Cleveland Morning Leader

The War with Paraguay.

The Administration of James Buchanan is a most warlike one. It has waged war on the Treasury, on the remnant of Florida Indians, the Free State men of Kansas, Brigham Young and his wives, various Indian tribes in Oregon and Washington Territories, the Camanches of Texas, and the "Little Giant" of Illinois. It is now sounding the note of preparation for a big war on President Lopez of Paraguay, has collected the odds and ends of the navy to the number of some seventeen sail of frigates, propellers, and steam tubs of various sorts, and last of all is putting war paint on two Lake Ontario steamers now afloat in salt water, to carry troops up the tributaries of the La Plata for the purpose of humbling and bringing the haughty Lopez to terms in his Capital of Asuncion, a city of mud huts, crooked and unpaved streets, containing twelve thousand people, and protected by an old Spanish Fort.

Paraguay lies in the fork of the rivers Parana and Paraguay, is some six hundred miles from the ocean, and has an area equal to Maryland and Virginia together, with a population nearly as large as Vermont.

The cause of the Paraguay war is briefly this. In 1853-4 a treaty was formed and ratified between our Government and the Argentine Republic. By its terms the navigation of the La Plata and some of its large tributaries were opened to us for trade. Consul Hopkins, residing at Paraguay, like most South American Consuls, was eager to make some money out of his office. Under the provisions of the treaty he organized a trading Company. President Lopez was himself Yankee enough to see that this competition interfered with his gains. He began to quibble about the free use of the waters of Paraguay. Our government supposing the quibbling would amount to nothing, sent the steamer Water Witch. Lieut. Page, to spy out the land. Lieut. P. run his Witch up to the Capital of Paraguay, under permission of the Argentine Confederacy, the Paraguay river being the boundary line between the two countries - Lopez not wishing the stranger in those waters, issued his edict that no foreign vessel should be permitted to navigate any of the waters of his State. Page persisted in pushing the Water Witch up the river, and Lopez, in February 1855, fired the guns of one of his forts into the Witch. Our flag was thus insulted, and up to this time the reparation has been only quibbles, promises and non fulfillment on the part of Lopez. The waters where the outrage was committed were not exclusively under the jurisdiction of Lopez, his country was at peace with ours, and a treaty had been agreed upon and approved by the U. S Senate. The insult is growing old, Paraguay is a long way off, her people are half civilized. President Lopez is of small account, our coffers are full, national honor must be redressed, and Buchanan needs the glory.