The proposed Surrender of Ecuador to France.
Gen. Franco, the Ecuadoran filibuster, has published in
Lima three letters from the present
President of
Ecuador, to
M. Trinite, the
French Charge d'affaires in
Peru, which, if not forged, are highly interesting, as they propose the transfer of the Ecuador to
France something in the way
Dominica has been handed over to
Spain.
The letters were written last December, and the originals are publicly exhibited at the Commerce office in
Lima.
How they came into Franco's possession, does not appear.
In the first letter, dated
Quito, December 7th, there is the following passage:
‘
"In my opinion, and I may even say, in the opinion of every order-loving man, the happiness of this country would depend upon its union with the
French empire, under conditions analogous to those which exist between
Canada and
Great Britain, excepting the differences which have to be introduced by the force of circumstances.
Those of us who are tired of struggling against the licentiousness of the soldiery and the turbulence of the demagogues; those who work in vain to continue the anarchy which dishonor and impoverishes us, and who see advancing rapidly the devastating torrent of the Anglo-American race, we should find under the auspices of
France the civilization in the peace, and liberty in the order, and blessings which feeble and attenuated
Spain could never make us enjoy."
’
In the third letter, written in
French, and dated
Quito, December 21st, we find the following:
‘
"It is not the question 'either' (translated in the Commercio 'not only') of a guarantee, which one is bound to say the ambitious chiefs of these unhappy republics have exacted so many times.
It is 'not' (translated 'not only') a question of interest to the
Government of which I am a member, but to the interest of this country which has just been delivered from the scourge of the eternal revolutions, by associating itself to a great power, of whose repose and civilization it could partake.
It is also the interest of
France, as she would become the mistress of this beautiful country, which would not be useless to her.
"What I intend to do and what I certainly will do, as soon as you give me the confidential assurance of H. M.'s Government, is the following: The provisional government of
Quito will ask the people, if it will unite itself to the
French Empire, under the name which you please to indicate beforehand, and I am sure of the consent of the people, tired as it is of the calamities of the revolutions and much as it hates to be dragged by force into dependence on the
American Government — Mean while, we will endeavor to gain time; but it would be better to act soon, and it would be a blessing for
Ecuador, if you or the chief of the French Naval Station could take upon their responsibility the step I propose to take — that is the assurance of not being abandoned."
’
