Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/42

22 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS ernment concerning the New Orleans massacre. The statement of the basis of our liability for wrong inflicted upon the subjects of friendly na tions when they are the result of dereliction of duty by the local authorities was masterly, and the dig nified manner in which that government was in formed that the United States would be just, but would not be forced to a hasty decision, was ad mirable. In the Chile affair, in which that govern ment denied its responsibility for the assaults upon our sailors at Santiago and refused safe conduct to some of the members of the Balmaceda adminis tration who had taken refuge at the United States legation, President Harrison was earnest and per sistent in his demands, and, as the correspondence shows, after waiting patiently for a response, and becoming weary at last of the vacillating conduct of the Chilian government, made a peremptory re quest, which was promptly and satisfactorily an swered. It is due to the republic of Chile to say that during the whole of the controversy the rival parties in that country kept it in a state of constant revolution. The evidence in the case showed that our sailors were outraged because they belonged to the U. S. navy, and that the authorities of Chile permitted, if they did not connive at it. In such a case it would have been pusillanimous on the part of the Government to have failed to demand reparation.