This news has been brought by the Huanaco, which has been repaired, as also the Ilo and Moquegua engines. The repairs on the line were somewhat heavy, but they. have been effected, and now rails have replaced those which had been taken away. The rebels occupy three positions: the forced recruits in Torata, and the volunteers in the plain of Arrastrado and the hill Los Angeles-the latter being the outpost. They can do nothing; laborers are not soldiers, and I am sure will be beaten by the government troops, who understand their arms and are well disciplined. The men commence to desert from the rebels and to hide in the plantations after passing Huaraeane Hill. Pierola is believed to have 800 men. No. 473. Mr. Thomas to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, No. 145.] Lima, Peru, December 13, 1874. (Received December 31.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, an extract from the South Pacific Times, which furnishes, I believe, the most reliable information as to the operations of the army in the vicinity of Moquegua. I am, &c., FRANCIS THOMAS. [Inclosure in No. 145.] CONCLUSION OF THE REVOLUTION. [From the "South Pacific Times," December 12, 1874.] The Peruvian corvette Union, Commander Portal, anchored in this bay on the morning of the 11th, bringing intelligence of the defeat and dispersion of the forces of Señor Pierola. The Union had left for Arica with the Tenth and Eleventh Guards of Lima, but on arrival at that port she received the intelligence, which the Talisman had already brought here, that Prefect Zapata had already quelled the disturbance. Commander Portal then returned to Pacochas, and the troops left for the front, but before they had proceeded half-way they were met by a messenger from the President, ordering the departure of the Union for Callao, touching at Arica, in order to carry dispatches announcing that on the 6th instant Colonel Rivarola made a decisive attack on the entrenchments of the enemy at Torata, and that a heavy fire was kept up throughout the day. At nightfall the rebels ceased firing entirely, and the outposts of the government soon discovered they had vacated their positions. Government troops then scaled the heights, and continued their march in the direction the enemy was supposed to have taken. At daylight they fell in with Montero's division, which had been warmly engaged with the flying rebels, and which had captured a very large number of them. Señor Pierola and his staff are said to have left the scene of battle long before its conclusion, and he was being pursued by Colonel Latorre with the cavalry, with which he has been doing good service since his incorporation in the division of Colonel Rivarola. It is rumored that General Segura and Colonel Escobar have been killed, but there is nothing official to warrant this assertion. The number of killed and wounded was not known at the time of the sailing of the Union, and very few particulars are as yet to hand, as she was dispatched directly the result of the battle became known. She was only delayed long enough to receive the Eleventh Guards, which corps returned by her. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company's steamer Valdivia left for the south last night, to serve as an additional transport for the returning soldiers. It is said the Talisman is also being prepared for the same purpose, so that very shortly the whole of the national guards will have returned to their homes. No. 148.] No. 474. Mr. Thomas to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, Lima, Peru, January 5, 1875. SIR: I have the honor to inclose extracts from the South Pacific Times, showing the present status of the rebellion. The promptness with which President Pardo placed himself at the head of the Peruvian army, and the consequent defeat of this revolu tionary movement, must give additional stability to the present govern ment of Peru. I am, &c., FRANCIS THOMAS. [Inclosure in No. 143.1 PRESENT STATUS OF THE REBELLION. ATTEMPT TO SEIZE AREQUIPA.—ROUT AND DISPERSION OF THE LAST REBELS. [Extracts from the "South Pacific Times."] The following intelligence was received by the Chalaca at 3 p. m. on the 1st instant, and immediately published by us in the form of a bulletin: Mollendo, December 30, 1874. The following telegram has been received from Arequipa, at this moment, 5.15 p. m.: "Senor Commander Grau: "Send the Chalaco to Pisco and Callao at once with the following telegram: Providence does not cease to protect Peru. "Whilst at the risk of being attacked in the rear at any moment by Colonel Suarez, and taking advantage of a dense fog, and the knowledge of a good guide, Señor Miranda, the enemy attempted to surprise Arequipa early this morning. Of course anticipating at the same time to be supported by friends in the city. "I heard at 7 a. m. that the enemy were at Characata, and that they were marching on the city. In the shortest possible time I placed the troops under arms, and occupied the principal towers of the city. The sixth guards and the cadets stood under arms on the roof of San Augustin, the Ayacucho battalion and the twelfth guards in the chief square; and I ordered Colonel Rivarola with a half-battalion of the Pichinchas to attack the enemy wherever he met them. A short time afterwards I was m formed they were entering the suburbs, and I ordered Colonel Velarde with the twelfth nationals to go to the support of the Pinchincha. This movement was immediately made and led to the enemy being taken in the rear. "Col. Rivarola attacked the enemy with his accustomed bravery in the Miraflores suburb, where they had occupied Ballon's country-house under the command of Escobar. To attack and disperse them took Colonel Rivarola twenty minutes. They left a number of killed and wounded. The body of Colonel Escobar has been found. Pierola and the other leaders remained in the rear, and fled by the road to Chignata. Being short of cavalry, I have had to mount a hundred men of the sixth guard, who are fol lowing them up. "I have sent an aid-de-camp to a squadron of huzzars at Pocsi, and another to Suarez, who is in Salinas Pampa, with orders to follow the fugitives. "The rebels in Arequipa had absolutely no time to render assistance. Arequipa remained tranquil. "Nothing can be more providential than the circumstance that this revolution has expired on the outskirts of Arequipa. "Send telegrams to the prefects of the other departments, and the Chalaco must return immediately. THE REVOLUTION. "PARDO." SUNDAY, January 3, 1875. