No. 587.
Señor Elmore to Mr. Blaine.
Sir: Thanking your excellency for your kind and frank reception at our late unofficial interview, I have now the honor to inclose for your consideration a copy and a translation of my letter of credence from the provisional government of Peru, constituting me the confidential agent of that government to the United States of America.
You will observe that claiming only to be the head of a provisional government, President Garcia Calderon has given me the character, not of an ordinary, but of a special diplomatic agent, investing me, however, [Page 964] with the most ample powers of a plenipotentiary to treat and agree on any and all subjects with your excellency’s government.
I readily acknowledge that the United States Government, more than any other, required the existence of certain conditions for the recognition of new governments, particularly in republican countries; but I am convinced that your excellency’s government will be justified in recognizing the provisional government of Señor Garcia Calderon, in view of the extraordinary situation of Peru and of the exceptional circumstances under which the provisional government has been formed, its character, land its purposes.
As regards the unfortunate condition of Peru, your excellency is acquainted with the events of the last two years. Without here entering into long details, which I am ready to furnish you in conference or in writing, it is enough to state that, during the course of the war, the constitutionally elected President, General Prado, having left the country, a dictatorial government was formed in December, 1879, under the lead of Señor Pierola, who proclaimed himself dictator, after a bloody fight in the streets of Lima—a coup d’état graphically described by your minister in Peru in a dispatch to the State Department which appears published in the last volume of the Foreign Relations of the United States. That anti republican government failed, as all such governments must always fail on this continent. The dispersion of its forces, the occupation of the capital and a part of the territory by the armies of Chili, and the complete disintegration of the civil authority represented by Señor Piérola, who, with a few followers, has fled to the other side of the mountains, and with whom the representatives of the Chilian Government have declared themselves unwilling to treat hereafter, left Peru absolutely without any government which could either enforce order within, or treat with Chili as to terms of peace.
Under these circumstances, the people of Lima, representing largely the wealth, intelligence, and interests of the republic, supported by like demonstrations in other provinces of the country, called upon Señor Francisco Garcia Calderon, an eminent jurist and statesman and one of the most distinguished citizens of Peru, to organize a provisional government which recognizes as its only foundation the constitution of the country and as its only power the existing laws, and which has been established only to restore that constitution to its full vigor, and to summon the national Congress to meet on the 15th of the present month of May. No true patriot could have hesitated.
The government of Señor Garcia Calderon represents, on the one side, the aspiration of the Peruvian people to re-establish the reign of constitutional law and order; and, on the other, it represents the only means the republic possesses to bring about the conclusion of a treaty of peace with its present invaders.
Occupying this position of heavy responsibility, what Señor Garcia Calderon has instructed me to ask is, not the recognition of his present government as the permanent government of Peru, but as the only organized authority which can enable the people to resume their constitutional rights and restore the government its regular action. Upon the absolute necessity of this course I need not dwell. It will be admitted that it is worthy of the position and power of the United States, and in conformity with its traditional policy, to aid in this hour of need a younger and sister republic. Peru is now occupied by a hostile force, and the terms of peace, upon which only it will be withdrawn, cannot be either accepted or executed without a responsible and recognized government. The burden of this occupation and the sacrifices necessary to [Page 965] secure any treaty of peace with Chili must fall upon that portion of the republic in which the people have delegated in the most emphatic manner their authority to Señor Garcia Calderon. What he desires is, that foreign powers, especially the United States of America, should recognize the force and obligation of his position, and by that recognition encourage the people of Peru in the prompt restoration of constitutional authority.
The first and most important act, however, of Señor Garcia Calderon’s government will be to conclude a treaty of peace with Chili, thus securing to Peru its sovereignty as an independent nation. Now, it is especially for this high and noble purpose that Peru appeals to the United States of America, and it is most particularly to this end that the Provisional Government of Peru has appointed the undersigned as its organ of communication with your excellency’s government. I am desirous to lay before your excellency the earnest petition of Peru in this regard, and shall proceed to do so when your excellency advises me of my recognition as the representative of the Provisional Government of Peru.
The Peruvian people have always looked up to the United States for advice and counsel, and for its aid and support whenever needed, especially when its republican institutions or integrity have been threatened. My country deeply feels how much it owes to the great republic in the past, and more particularly for the efforts lately made by the United States to mediate in the present war. But the extraordinary events which are rapidly developing in South America are of such a dangerous and unexpected nature that, as soon as you give me the opportunity to do so, I desire, in accordance with my instructions, to lay before you the true tendency of those events, and to show you that the United States are interested in interposing their action in the settlement of this South American conflict, if they wish that republican institutions and the independence of the nations of this continent should be maintained.
The Provisional Government of Peru anxiously desires that the terms of peace with Chili be settled, with the advice and mediation of the United States, as the only means which will secure its continuance.
To this end I beg your excellency to please appoint a day and hour when I may have the honor to hand to your excellency the original letter of credence which accredits me as the confidential agent of Peru to the United States of America.
I have, &c.,