Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-26
A MISSION MISSING.
Speculation in Official Circles Over
the Argentinlans,
WHO HAVE A MATTER TO SETTLE,
And in Which President Harrison is to Act
as Arbitrator.
HISTORY OF TIE QUESTION IN DISPUTE

WASHINGTON, Dec 25.-Some specuIa-
tion is going on in official circles over the
whereabouts of the Commissioners Of the
Argentine Republic, appointed to repre-
sent that country in the matter OF the
settlement of the Missiones boundary,
which is in controversy with Brazil. The
Brazilian commissioners have arrived IN
New York and are awaiting the appearance
OF the Argentine delegation, which has been
expected for some time. News of their
Leaving Buenos Ayres reached the United
States some time ago, and it is supposed
they are spending the holiday season In
Europe. When they come, arrangements
viii be made for presenting the merits OF
the controversy to the President of the
United States, to whom the two countries
have referred it for decision.
This case is the direct outgrowth OF
sessions of the Pan-American Congress OF
1SS9-9O After that body adopted resolu-
tions in favor of compulsory arbitration as
an expedient in averting war, Brazil was
almost the first State to act upon the high
moral policy which had been proclaimed.
1t not only exerted its influence strongly in
favor of the negotiation OF arbitration
treaties Which should have binding force
upon American States, but also in its new
Constitution it expressly prohibits wars OF
conquest.
Memories of the Spanish Conquest.
The Missiones question revives memories
of the Spanish conquest For $50 years the
Jesuits enjoyed undisputed ascendency in
Paraguay. They reduced the Indian Ian
guage to written idiom, taught the natives
the rudiments of wood carving and Euro
pean agriculture, planted orange groves,
cultivated yerba' tea, built model villages
and governed the country on humane prin-
cipleS
No more wonderful work was ever done
by Christian missionaries than that of the
Jesuits in the Upper Parana and in the re-
gion now known as the MissioIes When
the expulsion of the Jesuits was decreed
they offered no resistance, but quietly left
the country which they had governed for so
long time In the course of single gem
Grafton population of $50, 900 employed in
various industries abandoned the planta-
tions and relapsed into barbarism. Then
followed the reign of The Monster and
war of determination. In q heaErending
struggle against three stronger States
simple-minded people endured manifold
sufferings for the sake of tyrant who had
murdered his mother, brothers, rivals and
allies. They fought for the oppressor until
he himself was dead in the forests and
three-fourths of their heroic warriors were
slain,
Frontier Question to Settle.
The victorious coalition, including Brazil,
the Argentine Republic and Uruguay, re-
tired from the old Jesuit mission ground with
an unsettled frontier question which has
continued to excite suspicion and Jealousy
during years of secret intrigue.
The establishment of the Brazilian Repub-
lie was followed by an era of good feeling.
President Feodora's Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Bacayuva, went to Montevideo and
Buenos Ayres on a mission of peace, and
while the convention which he made was
condemned by the Brazilian
Congress, the question has been finally SUBJ
mitted to the President Of the United States
for arbitration. Es7-
A memorial of former exercise of SINH
lar Offices existed in the opposite quarter of
Paraguay, where one of the cities is named
Villa Hayes in honor of the American Pres.
ident who acted as arbitrator in dividing
the Gran Chaco between disputing powers.
His successor now has the responsible Office
of adjudicating national titles to the work.
ing fields of the historic Jesuits and the
hattie grounds of one Of the strangest wars
in history,