The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-11-14
The Truth About Chill.

The letters which we published yesterday
from The Suns correspondents in Santiago
and Valparaiso gave full and trustworthy
account Of the situation In Chilli. and par
tcularly OF the incidents which have
aroused feeling OF cnmity to the United
States. 1t appears that not one OF these
incidents deserves tho construction which
has been put upon it by the successful In
surgcnts and by British residents In Chill.
but that. on the contrary. Throughout the
struggle which ended In the downfall Of
BALMACEDA, the conduct OF the diplomatic
and naval representatives Of this country
has been entirely beyond reproach.
Tho grounds on which the supporters Of
the sO-called Junta AID their apologists on
the London press justify tho exhibition of
hostility to the United States. are the
seizure OF tho Hata. the cutting OF the
cable lire Of tie Central and South Amer
lean Company aear Iquique. tho visit made
by Admiral J,RowH to Quintero. when the
revolutionary troops were landing at that
place, and. finally. tho shelter given to u
number of refugees In the American Lega-
ton nj, Santiago. 1t has also been alleged
III London newspapers that Mr.. EGAN I'M
fairly favored the lato President BALMA-
CkioA and made improper contracts with the
Gillian Government. What these alleged
causes of offence really amount to has been
shown Mt length by The Suns corre-
dependents.
* Asregar,ls the case Of tho Itata. the right
w of our Government to seize TINT vessel is
iSobviously q question to be judicially decided
teiaccording to tho principles and precedents
III of international law. We need only point
'isout that tho vessel was voluntarily surren-
idered BY the rsvolutionists at Iquique, and
Sthat. since the former insurgents have &C.
s}quired tho responsibilities Of recognized
,JGovernMent, they would doubtless wish us
to interpose on their behalf in precisely the
NJ same way. should rebels against their au-
"a thority attempt to III out Il vessel In IN
VAlnerican port, For the cutting OF the ca
si3ble line near lquique the revolutionists were
themselves accountable. It turns out that
,uythey had refused to allow cable messages to
.sbe sent from Valparaiso and that part OF Chill
controlled by BALSIACEDA to North Ameri-
ca and Europe. This. too. although the
cable company offered to permit the revo-
lutionists to inspect all messages sent over
tho line. Threatened with the destruction
Of their business, the American company
which owned the cable naturally applied
for relief to the representatives OF the
United States Thereupon, under tho su-
pervision OF the American cruiser Balti-
more. the cable wns cut Mt q distance Of
more than Il marine league from IquiQue,
and by means Of connecting loop direct
communication was established between
Valparaiso and Lima. This statement Of
the facts Is uDcontradicted. and in view Of
1t we must hold that. II the insurgents We're
ultimately shut OF from the use of the cable.
they had only themselves to blanu.
We already know that the GILLIAN aud
British version Of the course taken by Adj
miral Brown In the final stage Of the strug-
gle Is unequivocally and Indignantly de-
MED by the Admiral himself. The revolu-
tionists accuse high officer OF the American
navy OF playing the odious part OF spy In
the interest OF the BALMAcEDA Govern
ment. They say that 1t was. not until
Admiral Brown in the ship Sun francisco
had steamed around Q,tiutero and returned
70 Valparaiso that BALytAcEDA learned
where the enemy We're landing and In what
direction his troops should he despatched
On tho other hand. before the San Francis
coleft Valparaiso for Callao. Admiral Brown
wrote tho letter. since published. "
Minister EoAS, In which he declar-
oil that Mt the time ho set out
for Quinteio 1t was generally known that
the troops were landing there; that he
went simply to obtain information for the
United States Government. and that he
conveyed no information to any one In VAL