St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-17
in the event of tlreir being wounded or
captured.
Blaine,s Discreetness.

Five of the members of the bOust
committee on foreign affairs called juse
before noon today to pay their respects
to Secretary Blaine. Usually these Wis
It's are purely formal, but the call made
by the committee today was awaited with
interest. The five members of the COM
mlttee were Chairman Blount and
Messrs. Hooker. Geary, O'Donnell and
Harmer, and, according to their state
ments, Secretary Blaine did not make a
single direct allusiOn to our relations
with Chilli. TO the surprise of the COM
mlttee, he did call to their attention the
necessity for speedy action by congress
upon the Nicaragua canal project.
The secretary was fully equipped
with facts and figures to support his
reasoning, and very tiuently described
the political Importance of the canal,
the volume Of traffic which would proba-
bly, pass through it and the advantages
to accrue from retention of its man
agement and control in American hands,
incidentally it was made clear to the
committee that the possession OF such a
waterway between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans would be of enormous
strategic advantage if 1t should be neces-
sary to transfer our naval vessels from
one side of the country to the other.
But of Chilian troubles the secretary
Sdlu llOt WOru, ulrecCiv.
Several senators and representatives
called upon Secretary Blaine during
the forenoon. One of the former, who
is from an interior Western state, said
that he had heard nothing directly from
the secretary relating to Chilli, but he
did know that this country should now
assert its dignity and spank the bumpt-
ious little South American republic.
CI.iIiau pranaratinus
The reported preparations of the
Gillian government for war, though
lacking official confirmation in all de-
tails as yet, is viewed with deep con-
Germ at the navy department. The re-
ported shipment of torpedOes through
Montevideo to Chilli has had the effect of
warning the naval officers that in the
event of war they are to be met by
foe armed with the best modern weap-
Ons.
Other unmistakable preparations are
to be dlScerned. it is said, such as the
reported dispatching of a fleet of three
cruisers and torpedo boat from Val
paraiso under sealed orders, which was
reported from Chilli through private
sources yesterday. 1t is the prevailing
| opinion at the navy department that
! this fleet is bound for the straits of
Magellan, which may be regarded TO a
certain extent as the gateway to Chill.
The theory is. however. that it is the
desire of the Gillian government to
afford protection to its important coal
and supply station at Porto Cabello, in
the straits. The capture of this station
| would be serious blow to Chill and
! might ultimately be made an object of a
campaign in the Southern waters in
case of hostilities.
AS it is, the CHILEAN vessels, suppos-
ing the straits to be their destination,
can easily reach that point before adj
miral Walker, who is now at Monte
video with the Chicago, Atlanta and
Bennington. The Concord is also on
her way to Montevideo. Other vessels
are stationed on the Pacific as follows
The Yorktown is ut Valparaiso; the
Boston is at Callao, Peru; the Charles
ton and San Francisco at San Diego,
and the Baltimore is at San Francisco.
Besides these new ships there are the
Essex and Yantic at MOntevideo.