EXTRAORDINARY FILIBUSTERING PLOT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XV, Issue 4722, 17 July 1890, Page 4

EXTRAORDINARY FILIBUSTERING PLOT.

A PLAN TO SEIZE LOWER CALIFORNIA. (From tha igs'a American Correspondent) New York, M»y 24. It is a long tima sinco wo engaged in filibustering, which was formerly quite an amu3ement with restless spirits, though it often led to sad consequences for those cogiged in it. Filibustering expeditions went years aqo to Central America and Cuba. Tho leaders fell into the hands of the authorities there, and were either shot or garrotcd, and many of their followers met the same fate. It Is nearly 20 years since a first-class enterprise of this sort was undertaken, and as it resulted in a good many deaths and maDy mora narrow escapes, the business fell into disrepute. Bat though the soake was scotched it was not killed, and this week we have tho news of a gigantic ecbeme for cipturing the peninsula of Lower Cilifornia from onr neighbor Alexic) by a pure proceaß of filibustering. This iiiice of territory has Ion« been coveted by certain speculators, who organised a land and emigration company under a Moxic.u charter, and undertook ti sell tho land and settle tha country by iadactDg people to migrate. Originally tbe company was American, but its control has pissed into English hands, though many c-f the Americaas formerly connected -villi i; still rotaiu an interest, and are concerned in tho management. Emigration was alow, and tbe managers were disappointed; they knew that if they could extend the fl»g of the United Stages over ilia new region ita value would be enormously incress.'d, as the laws of Mexico arenctsnited to foreign emigrants, no matter iu what industry tbey are engaged.

Tho firat mova was to induce oar Government !o bay and the Mexicans to sell iho sovereicnty of Liwer California, but neither Administration was inclined that way. There was a time whan tho Uoited States coveted every contiguous land, but that time baa paused nway, at least in Dirt; we took all Mexico that we waoted after onr war with that conntry in the forties. We have bungbt Alaska from Russia, and occasionally we hint that we would like to brlnz Canada one from tinder the paw of the British lion, and place it securely beneath the wings rf the American E>gle (with a large E). Tho Land and Emigration Company aforesaid has had lobbyists in Washington daring all this season for the pnrposo of inducing Congrecs to take action in their behalf, bat Congress has persistently tamed a deaf ear to these centlemen. The case was growing desperate, as the company had spent a great deal of money and obtained small returns. and sr> within the p;s - . few months tho filibustering schema has been organised. The headquarters of the revoln'ionlsla was at Sin XJiogo, a thriving city of California, and not mors than sixty miles away from the booudsry of the coveted region. The principal town in Lower Cslifornia is Esseoads. I: lies just within the boondary, and has a Mex:cin garrUon of about 200 soldiers, and, perhaps, fifteen or twenty cfKcera, and there is a Boiali got.boai stationed there for the protection of commerc?. The plan was for the fillibustere. ths rank and fiie, to be assembled in San Diegn, to tho camber of 400 or 500, and when all was ready they were to be taken on an excursion to a circumstance that woald Dot excite suspicion, as the land company is frequently eending excursion] there with a view to tho sale of its lands and to " boom" the country generally. A grand banquet was to be given, and all the Mt-xican c flhlale, together with the officers of the garrison and cf the gunboat, were to be invited to attend. The cap that cheers and also inebriate:, was to be freely circulated, and atrong-hesded men were detailed to get the Mexican ciHcera thoroughly drank. Eich Mexican was to bo seated between two Americans kno*n to be csao-hardonoS to the effects of "tanglefoot" whisky, rr whatever other thing the Mexicans wonld imbibe. DDd it was confidently hoped that by midnight every dark-akiuned aon of them would be under the table. He woald then bo taken to bed, whore there was little doubt he woDld sleep until well along towards norm of the next day. Meantime the rank and file of the Mexican army wonld be bronght over if possible, a custom that has long prevailed in Mexico, as everyone acquainted with tho history of its numerous " pronanclamentos " is well aware. At aunrias the next morning the old Government wonld be overturned, and an independent one established, and before the Mexican President and War Offico could send a sufficient fore? to suppress the rebellion, the filibusters would be firmly established. Recruits were to bo obtained in San Francisco and other cities, and rushed forward by rail ; arms and monitions of war had beou purchased, or negotiated for, and the revolution had » bright ontbuk. The native population of the covoted country is smaller than tho foreign one, and the foreigner* to a msn woald f.iv.)r tho change of fl«g. But somebody turned traitor, and revealed the plans of tho conspirators, and the great enterprise 13 knocked to pieces. The Government of the United States is determined not to permit any violations of its obligations to a friendly neighbor, and baa given orders to the military comounders nn the Pacific coast to keep a sharp eye apon the projected expedition. I', has despatched a ship of war to Ensenada to co-operate with the Mexicina in preiarvlng order, and will send other ships if they are needed.