The attack of the Jibaros took place in territory not disputed by Peru,' and it is an established and proven fact that it was provoked by Peruvian soldiers who pillaged the Jibaros cabins and violated women. The Ecuadorian Government wishes to know whether the Mediators are resolved upon requiring from Peru respect for the status quo of 1910, for otherwise if Peru shows herself irreducible Ecuador will appeal to force of arms, declining all responsibility for what may happen to Peru. Doctor Bosch added that he thought the three Powers should study the matter, and desired your views. I request instructions. GARRETT. File No. 722.2315/593. The Chargé d'Affaires of Ecuador to the Secretary of State. [Not a translation.] LEGATION OF ECUADOR, MEMORANDUM. MR. SECRETARY: Ecuador has just been invaded by regular Peruvian troops in the section of the Morona River, the dominion of which Peru has never disputed from Ecuador, as it is clearly demonstrated by the processes upon the boundary dispute between the two countries. Ecuador has protested at this irritating military occupation and is ready to revindicate its territorial rights by force, if necessary. Peru has accepted without reserve and has adhered to the Program of Peace suggested by your excellency to avoid future wars; and I believe this is a good opportunity to show to the world the practical results of that program.2 Ecuador, realizing the importance of the Peace Program which your excellency proposed to the nations of the world, has only protested at the unjustified act of invasion effected by Peru, and the Ecuadorian Government cherishes the hope that your excellency may intervene in this regrettable incident which has occurred in the very moment that Peru has made a solemn declaration to adhere to the Program of Peace of your excellency, so enthusiastically received by the whole world. On the basis of the immediate withdrawal of the troops of Peru from the Morona River, Ecuador would be ready to accept the good offices of the United States of America to settle the incident. This does not mean that Ecuador recognizes or will recognize any right whatsoever of Peru to consider the incident of the military occupation of the Morona River as a principal issue in the boundary controversy that must be carried out and settled directly between the two countries. Ecuador wants peace, and does not consider that the acts of hostility of Peru against Ecuador are consistent with Peru's declaration of endorsement of your excellency's Peace Program. These Compare with point 1 of the statement of the Peruvian Chargé d'Affaires as reported by Mr. Bingham in his despatch of May 9, ante. 2 See p. 8. acts of hostility on the part of Peru will be productive of bad results as they will place the two countries on the verge of war; and if your excellency wishes to give his attention to this important subject it would afford your excellency an opportunity to render an invaluable service to the noble cause of peace in our continent; and, impressed by this belief, my Government wishes to know the views of your excellency upon this matter. I avail [etc.] S. S. WITHER Y S. File No. 722.2315/589a. The Secretary of State to the American Minister to Peru. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 28, 1913. The Government of Ecuador has informed us that Peru has sent soldiers into Ecuadorian territory, the excuse given being that they were necessary to protect citizens of Peru who are engaged in business enterprises in Ecuador. There is a disputed boundary line between the two countries, but these soldiers, we are informed, are not on the disputed ground or on ground the ownership of which is questioned by Peru. Ecuador is anxious to enter into direct negotiations with Peru with a view to fixing the boundary line, but in the meantime asks us to use our good offices to secure the withdrawal of Peruvian troops from Ecuadorian territory. Please present the matter to the Government and let us know its answer. The matter was brought to the attention of the Peruvian Legation here but the Minister is absent and we have heard nothing from the Chargé. BRYAN. File No. 722.2315/590. The American Minister to Peru to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Your May 19 and June 28, and Legation's May 17. The President asks that the Department have the American Minister, Quito, inform the President of Ecuador that Peru will soon settle all questions with Chile, which country is now neutral; Bolivian dispute already settled; and that Colombia has agreed to arbitrate, leaving Ecuador alone in refusing arbitration. Brazilian Minister believes this step may be effective. The President says that nothing can be accomplished by direct negotiations and asks that the mediating powers act as arbitrators; he says that policemen have been kept on the Morona for years as a Vanguard protection against savages, and that the recent attack evidences necessity therefor. He has positive information that Ecua dorians disguised as Indians and leading others committed the outrage. Police inefficient and soldiers sent since Putumayo atrocities to insure peace in Morona. Region always Peruvian territory and never adversely claimed. Ecuadorian Minister informed that the soldiers sent for [rescue of] captives will be withdrawn if Ecuador will agree to arbitration. HOWARD. File No. 722.2315/591. The American Minister to Peru to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] AMERICAN LEGATION, The President earnestly asks the Department's good offices in securing arbitration pursuant to procedure outlined in Legation's July 1. He believes vigorous action will be effective and asks to be advised as soon as possible. HOWARD. File No. 722.2315/591. The Secretary of State to the American Minister to Peru. