Some Reflections on Early Anglo-Paraguayan Commerce

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Some Reflections on Early Anglo-Paraguayan Commerce Author(s): Thomas Whigham Source: The Americas, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Jan., 1988), pp. 279-284Published by: Academy of American Franciscan HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1006907Accessed: 13-07-2015 12:48 UTC

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SOME REFLECTIONS ON EARLY ANGLO- PARAGUAYAN COMMERCE*

Scholars of the British experience in Latin America have given consid- erable attention to the adventures of the two Scottish merchants John Parish Robertson and his brother William, who visited Paraguay be-

tween 1811 and 1814. The image of the taciturn Dictator Jos6 Gaspar de Francia attempting to use the two British subjects to establish commercial links with Europe has appeared in virtually all histories of the period.' Francia's failure in this regard, we are frequently told, ushered in a period of self-imposed isolation for Paraguay. Few foreigners, merchants or other- wise, were permitted to breech the barriers set up by the Dictator and Para- guay quickly took on the reputation of an "inland Japan." That these barriers were not as absolute as the traditional portrayal would suggest has been established only in the last fifteen years.2 With few exceptions, the historical accounts have assumed that, with the departure of the Robertsons, British merchants lost all interest in Paraguay. In fact, however, a strong desire to "open" the trade of that country characterized the British mercantile community of Buenos Aires throughout the life of the Dictator and, on one occasion at the very end of Dr. Francia's reign, a concerted effort was made by certain Britons to reintroduce British commerce to Paraguay.

The intervening years did not pass without some indirect contacts. De- spite their brusque expulsion from Paraguay in 1814, the Robertson brothers continued from Buenos Aires to conduct trade with that nation. In

* The author would like to thank Jerry W. Cooney for his help with this piece. An earlier version was published in the Anuario del Instituto de Investigaciones Hist6ricas Dr. Josd Gaspar Rodriguez Francia, aiio VII, no. VII (Dec. 1985), pp. 66-71.

John Parish and William Parish Robertson, Letters on Paraguay, 3 vols. (London, 1838-1839), II: 281-84.

2 See especially John Hoyt Williams, "Paraguayan Isolation under Dr. Francia: A Re-evaluation," Hispanic American Historical Review 52:1 (1972), pp. 102-22.

279


280 ANGLO-PARAGUAYAN COMMERCE

1819, they received in that city a large shipment of Paraguayan produce cosigned to their commercial house, and this long after many British merchants had already been detained by the government in Asunci6n.3 Even as late as March 1822, records indicate that a vessel owned "by the Englis- hman, Juan Hoy" arrived at Neembucu from the south with a load of cannon, light arms, and wine.4

These contacts, however, were quite exceptional. During the early 1820s, many foreign merchants travelling upstream without license to enter Paraguay were detained by Dr. Francia and their property was confiscated. Since a good number of these individuals were British, their government ultimately became involved. Certain merchants based in Buenos Aires first petitioned the British naval commander at Montevideo to do all in his power to obtain the liberty of the detainees." Personally sympathetic but officially cautious, Commodore Sir Thomas Hardy made no commitment.6 Then, early in 1824, a new British consul, Woodbine Parish, arrived in Buenos Aires and immediately set to work to obtain the release of Britons held in Paraguay.

In a letter to Francia in mid-July of that year, Parish declared that the "British people desire to cultivate relations" of a commercial nature with Paraguay and that the issue of the detainees stood in the way of securing this end.' Parish even wrote London to suggest that a British steamship visit Paraguay, for "the novelty of the undertaking might attract the notice of Don Gaspar de Francia" and favorably dispose him regarding the detainees.8

No such effort proved necessary and, on 19 February 1825, Parish hap- pily reported that:

I have this day had the great satisfaction of hearing that all the British

3 John Hoyt Williams, "Woodbine Parish and the 'Opening' of Paraguay," Proceedings of the Amer- ican Philosophical Society 116:4 (15 Aug. 1972), p. 344.

4 Pedro Nolasco Torres, Commandant of Pilar de Neembucu, to Jos6 Gaspar de Francia, Dictator of Paraguay, NIeembucu, 17 March 1822. Atchivo Nacional de Asunci6n, Secci6n Hist6rica, volume 383, number 2 (hereinafter cited as ANA-SH 383 no: 2).

5 William P. Robertson, R. Montgomery and John Watson to Commodore Sir Thomas Hardy, Buenos Aires, 17 Feb. 1823. Public Records Office (London), Foreign Office documents, volume 6, number 4 (hereinafter cited as PRO FO 6:4).

6 Hardy to Robertson, Montgomery and Watson, Buenos Aires, 26 Apr. 1823. PRO FO 6:4. 7 Consul Woodbine Parish to Francia, Buenos Aires, 17 July 1824. ANA Colecci6n Rio Branco

(hereinafter CRB), 1-30, 7, 33. 8 Parish to Foreign Secretary George Canning, Buenos Aires, 22 Aug. 1824, PRO FO 354.


