Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-13
TO NEUTRALlZE ZONE
PERU'S LATEST OFFER TO THE
BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT.
Proposed Modus Vivendi Pending a
Settlement Of the Dispute Over
Boundary Lines.

The following statement has been Is
sued by the Peruvian legation:
When in 1874 Brazil gave for the first
time an erroneous Interpretation to the
treaty of 1851 and claimed that the
boundary line with Peru ended at de-
grees south at it's junction with the va
vary river, Peru notified that government
that 1t claimed the whole of the territory
south of parallel and bounded on the
east and south by the rivers Madeira and
Benz respectively, claim that Peru
based not only upon its actual posses
sion, but also upon the treaty of st. Ilde-
fonso.
The 'uti-possdetis' doctrine as inter-
preted and always applied by the South
American governments decidedly favors
Peru's claims, as she bases them upon
the known and respected boundaries Mt
the time the colonies severed their rela-
lions from their respective metropolis
These same colonial titles that sup
port the Peruvian contentious have been
time and again invoked by Brazil I'm
boundary disputes with her other neigh
bors. The titles that the government of
Peru possesses have thus been known for
some time by the Brazilian foreign office.
ana pretended Ignorance of them would
hardly justify the latters refusal to SUBJ
NIT the controversy to arbitration.
Proposed Evacuation.
Its attitude is unjustifiable also in its
pretension that Peru, previous to the ini-
tiation of negotiations, should evacuate
the disputed zone. which would mean the
voluntary abandonment In favor of Brazil
of land the occupancy of which has been
admitted as legitimate by His Excellency
Magazines, predecessor of Baron de Rio
Branco tBrazifs minister for foreign re-
Iauonsl. with regard to the headwaters
of the Yurua river.
The treaty of 1867 between Brazil and
Bolivia, against which Peru opposed its
protest, recognized as Bolivian a part of
the disputed region, and ii is only after the
treaty OF Petropolis entered into six months
ago. that Brazil acquired Bolivia's claims
subject to an entente with Peru, which
means the carrying out of the provisions
OF the boundary arbitration treaty which
Peru and Bolivia had celebrated one year
previously. The government at Rio was
so familiar with this treaty that It used Il
as an argument in its campaign to annul
the concession Bolivia had granted to an
American syndicate for the exploitation CT
the Acre territory.
An Unreasonable Condition.
THE first sta tement of the Brazilian le-
cation at least admitted that Peru's occu-
pancy of the disputed zone was previous
to the acquisition by Brazil of its unique
claim to the disputed territory, subject of
course, to an understanding with Peru. and
IL is thus unreasonable that Brazil should
demand as sine-quo-non condition to inl-
tate the negotiations that the government
of Peru should evacuate the territory over
which its sovereignty is actually exercised
So unjustifable is this attitude that IL leads
to doubt to the ultimate intentions of
the government at Rio.
The conciliatory policy of the Peruvian
government with regard to the dispute NAV
be easily ascertained by its two recent pro-
posals to BraZils foreign office most UNI
fortunately rejected by the latter. One was
the determining of points of provisional
possession in the disputed rivers, and the
other, unconditional arbitration.
In view of the rejection of the proposals
Just mentioned, 1t has finally submitted the
plan of neutralizing the disputed zone. pend
ing an understanding, or the award of an
arbitration tribunal that should decide as
to Its ultimate destiny, and il is to be hoped
that this conciliatory effort on the part OF
Peru will meet the approval of the govern-
ment at Rio de Janeiro.