Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-01-26


could only be secured by retirement aoG
quietness, should have sought to provoke
collision which could only END in their
destruction, or to aggravate tLeir condi-
ton by intensifying popular feeling
that, at one time, so threatened the lega-
tion as to require Mr. Egan to appeal to
the minister Of foreign affairs.
But the most serious incident disclosed
by the correspondence is that of the at
tack upon the sailors of the Baltimore in
the streets of Valparaiso on the 10th OF
October last. In my annual message,
speaking upon the information then in
my possession, said $50 far as | have
tion of this bloody work has been sug-
gested than that it had its origin in hos
tility to these men as sailors of the United
States, wearing the uniform of their gov
ern'aent, and not in any individual act or
personal animosity."
We have now received from the Chilian
government an abstract of the conclusion
of tn q fiscal general upon the testimony
taken by the judge of criS,es in an in
vestigation which was made to extend
over nearly three months. ! very much
regret to be compelled to say that this re-
port does not enable me to modify the
conclusion announced in my annual mes
sage. / am still of the opinion that our
sailors were assaulted, beaten, stabbed
anu hlilCtl, uOU Itl any NulIS tlNJ VI GUY
one of them had done, but for what the
United States had done, or was charged
with having done, by it's civil officers and
naval commanders.
If that be the true aspect of the case,
the injury was to the government of the
United States, not to these poor sailors
who were assaulted in manner so brutal
and so cOwardiy
Before attempting to give an outline of
the facts upon which this conclusion rests,
] think it right to say word or two upon
the legal aspect of the case. The Balti-
more was in the harbor of Valparaiso by
virtue of that general invitation which
nations are held TO extend to the war ves-
sells of other powers with which they have
friendly relations This invitation, |
think, must be held ordinarily to embrace
the privileges of such communication
with the shore as is reasonably necessary
and proper for the comfort and conVen-
ience of the officers and men of such yes
sells.
Gitptitiu f5ohiey testifies that when his
vessel returned to Valparaiso on Sept. IA
thirty officers, as is customary, extended
the hospitallties of the city to his officers
and crew.
1t is not claimed that every personal
collision or injury in which sailor
or officer of such naval vessel
visiting the shore may be involved
raises an international question, but
/ am clearly of the opinion that
where such sailors or officers are as
saulted by resident populace, animated
by hostility to the government whose uni
form these sailors and officers wear and
in resentment of acts done by their gov
ernment, not by them, their nation must
take notice of the event as one involving
an infraction of it's rights and dignity; not
in a secondary way as where citizen is
n pil1ppH opI biq clnittAG tbrpIICrh
h own government but in q primary
way, precisely as if it's minister or consul,
or the flag itself, had been the object of
the same character of assault The Off
GERS and sailors of the Baltimore were in
the harbor OF Valparaiso under the orders
of their government not by their own
choice
They were upon the shore by the inn
piled invitation of the government of
Chill and with the approval of their COM
manding officer; and 1T does not distin-
guish their case from that of a consul that
his stay is more permanent or that he
holds the express invitation of the local
government to Justify his long residence
Nor does it affect the question that the in
jury was the act of a mob. If there had
been no participation by the police or mil
itary in this cruel work and no neglect on
their part to extend protection, the case
would still be one, in my opinion, when
its extent and character are considered,
involving international rights.
The incidents of the affair, briefly, are
as follows; On the 10th of October last,
Captain Schley, commanding the United
States steamship Baltimore, gave shore
leave to III petty officers and sailors of
his ship. These men left the ship about
1880 p. m. No incident of violence oc-
CURED; none of our men were arrested; no
complaint was lodged against them; nor
diJ collision, mt hraoly until
& o'clock p. n.
Captain Sunley states that he was him
self on shore and about the streets of the
city until $50 p. M. that he met very
many of his men who were upon leave;
that they We're sober and were conducting
themselves with propriety, saluting Chill
ian and other officers as they met them.
Jenkins, of the merchant ship Keweenaw,
corroborate Captain Schley as to the gen
eral sobriety and good behavior of our
men. The sisters of charity at the hos
pital, to which our wounded men were
taken, when inquired of, stated that they
were sober when received.
If the situation had been otherwise, we
must believe that the Chilian police au-
thorities would have made arrests. About
g p. IN. the assault began, and it is re-
markable that the investigation by the
Judge of crimes, though SO protracted,
does not enable him to give any more
account of its origin than is
found in the statement that it began be-
tween drunken sailors.
Repeatedly in the correspondence it is
asserted that it was impossible to learn
the precise cause of the riot. The minis
ter of foreign affairs, Malta, in his tele-
gram to Mr. Montt, under date of Dec.
81, states Chat the quarrel began between
two sailors in tavern, and was continued
in the street, persons who were passing
joining in it,
' The testimony of Talbot, an apprentice
who was with Riggin, is that the outbreak
in which they were involved began by
a Chilian sailor splitting in the face of
Talbot, which was resented by knock
down. 1t appears that Riggin and Talbot
were at the time unaccompanied by any
others of their shipmates These two
men were Immediately beset by a crowd
of Chilian citizens and sailors, through
which they broke their way to a street car
and entered it for safety. They were pur-
sued, driven from the Car, and Riggin was
30 seriously beaten that he fell in the
street, apparently dead.
There is nothing in the report of the
Chilian investigation made to us that
seriously impeaches this testimony 1t
appears from Chilian sources that almost
Instantly, with asuddenness that strongly
implies meditation and preparation, a
mob, stated by the police authorities at
one time to number 2,000 and at another
l 600, was engaged in the assault upon
our sailors, who are represented as resist
ing with stones, clubs and bright arms. "
The report of the intendente of Oct. 80
states that the fight began at 6 p. M, in
three streets which are named that in
was received at the intendencia
at 6:l5 D. M, and that the police arrived
on the scene at $50, full half hour after
the assault began. At that time he says
that a mob Of 1000 men had collected, and
that for several squares there was the ap
of real battlefield"
The scene at this point is very graph
ically set before us by the Gillian testi-