Thomas Baines - Observations on the Present State of the Affairs of the River Plate

The destructive war which has now been waged for so many years, by the Chief of the Province of Buenos Ayres against the Republic of Uruguay, involves questions of so much importance to the commercial interests, and to the national honour of England, that nothing can account for the very slight attention which it has received from Parliament and the press, except the fact that many of the principal considerations connected with it have never yet been fully brought before the British public. In order to supply this deficiency, and to show how much it concerns the character of this country that this war should at once be brought to a close in the only manner in which it can be ended; that is, by the prompt and decided interference of the Governments of France and England, I have thought that it might be useful to lay before the public the following observations and documents, explanatory of the principles involved in the war; of the conduct pursued by Mr. Mandeville, the British Minister to the Argentine Confederation, at the most critical period of its progress; and of the strong and rapidly-increasing interest which this country, and more especially the port of Liverpool, has in the preservation of the threatened independence of the Republic of Uruguay.

Most of the readers of these remarks are no doubt aware that the Province of the Banda Oriental, or eastern bank of the River Plate, was first constituted an independent state, under the title of the Republic of Uruguay, at the close of the war between the Argentine Confederation and the Empire of Brazil, in the year 1828. This arrangement was in a great measure brought about by the good offices of Lord Ponsonby, the Ambassador of the British Government to the Court of Rio, and the result of his negociations was so agreeable to the English Government, that the peace thus concluded was made a subject of congratulation in the speech from the throne in the year 1829. The principal object in forming this new Republic was, to put an end to the destructive war between Buenos Ayres and Brazil, originating in the claims put forward by both these countries to the possession of the Province of the Banda Oriental. The Brazilians, who had had possession of it for several years, were naturally unwilling to have so warlike and powerful a state as the Argentine Republic on their most vulnerable frontier, and the Argentines were not less unwilling to have the Brazilian frontier pushed more than a hundred leagues up the River Plate, and within the limits of the ancient Viceroyalty of Paraguay, which had for ages been occupied by the Spanish race. As the only effectual solution of these difficulties, the English Government proposed that the Banda Oriental should be rendered independent of both countries, and this, after some negociation, was agreed to by all the parties concerned.

The primary object of the mediation of the English Government was the re-establishment and preservation of peace and amity between two nations, with both of which England had valuable commercial relations; and this object has been completely gained by the arrangement then effected. During the sixteen years which have elapsed since the treaty was concluded, no serious difference has occurred between Brazil and the Argentine Confederation, nor is any likely to occur so long as the barrier of an independent state is interposed between them. It is only during the last two years that serious discussions have arisen between them, and these have originated in the fears of Brazil, lest the successes of the Buenos Ayrean army, now before Monte Video, should be such as to break down the barrier established by the Ponsonby treaty, and again to bring the Buenos Ayreans on the frontiers of Rio Grande. From apprehension of this event, the Brazilian Government has allowed General Paz, with his military staff, to pass through its territory to place himself at the head of the Correntino insurgents, who have risen against Rosas, and made common cause with Monte Video; it has also recalled Admiral Grenfell, its commander in the River Plate, as well as its diplomatic agent at Monte Video, for engaging in an ill-timed quarrel with the Monte Videan Government; and if the Buenos Ayrean army should succeed in gaining possession of the city of Monte Video, it will in all probability, whether backed or not by England and France, decide to take part in the war, rather than allow General Rosas to succeed in the designs which he now avows on the Republics of Uruguay and Paraguay, the two bulwarks of the western provinces of the Brazilian empire. Notwithstanding the recent victories of the Brazilian General, Baron Caxias, over the rebels of Rio Grande dó Sul, that province is still in a very unsettled state – far too much so to be safely exposed to the machinations of such dangerous neighbours as Generals Rosas and Oribe. It may, therefore, be confidently expected, that if the great naval powers do not interpose, the progress of events will again bring on a war between Brazil, strengthened by the army of Uruguay, under General Rivera, that of Corrientes under General Paz, and the forces of Paraguay on one side; and Buenos Ayres on the other, backed by those other provinces of the Argentine Confederation, which still follow the fortunes of General Rosas.

What the result of such a war would be no one can predict, but its first consequence would be another blockade of Buenos Ayres, by the Brazilian fleet, its next the reinforcement of the garrison of Monte Video by a detachment of Brazilian troops, and its probable final result, after the whole of the countries engaged in it had been thoroughly ruined, the establishment of the ascendancy either of the government of Buenos Ayres, or of that of Brazil at Monte Video. This would be alike opposed to the wishes and the interests of the Monte Videans themselves, to the interests of a large portion of South America, and to those of the nations trading with it. A small Independent State, like the Republic of Uruguay, governed as it has ever been since the date of its independence on the most liberal commercial principles, is the best of all checks on the commercial illiberality of the neighbouring countries, and is much too valuable to be sacrificed by the Government of any commercial nation which has at heart the prosperity of its subjects.

If it should be said that neutral nations have no right to interpose between belligerents, even for the purpose of preserving the national independence of the weaker, I answer, that no longer since than last year, the Government of this country was prepared to have interposed, if it had been necessary, in order to preserve the independence of the Empire of Morocco; and that the Government of France fully admitted the right of England to do so in such a case, by giving a promise beforehand that it would not use its victory either to conquer the territory or to destroy the independence of the offending state. The reason why England was prepared to resist the conquest of Morocco was, that such a conquest would have seriously endangered her interests and influence in the Mediterranean; and one principal reason why she should interfere to prevent the conquest of Monte Video by the army and squadron of Buenos Ayres is, that such a conquest would jeopardise her valuable commerce and her influence in the River Plate, the only outlet of regions larger than all the great Kingdoms of Western Europe united. Brazil has the same right to interpose that Austria would have to resist the conquest of Sardinia, or Prussia the conquest of Belgium, by France.

Many advantages have resulted both to the commerce of foreign nations, and to the prosperity of the people of Uruguay, from the recognition of its independence both of Buenos Ayres and Brazil, which were not anticipated at the time when it was established, the whole of which, as we shall show, will be lost if it is allowed to be absorbed by or placed in dependence on Buenos Ayres. Amongst these advantages are the following: —