially that the investiga-
tion is about completed, and il is eX-
pCcted that Jhc result will soon be com
municated 10 this government, together
with some adequate and s;Lt jsfactOry re-
Spouse TO tho note by which the atten-
tion of Chilli was called to this incident
If these ius5 expectations should be dis
,aDpointed. or further needless delay in
ftcrvenes, | will, by a special message,
bring this matter again To- the attention
.of congress for such action as may be
necessary.
THE president then refers 10 the Car
sOline islands matter. and ut some length
10 the Spanish celebration OF the four
anniversary Of the discovery
of America; also 10 the boundary line
fQuestiOn on :hn Mexican frontier,
Tho late outbreak against foreigners
n various parts Of the Chinese empire
has Eeen IL cause OF deep concern, in
rieW OF the numerous establishments @
our citizens in the intcl1or Of that c0un-
Try. This COVE rnment can do no less
than insist upon continuance Of the
protective and nUnitOry measures which
'thc Chinese governments has hereto orc
applied. No "ffCrt will be omitted 10
our citizens pc acoablv s1j0drn-
ing in China. but recent urOfticial infOr
tmatiOn indicates that viva. was liret re-
yarded as an outbreak of moo violence
against foreigners has assumed the
larger form OF an inSurI'ectiOn against
EDuhlic order.
The Chinese government has declined
20 ecaiYe Mr.. Blair as the minister of
the United States. on the ground that,
tas q participant while Il senator in the
OF the existing legislation
against the introduction of Chinese la
}orcrs. ne has become unfri ,ndIy an
Objectionable to China. have felt con
strained to point out to the COineSe gov
ernmenu the untenablcne OF this posi-
ton. which seems to rest as much on
he acceptability of our legislation as on
mat OF me person cnOS6n, anu WDIcil. 1T
Fadmitted, would practically Gcbar th9
selection of anv representative so long
as the existing laws remain in force.
THE TARIFF QUESTION.
The general interest in the opera
tions of the treasury department has
been much augmented during the past
4. ear bv reason OF the conflicting predic-
sti0ns which accompanied and followed
the tariff an2 other legislation of the
c a>t congress affecting the revenues, rs
rto the results Of this legislation upon
the treasury and upon the country. On
he one hand it was cOntanded that i'm
'Oorts would 50 fall of as TO .cave the
: rcasury bankrupt. and that the prices
.of articles entering into the living If
the people would be So enhanced as TO
IisastrouslY affect their comfort and
happiness while on the other it was ar
tued that the loss 20 therevenue large
y Of placing sugar on the free list,
would gain To the PEOPLE: that the prices
iflf the necassaries OF life. including
those most highly protected, would not
1e enhanced: that Labor would have a
targar market, ard the products OF the
alarm advanced prices: while the treas
urv surplus ard receipts would be ade-
?uatc u meet the appropriations. in
-.Iudiag the large exceptional eXpendi-
.ures for the refunding 10 the states OF
= a. ". . ~