The  concluding  proposal  of  Sehor  Porras,  was  not
acceptable  according  to  the  ideas  of  Sehor  Aldunate,
for  it  went  outside  the  terms  of  the  engagement  that
had  brought  us  to  Washington,  that  is — as  has  been
repeatedly  stated,  the  search  for  a  manner  of  giving
effect  to  the  unfulfilled  parts  of  the  Treaty  of  Ancon.
The  Peruvian  formula  amounted  in  substance  to  a  re-
quest that  the  arbitrator  declare  settled  or  ineffective
the  stipulation  in  Article  III  concerning  the  plebiscite.
Far  from  facilitating  the  fulfillment  of  the  Treaty,  it
would  facilitate  its  non-fulfillment.  Nevertheless,  the
Chilean  Delegation  would  hasten  to  acquaint  its  Gov-
ernment with  the  proposal  as  an  act  of  deference  to  the
Government  of  Peru,  in  the  hope  that  some  means
might  be  found  to  prevent  the  breakdown  of  the  Con-
ference.
Sehor  Aldunate  has  no  wish  to  prolong  the  polemic
that  has  become  evident  to  a  certain  point  in  these  de-
bates on  the  antecedents  of  the  conflict;  but  he  found
himself  obliged  to  make  a  few  remarks  so  as  not  to
appear  to  assent  to  the  conclusions  with  which  Sehor
Porras  wished  to  close  the  discussion.
He  was  of  the  opinion  also  that  for  the  moment  it
would  be  inopportune  to  dwell  upon  the  true  origin  of
the  war;  but  he  believed  that  its  origin  was  known,
and  that  without  recalling  it,  it  would  be  difficult  to
grasp  the  spirit  of  the  unfulfilled  provisions  of  the
Treaty  of  Ancon.
