The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1892-01-28

@conclustvely establish that tho attack Was tioon
tho un1form-tho nationaltty-And not upon the
men The origin Of this feeling is probably
founp I'm the refusal Of this government to give
recognition to the congressional party before it
had established itself In the seizure Of the Eats
for an alleged violation Of the neutrality law in
the cable incident, and in the charge that Ad
miral Brown conveyed information to Yalpa
raiso OF the landing 1t Quintero. It is not my
purpose to enter here any defense of the action
OF this government In these matters. w.
;" 1t is enough for the present purpose to SAY
that II there was any breach Of international
comfy or duty on our part it should have been
made the subject Of ofhcial complaint through
diplomatic channels or Of reprisals for which
full responsibility was assumed. We cannot
consent that these incidents and these per.
versions of the truths shall be used to
excite q murderous attack upon our uno1end
ing sailors, and the government of Chill 60 &C
Quilted Of responsibility. In fact, the conduct
OF this government during the war in Chill pur
sued those lines OF international duty which We
had so strongly insisted upon on the part
OF other nations when this country was
the established diplomatic relations with the
government In power until 1t was over.
thrown and~promptly and cordially recognized
the new government when it was established
The good off1ces of this government were
offered to bring about a peaceful. adjustment, and
SAO AAtCA HOSAtAOu VI CASabu 10 mlGlX1Le S6V6fl
ties and to shelter adherents Of the congress.
slonal party were effective and frequent. The
charge against Admiral Brown Is too base tc
gain credence with anyone who knows his high
personal and professional character.
Referring to the evidence of our sailors,
think 1t Is shown that there were several dis
tinct assaults and so nearly simultaneous as to
A press summary OF the report of the fiscal
shows that the evidence Of the Chilial Of
hcials and others was in conflict as to the place
OF ORIGIN several places being named by differ
ent witnesses as to the locality
where the first outbreak occurred. This,
II correctly reported, shows that there
were several distinct outbreaks and so nearly
at the same time as to cause this confusion
The La Patria, in the same issue from which
have already quoted, after describing the
killing OF Riggin and the fight which
from that point extended to the mole, says:
LAT the same time in other streets of the port
the Yankee sailors fought fiercely with the
people OF the town, who believed to see in them
incarnate enemies OF the Gillian navy"
The testimony of Capt. Jenkins, OF the Amer
lean merchant ship keweena, which had gone
to Valparaiso for repairs, and who was wit
ness of some part Of the assault upon the crew
OF the Baltimore, is strongly corroborative Of
the testimony OF 'Our own sailors when
he says that he saw Gillian sen.
tries drive back a seaman seeking shelter
from mob that was pursuing him. The officers
and men OF Capt. Jenkins ship furnish the
most conclusive testimony as to the indignities
which were practiced towards Americans in
valparaiso. When American sailors, even of
merchant ships, can only secure their safety by
denying their nationality, 1t must be time to re-
adjust our relations with government that
permits such demonstrations AS to the par
ticipation Of the police, the evidence of our sail
ors shows that our men were struck and beaten
by police officers before and after arrest and
that one, at least, was dragged with a lasso
about his neck by a mounted policeman. That
the death OF Riggin was the result of rife
shot fired by policeman or soldier in duty is
shown directly by the testimony Of johnson, in
whose arms he was at the time, and by the evil
dence OF Charles Langen, an American
sailor not then member OF the Balti-
mores crew who stood close by and saw the
transaction. The Gillian authorities do
not pretend to fix the responsibility OF this shot
on any particular person, but avow their inabil-
ity to ascertain who fired it, further than that it
was fred in crowd. The character of the
wound, as described by one OF the surgeons Of
the Baltimore, clearly supports his opinion that
it was made by rifle ball, the oriace Of exit
being as much as an inch or an inch and a quar-
ter In width When shot, the poor fellow was I'M
conscious and in the arms of a comrade, who was
endeavoring to carry him to q neighboring drug
store for treatment The story Of the police
IuuI III COulIlb up StrceI L0cy passed ClcS6
men and left them behind them Is inconsistent
with their own statement as to the direction of
their approach and with their duty to protect
them and Is clearly disproved. In fact Riggin
was not behind, but in front. of the advancing
force, and was not standing in the crowd,
but was unconscious and supported in the arms
of johnson when he was shot
The communications of the Gillian govern
ment in relation to this cruel and disastrous at
tack upon our men, as will appear from the
correspondence. have not in any degree taken
the form of a mighty and satisfactory express
sion Of regret, much less Of apology.
The event was OF so serious a character that,
wholly the result OF an accident in a Gillian
port, the incident was grave enough to have
called for some public expression of sympathy
and regret from the local aulnur11les.
1t is not enough to say that the al.
fair waSp lamentable, for humanity would
require that expression even if the
beating and killing OF our men had been justif-
able. 1t is not enough to say that the incident
Is regretted, coupled with the statement that the
AFFAIR was not OF an unusual character in ports
where the foreign sailors are accustomed to
meet. 1t is not for generous and sincere gov.
eminent to seek for words of small Or
equivocal meaning in which TO convey to
friendly power an apology for an Of
tense SO atrocious as this. In the case
! OF the assault by mob in New Orleans
upon the Spanish consulate in 1851, Mr..
Webster wrote to the Spanish minister, Mr.!
Calderon, that the acts complained of were "a
disgraceful and fragrant breach OF duty and pro-
pr1ety," and that "his government deplores
them as deeply Minister Calderon and his
government could possibly do,'' that "these
acts have caused the president great pain, and
he thinks proper acknowledgement is due to
her majesty's government
He invited the Spanish consul to return to his
No$
Lutte the Spanish flag II the consul should come
In Spanish vessel. Such q treatment by the
| government of Chilli of this assault would have
been more creditable to the Gillian authorities
! and much less can hardly be satisfactory
to government that values its dignity
and honor. In our note Of October
| q last. which appears in the correspondence
after receiving the report OF the board OF on
GERS appointed by Capt. Schley to investigate
the affair, the Gillian government was advised
of the aspect which it then assumed and called
upon for any facts in its possession that might
tend to modify the unfavorable impressions
| which our report had created. It is very clear
ceipt OF this note, the examination was re-
garded by the police authorities as practically
closed 1t was however, reopened and pro
tracted through period of nearly three
months. We might justly have com
planned of this unreasonable delay but In
|
Chilli was still provisional and having q DISPOSE
ton to be forbearing and hopeful of friendly
termination, have awaited the report which
has but recently been made. On the 21st inst
I caused to be communicated to the government
OF Chill by the American minister at Santiago
the conclusion Of the government after full ex
animation and every suggestion affecting thit
matter, and to these conclusions I ad
here they were stated as follows
Ffrst-That the assault is not relieved
OF the aspect which the early information
OF the event gave to it, viz: that Of an attack
upon the uniform of the United States navy
| having its origin and motive in q feeling of hos
tility to this government and not in any act o.
sailors Of Of any Of them.
Second.-That the public authorities of Val
paraiso fagrantly failed in their duty to protect
| our men and that some of the police and some
of the Gillian soldiers and sailors were them
selves guilty Of unprovoked assault upon oul
sailors before and after arrest. He (the presi
dent) thinks the preponderance OF the evidence
and the inherent probabilities lead to the con