The state capital., 1892-01-30
MESSAGE T! 5, 1 &c TO CONGRESS
The PRESIDENT seads She FFsnatsea
suhiii Communication.
The Message rFomRiiS hefettsd ID shf
ComI..it.ea OH Foreign Affairs of the
House and Taken Under I'M
mediate Consideration.

yesterday!
To the SENATE aud Hottse IF REPRESENTATIVES:
In my annual message. delivered to con-
gress at the beginning OF the present session;
aftsr Gref f. tts ts Of the ffs hs ia II h
sault in the .etfebts OF Valparais3 Chill, npad
thc sailors Of the United States stesmstip Balti;
more. on the evening of tho 10th OF October
the result Of d irsesssratica Which 81 has has
been rondatted by the criminal court at
Valparaiso. 1t is, reported unofficially that the
investigation is about completed, and it is ex-
pected that the result will soon be communi-
Gated to this government together with some
adequate m ana .S satisfactory resP6nse, P to the
to this incident IL these expectations should
be disappointed. or further needless, delay in
tervene will, by q special message, bring :ths
matter again TO th4 attention Of congress for
such Action as may be Necessary"
In my opinion the time has now come When
should lay before the songress and the country
and the government Of Chilli from the time of
the breaking out Of the revolution against Bal
maceda together will all other facts IN tfe pos
this matter The diplomatic correspondence is
herewith Transmitted, together with some cor
respondence between the naval officers for the
time in command in Chilian waters and the sec
retary of the navy, and also the evidence taken
at the Mare Island navy yard since the ar
rival of the Baltimore at San Francisco. do
not deem it necessary In this communication to
attempt any full anaiy isis OF the correspondence
or Of the evidence A brief restatement of the in
ternational questions involved, and OF the rea-
sons why the responses tf the ttEiliaT govern
ment are Unsatisfactory, Is all that deem
necessary: .
1t may be we'll, at the outset, to say that.
whatever may have been said in this country or
in Chill in CRITICISM Of MIR; Pgap: cnf niilister
at Santiago. fhb tr,ie history az this exciting
period itl Gillian Affairs, FROM the, outbreak Of
the revolution until this time, discloses no act
on the part of Mr.. Egan unworthy of his posi-
ton or that could justly be the occasion of seri
Gus animadverson or criticism. He has, l
think, borne himself, in very trying crcum-
stances, with dignity discretion and courage
and has conducted the correspondence with
ability, courtesy and fairness
1t Is worth while, also, at the beginning to say
that the right pr Mr. Egan TO give shdltet ii the
legation I'd ceftain adherents of the Balmaceda
government who applied to him for a lum has
not been denied by the Chilian authorities. nor
has any demand been made for tho surrender of
these refugees. That there was urgent need of
asylum is shown by Mr.: Egan's note of August
"a. 1891 describing the disorders that prevail ID
in Santiago, and by the evidence Of Capt. Schley
to the pillage and violence that prevailed
at Valparaiso, The .eoiresPend ante dis
Egan for safe conduct from the country,
in behalf OF these refugees, was denied. The
precedents cited by him in the correspondence
particularly the case of the revolution in Peru
in 1860, did not leave the Chilian government in
pos ition to deny the right for asylum to polit
ical refugees. and seemed very clearly to sup
port Mr. Egan's contention that a safe conduct
TO neutral territory was a necessary and ac
knowledged incident of the asylum. These ref
ugees have very recently, without formal safe
conduct, but by the acqulescr nee of the Chiiiar
authorities, been placed on board the Yorktown,
and are now being conveyed to Calias Peru
This incident might be considered wholly
closed hut for the diSrespect manifest ID toward
this government by the close and offensive po-
Ice surveillance Of the legation premises which
was maintained during most of the period of
the stay of the refugees therein. After the
date of my annual message, and up to tho time
of the transfer of the refugees to the York
town, the legation premises seem to have been
surrounded by police in uniform, and police
agents or detectives, in citizens dress, who Of
fensively scrutinized persons entering or loav
ing the legation, and, on one or more oCca-
slOnS, arrested members of the minister S
family. Commander Evans, who by my direc-
ton, recently visited Mr.. Egan at Santiago in
his telegram to the navy department described
the legation as, "a veritahe prison, AMI states
that the police agents or detectives were after
lis arrival, withdrawn during his stay. 1t ap-
pears further, from the note OF Mr. Egan of
November 20, 1891 that one occasion, Mt
least those police agents, whom he declares to
be known to him, invaded the legation promises
pounding upon its windows and using insulting
and threatening language towards persons
therein.
