Mr. Tillman to Mr.
Olney.
Legation of the United States,
Quito, September 7,
1895. (Received Oct. 4.)
No. 30.]
Sir: I had the honor in my dispatch No.
29,1 dated September 1, but which should have been
dated August 31, to inform you of the flight of the minister of foreign
relations and the abdication of the other cabinet officers, and that the
municipal government was the only source of order and that a friend of
Alfaro was civil and military chief.
Governor Alfaro entered the city on the 1st of this month with his army,
and everything has been quiet. His course has been moderate and
magnanimous. He yesterday notified General Savasti that he was at
liberty to return to his own home, with the assurance that he should not
be molested, but there is a disposition on the part of all parties,
either from ignorance or prejudice, to attribute the act even of a
half-drunken soldier to the Government in power. I hand you herewith a
letter, copy of original and translation, from Louis F. Carbo, minister
of foreign relations under Alfaro’s regime, addressed to me, and my
reply to the same.
I have to-day made a personal call upon General Alfaro, and found him
easy and affable, having the appearance of a man of decided character.
He impresses me as a man who is moved by the highest motives. He took
occasion to express to me his admiration for the real republican
character of the United States Government. I informed him that I had
from time to time informed my Government as to the progress of events in
this country.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure in No.
30—Translation.]
Mr. Carbo to
Mr. Tillman.
Republic of Ecuador,
Guayaqui, August 29,
1895.
Most Excellent Señor: On the 5th of August
of the present year the people of Guayaquil proclaimed Gen. Eloy
Alfaro jefe supremo of the Republic of Ecuador and general in chief
of the army. This popular proclamation was immediately seconded by
all the provinces of the coast and by some of the interior of the
Republic. As soon as General Alfaro arrived from abroad he informed
his cabinet in this city, as it appears in the decrees and
proclamations, which your excellency will see in the “official
record,” copies of which I have the pleasure of sending you with
this note. The resistance which the Government, not recognized in
the proceedings of the coast, offered to the expressed will of the
country compelled the supreme chief to open a campaign against the
interior of the Republic, but not without having first exhausted
conciliatory efforts with commissioners of peace, whom he sent to
Quito and Cuenca without results, on account of the obstinacy of
those who attempted to exalt themselves above the national will,
clearly and honestly manifested in the public press and in the
military camps.
It was therefore necessary for the government of Guayas to appeal to
arms to reduce to submission those who, working on the religious
sentiment of the country, were engaged in sustaining a shadow of
government, [Page 248] which was, in
fact, but a mockery, and leaves behind it sad records. The victories
obtained by our valorous army in the center and south of the
Republic, the defection of the troops who sustained in Quito the
expiring Government, the flight of some of the members of the
cabinet, and the seeking of asylums by others in foreign legations,
the proclamations, and the entry of our army into the capital, where
the jefe supremo will be when this note reaches you, are
circumstances more than sufficient to convince you that the
Government which I represent, whose jurisdiction extends over the
whole Republic, is in very truth the national Government, while the
faction of fugitives who wander toward the north and will soon
disappear no longer deserve to be taken into account. In the
official record, to which I have referred your excellency, you will
be able to inform yourself as to the policies and tendencies of this
Government, as well as its actual residence in this city, as
represented by the council of ministers charged with the executive
power. The undersigned, being honored with the presidency of the
council, has the satisfaction to assure your excellency that the new
Government of Ecuador proposes to bind still further, if possible,
the friendly relations of your country and ours.
Please accept, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 30.]
Mr. Tillman to
Mr. Carbo.
Legation of the United States,
Quito, September 6, 1895.
Sir: I had the honor of receiving yesterday
your communication of August 29, 1895. The narration of political
events and military movements for the past three months is in accord
with my own observation and information, and the conduct of General
Alfaro since his entrance to the capital has been characterized by
moderation and magnanimity. All the public offices of national rank
have been abdicated by those to whom three months ago I presented my
letter of credence from the President of the United States. I unite
with you in the desire to strengthen still more, if possible, the
friendly relations which have existed between Ecuador and the United
States of America. I have informed my Government from time to time
of the progress of events and General Alfaro’s movements, and will
forward to Consul-General Dillard by your agent another dispatch to
be mailed to the Secretary of State, from whom I must hear before I
can further take action in my character as minister to Ecuador.
I am, etc.,