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company's steamship Eten arrived this morning, bringing news fully confirmatory of that published in another column which appeared in a special bulletin on Friday last. After the death of Escobar and the defeat of his men, Pierola took flight in the direction of the Santa Rosa baths, with the cavalry after him. Since that time nothing has been heard of him. Eight mules laden with munitions had been taken from the rebels. The total killed in the fight on the 30th was twenty-four; Colonel Escobar and Senor Villafuerte being among the number. General Segura is sick at Omate. Colonel Santa Maria returned by the Eten. The troops from Iquique will arrive by the Bolivia, which is due on Wednesday. A grand banquet has been given to President Pardo in Arequipa. He has not yet visited Puno. The La Noria and Albarracin Montoneros have entirely disappeared, and the whole province of Tarapaca is quiet, although in Iquique the friends of the revolution are greatly crestfallen. On the day of the fight in Arequipa it was reported in Tacna that Pierola was about to enter that city. ATTEMPTED REVOLUTION IN AYACUCHO.-DEATH OF TWO LEADERS. The following dispatch from the prefect of Ayacucho explains the discovery of a conspiracy, and the steps which were taken to suffocate it, and which led to the death of two of the leading conspirators: "AYACUCHO, December 22, 1874. "On the 18th instant I informed the government that I had sent a small force to Cachipacca hacienda, for the purpose of arresting the conspirators who I knew were holding a meeting there. By copies of documents herewith you will learn that that expedition led to nothing save the capture of thirty-six kegs of powder and a packet of communications with reference to the revolution, which were found in a cave in the side of the hill. The conspirators all fled with their arms. Learning from the correspondence captured that the conspiracy was a serious one; that it had agents at Huanta, La Mar, and Cangallo; that it had considerable sums of money sent from Lima; that they had with them a person who had also arrived from the capital for the purpose of directing and leading the movement; and being informed by friends of the government that the rebels were re-assembling in greater numbers, and were casting bullets, making cartridges, and otherwise preparing to attack this city or to resist in the hacienda, which for a long time past has been their meeting-place and depository for their arms, on the night of the 19th I ordered the subprefect and the commander of the police to leave with eighty men for Cachipacca, and gave them written instructions as to the steps to be taken to surround the hacienda and capture all the conspirators and their arms. One of their spies, however, fired off two rockets, which gave them the alarm, and they accordingly took to flight and left the hacienda. I then sent Commander Campos forward with forty men, and he soon after learned they had taken refuge on a steep and difficult hill called Chorro, from which roads run to La Mar and Huanta. Lieutenant Torre with ten men was the first to approach this hill, and on being fired on, his men returned the fire, wounding Señor Felipe Cucalon, who had brought money from Lima for the revolution, and the half-pay lieutenant Señor Adolf Machuca, nephew of General Vargas Machuca, both of whom died yesterday evening. The other conspirators took to flight on perceiving that another picket under Lieutenant Castro was about to close in on their rear. In communicating these facts to the supreme government, I beg also to state that the original documents captured from the conspirators have been handed to the criminal officers in fulfillment of the law. The complete dispersion of these conspirators, and the check it has given to their plans, insures peace in the department. "M. V. ALVAREZ.” No. 151.] No. 475. Mr. Thomas to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Lima, Peru, January 18, 1875. (Received February 12.) SIR: In pursuance of instructions contained in your dispatch No. 111, I have had an informal conversation with the Peruvian minister of for eign relations, concerning a proposed transfer to Cuba from Pern of Chinese laborers, and am assured, by the minister for foreign relations, that the government of Peru have no reason to believe that any such purpose is entertained, and that all proper measures will be resorted to by the authorities of Peru to thwart such an attempt if it be made. I am, &c., FRANCIS THOMAS. No. 157 bis.] No. 476. Mr. Thomas to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Lima, Peru, February 16, 1875. (Received March 11.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose, for the information of the Secretary of State, a printed copy of the message of President Pardo, read by him to the Congress of Peru, at the commencement of its called session on the first day of the present month. The message proposes no specific measure of relief to the deeply-embarrassed condition of Peruvian finances, and as the Congress at its recent regular session of one hundred days failed to provide for a depleted public treasury, it would seem that neither the executive nor legislative branch of the government of Peru sees clearly a way out of the pecuniary embarrassment by which that government is surrounded. These financial complications, the Secretary of State is aware, have their origin in injudicious contracts entered into by the administration of the late President Balta, and do not, therefore, materially impair public confidence in the present chief magistrate of Peru and his constitutional advisers. I am, &c., FRANCIS THOMAS. [Inclosure in No. 157.] PRESIDENT PARDO'S MESSAGE. [From the "South Pacific Times" of February 6, 1875.] On the 3d instant, the extraordinary sessions of Congress were formally opened in Lima. The gallery was well filled, and the speech, which was read by President Pardo, was