THOMAS WHIGHAM 281

property and detainees have been released [by Francia], that one vessel has already arrived at Corrientes and that another was about to leave Asunci6n.9

In April, the ex-detainees arrived at Buenos Aires, and with them came a formal note from Bernardino Villamayor, secretary to the Dictator. In this letter, Francia's representative noted that Paraguay was indeed interested in trade and that the detained merchants were being released "in consideration that they are individuals of a magnanimous and wise Nation, which appre- ciates the natural Liberty of men.'0

But the hoped-for commerce never materialized. Francia released the Britons, no doubt hoping that in acceding to Parish's request, he could encourage the British to force open the inland waterways controlled by Ar- gentina and initiate direct trade with Paraguay. He must have been keenly disappointed when Parish informed him that his desires for free navigation and British commerce hinged on Paraguay entering into formal relations with the government of Buenos Aires." Britain had recently signed a treaty of friendship with the Argentine Provinces led by Buenos Aires and had no wish to complicate this new relationship by trafficking with a Paraguay still claimed by its southern neighbor.

Parish's reply terminated further correspondence with Francia since the latter had no intention of coming to terms with a porteiio regime bent on reabsorbing his country. Henceforth, Francia made it clear through his in- difference that Paraguay had no need for British trade.

The period from 1825 to 1839 saw few efforts, official or private, to bring about a resumption of contacts between Paraguay and Britain. The British government seemed content to wait patiently for Francia's death. Thus, near the end of 1826, Lord Ponsonby, sent out to negotiate the independence of Uruguay, remarked that:

Paraguay, it is probable, would be opened to the British market if His Majesty's Government became much interested in the measure but, if it should not, it is certain the present extraordinary policy of its Government would cease with the life of its actual master, Don Francia, an old man.12

The British minister's prediction of Francia's early death was wrong by fourteen years. The foreign mercantile community of Buenos Aires, only slightly better informed than Ponsonby, proved more direct in their desire

9 Parish to Canning, Buenos Aires, 19 Feb. 1825, PRO FO 354. 1o Secretary Bernardino Villamayor to Parish, Asunci6n, 26 Jan. 1825. ANA-CRB 1-30, 7, 38. 1 Parish to Francia, Buenos Aires, 14 Apr. 1825. ANA-CRB 1-30, 7, 38. 12 C.K. Webster, Britain and the Independence of Latin America, 1812-1830 (London, 1938), p.

157.



for Paraguayan commerce. Emphasizing the opportunities to be gained from new markets, an 1828 editorial in the British Packet and Argentine News pressed for an immediate invasion of Paraguay by whoever might be willing to incur the expenses: "We think that those who reflect upon the advantages will agree that the attempt to open the trade . . . is worth a few sacrifices."13

But no invasion was forthcoming and though periodic reports of riches to be made in Paraguay did continue to appear in the portano press, little serious thought on the part of the British government was given to altering the status quo. Francia concentrated on building a national economy free of foreign entanglements and the British merchants busied themselves else- where.14

The changing commercial climate of the late 1830s generated a renewal of interest in "the famed fairy-land of Paraguay, so long guarded by that wondrous Ogre, Francia."'5 This shift in attitude came about partly through the publication of the Robertson's work in 1838. Whatever the perceived vices of the Paraguayan regime it appeared orderly and at peace with its neighbors-merits regarded in a commercially-ascendent Britain as supe- rior to all others. Even Thomas Carlyle eventually lent his support in this regard by publishing a laudatory piece on Francia.16

The first step forward was taken not by the British government but by a merchant named Robert B. Hughes, member of a Montevideo firm, who in 1840 decided to try to reach Asunci6n. The British Consul-general at Mon- tevideo, T.S. Hood, requested British government support for this attempt to initiate contacts with "the long incommunicable Paraguay." He sub- mitted an official draft letter Hughes might carry to Francia, remarking that it should be completed, "in Oriental style with as many flourishes and titles as you can insert.""17 Hood also emphasized that Hughes be told that he went entirely at his own risk, in case "this old savage should be inclined to be uncivil: I apprehend he will not object to an Englishman's going into Paraguay as they have done before; but the question will be when he will let him out again." The consul-general's opinion was that "Paraguay, though

13 British Packet and Argentine News, 1 Oct. 1828. 14 Regarding the internal development of Paraguay during the Francia years, see Richard Alan White,

Paraguay's Autonomous Revolution, 1810-1840 (Albuquerque, 1978), passim. '5 William Hadfield, Brazil, The River Plate, and the Falkland Islands (London, 1854), p. 305. 16 Thomas Carlyle, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (London, 1888), IV: 249-94. (The Francia

essay appeared originally in 1842.) '~7 Consul T.S. Hood to Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen, Montevideo, 30 June 1842, PRO FO 51:20

(referring to earlier correspondence).


