The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-22
DOES CHILL MEAN WAR7
a CONFLICT WIN TINE ARGENTINE
BELIEVED 10 NE ISBvITA BE.

Most OF South meEtcn MAY ne NnWOlWeu IN
the Fight-The Oid-time Dispute Over the
Boundary Line Causing Increasing Irri-
~tsuon-Miiions OF Dollars Appropriated
for war Material and Tens OF Thousands
fnre en- sent 70 the Frontier on Both sides.
BuENos AyREs. Feb. Cot is the belief Of
many of the best informed people OF this city
that the long standing trouble between Ar
Rentina and Chill over the boundary line be-
tween the two nations will eliminate in open
warfare within six months. IL Is the hope Of
every ono Interested In the arts of peace that
the American Government, either through It's
Ministers accredited TO the two Governments,
as was done on q former occasion Of tho kind,
or BIZ direct action OF the Department of state,
will, by q friendly offer OF good offices, inter-
vene TO prevent the strife, though It is by no
means certain that in tho present condition Of
affairs the offer of mediation would be accept
able to either Of the two nations. Indeed. so
intense Is the feeling In each country over the
boundary dispute that no ono here would be at
all surprised should some overt act preclpitate
the conflict at any moment.
The fight tnow wagcd on paper only Is for
the possession of certain parcels Of Patagonia
desert and TERRA del Fuego prairie. 1t is the
usual thing for the foreigners who discuss the
matter to say that the land In dispute IL mot
WORM TIC DTlCe VI Nv DO"uNl Tin "OulN w
burned" in the impending conflict. This Is not
quite true, but the actual value of the land is
not very great, and the real cause of the Ill
feeling between the two people Is due to u mat
ter of principle that ought to be settled one
way or the other for all time. II that cannot
be done without n war, then, perhaps, the
sooner the fighting begins the better, because
no permanent peace, such as the development
of th. two countries demands, can be had until
this matter is definitely
The trouble really began on April 21, 1S43,
when O Chilian man-of-war unfurled the tri-
colored flag on the site occupied by Sarmiento's
colony that starved to death-Port Famine,
I'm the Strait Of Magellan. thus taking possess
sion in the namo of Chill Of the Straits of Ma
eallanes," as tho old CHILEAN record says. Be-
fore that date no successful settlement had
been made in any part OF Patagonia south OF
the Rio Negro on the Atlantic side. AS THE
SUN told after one OF its reporters had visited
the region, the CHILEAN colony was a penal set
Element. and IL was so maintained until Nov.
10. 1877, when the convicts and the rank and
file OF their guards mutinied and fed away
across the desert toward the Argentine settle
ments, where o moiety of them eventually ar
rived. Although no attempt was made to re-
establish the prison, the colony was continued.
Il even fourlsbed the more after the removal
Oh tn6 DTlSOus DCthubO uEhk NV yNpio pAi"e 4
had existed it had become a port Of call for va
rious lines of steamers running between Europe
and the west coast of the continent; because
placer gold had been found In the stream on
which the town stood and elsewhere In the re-
zion; because IL was headquarters for the
Antarctic whaling and sealing feet, and be-
cause the land Of the Patagonia. desert though
IL was, had been found fit for the support of
cattle and sheep. especially sheep.
Now, without deciding on tho intrinsic
merits of Chili's right to settle a colony on the
unoccupied land bordering the Strait Of Ma
eellan and lying east of the main range of the
Andes, 1t is certain that the citizens Of the Ar
aentine regarded the settlement as q CHILEAN
scheme, and resented 1t all the
more for the reason that they were not in con-
dition to GUST the colony. They made no fight,
but they rushed into print 30 TO speak. with
out limit. The old Spanish documents were
reprinted and circulated to prove that during
the Spanish colony DAYS the Argentine vice.
royal Government had included all of Pata-
aonia down to the strait and oil tho islands to
the south. Chilli, as q colony, had occupied
only the narrow strip of soil between the Andes
and the Pacific down to the strait and no
further. Every citizen Of Argentina read or
heard read those verbatim copies of documents,
AID every citizen felt himself outraged by
WHbU was Dell6Veu u " buo lhuu-kTaDDlnk pTO-
c,,xs+,as NJ Cbu, put m amid nothing VIVA
.A'tSoe
done about It beyond the oral and document
airy protesting. Argentina had other matters
20 ott.ro tosc,v, wars hetween %no,it,csl fao.
w. a'V.nu 'o ~ m.,e,o ""a ~. IasiSs
tions and the Tehuelche and other indian
tribes Of the desert plains to the south and
west of the settlements.
So Chill. to make good her claim to the
Straits on which she had planted a colony, went
a. oaa,no "a har cIoIms Che aant -. .ouod ~
on "uuInH ~ nol AM sno
troops mp the eastern Patagonia coast as FAR
as the Santa Cruz River, and made a station
.h.u. A. ars, .h,s .to,,,n mos Gotta % ~. n
'horo' Az %.sv .. sh.s SaNa w "n
mere guard mouse TO head OIL the convicts who
ESCAPED from the settlement at Punta Arenas,
a ,,a stra,ts colony WAS ca,,ed Tatsr a eo'
10 tho e'rei.o eoions WAC '"hou' L".et IL
ured as q definite settlement. thus taking pos
session. IN the name of Chilli" of all the ter
ritorv Of patagonia east of the Andes right up
TO the old Argentine settlement, near the
mouth of the Rio Negro.
-. - n -
Meantlme-t was In is'o.tho argentine
Government had, begun TO take possession
down that way, also. A Frenchman who I'M
derstood the fish and oil business got o conces-
sion from the Argentine Government that gave