CORRESPONDENCE. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. ARGENTINE-CHILE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. [Telegram.] Mr. Day to Mr. Buchanan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, D. C., July 29, 1898. BUCHANAN, Minister, Buenos Ayres: Learning with great regret of the tension which has arisen in regard to the boundary demarcation between the Argentine Republic and Chile, the Government of the United States charges you to express the earnest hope that the parties may find it practicable to compose their differences in accordance with the agreement already existing for marking the boundary by the commissioners, and for arbitrating any point on which the commissioners may be unable to agree. DAY. Mr. M. Garcia Mérou to Mr. Hay. [Translation.] ARGENTINE LEGATION, Marblehead Neck, Mass., September 25, 1898.. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have the honor to inform your excellency that I am just in receipt of a telegram from my Government advising me that the boundary question pending between the Argentine Republic and Chile, by mutual agreement of both Governments, is to be submitted to the arbitral decision of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, in conformity with the stipulations in existing treaties, and particularly with the agreement of 1896, which I had the pleasure of communicating to your excellency with one of my earlier notes. According to said compacts the line whose fixation is given into the hands of an arbitrator is that which runs from the twenty-sixth parallel to the fifty-second-the definitive tracing of the frontier in the region known as "Puna de Atacama" being yet to be determined by means of direct negotiations which are now proceeding without hindrance. This solution, which removes, happily, all fear of conflict between the two countries while satisfying the wishes of both, in no way diminishes the gratitude which my Government feels for the interest shown by that of your excellency for a pacific settlement of the long standing and complicated difficulty. FR 98. 1 1 In begging your excellency to transmit these sentiments to His Excellency the President of the United States I reiterate to your excellency the assurance of my highest and most distinguished consideration. M. GARCIA MÉROU. Х No. 29.] Mr. Adee to Mr. M. Garcia Mérou, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 28, 1898. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 25th instant, in which you are pleased to inform me that you have received a telegram from your Government stating that the boundary question pending between the Argentine Republic and Chile is, by mutual accord of both Governments, about to be submitted to the arbitration of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, in conformity with the stipulations of existing treaties, and in particular of the agree ment of 1896, according to which compacts the lines submitted to arbitration run from the twenty-sixth to the fifty-second parallels of south latitude, leaving for future settlement by means of direct nego tiations, which are forthwith to be undertaken without interruption, the definitive location of the frontier in the regions known as "Puna de Atacama." The gratifying information which you thus convey has been confirmed by telegrams which I received from the United States minister at Buenos Ayres, who has been careful to keep the Department advised of the progress of the negotiations in conformity with the instructions which have been sent to him from time to time expressing the great interest felt by this Government in a just and peaceful solution of the pending controversies. Accept, etc., ALVEY A. ADEE, Acting Secretary. Mr. M. Garcia Mérou to Mr. Hay. [Translation] LEGATION OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, Washington, December 15, 1898. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: In compliance with instructions from my Government, I have the honor to officially confirm the information which I was able to give you in the conversation had with your excellency two weeks ago respecting the designation by the Governments of the Argentine Republic and of Chile of his excellency, Mr. William Buchanan, to form part of the commission which shall definitely determine the boundary line in the region called Puna de Atacama, it being his function to act as third arbitrator if the conference of the delegates of both nations, which is to meet on the 10th of March, shall not succeed in reaching an accord concerning the demarcation of the said boundary. My Government charges me, moreover, to make known to your excellency that up to this time the two Governments have not communicated to Mr. Buchanan the designation which has been agreed upon in the protocols drawn up to that end, as the Government of the Argentine Republic is awaiting the reply of that of Chile in order to comply with the aforesaid stipulation in official form. Notwithstanding that the matter concerns a personal designation, the Argentine foreign office understands that the minister of the United States will ask of your excellency's Government the authorization necessary to accept the same upon there being communicated to him by the Argentine Republic and by Chile the honorable choice which has been made of him; the Government which I have the honor to represent has ever believed that the Government of the United States would find no obstacle to authorizing his excellency Mr. Buchanan to accept the important mission which has been confided to him, thus giving the additional proof of the esteem and sincere friendship which the Argentine Republic has always enjoyed at its hands. It is allowable for me, in conclusion, to state to your excellency in fulfillment of express orders, that as I had the pleasure to communicate to your excellency on previous occasions, Mr. Buchanan enjoys the greatest esteem of the Argentine Government for his high intellectual endowments and the precision and uniform tact of his official and private actions, and that in this sense my Government has not hesitated for an instant to designate him as arbitrator in a matter of such importance, being assured of the impartiality of his judgment and of his high spirit of justice. For my part, I feel a keen satisfaction in transmitting to your excellency the contents of this note, and I avail myself of this opportunity, etc. M. GARCIA MÉROU. No. 31.] Mr. Hay to Mr. M. Garcia Mérou. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 15th instant, handed to me in person the same day, in which you inform me officially, and in confirmation of oral statements heretofore made by you, of the choice of the United States minister at Buenos Ayres, Mr. William I. Buchanan, as a member of the commission to definitely determine the boundary line in the region known as Puna de Atacama, with a view to his acting as arbitrator if the conference of the delegates of the two nations which is to meet on the 10th of March next shall not reach an accord respecting the demarcation of that line. As I had the pleasure to inform you orally, the Chilean representative in this capital had already informally acquainted the President with the choice of Minister Buchanan as a member of the commission in question, and Señor Morla Vicuña has been informed of the provisional assent of this Government to such choice in case the two Governments should ask it. If in accordance with the understanding of your Government Mr. Buchanan should advise me of the request concurrently made of him by your Government and by the Government of Chile to act as a member of the arbitral commission to which your note refers and shall request the permission of this Government to accept the same, it will afford me pleasure to communicate to him the consent of the President for the personal performance of the mission with which he has thus been honored. Be pleased to accept, etc. JOHN HAY. No. 428.] Mr. Hill to Mr. Buchanan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I inclose for your information copy of a note from the Argentine minister at this capital informing the Department that you had been selected by the Argentine and Chilean Governments to act as third arbitrator in the matter of the Puna de Atacama boundary line, in case the delegates of the two countries who are to meet on March 10 next fail to reach an agreement concerning it. Copy of the Department's reply is also inclosed. I am, etc., DAVID J. HILL, Acting Secretary. HAY, Washington: [Telegram sent in cipher.] Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Hay. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Argentine and Chilean Governments have formally asked me accept position on limits commission referred to in my No. 591. What are wishes of the Department? BUCHANAN. Telegram received Washington, D. C., February 23, 1899. Mr. Hay to Mr. Buchanan. BUCHANAN, Minister, Buenos Aires: President authorizes your acceptance. HAY. SETTLEMENT OF THE CLAIM OF THOMAS JEFFERSON PAGE. Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Day. No. 565.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Buenos Ayres, October 1, 1898. SIR: I have the honor to advise you that the claim of Capt. Thomas Jefferson Page, which has been before the Argentine Congress for so many years, was day before yesterday finally passed by that body, and to append on the overleaf a copy of my telegram of yesterday so advising you. The sum awarded by Congress was $4,242.35, Argentine national (paper) currency, to be paid in national 6 per cent internal debt bonds. These bonds were provided by an act of Congress some several years back to cover internal obligations, and, as the national exchequer has been depleted by the country's heavy expenses during the past few years, Congress, as well as the Executive, adopts this plan for paying all claims it can. |