DOWNFALL OF A TYRANT.

Evening Star, Issue 8609, 1 September 1891, Page 2

DOWNFALL OF A TYRANT.

The deplorable condition of affairs in Chili has been well dennnhfld by » yo«t>s native, who lately arrived in San Francisco from Valparaiso. His name is Carlos Sohulte, With his brother Enrique he sailed on the Chilian barque Antioneta for Viotoria, 8.C., on April 24. The young Chilian was in a position to know many of the unpublished oiroumstanoes of the oivii war. He said : "I left Chili because there was no work and because I would rather live all my days in exile than fight in the army of the aooursed tyrant Balmaceda against my dearest friends and against my honest oonviotions of right. It is an evil time for poor Chili, but no man who knows the people and the country can foresee but one thing, the ultimate viotory of the insurgents. Life in Valparaiso is almost unendurable for those who will not espouse Balmaoeda's cause. No man dare speak his thoughts in publio or private. The city swarms with Balmaceda's spies, and his soldiers patrol the streets with orders to prohibit the walking or talking together of more than two persons. Private houses are plundered under the flimsy pretext of search, and respectable people are insulted and abused every day, Letters are opened in the Post Office whether coming from or going to any foreign country, and if there be any allusion to politioal affairs they are detained.

11 One incautious or thoughtless word or sign subjects a man to arrest aB a spy. I went across the Argentine line on a pleasure trip and was arrested on my return and kept in gaol for a month. It was oharged that I was a spy, but there was no evidence of it and no attempt to prove it. X was released through the intervention of my friends. A few days before I left Chiii the house of the richest widow in Valparaiso, Senora Rose de Edwards, was broken open by Balmaceda's soldiers, and a party of prominent men who were hiding there were arrested. Among them was a wealthy priest named Donoso. They were charged with treasonable conspiracy, and would have been put to death had not powerful friends interceded for them, Finally they were banished to Europe for life. Hundreds of people have been arrested and imprisoned at the instance of informers, whose acousation settles the matter. In prison they are treated more inhumanly, and as for care they get none. "One of the signs that point to Balmaceda's downfall is the condition of his army. I know many soldiers and officers who are Berving him, and they have told me that they are watching for a chanee to go over to the Congressional party. The only thing that holds the Government forces together is the system of espionage. Half the soldiers are detectives and spies as well, their business being to learn the views of their comrades. Many soldiers suspected of revolutionary tendencies have been imprisoned and flogged, and it is a well-known fact that several have been quietly and informally executed. The troops in the north say they are only waiting for an attack by the insurgents to desert in a body. "Every man in Balmaceda's army is under double pay. On the other hand, the insurgents' forces are nine-tenths volunteers. One insurgent battalion, which distinguished itself at the battle of Pozo Almonte, is made up of the sons of the best families in Chili. It is called the Franco Tiradores de Taltal. The trouble with the insurgents is laok of arms and ammunition. For every rifle captured from Balmaceda there are fonr men eager to carry it. The tyrant of Chili knew a long time ago that this terrible war wrs coming, and he prepared for it, He has all the vast store of arms and cartridges captured from Bolivia and Peru, besides what he bought abroad. He has supplies enough to equip an army of 300,000 men, and to keep it in the field for years. " But for the vigilance and craftiness of a relative named Amergue), a naval officer, Bilmaceda would have had no navy at all. The officers and crews of the Lynch, Condell, and Pilcomayo were on the point of seizing the vessels and joining the rebels when Amerguel informed Balmaceda and prevented their desertion. •'A small army of Government troops guard the pass over the Andes to the Argentine Republic, ostensibly to prevent the cutting of the telegraph wires, but really to keep the road open for Balmaceda's flight in the event of bis final defeat. I have been told that every man who wears the insurgent uniform is sworn to show no quarter to the person of the Chilian Czir. No matter what the leaders order, the men, if they ever get the chance, will haok the tyrant's body to pieces, so great is their hatred of him." In conclusion, Mr Sohulte said : •• Through the length and breadth of Chili the name of Balmaceda is a synonym of wanton cruelty, treachery, and oppression more fiendish and revolting than any other oivilised oountry ever endured. The people of Chili hate him, and they will fight against him. The cry of the insurgents is for guns and ammunition, They will get them, and then the Government of Balmaceda will be wiped off the faoe of the earth."