listened to with marked attention. The following is a translation of this doenment: Honorable representatives, my first duty on finding myself in the midst of you, in the tranquil performance of your constitutional attributes, is to render thanks to Almighty God for the rapid and happy termination of the civil war which two months ago threatened the republic, and for the proofs of civic virtues which the citizens have evinced in consequence of it. The crisis through which the republic has passed has sufficed to prove the power which order, law, and progress hold in our social organization, and the national guards, the army, and the navy have exercised through their spirit and conduct a moral and material influence greatly to the benefit of the true interests of the country, The result has proved that the consciousness of the existence of that power was well founded, and has been a source of satisfaction to right-thinking men of all parties, who desire that their ideas or their political aspirations may be carried out after honorable and peaceable legal conflict. The army, the navy, and the national guards have acquired just title to public gratitude in this short though vigorous defense of social order, justice, and our institutions. To consolidate the labor effected, and insure the interests and rights of society against future attacks, it is urgently requisite to determine a number of important matters which await your decision, and for this reason I have summoned these extraordinary sessions, in the hope that your intelligence and patriotism will give them that correct and prompt solution which the condition of the country imperionsly demands. The most important of these questions are those with reference to the finances. The country is passing through a crisis which is so serious that we cannot ignore it, because social evils cannot be cured unless the authorities examine into them. The advances received on account of the sales of guano have resulted in three consequences which to-day are combined in one. The natural reaction in business and industry after passing through an epoch in which the ordinary product of the guano was consumed, and also the sales of future years, the difficulty which the foreign trade of Peru feels in consequence of guano having thus temporarily ceased to serve as a national return, and the blank which the discount of this rental has produced in the receipts, to the great embarrassment of the regular public service. The first of these results refers to a circumstance already realized, and it cannot therefore be corrected, except by the gradual action of economical laws. The second, i.e., the decreased commercial return in proportion to the imports, will diminish as the production of the country increases. But the third cannot be remedied, except by yourselves, and it is urgently necessary that you undertake the task. An equality between receipts and expenditures is indispensably necessary for the proper administration of the executive powers, which, as you well know, exercise an important part in the moral and material welfare of a nation. Only the equality can insure credit, and we require to make use of ours in order to terminate the public works which have been commenced, and increase European immigration, which is rendered necessary by them, and which is the most powerful element in increasing production. If the solution of our financial question places us in a position to make use of our credit, the resources we obtain from it will contribute to a great extent to decrease the ill-effects we at present experience from a want of exportable products, and our foreign trade will to that extent be a gainer. Consequently, the public peace, social order, the due carrying on of the government, the national credit, the termination of the public works and their necessary effects on the prosperity of industry and commerce, all depend on your success in restoring a fiscal equilibrium by determining the sums which are to be permanently devoted to meeting our ordinary expenses. The solution of this problem has become a necessity to the republic, and it is worthy of receiving the whole of your time, study, and attention, since the difficulties and dangers attendant on its solution are equally as great as those which must result from its non-determination. I call your attention most seriously to this matter, because the future of my country is a question which gives me much thought, and because my duty to it compels me to explain its necessity to you, and to urge you to come to a resolution. The discussion of the budget and the determination of the receipts with which its expenses are to be permanently met; the determination of unsettled questions as to the administration of guano and nitrate in reference to each other, and in reference to the public treasury; the formation of a special school-fund on a scale which shall enable instruction to be generalized and allow the municipalities freedom of action in the matter with their own funds, and thus liberate the budget from charges for local expenses; and, finally, the determination of funds for the perfection of our publie works and for foreign immigration-these are the primary questions which have led to my calling this extraordinary Congress, and to which I especially direct your attention in consequence of their intimate connection with the present and the future of the republic. Honorable legislators, the responsibility which to-day weighs on the representatives of the people is as great as are the problems submitted to their decision by public necessity; and problems such as these, on which the present and future of a nation depend, can only be solved by disregarding the minor interests of the present and acting for the permanent welfare of society. After the President had terminated, the speaker of Congress answered him in a short speech, and the sessions were declared to have commenced. No. 8.] No. 477. Mr. Gibbs to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Lima, Peru, July 20, 1875. (Received August 11.) SIR: There is nothing of importance to report politically, except an apparently small affair at Islay, some four hundred and fifty miles southeast from here, on the coast. |