THOMAS WHIGHAM 283

at present independent of Buenos Aires, will probably hereafter return to its connection with that government on Francia's death; and the authorities would like to know of any steps taken towards opening the communica- tion."''18

A passport, a letter from Lord Palmerston to Francia, and a warning not to expect any help if he got into trouble, were sent to Hughes in October 1840.19 Whether Francia ever knew of the proposed Hughes visit is difficult to know since the Dictator died on September 20. Hughes arrived in Asun- ci6n a full year later, was well-treated by Consuls Carlos Antonio L6pez and Mariano Roque Alonso, and returned downriver a much wealthier man. Hughes remained in La Plata region for many years, and obtained consider- able properties in the interior, including a large saladero in Corrientes.20

The prospects for Anglo-Paraguayan trade were not as bright as Hughes might have thought, particularly given the disastrous sojourn to Paraguay of British commercial agent George J.R. Gordon in 1842.21 This individual, a member of the British legation at Rio de Janeiro, arrived in the wake of Hughes' visit and was regarded by the new Paraguayan rulers as a harbinger of official British recognition. Gordon, as the Consuls soon discovered, was not in fact empowered to enter into any such negotiations. He stayed in Asunci6n for several weeks and received all outward signs of hospitality, but he left without having obtained any trading concessions. At the same time, instead of confining himself to commercial affairs, Gordon became involved in a plan to distribute smallpox vaccine to the Paraguayan popu- lace without the permission of their government. Flabergasted that a for- eigner would take such liberties, the Consuls had the Briton expelled and thereafter they were less inclined toward British overtures.22

One wonders whether Gordon's mission would have been successful had Francia survived. Hood, now in London, thought that the late Dictator would have been flattered by the British offer, and that it was a pity he had died just now and left Hughes (and Gordon) to persuade two inexperienced leaders "beset and bewildered by neighboring machiavelism."23 As far away as London, then, the reputation of Dr. Francia yet survived. Anglo-

18 Hood to Mr. Bidwell, Montevideo, 28 Oct. 1840. PRO FO 51: 17. 19 Prime Minister H.J.T. Palmerston to Hood, London, 31 Oct. 1840. PRO FO 51:16. 20 El Comercio (de Corrientes), 13 Aug. 1855; Thomas J. Page, La Plata, The Argentine Confedera-

tion, and Paraguay (New York, 1859), p. 303. 21 R. Antonio Ramos, "Informe sobre el Paraguay del agente ingl6s George J.R. Gordon, 1843,"

Historia paraguaya 19 (1982), pp. 19-59. 22 Ibid. 23 V.G. Kiernan, "Britain's First Contacts with Paraguay," Atlante 3 (1955), p. 180.



Paraguayan trade always depended on geographical and political factors beyond the control of both parties. The infant republic was located a thou- sand miles inland, cut off from the outside by an Argentine Confederation that did not recognize an independent Paraguay. The British government was interested in commerce but not to the extent that would threaten the cordial relation it enjoyed with Buenos Aires. Francia well understood this essential reality, yet he might have been willing to try nonetheless.24 As it was, British recognition came only in 1852, after the Argentines themselves had recognized Paraguay. After that, the warehouses of Asunci6n swelled with foreign imports, the lion's share of them made in Britain.

University of Georgia Athens, Georgia THOMAS WHIGHAM

24 He remained interested in outside trade, despite the few opportunities offered Paraguay. For ex- ample, he operated a "free port" at the Parani river town of Itapdta, where he maintained quasi-official trade links with Brazil. White, Paraguay's Autonomous Revolution, pp. 129-51.


Article Contentsp. 279p. 280p. 281p. 282p. 283p. 284

Issue Table of ContentsThe Americas, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Jan., 1988), pp. 261-398Front MatterOn the Trail of Voodoo: African Christianity in Africa and the Americas [pp. 261-278]Some Reflections on Early Anglo-Paraguayan Commerce [pp. 279-284]The Brazilian Black Guard: Racial Conflict in Post-Abolition Brazil [pp. 285-300]The Economic Impact of the Bourbon Reforms and the Late Colonial Crisis of Empire at the Local Level: The Case of Saltillo, 1777-1817 [pp. 301-323]Indian Women of Early Colonial Quito as Seen Through Their Testaments [pp. 325-341]Inter-American Notes [pp. 343-369]Book ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 371-372]Review: untitled [pp. 372-373]Review: untitled [pp. 374-375]Review: untitled [pp. 375-377]Review: untitled [pp. 377-379]Review: untitled [pp. 379-381]Review: untitled [pp. 382-383]Review: untitled [pp. 383-385]Review: untitled [pp. 385-390]Review: untitled [pp. 390-392]Review: untitled [pp. 392-393]Review: untitled [pp. 394-398]Review: untitled [p. 398]

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