This breach Of the right OF minister to free
dom from police espionage and restraint seems to
have been SO fragrant that the Argentine 1ins
ter, who was dean of the diplomatic corps. hlV-
ing observed 1t. felt called upon TO protest
against it to the Chilian minister of foreign af
fairs. The Chilian authorities have, as viii be
observed from the correspondence charged the
refugees and the inmates of the legation with
insulting the police; but it seems to incred
liable that men whose lives were ii jeopardy, and
whose safety could only be secured b, retire
ment and quietness, should have sought to pro-
woke collision which could only end in their
destruction, or to aggravate their condition by
intensifying popular feeling that at one time
thrSltened the legation As to require Mr.
Egan to appeal to the minister of foreign affairs
But tine most serious lncident disclosed by the
correspondence Is that of the attack upon the
sailors of the Baltimore in the streets of Val
paraiso on the 10th OF October last In my an
nual message, speaking upon the information
have yet been able to learn, no other
explanation of this bloody WORK has
| been suggested than that it had its
origin in hostility to these men sailors of the
United States, wearing the uniform of their
government. and not in any individual act or
personal animosity." We have now received
from the Chilian government an abstract of the
conclusions of the fiscal general upon the testi-
mony taken by the judge of crimes in an in
vestigation which was lnado to extend over
nearly three months. 1 very much regret to
be compiled to say that this report does
sion announced in ~, my annual +hnf message
sailors were assaulted, beaten, stabbed AMI
killed not for anything they any one of
them had done, but for what the government of
the United States had done, or was charged
with having DONE by its civil officers and naval
commanders. If that be the true aspect of the
case the injury was to the government of the
were assaulted in manner SO brutal and 50
cowardly.
Before attempting to give All outline of the
facts upon which this conclusion rests,
upon the legal aspect of the case:
The Baltimore was in the harbor of
which nations are held to extend to the war
vessels of other powers with which they have
friendly relations. This invitation, / think
must be held ordinarily to embrace the privi-
logo Of Suph communication with the shore a q iE
reasonable, necessary and proper for the COM
fort and convenience of the officers and men of
such vessels. Capt; Schley testifies that when
his vessel returned to Valparaiso, on September
IA, the city officers, as is customary. extended
the hospitalities 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 ma
val vessel visiting the shore may be involved
raises an international question; but am clear
" of the opinion that where such sailors or off
GERS are assaulted by resident populace ami
mated by hostility to the government whoss
uniform these sailors and officers wear. and in
resentment of acts done by their government,
not by them, this government must take notice
of the event involving an infraction
of its rights and dignity; not in a.
ninred and nrssent his claim through ef h owns rs
government but III a primary way, precisely
If its minister or consul or the flag itself had
been the object of the same character of assault.
The officers and sailors of the Baltimore wera
in the harbor of Valparaiso under the orders of
their government, not by their own choice.
They were upon the shore by the implied invita-
tion of the government of Chill and with the ap
proval of their commanding officer; and it
does not distinguish their case from that of
consul that his stay is more permanent or that
he holds the express invitation of the local gov
ernment to justify his long residence Nor
does it affect the question that the injury was
the act Of a mob. Ii there had been no partici
patton by the police or military 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 con-
sidered, involving international right Tine in
cdents of the affair are, briefly, as follows:
On the 18th of October last, Capt. Schley COM
manding the United States steamship Balti
more. gave shore leave to liz petty, officers and
sailors of his ship. These men LETT the ship
about l:30 p. m. No incident of violence occur
red none of our men were arrested; no COM
plant was lodged against them: nor did any
collision or outbreak occur until about p. M
Capt Schley states that he was him
self shore and about the streets