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Your July 9. Ecuador is preparing a proposition which we are informed will be ready shortly. We are glad to do anything in our power to bring about a settlement. BRYAN. File No. 722.2315/600. The Minister of Peru to the Secretary of State. [Not a translation.] PERUVIAN LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to confirm by this note my night letter of this date, which reads as follows: THE SECRETARY OF STATE, WASHINGTON. I have the honor to inform you that my Government delivered to the diplomatic representatives in Lima of the Mediating Powers a memorandum in reference to the Morona incident. I also beg to inform you that I am addressing a note to you giving the views of my Government for a solution of the boundary dispute with Ecuador. I trust that, as I am in the Yosemite, you will accept this communication; but should you, after receiving my note, desire to discuss the matter, I beg you to advise me % the Peruvian Consul, Los Angeles, and I shall proceed to Washington. Yours very respectfully, (signed) F. A. PEZET, Minister of Peru. In accordance with the above and acting upon the instructions received, I have the honor to inform you that on the 15th instant my Government handed in to the representatives of the Mediating Powers at Lima a memorandum in which it declared that, following their advice, it had reduced its military forces to a peace footing; that the small detachments of soldiers that it now has on the rivers are solely there for the maintenance of order and a guaranty to life and property in such regions; that peace in the Morona River is threatened by the action of the Ecuadorian Government in granting concessions to European enterprises for the colonization of lands possessed by Peru and occupied by Peruvians; that the recent incidents in the Morona River which culminated in the destruction of the military posts and the killing of soldiers and settlers on that river justified the presence in that region of a military detachment while proving that its force (thirty men) has been entirely inadequate to properly protect the settlers and to maintain order in the region; that, yielding however to a sentiment in favor of peace, and to show its interest in the mediation, and as proof of its desire to avoid delay in reaching a definite solution of the boundary question with Ecuador, it has ordered the Prefect of the Department of Loreto to maintain in the Morona only police authority so as to protect the inhabitants against attacks by the savages and the renewal of occurrences similar to those in the Putumayo region; and, finally, my Government expresses the wish that the Mediating Powers shall be able to carry out their generous intent of bringing Ecuador to agree to their recommendation of taking to The Hague Tribunal the pending controversy, and recalls the fact that Peru has accepted unconditionally this recommendation, as its constant desire has been the settlement of this long pending controversy. This Legation already has had the honor to bring to your attention the memorandums of July 6 and 29 of the year 1910, and the one of March 25, 1911, and I presume that in view of the personal interest that you have manifested in behalf of a speedy settlement of this boundary dispute, you have read very carefully these important statements that embody the views of my Government in support of the position that it has taken in reference to the controversy, and to the absolute necessity of ending it before an impartial tribunal such as The Hague. My Government, that has consistently advocated the settlement of international disputes through arbitration, now looks to you as the foremost advocate of this principle and as the prime mover in an international peace policy, to exert your great personal influence to induce the Government of Ecuador to submit to the recommendation of the Mediating Powers. My Government has shown its love of peace by its unconditional acceptance of the several recommendations of the Mediating Powers; by the manner in which it heeded the advice of the previous Administration in Washington to reduce its military forces to a peace footing; and finally by its avowed purpose of submitting to the eventuality of an arbitral award a question that involves a vast territory over which it not only claims sovereignty but is in actual possession of, whilst its adversary has but a mere claim unsupported by any of the attributes which constitute the essentials of ownership. In conclusion I would recall that for more than half a century we have tried to reach a definite solution of outstanding boundary 140322° -FR 1913-73 questions with our neighbors by direct negotiations; unfortunately all of these have proved ineffectual and the futility of renewing these in any manner or form has been sufficiently proven by subse quent events and by the impossibility of reaching any kind of understanding through the unwillingness of the contending parties to withdraw from their maximum pretensions; so arbitration has been resorted to as the sole means of attaining an end which each party in solemn treaties has acknowledged to be its desideratum and aim. Consequently my Government can not see any good to be derived from reopening discussions which while they have lasted have not resuited in anything practical and on the contrary have tended, after each successive failure, to embitter the controversy. However, my Government, bent upon a peaceful settlement of all its pending questions with foreign powers, would feel very grateful if in the present case the Mediating Powers could be convinced that the only solution lies in an arbitration of the question, and then exert all possible influence over the Government of Ecuador to the end that it consent to submit the present dispute to The Hague Tribunal of Arbitration. I have [etc.] F. A. PEZET. File No. 722.2315/595. The Embassy of Brazil to the Department of State3 [Memorandum-Translation.] The Peruvian Government, owing to the request of the mediator nations and wishing to avoid every motive that would prevent the solution of the boundary litigation with Ecuador, is disposed to order that the District of Loreto keep in charge in Morona only police agents to protect the civilized inhabitants of that region against the fresh attacks of Indians and to avoid by so doing the reproduction there of the events that took place on the Putumaio. The recall of the troops would not amount to very much if the two countries would not mutually yield in some of their demands. It will be the continuation indefinitely of the status quo which could only create new inconveniences and complications. For that reason the Brazilian Legation at Quito has been instructed to impress upon the Government of Ecuador the importance of it also making some concessions to show a desire to settle this disagreeable question, pointing out the advantage of submitting the question to arbitration, which we always thought the only way to solve it, as it is evident that it is impossible for the two countries to reach a direct agreeAs it is possible that Ecuador will continue to refuse The Hague Tribunal, we suggest the choice of the President of the United States, or, in case he also is rejected, to submit the question to a tribunal that would meet in Washington or some other capital, composed of Peruvian and Ecuadorian judges and presided over by a judge of another nationality, which [sic] could be selected later. This would be the practical way to combine the solution by arbitra Left with the Counselor of the Department of State by the Chargé d'Affaires of Brazi on July 22, 1913. |